In the beginning God created everything to be in harmony,
man, the land and all creatures. But man sinned leading to a rupture with God,
one’s self and others. We have to go back to where God had intended it to be.
If everything happened by chance there is a tendency for us to wane in our
resolution and our responsibility is deemphasized. The understanding that a
Creator made the world leads to a fundamental responsibility to it.
When we watch these movies about the end of the world it
gives the impression that our world exists by random and we look upon the
universe as a product of chance. Everything that exists comes through Jesus.
Everything in the universe came through Christ. He is the foundation of all
reality. Creation is existent and made through and for Him. It does not exist
by chance and is ruled by God and His plan.
Colossians 1:15-16 He is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn of all creation. For in him were created all things in heaven and on
earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him.
Ephesians 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the
heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy
and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself
through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of
the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved…
Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was
ordered by the word of God, so that what is visible came into being through the
invisible.
John1:3 All things
came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be
through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race;
Look at creation and see its beauty, in the microscope and
telescope. God is the creator. God shows a great love for everyone in this
world not in a mythological world. Gen 1:27 God created mankind in his image;
in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
We are capable of reason because of our mind. God gives
choices but we also have a free will we can go beyond instinct and go against
the will of God. We are the image of God and we have a unique personality
because of the dignity of a person. We are unrepeatable which makes us
distinctive and like God. Man and animals have some similar gifts like emotions
and body but what distinguishes us is reason. Our freedom to choose what is
right and wrong is conscience. We choose good and avoid evil. It is easier said
than done. How many people want to lose weight but it is not easy to lose
weight because there are a lot of temptations aside from food. The same is true
with our conscience. In Romans 7:18 it is stated, For I know that good does not
dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the
good is not. For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want.
The natural law is humanizing, but it is dehumanizing when we don’t obey the
natural law. Human beings should make a decision to accept Christ as the one
mediator so we can go to heaven not in hell.
The speed of light is constant throughout the universe, even gravity is
a constant and because it applies in the universe that is why we can apply
science. There are laws, human beings have reason and discover these laws. God
made us distinct from all animals to be able to do these things. Psalm 33:6 By
the LORD’s word the heavens were made; by the breath of his mouth all their
host. This is a radical statement. All the pagans believe that God created the
world through sex and violence. God created the world by His word and it came
to be. All reality came to being by God’s word. Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare
the glory of God; the firmament proclaims the works of his hands. Christians
should study Science not be a skeptic but to be able to discover the beauty of
creation and God’s wisdom in its order. To display the wonders of God.
Wisdom 13:5 Now if out of joy in their beauty they thought
them gods, let them know how far more excellent is the Lord than these; for the
original source of beauty fashioned them. Or if they were struck by their might
and energy, let them realize from these things how much more powerful is the
one who made them. For from the greatness and the beauty of created things
their original author, by analogy, is seen. We look at the ocean and see how
wide it is, the sunset, mountain vastness and outer space is even more amazing
with trillion of stars and millions of galaxies. We have perception so we do
not just see but we have a mind to appreciate it. (Romans 1:19-20 For what can
be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them.)
Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power
and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made.
As a result, they have no excuse; St. Bonaventure said that God loves creation
so much and took on human nature
The creatures of this sensible world signify the invisible
God. This part of reality we need to understand. All of this well established theories of
evolution are not meant to be opposed or refuted but we can believe this but we
get to the point of human beings. The Church teach first of all that every
human being has a soul as all Christian and Jewish believers. It’s not matter
and does not depend on the law of Physics not controlled by these laws. This is
immaterial and not derived from an evolutionary process. All of these material
physical processes, a human has a soul w/c is immaterial, can transcend merely
physical acts could not evolve from a physical natural process, and not
governed by evolution. There is a way to think rationally that we have a soul.
Cardinal Newman said that a convergence of data can come up with probabilistic
clues of human transcendence
- Survival of human experiences after near death experiences. A study done in 10 Dutch hospitals and published in a medical journal in 2001. An accumulation of very good controlled data that their consciousness were able to survive their death. A lot of evidence out there of survival of consciousness after near death. It exists outside of the human body and human consciousness.
- Godel theory- Human intellection is very different from machine intelligence. Human beings can find mathematical truth that are not in the axioms that they have been dealing with. Goes beyond axiomatic intelligence. Human beings are beyond machine intelligence. No physical explanation for human intelligence and beyond in axiom recognizing finite . Stephen Barr author of Modern Faith and Ancient Physics said that human beings are not machine like, human beings are always beyond the machine.
- The clue of self consciousness. Self awareness transcends physical limitations.. We could be aware of our awareness. We could have our own inner world, it presents a real problem if all physical things are limited to a certain sense. Something about human beings that seems to elude the laws of Physics, what we are seeing so far. Creative thinking totally different from machine thinking, transcending mere physicality. Defying the laws of Physics. Plato transcend mere physicality a desire for awareness of perfect truth. A desire for perfect goodness and beauty. Separate us from the rest of the animal kingdom.
Today's 1st reading reminded me of this very popular
expression in the Philippines
which is, "Obvious ba?" or "Isn't it obvious?" in English.
I often hear it being said by people who are annoyed at somebody who seems to
be inattentive, unable to get the message right away, pretending not to know or
simply doesn't care. It has become so common that anybody would just throw it
to someone who doesn't seem to be paying attention. I guess, God for so many
times already, would have said the same thing to us whenever we doubt God's
abilities to carry out what He's capable of doing. I must say we are all guilty
of this inattentiveness or a passing moment of doubt from time to time. There
are countless reminders that are being sent our way. If we are to look at creation
then all the answers will be right before us. Even the several experiences
we’ve had in our lifetime serve as lessons that we can learn from, though we
still do not conduct our affairs in the manner that we should. Let us not
forget and always remember that nothing can ever come between us and God for as
long as we truly desire to know more about Him. Amen. Hallelujah!
Romans 1:16-25
...For what can be known about God is evident to them,
because God made it evident to them. 20 Ever since the creation of the world,
his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be
understood and perceived in what he has made...
It always pays to be watchful and alert at all times.
Although we sometimes fail to measure up due to our own shortcomings or could
be the doing of another, God assures us in today's psalm that if we fall into
the trap of the enemy we can always repent with a deep remorse for our sins and
resolve to make the precepts of the Lord the joy of our hearts. In doing so, we
find ourselves naturally restrained from sin and maintain our innocence. It is
so hard to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord if we do not know exactly
how to go about with it. It's just like when we have to comply to certain
requirements in school and follow the standard set by it. We need to have a
pattern or outline from which we can base our work. Just as it is so in other
things, the more we are all in need of God's precepts. The absolute bedrock of
spiritual life is to follow the 10 commandments. We are sometimes misled into
thinking that when we have a type of prayer then we think that we already have
a spiritual life. We’ve got to have the humility to admit that God is smarter
than we are and we need to follow and obey what we are told in the 10
commandments. We should be totally and absolutely convinced that He knows best.
Satan uses half truths and half lies in his devilish tricks. Satan’s claims
seem to come true in one level. Take the example of our 1st parents
after eating of the forbidden fruit their eyes were opened and did become in
one sense like God. The fallen angels made their free choice by radically and
irrevocably rejecting God so in turn they seduce and mislead Adam & Eve. It
was through sin that humanity was afflicted by death. Because of one man’s
disobedience many were made sinners. When tempted in the Garden, Adam failed to
remain faithful to God and His commands. Jesus, the New Adam, is God’s servant
totally obedient to the Divine will. Jesus is the devil’s conqueror and takes
back the plunder. What the devil has stolen from us, Jesus has recovered for
us. Pope Benedict XVI commented about what the Lord experienced in the desert
and said that at the heart of all temptations is the act of pushing God aside
because we conceive Him as secondary. It is an act of constructing our world
with our own lights and building our own foundation and setting God aside as an
allusion. Temptations come in many varied forms but one thing is sure, it does
not invite us to directly do evil because it is too blatant and would outright
turn us off. It is very subtle and yet an act of pushing God’s commands aside
and placing the devil’s temptation as primary. If we want to remain victorious
throughout life, we have to keep Him in the center of our life and hold on to
His words which are Spirit and life. God’s ever present help can be found in
the scriptures. It's just like a soldier going to battle wearing the armor of
God. It never fails and always there to defend and protect from the snares of
the evil one. So always take up our sword which is the word of God. God's
perfect word can refresh the soul. Have you ever wondered really how it feels
to be refreshed? Whenever we take a shower or a warm bath and put on clothes
that are well fitted and comfortable it refreshes our body. It could also be
whenever we go to a place where we can unwind, relax, be away from the
tensions, stresses, noise and turmoil of the fast paced lives that we lead and
just appreciate the beauty of nature that surrounds us and the peace and quiet
it offers to our tired bodies in order to be more in touch with God's voice in
us. It is so refreshing it gives our minds and hearts a better view and
perspective of how to live our lives. The same thing with our souls, we should
always keep it clean, healthy and clothed with maximum security, protection but
comfortable enough we don't even know it's there. Like it has become fused in
us, there's nothing more right than following and obeying the law of God.
Today's psalm reading guides us on how we should go about with our lives by
always keeping in mind God's laws. None of us is perfect but through our
imperfections we can always run to God for help and guidance. He will never
refuse nor forsake us for He can only love and care for us. There are people
who have alienated themselves from God and we can’t just force them to go back.
God does not do that, it’s not how the Lord works, instead we pray and pray for
them. If we wait long enough and adhere to God’s precepts then we will finally
obtain joy in our hearts. As water prevails over the rock throughout the course
of time so does the Holy Spirit that is continuously flooding or washing over
the man’s heart. The Holy Spirit moves
in and continues to work upon us and tenderizes us. The song entitled,
"Your Words Are Spirit and Life" by Bernadette Farrell was impressed
to me. It is a beautiful song that I have always loved to sing and I just
realized that the words of this song are taken from this psalm which made me
start singing it. Well, we just have to fully discover what the words of God
can make us do. When things get out of hand we have no one to blame but
ourselves for God is surely not lacking in everything that He has given us for
our own welfare. We've got everything we need because there's nothing more that
God could and should do for us that He has not done. All we have to do is
completely trust and obey the judgments of the Lord. GOD'S LAW MAKES US LIVE A
VIRTUOUS LIFE (CCC 1803 "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever
is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there
is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these
things.") May we truly recognize the genuine and precious treasures that
we should all strive to achieve and work for which is none other than these
things spoken of in today's psalm. Amen. Hallelujah!
P S A L M
Psalm 19:2-3. 4-5
R: The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
1 [2] The heavens declare the glory of God, and the
firmament proclaims his handiwork. 2 [3] Day pours out the word to day, and
night to night imparts knowledge. (R) 3 [4] Not a word nor a discourse whose
voice is not heard; 4 [5] through all the earth their voice resounds, and to
the ends of the world, their message.
What comes to mind the moment I read today’s gospel is a
dead rat. It stinks very badly and unless we get rid of it then it is there to
stay. No matter how much we clean our house if we can not locate where the dead
rat is then we remain stinky. We have to search every crack, crevice and the
most hidden places in our home and locate where it is in order to get rid of
it. It’s just like when we do something wrong we don’t want people to know
about it and try our best to hide it. Or worse we have become calloused of our sins
that we don’t care anymore by justifying and making all kinds of excuses. There
is not much difference between the two because both are means of covering up.
The first one is the literal cover up and the other one is the figurative. As
the word itself suggests, we cover up our sins literally by not letting other
people know and figuratively when we expose ourselves to others but instead of
owning the wrong we have done we make excuses and justifications, point a
finger or divert the blame to others and not confront the real issue. We are
all guilty of it one way or another. We have to realize it literally and
figuratively and be wise rather than fools.
In the midst of a chaotic world, we should always find an inner peace
within ourselves. It is always what's inside and deep within us, that is most
important. Sometimes we get caught in the prevailing and acceptable standards
of this world we tend to be mechanical in the things we do and find our
motivations empty and meaningless. When we are driven to action and our purpose
is superficial and is just meant to create an impressive image and show off for
others to see, then we become no better than the Pharisees in today's gospel.
Jesus encourages us to be wise and not fools by going beyond the superficial and
go deeper into the heart of goodness which in turn will gain for us everything.
Amen. Hallelujah!
Luke 11:37-41
... The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you
cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder
and evil. 40 You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?
41 But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean
for you.”
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