...“The report I heard in my country about your deeds and your wisdom is true,” she told the king. 7 “Though I did not believe the report until I came and saw with my own eyes, I have discovered that they were not telling me the half. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report I heard. 8 Blessed are your men, blessed these servants of yours, who stand before you always and listen to your wisdom. 9 Blessed be the LORD, your God, whom it has pleased to place you on the throne of
Fr. Barry has this very strong gift of discernment because
each of us who attended his healing had the same story to say. He was able to
see and feel the inner depths of our beings and it feels good to know that God
communicates His love and concern to us through this anointed priest. These
past few years of our life, whether we admit it or not testify to the truth
that most part of it surprises us at how things fell into place. Looking back
at all of them, the people involved, how it all came to play and work out well,
we just can't deny the fact that when we pray we are getting direction from
above. In fact the schedule of all the tasks, social obligations and activities
lined up to do, no matter how unmanageable it may seem if we entrust it to God
with all our heart, mind and strength would be carried out in a way a Master
Planner does. We have an awesome God who makes all things work for good. I know
in my heart that God is always with us to build up our confidence and faith in
Him in the midst of all our trials and hardships. Whether we realize this or
not, He also make sure that when we get our share of trials we doubly get our
share of consolations from God and even more. We just have to look beyond what
this limited vision can take us. This reminds me of Miggy, my landlady's
grandson. When we brought Bernadeth home
from our bible study this incident made me look at things differently from this
little boy’s perspective. I had been to their place several times already and
all I was able to say about it is that it's a very difficult climb when walking
up to their place since it is almost like on top of a hill. It was only when
Miggy being the child that he is, was able to see things differently as we
headed home on our way down. He was able to see the very beautiful view of
what's ahead of us while up there and said that he can see miles and miles
away. Sometimes we really ought to become like little children and be more
appreciative of what we have and hold at the present moment and look ahead with
so much hope. We have to start seeing the beautiful things that are right in
front of us that we usually do not notice and even see beyond our limited point
of view instead of bragging about the things that we don't have knowing that
our security lies in a God who grants our heart's requests. God gives us
inspiration in today's psalm since He is giving us an assurance that He will
never forsake nor abandon and will continue to look after all our needs. No
matter how tough things may become for us we only have to shrug it off and step
up. Just like the story of the donkey that fell into a pit. When the people
decided that it would be too much trouble for them to get it out of there they
just decided to bury it down there. Every time people would throw dirt and sand
into the pit instead of wallowing up into self pity and despair what it did was
shrug it off and step up. Before the donkey knew it was out of the pit. The
same thing should be our attitude towards life. When somebody throws bad things
at us just shrug it off and step up. Then focus on what today’s psalm is
telling and we’ll surely get out of whatever pit we’ve fallen into. We can get
very good advice from it. Every word tells us exactly the right thing to do. It
brings forth peace and serenity in us. These come from knowing that we can rely
and depend on the words of God to do what it says it would do. Are we really
convinced that God is able to do everything for our sake? Let us ponder upon
the words of the psalm reading and try our very best to do what God wills in
our life with the conviction and belief that anything that is for God's greater
glory is in truth for our own sake and benefit. Amen. Hallelujah!
R: The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
5 Commit to
the LORD your way; trust in him, and he will act. 6 He will make justice dawn
for you like the light; bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.
(R) The mouth of the just man tells of wisdom and his tongue utters what is
right. The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps do not falter. (R) 39
The salvation of the just is from the LORD: he is their refuge in time of
distress. 40 And the LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from
the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him. (R)
We ought to be very careful in the conduct of our affairs.
We may think that we are good enough Christians and not missing on the
obligations we are all expected to fulfill. Today's gospel gives us a specific
account of the things we must avoid doing. These are things that stain our
soul. If we don't watch it, we may be going through life without realizing that
we've made a mess of our souls. We may be looking all good on the outside but
full of filth in the inside. When we leave earth we don't bring our bodies with
us. We leave them behind what we bring with us is our soul. Only God’s love can
transform us. It draws us from the gravity of sin that pulls us away from God.
The heart is the center of man. Let us make sure we render it clean all the
time so that when the time comes we can finally inherit the gift of eternal
life. As in Rev. 7:14, "These are the ones who have survived the time of
great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb. Every single
thing has been spelled out for us by Jesus in order for us not to be led
astray. We can no longer make excuses and justifications. No need to confuse
ourselves any further with the rigid rules of our faith. All we have to do is
come to Him in prayer at all times. God can make all things possible. We simply
have to decide for God who is love in all our actions. We should always trust
that God would do for us exactly what He deemed is best for all of us. Amen.
Hallelujah!
Mark 7:14-23
14 Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear
me, all of you, and understand. 15 Nothing that enters one from outside can
defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.”
...“But what comes out of a person, that is what defiles. 21 From within
people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. 23 All these evils come from
within and they defile.”
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