2 Corinthians 8:1-9
...for in a severe test of affliction, the abundance of
their joy and their profound poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on
their part...to test the genuineness of your love... For you know the gracious
act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor although he was
rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
Not once did the word of God ever failed. My mother used to
say that God loves the fatherless and the widow in a very special way as if
nothing else matters. I grew up as a child constantly hearing her say this and
believing it myself as I was growing up and knowing more about the Lord. She
has greatly influenced my faith in God. I should say that wherever she may be
right now, which I feel, think and believe is in the company of God with all
His angels and saints in heaven, her memory will live on forever in my heart
and the hearts of the people whose lives she touched. According to St. Therese,
the poorer you are the more Jesus will love you. The world's point of view is
very contradictory to the beatitudes. The world chooses strength over weakness
and poverty. What seems to be foolish for the world and folly to man is wisdom
to God. Jesus is attracted to our poverty and weakness because it is where we
meet Jesus. Unlike the world who is attracted to strength and hires the
smartest and world’s greatest. We have all kinds of difficulties and struggles.
These are what drive us to Christ to cling to Him. Instead of always trying to
complain and talk about it what we do is keep our eyes on the Lord. Sometimes
He places something before us that He wants us to do. The challenge for us is
to turn to Him in our weakness and cling to Him in prayer, faith, hope, love
and abandon ourselves to Him. Let us trust God's mastery and expertise to mold
and make of us a masterpiece, a genuine work of His hands. Today’s psalm
reading mentioned the word captives which reminded me of priest’s talk on “New
Kind of War” several years ago. There are always captives in war and he
mentioned that we, Christians must be aware of the war that our adversary, the
devil is waging on us. We have a very committed and determined adversary.
Looking at the present moral condition of people here in the US he said that he is not surprised
at all at how things are turning out in the present moment since the moral
demise of a country precedes the ultimate demise. Whatever may be happening
around us and could be getting worse with each passing day, we can be assured
that God will help His friends but not His enemies. We need to know on which
side we are. It is indeed a difficult battle we are facing in our lives but we
must remember that human beings do not do well when all is well. We are
strengthened by the trials just like steel that is subjected to heat in order
to temper it. Greatness is forced on a lot of people just like what happened to
those people after the incident in the Sept. 11 tragedy. It is pushed in the
crucible of tribulation but despite of it we can be assured of the promises
stated in today psalm. We should continue to rely on our one true source of
help for only Him can satisfy our soul. God's help is all the help we need,
nothing more and nothing less. We ought to realize by now what the wisest thing
to do is not based in the standard of the world but of the Lord our God. Our
confidence and trust must rest on the Lord alone who makes all good things
possible. If we will always fill our hearts with gratitude and praise for the
Lord then we will realize how things in our life turned out for good which seem
to be not the case at the time it was happening for our God is faithful and
everything that is said in today's psalm. Our hope should only be in the Lord
for He alone keeps faith, secures justice, gives good, sets captives free,
gives sight to the blind and raises up the lowly. It is a consolation to know
and be reminded of it so as to always keep in mind that we have a God who is
everything that we ever need, want and long for.
If God is able to do all things then there is really nothing
to fear. We can always count on God to make things turn out for the best. Let
us not be dismayed or discouraged by our circumstances for He will surely
fulfill what He has promised. Amen. Hallelujah!
P S A L M
Psalm 146:1-2. 5-6ab. 6c-7. 8-9a
R: Praise the Lord, my soul!
Praise the LORD, my soul! I will praise the LORD all my
life; I will sing praise to my God while I live. (R) Blessed he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD, his God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea and
all that is in them. (R) Who keeps faith forever, 7 secures justice for the
oppressed, gives good to the hungry. The LORD sets captives free. (R) 8 The
LORD gives sight to the blind. The LORD raises up those that were bowed down;
the LORD loves the just. 9 The LORD protects strangers. (R)
GOD'S LAW MAKES US LIVE A VIRTUOUS LIFE (CCC 1803 "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
A virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do good. It
allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of
himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and
spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions. The
goal of a virtuous life is to become like God. Today’s gospel also teaches us
what Christianity is all about. Here it goes again. The mind boggling and
endless train of thoughts that follow once the faith and reason argument
ensues. Not a lot of people will agree with its recommendation and may even end
up twisting its real meaning by adding up some justifications and excuses. To
love one's enemies and be perfect just God is perfect may seem impossible. But
our God is very clear in this and if we will also be serious and really commit
to it then nothing is hard and impossible since we can do all things through
Christ who strengthens us. We need not be told dear friends since we have been
tutored by the years that all of this loveliness is not of our own making. The
ability to love our enemies and pray for those who hate us 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 and 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 compelled Mother Teresa to do the things she
did? Who compels the mothers and the fathers to sacrifice themselves and do
without so their children can be educated and 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.” Another very significant event I could associate with the
gospel today is an incident in a graduation party almost 3 years ago where all
the God's Children members were gathered together seated in a big table. There
was a very interesting conversation among us. We all actually didn't know how
it started but the topic shifted to purgatory. There was one person there who
said there is no such thing as purgatory. The Catholic Church teaches us that
all of us whether living or dead belong to the Church. The living are members
of the militant church, those in heaven are the Church triumphant and those who
are yet to enter heaven or in the so called "purgatory" are the
Church suffering. We are taught that people who have accepted Jesus as Lord and
Savior but die with unrepented sins and have not asked forgiveness are in
purgatory to be purged and made clean before facing God. It was said that God
is All Holy and Ever Bright and Shining in Perfection that just a single stain
of sin left in our soul makes us shy away from His presence. It is said that
we, ourselves would rather be purged first than stand not properly clothed of
holiness before God. This reminds me of the Parable of the Wedding Feast in
Matthew 22:11-14, "But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a
man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, 'My friend, how is
it that you came in here without a wedding garment?' But he was reduced to
silence. Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet, and
cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of
teeth.' Many are invited, but few are chosen." Although this passage
depicts being thrown in hell it is implied that we have to be properly dressed
before we face God. The only thing left when we die is our soul because our
mortal bodies are left to rot on earth and turned to dust. We have a merciful
God that is why we have purgatory. God knows that it is not easy for man to
maintain a perfect, free of stains and spotless soul at all times during our
lifetime and could still have the hope of being with God in heaven. Based on
our Catholic teachings and in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew
18:32-35, this place being spoken of here where the servant was tortured until
he was able to pay back the whole debt is like purgatory. It is written, “You
wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should
you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?' Then in
anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the
whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives
his brother from his heart." In this place he was given the chance to pay
back the whole debt unlike in the Parable of the Wedding Feast when he was
immediately thrown away in darkness. Before this story gets any longer and even
more elaborate without the main point being stressed, the emphasis lies in the
fact that we are all called, as the gospel today tells us and what I also
mentioned to the unbelieving person in purgatory, to be perfect just as our
Heavenly Father is Perfect. For the purpose of giving glory to God, it is
noteworthy to mention that this person who was so antagonistic at that time and
had already distanced herself to the Catholic faith is now back to the fold.
Amen. Hallelujah!
Matthew 5:43-48
43 Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was
said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you,
love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for
he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the
just and the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what recompense
will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your
brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? 48 So
be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
No comments:
Post a Comment