We’ve got to straighten up some things about God. Who He is
and what He wants for our life. What is our picture of God? It’s not surprising
to know that most of us think that God doesn’t want us to have fun. It’s like
all the things that we want to do with our friends that are interesting and
exciting when we were young was against God’s commandments. It may seem like we
have to settle for less. What’s worse is that all the faithful Catholics get
less out of life. This is part of the propaganda way back in the Garden of
Eden. God gave us a magnificent paradise wherein there is perfect intimacy and
no shame with each other. In the Garden they have everything they need but gave
just one limit, not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This
is very interesting because God said, “Don’t do this because you will die.” The
reason why God commands us something is because He is a loving Father who cares
for us. He wants us to have the best. But then came the serpent, he didn’t
create Adam & Eve, nor gave the garden or anything at all. All the serpent
gave was a lie and told Adam & Eve not to listen to God or they’ll lose out
and won’t become like God. They were made to believe that God is holding out
something from them and is actually their rival because God doesn’t want them
to have what He has. So instead of trusting the one who gave them everything,
they trusted a stranger. They doubted and disobeyed God. Instead they listened
to the liar. They were hooked into a downward spiral of destruction. This is
what sin is all about. It is a trap. It is disguised as an apparent good
because the fruit looks good and desirable but it ends in disaster. The
relationship with God is messed up and so creation turned against them, thorns
and thistles appear and things in life become hard. This is what sin does, it
seemed small but it gets out of control. Things get worse and worse and there
are broken lives everywhere. This is the reality about sin. We are draining
life out of ourselves unless we recognize the One, True and Living God. The
problem is that there is a great propaganda out there. It makes sin appear with
all its fun, excitement and glamour. It makes virtue appear boring, lame, bland
and unexciting. But the truth of the matter is, it’s not. The pleasures that
God created in this world are enjoyed the most by those who don’t abuse them
and use it simply. Who do we think enjoys food most? The person who doesn’t
know how to fast and engorges all the time or a person after a fast experiences
a feast? The virtuous person enjoys life the most. The person who uses creation
and all things according to God’s plan enjoys it the most. It is because
pleasure is God’s idea. All the good things in the world that people want are
God’s idea. Satan can’t invent even one bit of pleasure. But God commands them to be used so that it
leads to life and a part of life is joy. The way to enjoy life is to follow
God’s commands. Life is not all about rules and regulations. God did not just
give us a bunch of rules and regulations that we are supposed to obey like
machines. What we do does not just proceed from who we are but also makes us
who we are. The actions we engage, the
words that we say and the things that we do have an impact on us. We are making
ourselves all the time. God created us when we came out of the womb, our
mothers and father have a great role in that but our creation continues every
single day of our lives. We’re even becoming someone more beautiful, mature and
stronger or someone weaker and more despicable. There’s no middle ground. We’re
going one way or another. Life leads either to heaven or to hell. That’s what
the acts that we commit do. Virtuous acts build in us strength. The word virtue
comes from the word manly which is strength and power. Virtue is a habit that
makes it easy and pleasurable to do the right thing. Golden virtue isn’t always
easy. It is hard. But what is vice, it is a habit that makes it easy to do the
wrong and evil thing. Let’s take exercise as an example. People make it their
New Year’s resolution and people who go to the gym noticed that it’s packed on
January but they’re gone by the 3rd week. If we’ve ever engaged in an exercise
program for the first time, we know that we feel bad, tired, exhausted and wake
up sore. This is because we do not have the habit of exercise. We have not
trained and our bodies are not used to it. It hurts and it’s hard the first
time we work out. If we persevere past the first few weeks and developed a
habit of regular exercise then we end up getting used to it and become easy
that when we don’t exercise we feel bad. What happens is that we build up the
power or the virtue. We’ve conditioned ourselves so that it becomes second
nature to us. If we want a progressive course we need to do something hard. No
pain no gain. The next time we work out we add up a little bit more since we
are stronger. We can move forward and grow in our ability to lift weights. This
is the deal. The actions we do have an impact of what we are. It’s like when we
start lifting weights we start to change and look different. We look like
someone who has strength, power and endurance. This is the point, God is about
building champions. The goal of the Christian life is to build champions. Well,
not necessarily athletic champions but spiritually. A real champion in every
aspect of life. God wants us to be strong, loving, wise and to have the power
to live. It’s not so much what we do that counts but it’s who we become. That’s
what the commandments, teachings and God is all about. The commandments are not
given to us to limit our freedom but in fact it is the formula for a truly
happy life and enhances our freedom even more. Atty Moya our Apologetics
teacher cited the example of driving in the freeway. He told us to imagine the
kind of scenario if there are no rules and regulations to be followed in
driving especially in the freeway. He said there would be a lot of chaos. He
added by saying how can we imagine leaving our children in a day care with a
playground without any fences. These rules help us enjoy life and have more
peace and joy. They do not limit but protect freedom. To the extent that we can
follow the 10 commandments and become free. Since the more we disobey the more
we become bound and become a slave of sin. If we truly are grateful to the one
true God whom we should love, respect and honor above any other gods that try
to win our loyalty and praise then we should try to start by following His
commandments in heart, body and soul. For only when we do the right thing
before God can we find true freedom.
2 Corinthians 3:15—4:1, 3-6
Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is freedom.
All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the
Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from
the Lord who is the Spirit.
What a wonderful world this place that we live in could be
if only we listen to the instructions constantly being given to us in the
scriptures. We have an awesome God who always speaks to us in a very timely and
specific manner. His messages are fitted to the situation we are presently
experiencing right now. We should remain confident that God will make a way.
There is really nothing more that God can do for us that He has not done. God
is never short of blessings to shower on us. He has made it all available to us
through His Son. All that is needed is for us to make our move. Let us open
ourselves to God's presence in our lives and know that there is never a moment
in our life when He is away from us for it is always the other way around. For
we are the ones turning away from Him and placing blocks and hindrances between
us whenever we can't find Him.
We are constantly being faced by challenges to our faith
especially at this present time. It is easier to be firm in our faith when
times are easy but when tough times come that is when we are put to the test.
No matter how difficult things may seem we should never give in to the pressure
and remain steadfast. We can always choose to do the right thing if we
safeguard in our hearts the truth about God knowing that it is always for the
best. We need not be afraid of anything although this is something that we all
find very difficult to do. They say faith and reason do not work together just
like science and religion. This is not a fact but a fallacy. These things in
fact compliment each other because one supports the other. There is no faith
without reason and vice versa. We can not just have one and lack the other.
This has to be very clear in our heads. We should always try to condition
ourselves in the atmosphere of God's presence. We should gear ourselves toward
that direction so that we place ourselves within His reach, it's not that God
can not reach us but we hinder God from reaching out to us. When we do not
respond to His call and shut off our ears although we are within hearing range,
we fail to get the message. Which reminds me of Bernadette's ear, when we went
to her doctor she underwent a procedure (ear lavage) in order to unclog her
left ear but prior to that she was already instilling ear meds for 4 days. The
nurse explained to her that it can be painful and can cause her to feel dizzy
and asked her if she still wants it done and she agreed. Sometimes we have to
resort to very uncomfortable measures in order to be cured in the same way we
should maintain such condition spiritually so that we can always keep our ears
open to God's word. Wherever God is, there is always peace and prosperity. It
is only natural that we have longings and desires because God Himself planted
it in our hearts. We all long for the good things in life and God Himself can
provide for all these things. It is just sad that we reach out for other things
that we thought are good for us. We do not realize that we have to seek first
the Kingdom of God
Psalm 85:9ab, 10, 11-12, 13-14
R: The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.
8 [9] I will hear what God proclaims; the LORD-for he
proclaims peace to his people. 9 [10] Near indeed is his salvation to those who
fear him, glory dwelling in our land. (R) 10 [11] Kindness and truth shall
meet; justice and peace shall kiss. 11 [12] Truth shall spring out of the
earth, and justice shall look down from heaven. (R) 12 [13] The LORD himself
will give his benefits; our land shall yield its increase. 13 [14] Justice
shall walk before him, and salvation, along the way of his steps. (R)
Heaven is the realization of being a champion. In heaven we
will be glorified magnificently. We will live forever with strength, power and
beauty sharing a new humanity with Jesus.
Nothing compares to the true and everlasting joy that awaits those who
will enter the Kingdom of heaven. We are all called to be with God in heaven.
On our final day it is not God who will condemn us but as the scripture tells
us , "...it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must
die..." and also added in today's gospel,
"... your opponent will hand you over to the judge..." We
really have to be attentive to all these things and details and not take them
for granted. We know how things can fall apart when we fail to attend to the
seemingly insignificant matters in our life. Remember God is on our side but He
is also a just and fair God. Though, Jesus has already won the battle and paid
the price and having known of this truth, it is: #1 the iniquities that we
continue to commit and #2 our opponent which both create a deadly combination
that can bring us to hell. It could ban us from the kingdom of heaven and what
could be worse than that? We really ought to realize the impact and importance
of this knowing that it is not just a lifetime that is at stake here but
eternity. Our righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees.
They may be observing all the rules and precepts but only because they want to
be pleasing in the eyes of others but what about in the eyes of God. God can
see through us and dig deep into us. It’s time to do something not just with
our outward appearances but with our hearts. Just think of farmers at work.
They have to plow the field and dig deep into the soil so that new life can be
planted and grow. It’s quite the same with us. We need to remove the dirt in
our hearts so that the Holy Spirit can plant new life in us. We need some work
to be done. It involves pain, suffering and recovery but it is all worth it.
Our fidelity is not with God if we keep up and hold on to our defenses,
justifications, gripes and complaints. We may not be aware of it but it becomes
our false idols. We have to throw it away and stop worshipping a false God.
It’s time we recognize who really is Lord of our lives. . Let us trust that God
who sees through our hearts and knows all things will find us worthy as we
strive to do our best to be part of His kingdom. Amen. Hallelujah!
Matthew 5:20-26
20 Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, unless your
righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter
into the kingdom of heaven. 21 “You have heard that it was said to your
ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’
22 But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to
judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the
Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. 23
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your
brother has anything against you, 24 leave your gift there at the altar, go
first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
25 Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him.
Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will
hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 Amen, I say
to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”
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