Let us be very careful in our commitment to follow God by
not altering or obscuring the true intent of God's law. We should not look at
the 10 commandments as something that is meant to make life difficult for us
but instead be considered a perfect gift to mankind. A gift that is meant to be
valued and used as intended. It is important that we become fully aware of it
and be doers not just hearers of the word of God to maintain and sustain our
purity. We have often heard people say, "If it's nice and beautiful then
it must be good." We have to make a clear distinction of this because it's
like we're in a masquerade ball. We're in for a lot of excitement because
everyone is all dressed up in a costume and mask. Let us not be carried away
and stick to the perfect rather than the imperfect gift in disguise. The
reality of temptation is something we all experience. Its sources are the
world, the flesh and the devil. We should be aware of it and not take for
granted. It is so powerful that if it goes unchecked could lead us to sin.
Sometimes we are fooled into believing that God causes all the things that
happen in our lives even the bad ones. We are being corrected by James from
this wrong mindset and made to realize that we have a loving God who wills all
good things for us. We have our free will and thus we are responsible for our
own doing. Just like the food we eat, we must realize that everything we take
in has an effect on our bodies. The same thing applies to the sins we commit.
Though we have been forgiven our sins have physical, psychological,
socio-economical, mental and spiritual effects. These effects are what we still
battle in this world that we live. Whatever it is that we are going through
right now we must not lose hope in a God who is all good giving and from whom
every perfect gift comes. He is consistently good and never for a single moment
be other than Holy and Perfect. If such is our belief in God then we are indeed
blessed and the first fruits, in other words on top and the best of all His
creatures. To this, we should all live up to. Amen. Hallelujah!
James 1:19-26
Therefore, put away all filth and evil excess and humbly
welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls.
22 Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. 23 For if
anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at
his own face in a mirror. 24 He sees himself, then goes off and promptly
forgets what he looked like. 25 But the one who peers into the perfect law of
freedom and perseveres, and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts;
such a one shall be blessed in what he does... Religion that is pure and
undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in
their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
If we read and follow carefully these words in today’s psalm
reading then we can truly say that we’ve found the perfect advice to which we
can pattern our lives after. God relates with us in a very personal way and
precise in His timing for as long as we stand by the principles and values of God
then we can never be wrong. God knows our every thought, motive and intention
and if we act on it based on what is just, true and peaceful then we will never
be disturbed. The commandments do not limit but protect freedom. Since the more
we disobey the more we become bound and become a slave of sin. If we follow the
full extent of the 10 commandments we become free. We see people who repeatedly
commit the same mistakes over and over again. And yet they never learn anything
from the lessons that go with it. The frightening truth about this is the fact
that they prefer to be disturbed and miserable not because they love misery but
because they prefer to stay in the dark. Jesus has a standing invitation to us
in John 12:35, "Jesus said to them, "The light will be among you only
a little while. Walk while you have the light, so that darkness may not
overcome you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where he is going."
It is a choice and decision that we alone can make. 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, were 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, it 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 disobeyed God and 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 source of life. 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. This is the reason why we
call each day the 8th day of creation. We’re even becoming someone
more beautiful, mature and strong 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. If we read and
follow carefully these words in today’s psalm reading then we can truly say
that we’ve found the perfect advice to which we can pattern our lives after.
Though, we may still fall and fail we must not forget that Jesus has triumphed
over sin and death. He is victorious and is now sitting at the right hand of God
the Father. He is able to carry us through. We must always focus on this truth
in order for us to attain a life free of worry, anxiety and is never disturbed.
When everything is over and done, we look forward to God's reward of endless
worth as we emerge as the champion, crowned with the victory won by Christ and
live on the holy mountain of the Lord. 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. If we emerge
as the champion who does justice then we will live in the presence of the Lord.
Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 15:2-3a, 3bc-4ab, 5
R: Who shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.
2 He who walks blamelessly and does justice; who thinks the
truth in his heart 3 and slanders not with his tongue. (R) Who harms not his
fellow man, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor; 4 by whom the
reprobate is despised, while he honors those who fear the LORD. (R) 5 Who lends
not his money at usury and accepts no bribe against the innocent. He who does
these things shall never be disturbed.
If we will just make a journal, review and try to reflect on
it then we would be amazed at how God interconnects the thoughts and insights
that naturally arise from the daily readings. We would be able to look at
things with meaning and know that He allows things to happen to us for a
reason. He will make all things beautiful in our lives and everything is
revealed to us in His perfect time. We should always be full of hope and master
the art of waiting patiently for the Lord with complete trust in His goodness
and mercy. Today's gospel speaks of a blind man whom Jesus did not heal
instantly but was first led outside the village, placed spittle on his eyes and
laid hands for the 2nd time before his
sight was restored totally. He was also given a specific instruction to follow
after the healing took place. This means a lot of things. It is overwhelming,
the way God speaks to us in so many different ways. If He wills it then He
could instantly heal the blind man but there is a reason why Jesus chose to
heal him in various stages. The same thing in our lives, we have to go through
a process, stages or whatever you may want to call it when things don't happen
immediately or turn out the way we expected it to happen. What's most important
is that we follow the way of Jesus and faithfully obey what He is telling us to
do. Surely, just like the blind man we will definitely restore very clearly and
totally what we've lost and even more and be assured that the blessings we've
been waiting for will surely come. Amen, Hallelujah!
Holy Gospel of Jesus
Christ according to Saint Mark 8,22-26.
When they arrived at Bethsaida ,
they brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. He took the blind
man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he
laid his hands on him and asked, "Do you see anything?"
Looking up he replied, "I see people looking like trees
and walking."
Then he laid hands on his eyes a second time and he saw
clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly.
Then he sent him home and said, "Do not even go into
the village."
No comments:
Post a Comment