These past few days I’ve been seeing photos of friends in
Facebook who visited the Getty
Museum Getty Museum Getty
Museum
Acts 10:25-26. 34-35. 44-48
...“In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. 35 Rather,
in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him. 44
While Peter was still speaking these things, the holy Spirit fell upon all who
were listening to the word. 45 The circumcised believers who had accompanied
Peter were astounded that the gift of the holy Spirit should have been poured
out on the Gentiles also, 46 for they could hear them speaking in tongues and
glorifying God...
Is there any other place we would like to be other than in
the loving presence of God? This, I'm sure we can and should have a straight
answer without delay. No one should ever claim that they haven't heard or known
about God since it is our prime duty to spread and make it known throughout the
whole world. There is no denying to the truth that all of us are given the
chance to know who our God is and it is also our duty and responsibility to
take part in this mission of spreading the good news and make known to everyone
to the best of our ability the saving power of God. We should consider each day
as an opportunity to know and learn more about our God. Whether it be an
ordinary or special day in our life nothing should be amiss and should be spent
in giving glory to God our Savior and Master. We can never ever deny the
greatness of our God even just by looking at the simplest part of God’s
creation like the tiniest grain of sand to the largest ocean in the world. As
in Jeremiah 5:22, “Will you not tremble before me who set the sand as limit to
the sea, as an everlasting barrier it can not pass? Its waves may toss but not
prevail, they may roar but can not pass beyond.” We ask ourselves how in the
world can a tiny grain of sand hold the vastness of the ocean in the same way
we know that we have a God whose saving power is known throughout the earth. It
is our duty to ourselves to aim for the ultimate good which is the will of God
in our lives. This is not something that we still have to search and look for.
It is already programmed in us and made known to us by the Lord. If by any
chance this is not the case especially for those people who have not heard or
known about our Lord Jesus since birth then the Lord Himself knows how to deal
with them in accordance to His Divine Wisdom and Mercy. For us who have been
blessed and endowed with the privilege of hearing and knowing about Jesus, this
is coupled with a responsibility. The principle that to those who have been given
much, much is also expected, definitely applies. We have a responsibility in
our hands to make known to everyone we meet about this vital truth that could
spell the difference between life and death. It is always for our good to attend
activities that nourish our soul. We are enlightened and inspired because of
the many good things we can learn from it. Whenever we hear words of wisdom it
could always help us make sense of the things happening around us even
suffering. It gives a feeling of special joy and gladness in every person’s heart.
If we continue to stand by the principles of God then we will come to know that
there is no truth in the saying that faith is against reason. We can truly
appreciate the relevance of the truth as explained by Pope John Paul II that
true faith come together with true reason. It is the same thing as saying that
Theology tells us that God created the world while Science tells us how God
created the world. The problem is that 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. The bible tells us that God created everything
in 7 days what we don’t know is there is an 8th day. Each day of our
life is an invitation from God to co-create with Him and could be called the 8th
day and so we may say that creation did not really end on the 7th
day. We, Catholics believe that God gave human beings reason although it
sometimes gets darkened by sin but still human reason can figure out some
things. One of the things that human beings figure out without God having to
reveal it, is that human beings need to meet 4 qualities to be deemed a human
being. The philosopher, before even Plato, Aristotle and Socrates, had this
figured out. We find it mentioned in Wisdom 8:7, the 4 virtues or qualities are
also called the hinge virtues because it is where all the other virtues or
qualities of good people would hinge. The word cardinal means hinge. The Cardinals
who surround the Pope are the doorway to the Pope. They are also the ones whom
he rely the most for advice. Everything else depends on the cardinal virtues.
(Prudence or wisdom, justice, temperance and courage or fortitude) We can also
find all the cardinal virtues, like justice which means giving each person his
or her due in the Book of Proverbs, Sirach, Ecclesiastes and all the wisdom
literature in scriptures. We all know even as kids instinctively, how important
justice is. The first thing that a kid cries out as soon as he learns how to
talk if he has brothers and sisters is “Not fair, he got more than I did” or
“You ask me to do more than what that person is doing.” This is because we have
instinctively or natively offensive justice. Each person has rights and ought
to get their due. There’s also another part of justice that we forget, that is,
we have obligations and duties to everyone. A person who is unjust is not a
good person. To be just, we need to control our passions. Temperance is a virtue
that balances and controls our passions. It is like controlling our desire for
that last piece of cake if we know that it belongs to our sister. In order to
be just, we’ve got to control our appetites. Make our appetites come into line
with justice, truth and goodness. We’ve got to have that balance in our life in
order to be a good and effective person. Temperance makes this happen. We also
have to be courageous. If we are not courageous then every time a difficulty
arises we’re going to shrink back. If there’s any danger involved in doing the
right, just and wise thing then we’re just going to crack out and find an
excuse because we’re afraid. Courage or fortitude helps us to master fear and
not let fear keep us from doing what’s right. In the same way that we want
justice to prevail always since it is very frustrating when we encounter
situations that are very unjust. We are reminded in today's psalm that we can
all be assured of the truth that the Lord rules the earth and He rules with
justice there is no doubt. We've got to take hold of the marvelous things that
God has done. Nothing else matters than the truth that we are all loved by God
and given the privilege of taking part in His great kingdom in heaven. God
revealed to us Himself in various different ways. In the gospel of Mark:
"the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God" (Mk 1:1) is summarized
by the phrase - The person of Jesus, and the gospel of Luke:"The gospel of
glory to God in high heaven and peace on earth to those on whom his favor rest
(Lk 2:14) is summarized by the phrase - Joy to the world, while the gospel of
John:"the gospel of the Word that became flesh and made his dwelling among
us and we have seen his glory" (Jn 1:14) is summarized by the phrase -
Eternal life then the gospel of Matthew is where all this happened to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet (Mt 1:22) and is written almost 55x
in this gospel and summarized by the phrase - The Coming of the Kingdom. God's
saving power is manifested in this treasury of books that have been preserved
and handed to us from generation to generation. No one can deny the fact that
to all God has been gracious and loving with no exception at all. God's
faithful love should compel us to do the best we could ever do. There was a
time when my computer got bugged down and happened to be the same time that I
heard and was touched by the homily of Fr. Joseph Magdaong in the healing mass
at St. Christopher where Hendrie who fixed my computer was serving as a member
of the choir. It had been several years since I heard about this story of a
tailor and his needle but I would never forget and always remember it
especially the perfect timing and situation when I heard it. This tailor who
was about to die spoke his last and they were these words, "Give me my key
to heaven." At first those people who were there and heard him did not
understand what he was talking about until they realized that he was asking for
his needle. In the same way we must have our own keys in heaven as we try to
examine ourselves and find out what is it in our life that can be compared to
that needle in a tailor's life or our special talents that we can offer to God.
I could still very well remember that I was on the verge of tears upon hearing
that because I immediately thought of this computer that I am using to spread
the word of God through my everyday reflections on the word of God that I write
and share to others through e mail. I am just full of gratitude and joy in my
heart for all the amazing things that God had done especially of the fact that this
computer which I consider the needle in my life remained in perfect condition
since that time on. There is a need for us to respond to God's call to each one
of us to become channels of His blessings as His power is revealed in us. We
will just run out of excuses and alibis why we should not give honor and praise
to God. There is really nowhere to go but to God and that we would have to
realize not sooner or later but right now and act on it. But we have to trust,
hope and rely on God rather than our own power. Let's face it we sometimes rely
too much on ourselves and too little on God. We are troubled about a lot of
things when sometimes there's really no cause for it. There are levels of
anxiety. Exaggerated anxiety and discouragement are one of the greatest
obstacles to holiness. There is a level of anxiety that we just have to trust
in God's Grace and Goodness. We should not disturb our inner peace not even
momentarily. Life on earth is a great struggle indeed for God's Kingdom. A lot
of things can bother and bring us down but we do not have to stay that way. We
have to exercise our minds and wills to put our confidence in God. He is the
one whom we can totally trust and depend on to save us. Our life is much about
the daily revelations of God to us through all the circumstances that surround
us which points to only one truth, He is victorious. Victory is surely in our
hands once we've made the right move and choice. Let us take our stand and know
that God's grace is sufficient for us. We will not be put to the test beyond
our strength. Things are bound to get better for as long as we hold on to God's
promises. Today's psalm, kind of remind me of this preaching about this wise
man from the East in the Old Testament (OT), he is a prophet named Balaam and
served an evil and wicked king. King Balak wanted Balaam to exact a curse upon Israel
but from his mouth came forth a blessing. He prophesied in Numbers 24:15,18
that there shall come a Star out of Jacob and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel who will dispossess Edom . A star and a scepter
signifies kingship. In parallel, it was also the 3 wise men in the New
Testament (NT) during the time of King Herod an Edomite who were looking for a
star that would direct them to the newborn King of Israel, Jesus. He is truly
our King and the fulfillment of God's promise. We are all called to respond
with gratitude to the Lord who has revealed His saving power to us. There is no
doubt that the God of the house of Israel is still the same one true
God of today. The same privilege is handed over to us as the chosen people of God , Israel
P S A L M
Psalm 98:1. 2-3. 3-4 (see 2b)
R: The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
1 Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds;...
Today’s 2nd reading reminds of this sickly old man who told
me that he has seen Jesus. He said that he had been through tough periods in
his life and those were the times that he believed he had seen Him. At that
time I never thought that I could hear something like that from him since he
said that he was raised as a kid not to believe in God but since he was nearing
the end stage of his earthly life it was very consoling to know that he started
to have thoughts about Jesus. What made this occurrence even more special was
the fact that today's 1st reading was the same message I imparted to him.
Another thing I am reminded of is the EWTN show entitled “The Journey Home”
They featured former Protestant ministers (Anglican, Presbyterian and Lutheran)
who converted and became Catholic priests. It was indeed a privilege to hear them
talking about the Catholic faith. Fr. Ray Ryland even said that just a few days
after he was ordained as a Catholic priest he shouted out loud that he is ready
to die. I was also very happy to know that one of the priests they featured was
Fr. Dwight Longenecker who happened to be the author of a book I read and loved
so much. Hearing him talk on television and having read his book gave me an
additional joy having known this priest who happens to be the author of the
Living Rosary book which has touched and moved me to a deeper understanding of
how to meditate when praying the rosary considering the fact that he used to be
a former Protestant minister who has now embraced the Catholic faith. I felt
the enormous love and mercy of God for them as they made a distinct stand to
embrace God’s love in return in the light of the Catholic faith. Our
God is a perfect and precise God. No hit and miss and trial and error kind of
thing. I am continuously amazed at how God speaks to us in a very specific way.
Unless we relate our life to the scriptures and really transform us to the
likeness of Jesus then everything that we learn will be for nothing. As we come
to believe in what we've heard, learned and witnessed about God, today's 2nd
reading poses the same challenge to fulfill the scripture passage in our lives.
I believe that there is indeed nothing more that God could have done for us
which He has not done. The greatest mystery ever known to man is the mystery of
God revealed in the flesh. Jesus was conceived for 9 months in the womb of the
Blessed Virgin Mary and became man. We are invited to contemplate on these
great and beautiful truths. There is no other name other than Jesus unto which
we are to be saved. The revelation and manifestation of God who became man must
be shown in us and cause an awakening in the personal level. Those who were
present in the Nativity of our Lord and gazed at Infant Jesus in swaddling
clothes in a manger have definitely experienced a personal awakening.
Especially the eyes of the magi or the well known scholars and scientists at
that time, they saw a baby lying in the straw but were able to grasp what their
senses failed to fathom. They offered gifts and went down on their knees to pay
homage to a God in the form of an innocent baby. They saw God and heaven here
on earth and thus paved the way also for man to be with God in heaven. The
faith of the Magi is the first fruits of the belief of the Gentiles. So that
God will be known not only to Judea and the
Jews but to the Gentiles as well. God came to save not just a few or the chosen
people but He came to save us all. No one is excluded. No other love is greater
than the love that God has for each one of us. If only we are fully aware of
this then we will all be compelled to share this great love. Let us always be
reminded of this so that our thought, word and action resounds this truth. Amen.
Hallelujah!
1 John 4:7-10
...the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son
into the world so that we might have life through him. 10 In this is love: not
that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for
our sins.
It is noteworthy that in the gospel of John, it is very rare
that Jesus gives a commandment. In today's gospel in John, He gives us this
commandment, "Remain in my love..." This love is fully given to us
but if we look carefully enough we will find that we don't deserve it. It's not
because of something good we have done and get in return. It is not based on
some kind of contract but more of a relationship. The love of the Father is the
kind of love that exists even before the world came to be. The Father loves the
world despite of its imperfection being under the power of the evil one. Thus
He sent His Son to redeem the world. The death of Jesus on the cross is what
draws the people to Him. We have to remain in God’s love which is the source
that we should constantly come to. If we keep this commandment then God will
remain in us. As we enter into the process of remaining in Jesus and move away
from sin then we'll have a joy that lasts forever. There is a temptation for us
not to follow the Lord's words and commandments. It is understandable that we
sometimes fall into the trap of sin. The temptations make us remember the nice
but fake stuff and overlook the real thing. It makes us go with opinions that
are widespread. We have to realize that God is offering us something infinitely
great. God invites us to offer ourselves to Him wholeheartedly. God is not
solitary. Jesus and the Father are one in union with the Holy Spirit. We need
to believe this with a childlike faith. What is it to be a child? It is to
believe in love and its loveliness and to believe in belief. It is to hold
infinity and eternity in the palm of our hands. A child places its hand in
yours and just follow wherever you lead. We have our fears, insecurities and
worries for a future that is planned but may never come. We must not lose sight
of the truth that we have our guardian angels always praying for us that we
must not forget what we are destined for. He sees to it that the Lord rules
over us so that God's light and life may penetrate every nook in our lives.
God's will be on earth as it is in heaven for it is no longer us who live but
Christ who lives in us. This commandment of love is repeatedly mentioned by
Jesus in Chapter 14 of John’s gospel. This is not the kind of love that the
world tries to show that is driven by passion. What the world tries to get
across is this love that is shown through the media which is commonly passions
of romance and violence. Thus people become poor in understanding this agape
love of God. The people in the world follow the passions of our desires as we
look into our history we see that these passions end up destroyed. What
survived is the passion of the love of God. The kind of Christian love that
Jesus gives us. It somehow depicts the aspect of the Blessed Trinity that we
are made in the image and likeness of God so we imitate the life of the
Trinity. When Jesus speaks and almost always He will say this, "I came not
to speak on my own words but the Father's." We are all desirous of self
expression. It is good to express one's self, whether it is right or wrong, though,
self expression is not the ultimate good. As we come to know this, we must keep
in mind that our Lord's words is one of the means of keeping the commandment.
In order for us to remain in Him as we maintain our branches attached to Him,
we must recognize the need to focus on Jesus, listen to Him as a response to
this commandment and call of love. To love Him is keeping ourselves attached to
Him. Sometimes we ask, "What about myself?" Many times we react
negatively. We sometimes have trepidations and doubt whether we can be able to
live out His commands. There is always the temptation not to follow the Lord's
words in scriptures. We misinterpret happiness that the world offers. We give in to it and get drunk by what it has
to offer. Only to find ourselves with a hangover and regret of what we have
done. When we give in to temptation and start to sin we ought to remember too
that only the nice stuff are being presented to us at that time of temptation.
We ought to realize that what it offers to us is just a spur of the moment and
fleeting joy but would never last. If we respond to Jesus' commandment and
enter into the process of moving away from sin then we will have a joy that
lasts and a peace that surpasses understanding as St. Paul says in Corinthians. We are no longer
kids who want to play with an empty decorated box rather than own a diamond.
God wants us to have the diamond which lasts forever. God is an awesome God
that all His faithful followers are blessed with His tremendous and unfailing
power and grace. This is the reality of the joy that lasts and is complete. The
gospel reminded me of the commercial about the vitamins in the Philippines .
It claims to be the best vitamins for the body because it is complete. If we
remain in God's love then we find complete joy in our hearts. Just imagine
being truly, deeply and totally in love with a person to the point of doing
everything you can to please that person. Sometimes we still end up
disappointed but in the light of God's love we will always feel complete for He
is perfect. The reality that Jesus rose
from the dead is at the heart of the reality of the gospel. It is because of
the Resurrection that we have the certainty that we are not doomed to eternal
damnation and death. We are justified and made righteous because of his
resurrection. In our life's struggles and difficulties it is always good to
know that we have a friend in Jesus who will never disappoint us. Just like any
other relationships, true friendship is put to the test and one thing I am sure
of, in Jesus we've found the perfect and loyal friend. We always have a choice.
We can be a friend or an enemy to someone whenever we choose to. But think
about it, no matter how difficult life situations may be we always have a
better choice and it is always wise to settle for the best choice. That is to
listen and follow the advice of our one true and loyal bestfriend, Jesus. God
is offering us something great and beyond our comprehensions. As in, "no
eye has seen nor ear has heard" what God has ready for those who accept
this invitation and obey this commandment of Jesus in today's gospel. God has
the right to command us because He was the one who chose us first. When God
gave up His only Son to die on the cross and Jesus obeyed unto death, even the
angels and saints could not take this incredible sacrifice of a God. Jesus, the
only Begotten Son of God, stripped Himself of this royalty and was subjected to
the most humiliating and excruciating pain. It was through this that Jesus
showed us the power of powerlessness. When we ourselves are confronted with
such situations we might as well take it as a privilege and invitation to throw
our powerlessness to God and receive the power of Jesus to lift us up. God has
poured and emptied Himself out in every possible way. This should be our
motivation. The great love of God is inexplicably incredible and wonderful. It
reaches out to all of us and all He asks of us is that we acknowledge, believe
and obey Him. Jesus said, "None of you can be my disciples unless he gives
up all his possessions." What Jesus condemns is the selfish clinging. We
need to detach from selfish clinging to things for their own sake and not for
God. We need to develop a universal surrender to God. We are sometimes ruled by
the pleasures being offered by the world. There is a condition in ourselves
that we have to achieve before we can be completely free. If we have freed
ourselves of that bondage then God can move into our lives. God does not force
His way into us. He is like light that comes in open windows. God is very well
mannered and will not interrupt. If we cling to things then we can not advance
in our relationship with God. We must work for the virtues of prudence,
fortitude, justice and temperance. If we are filled with these virtues and not
tied down to the worldly things then we become free. Once we achieve this then God will give us
anything we ask of Him. Amen. Hallelujah!
John 15:9-17
9 Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I
also love you. Remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will
remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in
his love. 11 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy
may be complete.” ... I have called you friends, because I have told you
everything I have heard from my Father. 16 It was not you who chose me, but I
who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that
whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. 17 This I command you:
love one another.”...
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