Have you ever had this feeling when you feel you ought to do
something and it turned out to be the right thing to do. It usually happens to
most of us that's why it's very important to be always attuned to God so that
we would know right away what He wants us to do.
If we get rid of all the things that bring us far away from
God then we can always feel His presence lighting, guiding and guarding our
way. It makes sense doesn't it? We are perfectly aware of our daily activities
and should know whether they bring us closer to God or not. Today's 1st reading
tells us of Philip whom the angel of the Lord spoke with and one thing led to
another. A human being came to believe and was baptized instantly. Philip was
preparing to go someplace else but suddenly found himself being led to another
place. Sometimes we wonder how we ever end up to be in a particular situation
as if the circumstances surrounding us were arranged in such a manner that
everything just fell into perfect place. This reminds me of our bus tour to San Francisco when we met this lady from Thailand . Her name is Pei and she
could hardly speak or understand a word of English that was why I was so
surprised that she kept on following and joining us (Filipino group) despite
the fact that there are other Thai people in that bus tour whom she could
easily relate with. I gathered from this experience and especially relating it
with the 1st reading today that we are just like Phillip in the reading not
just because of the close resemblance of our country's name the Philippines to
Phillip but more importantly because of the good news of God's love that we
have imparted to her with all sincerity and warmth. Though she was unable to
understand our verbal language she understood fully well the language of love
and concern that is universally known to all men. Let us continue to be
sensitive to the moving of the Holy Spirit in our life and humbly obey. Never
doubt and completely trust His judgment and leading. If we allow the Holy
Spirit to lead us through the work of God we will surely find ourselves being
held by the hand, confidently standing on the right path, safe and secure. Let
us keep God first place and He'll take us to places we never ever dreamed of.
Amen. Hallelujah!
Acts 8:26-40
26 The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, “Get up and head
south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem
to Gaza , the
desert route.” 27 So he got up and set out. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch,
a court official of the Candace, that is, the queen of the Ethiopians, in
charge of her entire treasury, who had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and was returning home.
Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 The Spirit said to
Philip, “Go and join up with that chariot.” 30 Philip ran up and heard him
reading Isaiah the prophet and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” So he invited Philip
to get in and sit with him. 32 This was the scripture passage he was reading:
“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is
silent, so he opened not his mouth. 33 In [his] humiliation justice was denied
him. Who will tell of his posterity? For his life is taken from the earth.” 34
Then the eunuch said to Philip in reply, “I beg you, about whom is the prophet
saying this? About himself, or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his
mouth and, beginning with this scripture passage, he proclaimed Jesus to him.
36 As they traveled along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch
said, “Look, there is water. What is to prevent my being baptized?” [37] 37 38
Then he ordered the chariot to stop, and Philip and the eunuch both went down
into the water, and he baptized him. 39 When they came out of the water, the
Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but
continued on his way rejoicing.
Looking back all these years at
the glorious background of our faith that has been handed to us, we can say
that we are so blessed among all of God's creation. We have been endowed with
such a great blessing beyond our comprehension. Just imagine ourselves
meeting someone who is very admirable and impressive, we can't help but be
proud and share with others our wonderful experience. That's how it is with the
apostles and even more once we've come to know God. We have to be strong and of
good courage. Each and every moment is a clear manifestation of God's
tremendous love. No words can ever be enough to describe it. Blessed is Mother
Mary for believing that what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled.
We can also come to a point when we can also sing our own
"Magnificat" and raise our hands to God in prayer and thanksgiving
for every gift He has given to us even those gifts of sorrow. God is in charge
and He will make all things work for good. We have a God who is fighting our battles
for us. God is in control. Although God will not stop every adversity but if we
stay in faith, He will see us through. He did not promise life to be smooth
sailing all the time but He definitely assured us of a safe landing. God has
already lined up the right people, right places at the right time. He has
prepared for our victory and so we should be ready for God's favor. When we went to San Francisco
we joined the bay cruise and were able to come up very close to the Golden Gate Bridge
Psalm 66:8-9, 16-17, 20
R: Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
8 Bless our God, you peoples, loudly sound his praise; 9 he
has given life to our souls, and has not let our feet slip. (R) 16 Hear now,
all you who fear God, while I declare what he has done for me. 17 When I
appealed to him in words, praise was on the tip of my tongue. (R) 20 Blessed be
God who refused me not my prayer or his kindness!
Today's gospel which speaks of the Bread of Life is one of
the most significant events I can always associate with my Christian Life
Program (CLP) experience. I have already shared this before in my previous
reflections. At around this same time in 2008, I had the chance of attending
the CLP in Pomona
sponsored by the Couples for Christ (CFC). I had an unforgettable experience
during the Baptism in the Spirit when I had a vision of the scene of the
crucifixion of Jesus in Mt.
Calvary Jerusalem
and the Sea of Galilee are only a few of these
when Jesus took bread and fish, broke it and gave to His disciples. The temptation
of Jesus in the desert to turn the stone into bread and His response based on
scripture in Deuteronomy 8:3, "Man does not live on bread alone but by
every word that comes from the mouth of God." There is a need to correct
the misunderstanding. The Old Testament mentality tells us that the brain is
not associated with thinking rather with the senses to feel, hear, see etc. It
is the marrow of the head and thinking is associated with the heart, stomach
and kidneys. Humans process thought in the internal organs as in the digestive
system. In Sirach 21, "Come to me, eat and be satisfied." Wisdom that
can be processed inside and stay within us. The word of God nourishes us more
than bread. The Old Testament prepares us to something more profound. We need
to recall these instances and the miracles especially of the multiplication of
the loaves of bread and fish. An example that could give light to this is the
concentration camps during the time of the Nazis. It was said that people who
are more focused on the word of God lasted longer than those who are physically
fit. Those who do not have the physical strength were sustained. The act of
faith is necessary in every walk of life. It could be faith in anything, in
science, logic and other things. There are so many things we can take from
faith but not everything will ultimately lead to life that removes ultimate
hunger. The physical things like riches, power and fame could lead us to
destruction. Nowadays, we see the effects of drugs, sex and other things. People
are dying from overdose, sexually transmitted diseases and more that we may not
know of. We have to refrain from things that are not necessary and take things
that God gives us. We need to cooperate by believing in Christ. They say
experience is the best teacher, and God wanted us all to learn from Him by
living it out in our own lives whatever instructions we heard from God and was
taught to us. And who could best teach us other than Jesus who experienced it
all. Accept the word of God, digest, process and be nourished. We tend to
ignore the deeper meaning and the mystery of the Holy Eucharist. It is not
simply a philosophy like the others which are great tools and help a lot but
can never sustain us. Easter invites us to reflect on these miracles of the
bread and wine in the scriptures both in the Old and New Testament and still
understand our faith today. The nature of Jesus’ death on Calvary
is a sacrifice. All Christians recognize this sacrifice as a mystery. That
Jesus offered His life on the cross as a supreme sacrifice but most Christians
don’t realize how difficult it would have been for 1st century
Jewish Christians to come to that conclusion. Why? If we were there on Calvary on Good Friday even the most devout Jewish
disciples would have been unable to describe that experience as a sacrifice
because for them there’s really nothing more to it than a Roman execution. It
took place outside of the walls of Jerusalem ,
far from the place where there were no burnt offerings, odors and no priests
and thus there is no sacrifice. And yet in one generation all Christians came
to conclude that indeed what Jesus suffered on the cross was the supreme
sacrifice. How did they reach such a conclusion? Only by looking at Good Friday
in a light of what Jesus did on Maundy Thursday. When He instituted the
Eucharist He didn’t simply celebrate the feast of the Passover He established
the Passover of the New Covenant and it was more than just words. He took bread
and said, this is my body which is given up for you and then he took the
chalice and spoke about how this blood of the new and everlasting covenant will
be poured out for the remission of sins do this in remembrance of me. Was this
just a rhetoric and ritual or is there a reality and truth to what Jesus said and
did? The proof that Jesus really gave us His body and allowed his blood to be
poured out for the remission of sins is precisely given to us there on the
cross. But the nature of Jesus’ death on the cross is illuminated as a
sacrifice only by retracing and looking at it in the light of the Passover of
the new covenant. The Eucharist and Calvary
are inseparable. There are 2 sides to
the same sacrifice. Jesus shows us that in His death He did not lose His life
for in the Eucharist He already made His life a gift of love. This love is what
conquers death and the conquest of death is what occurs on Good Friday. As
Catholics we have a lot to teach other Christians who do not understand the
mystery of the Mass.
For indeed it’s the Eucharist that illuminates the mystery of Jesus’ death as a
sacrifice just as Jesus’ death shows us that the Eucharist is more than just
mere ritual but is the mystery of Jesus high priestly act of self giving
love. We have witnessed nice things, places
and situations in our lifetime that help us to appreciate the goodness and
graciousness of God. No one in this whole wide world can ever claim that he or
she has not been given the chance of knowing our Supreme God and Creator for it
is written in the scriptures that all will be taught and come to know about
God. It is just a matter of listening well, making a decision to come to Him
and really believe. Amen. Hallelujah!
John 6:44-51
44 Jesus said to the crowds: “No one can come to me unless
the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. 45 It is
written in the prophets: ‘They shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who
listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has
seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread
of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; 50 this
is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. 51
I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will
live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the
world.”
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