TIPS TO BE SUCCESSFUL

The love of God knows no limits. The song, “Hindi Kita Malilimutan” (“I will never forget you” in English) is taken from today’s 1st reading. I am a mother myself and I could not imagine forgetting my infants, (I had 2, now fully grown J) or be without tenderness for them and I couldn’t even come close to being perfect. So every time I hear it and basing from this love I have  for my sons, I just can’t help feeling that gush of emotion coming from the fact that even if a mother forgets and be without tenderness for her baby, God does not forget and does not cease to love us with an immeasurable love. This also reminded me of the dream I had about my mother. It happened several years ago but it is still clearly etched in my mind. I was in a hurry to leave and she just stopped me right there and gave me a tight embrace. It was so real I could almost feel her arms around me and my arms embracing her back. Once again I felt the love and care that my mother used to shower on us when she was still living. This was somehow preempted by what my son, Allan did a week before the dream when all of a sudden he sent me a baby picture of him and his kuya (elder brother). In fact, I still have it in my Yahoo messenger and even made it my profile picture. Every time I look at it, it makes me smile and brings back pleasant memories of the times when I used to care for them when they were still very young. It was also at about the same time when I saw on Facebook Lindsay’s open declaration of her love to her dad (Kuya Babette) who was celebrating his 1^st death anniversary at that time. These related and uniform flow of events happening one after the other steadily built up or triggered feelings and emotions only a loving mother/parent and beloved child can feel. It made me even more aware of the wonderful feeling that makes the bond of a mother/parent and child bring joy to our hearts. What made this experience even more meaningful to me is the fact that this bible verse in today's 1st reading speaks of the same great love of a mother for her child. Though it may seem great and awesome enough, we are still assured of the greatest love ever known. Amen. Hallelujah!

Isaiah 49:14-15

14 Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” 15 Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.

We should not be influenced or governed by the manipulations of this world which are the easy come and quick fix deals that most people of our time subscribe to. The psalm reading is very clear in what it is telling us today. Let us choose to do things according to God’s way for He indeed gives back to everyone according to his works. What a consolation it is to know that we have a God whom we can rest our souls. There is no need to fret or worry for God is our safety, the rock of our strength. If we are secured in the love of God then there's nothing we should be afraid of. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalms 62:2-3, 6-7, 8-9

R: Rest in God alone, my soul.

1 [2] Only in God is my soul at rest; from him comes my salvation. 2 [3] He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed at all. (R) 5 [6] Only in God be at rest, my soul, for from him comes my hope. 6 [7] He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed. (R) 7 [8] With God is my safety and my glory, he is the rock of my strength; my refuge is in God. 8 [9] Trust in him at all times, O my people! Pour out your hearts before him.

Faith alone doctrine states that justification simply means being "declared righteous" We can not just be declared righteous but instead we have to be made righteous by not continuing to sin. Whenever things become complicated and difficult with the people around us because of differences in opinion and points of view all we need to do is refer to today's 2nd reading. Justification actually means being "made righteous" i.e. it entails the sanctification of his whole being (CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church) 1989, 1990, &1995) We are justified not by faith alone nor by works alone. Justification has its stages i.e. initial and progressive. Initial justification takes place at our baptism. We still have a tendency to backslide and during the hour of death is the period of intense spiritual battle over our soul. That is why we need to mature in our faith.  Certainty of salvation which states, "Once saved, always saved." tends to put off our guard if we believe in this. (1 Jn 5:13-14) We should say instead "I know I am saved, still being saved and will continue to be saved." Justification is a life long process as we can read and stated by Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:27, “No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.” Another thing I am reminded of is what my mother used to tell me, "Please all and you please none." We can not go on living our lives seeking to gain the admiration and approval of men. We are just setting ourselves for a big disappointment. We only seek to please God. Thus we can learn from Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. He tells us not to make any judgments because we do not know everything. Nothing is final until God says so. It is best that we just rely on God who knows and sees all. We may be in a difficult situation at present or at one time in our life. During this time we can never deny the fact that God sends us direction and guidance. We will never feel lost for He will surely bring all things to light and manifest it in its appointed time. Amen. Hallelujah!

1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Brothers and sisters: Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Now it is of course required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. 3 It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal; I do not even pass judgment on myself; 4 I am not conscious of anything against me, but I do not thereby stand acquitted; the one who judges me is the Lord. 5 Therefore, do not make any judgment before the appointed time, until the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will manifest the motives of our hearts, and then everyone will receive praise from God.

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? 26 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? 27 Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? 28 Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. 29 But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. 30 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? 31 So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’ 32 All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. 34 Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.