2 Corinthians 12:1-10
Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in
the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being
too elated. 8 Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me,
9 but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect
in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that
the power of Christ may dwell with me. 10 Therefore, I am content with
weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of
Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
The considered powerful and mighty of this world is what
appear to be the blessed and favored ones as far as human logic and reason are
concerned. The exact opposite of what Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount
and Plain (Beatitudes) in the gospels. A lot of people find it difficult to
really understand the beatitudes since it contradicts the values of this world
we live in. The poor, weak, hungry and sorrowing are called blessed. This may
not sound acceptable for everybody and would even go around its meaning to get
away with the real issue that Jesus wants us to face. Whatever it may be that's
still stopping us from grasping the wisdom of God let us pray to God that we
will always hold on to His word as He assures daily. Our God indeed is a
perfect God and we must entrust everything to Him without questioning believing
that He knows what's best. We must be aware of the truth that it is by His
power that we exist in this world. We’ve got to have the right heart, mind and
attitude. Be poor in spirit and receptive to the Word of God. It doesn't make
sense that despite these truths that are ever before us we still reject Jesus.
Let's admit that we do it one way or another, knowingly or unknowingly. Pope
John Paul II narrated a story when he was in the hospital for his operation.
Just before the surgery, he went out of his room unnoticed and visited a very
sick boy on the verge of dying. His mother was so depressed that no amount of
words was able to console her. She told the Pope to tell God to go away. The
Pope answered her that he did tell God to go away but He wouldn't listen. He
embraced the inconsolable mother and told her that God knows exactly the place
where He needs to be and that is none other than with her. We should realize
that God never leaves nor forsakes most especially in times of despair. He is
always there for us. Our God indeed is a perfect God and we must entrust
everything to Him without questioning believing that He knows what's best. We
must be aware of the truth that it is by His power that we exist in this world.
Have you heard of blind obedience? Following without knowing exactly why you
follow. Take the example of suicide bombers, who willingly die to spread
terrorism. What courage! We should know that it is always worth it to obey God,
obeying and knowing fully well that it is for our own good. We all have fears
in life and sometimes they drive us to the point of despair. This should not be
the case. If we truly believe with all our mind, heart and soul what today's
psalm tells us then there is no reason for it. We may have encountered situations
wherein we were not able to plan ahead and totally placed us in a very
unexpected, uncertain and insecure position. They just happen suddenly that we have no time
to prepare and really caught us off guard. This has caused us to feel at a loss.
Just imagine how it feels to be blind not knowing where to go and groping in the
dark. But we can be assured that God will rescue us from all distress and
deliver us from our troubles. The wickedness and the hatred may persist but let
us not lose hope and despair because we have a mighty Savior and Redeemer in
our Lord Jesus. This truth stated in today’s psalm reading should keep us going
and do exactly what we are told. The Light of the World already came and
judgment day is coming soon. In fact, judgment is happening even now. In
Deuteronomy 30:15 "Here, then, I have today set before you life and
prosperity, death and doom..." God asked us to choose. It's got to be one
way or another. There should be no mingling or ambiguity. It is all up to us.
We can be assured that if we take God’s side then we’ll definitely taste and
see His goodness. If we will just seek God at all times then we surely find
Him. Let us not turn to anything or anyone else but to God alone. Let us be
firm and wise in our dispositions to really stick to God's ideals and
principles alone instead of the suggestions and insinuations of the so called
wise and learned of this world's standard. For if we do, we'll find ourselves
rescued, saved and truly blessed. We
should always keep our hopes up in the Lord no matter what our situations are
because it can never change the fact that He is God and always in charge and in
control. There are times when we feel forsaken or abandoned but we must always
hold on to the truth that He loves us so much. He would never leave us in
misery. Let us remove all doubts and fears. Nothing should make us feel afraid
for God hears our cry. He will surely carry out what is clearly for our own
good and the best. All we need to do is allow God to work in our lives and stop
hindering His grace to flow in our lives. If there's one big obstacle that is
blocking this flow then it is surely not God. It is time we analyze the things
in our life that continue to build up and shut out God. We don't want that
happening and it's all up to us for the Lord hears and saves us. Although there
are times when we do not have to sweat at all and things just come and fall
into place we also have to know that our life is mostly a product of the
choices we make. Our choices must always be responsible and carefully decided
on. We've got to have a reliable standard for it. One without fail and is sure
to work. Actually there is only one thing that we can surely depend on and that
is the goodness of the Lord. If we always have this in mind then nothing should
stop us to always look at God, listen and follow Him. We should not care so
much about gaining the approval and admiration of men rather than God. Our
focus first and foremost should be to please God and everything else will
follow. Even if it sometimes does not work the way we expected and planned
things to be. We can be assured that the Lord heard, hears and will hear all
our prayers and surely has the best answer at hand in His most perfect time. In
guarding our faith the bible passage from Ephesians 6:10-11 which is about the
armor of God is an important tool. If we read it we will find the only weapon
mentioned in the said bible passage is the sword of the Spirit which is the
Word of God. We should check it once again and be aware of this important
information as Catholic Christians. In the gospel about the temptation of Jesus
the devil also demonstrated his knowledge of the scriptures. As it is written,
we need to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. We are undoubtedly
engaged in this battle every single day that's why we are in need of a weapon.
This reminds us of the importance of knowing the word of God by heart since it
is our only weapon. God never fails. He would always make things work for our
good and rescue us in our distress. I have always believed in angels even
before I got this petal from a healing service with the image of a cherubim
miraculously imprinted on it. It's been a while since I got it and has served
as a testimony of God’s abiding love. I have no doubt in my mind that God will
always deliver me from all my fears. I always keep my rose petal with me and
show it to almost everyone I meet, as a way of propagating God's goodness to
me. I can still remember and will never forget how my mother used to narrate to
us how I was miraculously saved by my angel several times. First was when I was
about 2 months old, and I fell from a height of 2-3 ft countertop when the
nanny after giving me a bath left me for only a second to get something and
upon returning found me already unconscious and lying on the hard, ceramic
tiled floor. I was rushed to the doctor but he told them that if I fail to
regain consciousness within an hour then he said I am gone. To everybody's
surprise I started to cry even before the time is up. Another one was when I
was barely 2 yrs old when I almost got hit by a speeding jeepney. My parent's
house is right beside my grandparent's house which is right in front of the
school where my mother used to be a public school teacher. She said she was
standing in the center of the stage of the school that was why she had a good
view of the things around her even the terrace of my grandparent's house so she
got the shock of her life when she saw me there alone running very fast heading
toward the open gate while a speeding jeepney was coming and looked as if I
would really get hit and it would be too late even if somebody was there to
stop me. She was already screaming from afar together with the other teachers
who saw it and was trying to call the attention of the driver but to no avail
for he didn't even slow down because their screams were of no match to the loud
engine of the jeep. It was just a
miracle that the moment I stepped on the side of the road, I suddenly stopped
and stood very still as if someone was holding me back. She said it was my
guardian angel who held me and prevented me from getting hit by the jeep. I don't remember personally any of those
experiences it was only through my mother's stories that I came to know about
them. But when I was older like in 4th grade I could already remember how I was
spared again from being hurt seriously when the fluorescent lamp right on top
of my head fell on my desk a split second after I stood up and left my
chair. My classmates were really shocked
and were hovering around me and told me that it was really close. One of my
bestfriends, Myrsa got me even more scared of what could had happened when she
said that fluorescent lamps are laden with poison that once it gets broken, the
poison is released and if the broken glass cuts your skin open the poison will
get in and the wound caused by it will never dry up or get healed. From then on
I developed this childlike trust in God and thanked God for saving me from
death. There was another instance in my life as a child when Myrsa and I were
left all alone in school while waiting for our ride home and the deafening
sound of lightning and thunder got me very scared. Myrsa played the role of my
guardian angel when she tried to calm and stop me from crying by telling me
that I should not be afraid because the lightning is the flash bulb of God's
camera. She continued by saying that I should not cry but instead smile for God
was just taking our picture. Myrsa's legendary stories played a role in my
developing a great faith in God. Another funny story was what she told me about
the needle. She said that we must be careful with needles because it will find
its way into our bodies and once it's inside it will go to our bloodstream and
very quickly end up pricking our hearts which can cause us to die right away.
There was one time when I lost a needle and couldn't find it anywhere. I went
to bed very early that day which surprised my mother and was asking me if there
was anything wrong. I decided to myself that I would just wait for my death
silently and not tell anybody. I was praying to God not to give me a painful
death and let me not feel it once the needle pricks my heart. When I woke up
the next day I was so glad that I was still alive and thanked God for sparing me
from death. Those were the early formative years of my faith which started out
in a funny, amusing but definitely amazing way. We all have fears in life and
sometimes they drive us to the point of despair. This should not be the case.
If we truly believe with all our mind, heart and soul what today's psalm tells
us then there is no reason for it. If we will just constantly nourish and fill
ourselves with the words of God in scriptures then there is really no reason
for us to fear rather be always filled with joy. He will never allow us to be
defeated and conquered for He is always there to rescue us. Amen, Hallelujah!
P S A L M
Psalm 34: 8-9. 10-11. 12-13
R: Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
7 [8] The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear
him, and delivers them...Fear the LORD, you his holy ones, for nought is
lacking to those who fear him. 10 [11] The great grow poor and hungry; but
those who seek the LORD want for no good thing...
There is a need to focus on God alone so that we will not be
led astray. In everything we do, we have to make sure that we are completely
aware of who the real Master of our life is, the God for whom our hearts beat,
the motive and reason for our every action and the Light and Shepherd that
leads our paths. There is this little piece of doggerel about a sparrow that
says to the robin, “Do you really like to know what motivates those foolish
mortals as they rush around and worry so? The robin says to the sparrow, “I
think that it must be that they have no Heavenly Father such as one that cares
for you and me.” We say we believe in God as not some vague deity above the
tower but the God of love who took us out of nothingness in love. Who came down
and died for us in love. Who sustains us in love. Who has destined us for an
eternity of love. Do we really believe in Him? When trouble comes, we wring our
hands, we furrow our brows, we get sleepless nights and headaches. In the
official thanksgiving of the priest after mass every morning, there is the use
of the Canticle of Daniel, when Daniel calls all creation to praise and worship
God, the sun, the moon, the stars, the valleys and the hills. Then there is
this line that every bird in the sky bless the Lord. There are birds that fly
by very often and sometimes one will alight by the window, rustle the leaves of
the bushes and peck the glass in the window to remind us that they neither sow
nor spin nor gather into barn and our Heavenly Father takes care of them. How
much more will He take care of us? I have always loved this passage from
today's gospel. Whenever I encounter it I am always reminded of a good friend
of mine during my high school days. I just got into College then and was
totally unfamiliar of the hardships and difficulties it entailed. This friend
always wrote to me words of wisdom that left me with a certain kind of peace
and serenity in me. I have always drawn inspiration and strength from it. It has been like that for as long as I could
remember. What has been planted in my heart remained in me from that time on
until this present time. As I look back and recall, I know that I would always
be grateful to this friend who is already a priest. Thanks, Father Mike
Samaniego. What amazes me is the fact that I never knew back then that those
words were taken from the bible. It was for quite some time already when I
found out. The words of God has proven once more its double edged quality that
never fails to cut through the flesh, bone and to the depths of the soul. The
gospel for today is also part of the sermon on the mount and contains valuable
information on how to be successful in life. This is what Fr. Glenn said in one
of his homilies in The Filipino Channel (TFC) He asked the audience, "Do
you want to be successful in life?" The answers and tips to this can be
found in the gospel today. The first tip is from Mt 6:24. No one can serve 2
masters. According to Biblical literature mammon is described as greed,
avarice, excessive materialism and also referred in the New Testament as a
false god. Money if used properly is not mammon. The 2nd tip is from Mt. 6:25
which tells us, "Do not worry." Look at the birds in the sky and the
wild flowers as written in the gospel. Did you get it? Did you feel it? There's
no reason to worry anymore. The 3rd tip is Mt 6:33, "Seek 1st God’s
kingdom..." We must look at the Source and Creator and everything will be
added unto us. Let's just take the example of the air we breathe. We are not
being charged for every breath of air we take. We are God’s children and we
belong to God, what God owns we also own. According to Sis Del Vitangcol, we
have to serve the real master if we want to become successful. She gave us the
acronym UNLAD meaning Unahin Natin Lagi Ang Dios. Unlad in English is progress
and its acronym meaning can be translated as, "Always put God first."
Amen. Hallelujah!
Matthew 6:24-34
...“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what
you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more
than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky;
they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by
worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes?
Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I
tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of
them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is
thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of
little faith? So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we
to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’ All these things the pagans seek. Your
heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom [of
God] and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for
a day is its own evil.
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