PERFECT LOVE

There are times when we reach a certain point wherein we are totally unsure of what our next move should be. All we have to do is just pray to God for guidance and light to show us the right thing to do. Although this should not be abused to the point of not assessing the situation we are in anymore or even use it as an excuse for not acting appropriately on something that should be done. Instead, this should make us follow the example in today's 1st reading when the apostles referred to scripture, convened with a group of believers, prayed and came to a decision. No matter how difficult things are right now for each one of us it will always lead us back to the truth that He is God and in control. Today we celebrate the feast of St. Matthias, the Apostle. Shortly after his election he also received the Holy Spirit along with the other apostles. He went about preaching the word of God in Capadocia and in the coasts of the Caspian Sea until he died as a martyr. Little is known about him, but it didn't matter that people know him and that we know who he was. What matters most to him is that everything about Jesus Christ became known to all. He knew that the mission and purpose of an Apostle and a Christian is not for us to be known but for Jesus to be known. St. Matthias was the one chosen to replace Judas Iscariot. Judas was chosen and consecrated by the Lord and yet he betrayed Him. We are scandalized by the fact that we sometimes see priests who stray away from the faith. We just have to continue praying for them that they will repent and not despair. Judas repented too but he despaired when he hanged himself to die. The key to being a true apostle of Christ is to stay and follow the Lord all throughout. We need to share in the certainty of the faith of the apostles. To be a witness of Christ risen from the dead. One of the words of Pope Benedict XVI about the apostles said that there are traitors of Christians and Judases in the Church but it is up to all of us to counter balance the evil done by them with our true witness of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Hallelujah!

Acts 1:15-17. 20-26

15 Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers (there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons in the one place). He said, 16 “My brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand through the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He was numbered among us and was allotted a share in this ministry. 20 For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his encampment become desolate, and may no one dwell in it.’ And: ‘May another take his office.’ ... Then they prayed, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen... they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias...and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles.

We can never fathom the wisdom of God but we can always remain confident in the truth that His kindness is perfect and everlasting. He makes all things work for good. When we feel so helpless, miserable and alone, never ever doubt that He can't help but be the loving God that He is. God loves us so much that he will adjust to our needs and make things work for good. There is no reason for us to even doubt and hold back anything from the Lord for nothing is too difficult for Him. If we are confident of God's Providence in our lives then nothing should even make us doubt that God is able to redeem us and take us out of misery. God has made known His kindness, mercy and secures justice for all. He knows exactly what we need at the precise moment and brings forth everything in its appointed time. Furthermore, God wanted to take our transgressions as far as the east is from the west. How far is the east from the west? Only God knows. We know that the distance is unfathomable, that’s what the Lord does with our sins. How much does He loves us? We know that His love and mercy is immeasurable. There is really none like our God. And reading part of the psalm reading made me remember the song "Loving and Forgiving". He is our best bet for always and there is no one or nothing else that could or should take first place in our lives more than the Lord. Whenever we receive goodness and kindness from people we meet we are very much delighted and pleased with it. How much more would we feel if we have God's favor resting upon us. There is nothing else better compared to this. We may search long and hard but we can never really find true satisfaction and remain restless unless we have God in our life. We only have to believe in God's kindness and mercy and we will surely see it happen in our life before our very eyes. He is our refuge and strength. To whom can we go but to God alone. The world’s point of view is very contradictory to the message that God wanted us to live by.  We need to pray hard for the desire to always follow what is pleasing before the Lord and not forget that it is what really matters first and foremost. We are so blessed that we did not live during the time when Christians were being persecuted and martyred and what we are enjoying right now are already the benefits of God's marvelous work wrought by His mighty hand. This is why we should stop complaining and just keep our hope if we truly believe that we have a God and Father who is full of kindness and goodness. This reminds me of the prophet Amos. He is a prosperous herdsman/farmer, well educated and traveled. His time (746-786) was an age of prosperity but severely marked with moral decay and spiritual bankruptcy. He experienced a luxurious life, lived in the garrison city a place dominated by people of power and had all the time to study the scriptures. He lived in affluence, belonged and embraced the "clan system/wisdom" which is a guild or crusade to maintain the purity of the tradition of the temple of Jerusalem which houses the "Ark of the Covenant". He saw the evil of excess in Tekoa, he witnessed the "left" (poverty) and the "right" (wealth and affluence) side. Being himself a dresser of the sycamore tree who worked with his people, he also saw the plight and injustice that is existent during that time. His prophetic mission emerged as an offshoot of his kingly and priestly status and was able to go through all these stages making him a good "nabi" hebrew word for prophet. We, too as followers of Jesus should also go through certain stages and fulfill our call or mission to be king, priest and prophet in our own personal lives. What I learned in the bible study about the very relevant and essential Hebrew word "pescher" which means repetitious study, reading and pronunciation of the word of God is a tool to achieve this goal and always be reminded about the goodness and benefits of being a genuine, equipped and well fulfilled follower of Jesus. The God of yesterday, today and forevermore. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 103:1-2. 11-12. 19-20ab

R: The Lord has established his throne in heaven.

1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy name. 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (R) 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has he put our transgressions from us.

An All Powerful God becoming a dependent human baby on the eve of Christmas day is very overwhelming. It points to the truth that the meaning of Christmas is shocking but it is because of love. St. John of the Cross, a Carmelite said, "At the evening of this life we will be judged by love." Even Pope John Paul II in his book about the role of Christian family said that the human person's fundamental and innate vocation is to love. 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. This reminds me of a friend who asked me how I see myself in the next five years. Instead of answering his question I returned the question to him. He said that the last 5 years of his life just passed him by without anything remarkable happening to him and his family. He said that he would make sure that it would be different this time. At first we were into some business opportunity conversation but later on without me thinking about what to say I was already speaking and quoting about famous bible passages in the bible.  He appeared to be listening and holding on to every word I said as if he was ready to ask for more. Indeed the word of God is like a double edged sword which cuts through deep into your soul. It all ended with my invitation for him and his family to attend one of our local feasts or prayer meetings being held in West Covina and my fervent hope and prayer that he will respond to it positively. It’s my way of extending God’s love to him and his family and the choice is his to make. Amen. Hallelujah!

1 John 4:11-18

We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. 17 In this is love brought to perfection among us,...There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear... 

We can not discount the fact that evil is lurking in this world and temptations never stop to assail us. Remember that Satan is the father of lies and have gone to a great extent to lure people to his malice and schemes. It is evident how we see the world has become today. We tend to change loyalty and be convinced of the intricate and elaborate strategy of the enemy. He just doesn’t take things sitting down. He is definitely at work and should never be underestimated. We already have the victory in our hands but sometimes we just let it slip by. We’ve got to learn more and more from Jesus and know who is Master of our lives. Jesus is the hallmark sign of humility. He is obedient to the Father’s plan to the point of suffering and death. It went as far as taking up the cross for our salvation. As scriptures say, “Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart.” St. Augustine said that Jesus did not say, learn from me to do wonders and miracles, heal the sick, cast out devils, raise the dead but learn of me to be meek and humble of heart. God doesn’t expect the great signs, wonders and deeds. He does expect meekness and humility from us. Meekness is the virtue that moderates anger. Humility is so powerfully a Christian virtue and not as the pagan philosophers believe it to be. It is thinking that God alone is good and the source of all goodness. He distributes His gifts to all of us and is the goodness in all that we see. From this point of view we can say that to sin is being envious of God. When we sin it means we are jealous of God. It is our will, thinking and the intellect that primarily decides.  It is the appetite of the will that keep us from the moderate striving to reach our goal. We can cross the line from being the creature and the creator and try to procreate the things that belong to God. St. Paul says, that whatever we do, we do it for the name of the Lord. We do it because He directs, guides and inspires us to do it for His honor and glory and not our own We have to be void of pride and vain glory. We must not pride and delight in ourselves of any good deed that the Lord worked through us. Rather what we own and what is truly ours is our vices and sin. Beware of the wisdom of the world to have more and more. Jesus tells us to stop running after things and be anxious about them and always speaking about them. We ought to speak of the Kingdom of God first and everything will be added unto us. St. Francis warns us of practicing religion and saying beautiful words and always be concerned of how it looks like and how it shows to other people but care little about the deed. Love is what love does. Our love must be expressed in action. The spirit of the world wants the holiness that is ours to be apparent to people for a show. The interior spirit is what we should exemplify in. We must keep our eyes focused in God and do it to a certain degree. We must be patient when we suffer and things go bad. It is part of humility as well to have patience and persevere. We should keep pressing in our minds that we grow to a greater degree in our internal life when we fall in various trials and endure anguish of soul and body. St. Francis says that, what a man is before God, that he is and nothing more. How does God see us? What we are before God is the status that we need to believe and not the values of the world. We must not measure up to world’s standards and categories, live in another person’s place and be concerned of what they think of us.  It is a consolation to know that we are protected by God at all times. Everything has already been given to us. If there are moments when we don’t feel like it then we must realize that it is a deception. We must accept correction and achieve a holy state of life. It is about time that we clear things up and finally see what we are missing all along. We are assured in today's gospel that we are protected from the evil one for as long as we are consecrated in truth. We should always have an attitude to shun away from the false values of this world and draw ourselves closer to nothing but the truth. May we always seek the truth, stay in it and live it in our lives. Amen. Hallelujah!

Jn 17:11b-19

 ...I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one...