God's gift of forgiveness and salvation is not exclusive to
only a selected few, it is open to all. Let us broaden our perspective with
regards to this and always extend a welcoming spirit to everyone regardless of
who they are. We do not have to belong to a particular race. We have all been
qualified by God Himself. We are expected to extend this same love to our
brothers and sisters regardless of race and culture. Oftentimes we are guilty
of discriminating whenever we come in contact with people who are different so
to speak or those who do not conform to our standards. Whether we admit it or
not we are all guilty of this and we should follow Peter's example of
acknowledging God's universal love to all of us. Amen. Hallelujah!
Acts 11: 1-18
...‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane...If
then God gave them the same gift he gave to us when we came to believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?” 18 When they heard
this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, “God has then granted
life-giving repentance to the Gentiles, too.”
Only Jesus can make us whole and satisfy our soul. We should
take note of the fact that we are not just physical human beings. The moment we
leave and pass away from this world we cease to be in our physical state but
our souls live on. If at this present moment we attend to the needs of our
physical bodies we should also do the same for our souls which will pass from
this world to life eternal. There is an end to all that we hold and see right
now since we are just passing by. Our true and everlasting home belongs
with God. If our physical bodies need nourishment in this life in order to live
so does our souls. When we are in a state wherein we feel so deprived and famished,
a helping hand can go a long way. We may not totally understand the concept of
purgatory as a whole but this is what we are supposed to be to our brothers and
sisters who long to see God face to face but is yet to happen. We, the Church
Militant active and living can serve for them as a beaming light in the
darkness and a guide to the right path. Let us not neglect to pray for the
faithful departed souls of our loved ones, family and friends. Have you heard
of this very vital information about survival. Our bodies can go without food
for a long time but not without water. We can all die of dehydration faster
than starvation. Let us make sure we don't dehydrate our souls to the point of
death and exhaustion. Just like Naaman the Syrian who plunged into the water of
the Jordan River and was cleansed, we should also drink from the river of God
Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3-4
R: Athirst is my soul for the living God.
1 [2] As the hind longs for the running waters, so my soul
longs for you, O God. 2 [3] Athirst is my soul for God, the living God. When
shall I go and be hold the face of God? (R) 43: 3 Send forth your light and
your fidelity; they shall lead me on and bring me to your holy mountain, to
your dwelling-place. (R) 4 Then will I go in to the altar of God, the God of my
gladness and joy; then will I give you thanks upon the harp, O God, my God!
There is no indication that the hired hand is a bad
shepherd. Not all the money in the world could compel a man to give his life
for the sheep. Our Lord tells us that He is the Good Shepherd willing to lay
down His life for the sheep. Remember the Good Shepherd knew each sheep by
name. He loves the sheep and would die for the sheep. When our Lord went to Calvary he was going away beyond the call of duty. No one could compel or coerce any man to give
his life for others. But our Lord made it clear that no one was taking away His
life away from Him freely He was laying it down as a sacrifice of love to the
Father for you and for me. I wonder if we in our lives have learned that
lesson. There are certain demands, certain duties imposed on everyone on this
earth. The employee has to go to work every morning, spends a certain number of
hours on the job and performs certain duties as expected. It is the same with
the mother and father. They must feed and cloth their children, educate them
and treat them humanely. And so it is with the husband and wife, certain
obligations are laid to them by the fact that they are one and two in one. It
is the same with the priest, with the lawyer, doctor and student. There is
another dimension to life that we have to learn if we are going to live
radiantly on this earth. The student will never learn the meaning of education
until he goes to the library himself beyond what is demanded of him by the
professor and study and research on his own. Then will he begin to enjoy
learning in itself. The mother and the father and the children will never
become a family as such until they could go beyond what the law demands. And
the man who works would never enjoy his occupation until he stops thinking
about the paycheck. In every country and every community there are 3 kinds of
people, 1st the lawless who break the law, refuse to do their duty and have to
be taken care of with the penal system. 2nd there is the man and the woman who
are the people who do what the law demands. Everyday they are the salt of the
earth (Mt. 5:13). Last, there are the volunteers who go beyond the call of
duty. They are the backbone of every country and every community. But isn’t it
what Christianity is all about. Isn’t this what our Lord has taught us, to give
our cloak as well as our coat and to go the extra mile. Not to turn away from him
who would borrow from us. To forgive not 7x but 70x7 (Mt. 18:21-22) that same
person who does the same stupid things all the time who is indifferent and
callous who never says thank you and takes us for granted. Our Lord said if you
love those who love you what is there to that? The pagans do that. You and I
must love our enemies, do good to those who hate us and pray for those who
persecute us that we may be the child of our Father in heaven who causes the
rain to fall on the good and the bad (Mt. 5:45) and the sun to shine on the
just and the unjust. We have been tutored by the years that all the good things
and its loveliness is not of our own making. This comes only from our union
with God who lives within us. We can not be loving to our enemies, forgiving to
those who hurt us, understanding and compassionate on our own. These are all a
gift of God to us. It comes from the union with our Lord as we try to live day
after day. Who compels Mother Teresa to do the things she does. Who compels the
mother and the father to sacrifice themselves and do without so their children
can be educated, grow up and take their place in life? All of this comes from
the Lord in whom we believe lives within us. Day after monotonous day, we must
go on striving, failing, falling and beginning again. The Lord doesn’t ask us
to succeed in anything, success is His gift. What we are asked to do is to try
and to go on trying all the days of our lives. And so we pray, “Lord lift us up
of our lethargy, apathy, coldness, and indifference and make us so aware of
your love for us that we may learn to love you in return.”
It is very important that we follow the Good Shepherd so
that we don't end up in the hands of the enemy whose only goal is to steal,
slaughter and destroy. We are safe in the guiding love of Jesus as long as we consciously
follow Him. Only Jesus can satisfy our souls and make us whole. He'll give us
peace we never knew, sweet love, joy and heaven, too. These are the lyrics of a
charismatic song that I have always loved to sing. In today's gospel the
message of God is very clear, we should know and recognize the voice of God and
the path that leads to Him. Let us not allow ourselves to be led astray by the
deception of the enemy whose only aim is to steal our joy, slaughter and
destroy our peace. If we are bothered by some concerns let us always approach
and never leave the flock that our Good Shepherd cares for. In Him we are
surely safe and secure. We ought to be careful though that we do not fall for
the trap of the enemy and this world. We have to know and identify who really
is the Good Shepherd. We've got to know the difference and be very discreet in
whom we place our confidence and trust. The false shepherd exploits, feeds his
ego and makes himself the center. He takes rather than gives. These things
might be very familiar to us and might have experienced it with friends,
relatives, even institutions and groups. Instead of leading us to green pasture
we suffer in the process as we follow the hired hand. The Good Shepherd on the
contrary does not run away when danger is imminent but rather is willing to die
for the sheep. Jesus is dedicated to protect and keep us safe from the many
dangers of this world. He is willing to be betrayed, denied, humiliated and
crucified for our sake. We are like lost sheep and we need to follow Jesus all
the way to the cross in Mt.
Calvary
John 10:1-10
1 Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not
enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a
robber. 2 But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his
own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has driven out all his own, he
walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his
voice...A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that
they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
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