TEAMWORK

Even during the time of Moses, teamwork was already being practiced by believers and they benefitted a lot from it. It is surely better to work together as family of God by supporting rather than pulling each other down. When we engage ourselves into something it is always a good question to ask this. Do we pull someone down or do we lift them up? Today's 1st reading shows us how the support they gave to each other made them win the fight. In a way the Lord is telling us also to always keep our hands raised up to him in prayer and never grow weary or tired and all our battles will be won. So whatever it is, we have been praying for, God is telling us right now to persevere and He will never forsake us in our persistence.  Amen. Hallelujah!

 

Exodus 17:8-13

...As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. Moses’ hands, however, grew tired; so they put a rock in place for him to sit on. Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset. And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

Today’s psalm brings back memories of my angel petal. It was in October 2007 when I got this petal from a healing service headed by Bro. Carmelo. It was also the birthday of my mother at that time, she already passed away and since then I've always felt that she has always been watching over us just like a guardian angel would, which is symbolized by the angel image which appeared on the petal given to me by Bro. Carmelo. When I further researched from the Catholic Encyclopedia it only made it more significant since it is stated that "Cherubim means the Seat of the Glory of God and is interpreted: Fullness of Knowledge. Though we realize that cherubim are exalted heavenly powers and virtues; yet if thou wilt, thou too shalt be one of the cherubim. For if cherubim means, Seat of God, remember what the Scripture says: The soul of the just is the Seat of Wisdom. The word cherub (cherubim is the Hebrew masculine plural) is a word borrowed from the Assyrian kirubu, from karâbu, "to be near", hence it means near ones, familiars, personal servants, bodyguards, courtiers. It was commonly used of those heavenly spirits, who closely surrounded the Majesty of God and paid Him intimate service. Hence it came to mean as much as "Angelic Spirit". No human brain could fully comprehend what sort of mutual understanding is going on between a loving and merciful God and His child who knows only one thing, to trust. If we are building faith on an uncertain god then we ought to be afraid and anxious about our concerns. The Good News is that we have a God who is All Powerful and is at work. We have a God fighting our battles and is in control. If we stay in faith we can be assured that God will see us through everything. Although He did not promise to stop every adversity nor did not promise a smooth sailing journey or flight but we are assured of a safe landing. We just have to keep God first place and He will take us to places we never ever dreamed of. He is lining up the right people, right places, right circumstances at the right time. He is preparing for our victory and we have to get ready for God's favor right now. Even if we run out of people who are willing to help us or the situation we are in doesn't look good, today's psalm tell us not to despair for we can be assured that help is on the way. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8

R: Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

1 I lift up my eyes toward the mountains; whence shall help come to me? 2 My help is from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. (R) 3 May he not suffer your foot to slip; may he slumber not who guards you: 4 Indeed he neither slumbers nor sleeps, the guardian of Israel. (R) 5 The LORD is your guardian; the LORD is your shade; he is beside you at your right hand. 6 The sun shall not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. (R) 7 The LORD will guard you from all evil; he will guard your life. 8 The LORD will guard your coming and your going, both now and forever.

The instruction to Timothy gives us the classic test showing us the Divine inspiration of the scriptures. All of the books of the Old Testament (OT) are divinely inspired as it prepared the New Testament (NT) while the NT fulfilled the OT. One who belongs to God should be competent. We need to know sacred scriptures and live it. It is important for us to be fully equipped by sacred scriptures as understood by the church. God Himself came up with His own plan on how to make of this. As to how all men and women can be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth and Jesus Christ. This is brought about by apostolic tradition, transmission of the message of Jesus Christ through preaching, bearing witness, instruction, worship, holy mass and inspired writings. The Apostles transmitted all that they received in Christ to all generations. As we listen to the same content of Divine revelation in Jesus Christ, we need to internalize, practice and help transmit it to someone else throughout the world. We can always rely on the scripture to guide and enlighten us always. It is like an instruction manual that goes with a product. In order for it to operate well there is a need to follow instructions with regards to its use. When God created us He gave us His words in scripture to keep us going the right way. Amen. Hallelujah!

2 Timothy 3:14-4:2

Beloved: Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. .All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 4: 1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: 2 proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.

Sometimes we feel that God is slow in answering us despite our constant and persistent prayers since nothing seems to happen. We must keep in mind that God is on our side. "We can stand secure and put our hope in His Holy Word." This is one of the lyrics of the inspirational songs of Renee Bondi entitled, "Back on my feet again" She was at the prime of her life and about to marry her fiance, many years ago when she met a bizarre accident which left her quadriplegic. She kept on with her faith in God. She is now happily married to her husband who never left her side since then, gifted with a teenage son, continues to make waves in the Christian recording industry and have been traveling all over in spreading God's word through her testimonies and songs. When we hear stories of people like Renee who encountered mishaps in life but emerged victorious through the help of God, it gives us hope to always go to God in prayer. Just like in today's gospel where a widow did not give up in imploring the judge for a just decision on her behalf, we too, must not falter or faint in praying to God. In our daily circumstances we sometimes meet people like this judge in the gospel who is supposed to protect the interests of those treated unjustly but turned out to be the one making things even more difficult. Today's gospel gives hope to us all who continuously rely on God's goodness, never give up and persevere in prayer. For in the end of it all, God will always look after our welfare. We may have been praying for a particular intention and until now we are still waiting. We should wait patiently and continue to strive although sometimes struggling in our faith in God because He who allowed us to be in such situation will surely see us through it. We have probably heard the story in today’s gospel for quite a number of times already.  It usually leaves us with the wrong impression that we have to be very persistent in our prayers in the wrong sense. There is this tendency to think that God is like this judge in the gospel whom we can gain approval through constant persistence and prodding. As if we can delude and sway God over to our whims and caprices. God does not change, we change. As the song goes, “His works are perfect and all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, good and upright is He.” For a change why don’t we think of the judge as ourselves and the widow as God since He has been persistently following us and never stopped getting our attention. We can be assured that our God is not anything like this dishonest judge from today's gospel. And yet crooked and wicked as he is, he was still able to render a just decision for the widow. Come to think of this bible passage especially the questions that go with it.  Several times in our lives we are confronted with so many hard to deal questions that we simply can't lock it in. It is just like this game show when contestants find it very difficult to answer when the host asks them this question, "Deal or No deal?" They are full of doubt and uncertainty because they can never be sure if they answered right unless the case is opened. But do we doubt God who is all good and perfect not to do more than this judge in the gospel and deal fairly with us? Have we answered the question and are we so sure that we could lock it in? We better be. Amen. Hallelujah!

Luke 18:1-8

Then he told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, 'Render a just decision for me against my adversary.' For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, 'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.'" The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? 8 I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily...