MATTATHIAS, HENDRIE AND MORE…

In the daily readings these past few days there seems to be violence and merciless killing of those people who are faithful to God and His commands. In today's 1st reading there is a sudden shift in this trend when all of a sudden Matatthias a person with great faith in God was the one on the offensive. He took arms and even killed somebody in defense of His faith. If there's one thing impressed on my mind based on this reading that is the need to take action and be full of courage. If we are confident in God whose All Powerful and Almighty then we should reflect that in ourselves and remove all traces of fear. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves if we are unable to follow what the Lord commands us in His laws given to us through the church. If Mattathias fought hard for his faith during that severe time of trial and hardship for the people of God, all the more should we be able to stand firm in our faith at this present time when we are free to exercise our faith in God  without fearing for our lives. Mattathias eliminated the enemy of his faith and every time I encounter this bible passage it reminds me of Hendrie. I could never forget the time when he told me how critical the condition of my laptop was being in the point of crashing that could have affected my hard drive which was definitely not good news. This incident was also related to the healing mass I attended at St. Christopher officiated by Fr. Joseph Magdaong because it was at that exact day too when I turned over my laptop to Hendrie for him to fix it. This is why this sharing always go hand in hand with his homily about a tailor who is about to die. This tailor was asking his loved ones to bring before him his key to heaven. At first they were confused as to what key he is referring to but later on find out being a tailor that it was his needle that he considers his key to heaven. Throughout his lifetime it was the needle that he used to create something to give glory to God. This made me say that I consider my laptop as my key to heaven. When my laptop was assailed with very harmful viruses that rendered it unserviceable, it was Hendrie whom I thought of asking help at the time I got very scared upon finding out that the virus of my laptop was a lot worse than the one that he fixed before and could have caused irreversible damage so when he broke the good news that it's back in good shape that was when I thought of considering Hendrie as the fixer of my key to heaven and also called him Mattathias who eliminated and tore down all threats and viruses of my key to heaven.  Amen. Hallelujah!

1 Maccabees 2:15-29

15 The officers of the king in charge of enforcing the apostasy came to the city of Modein to organize the sacrifices. 16 Many of Israel joined them, but Mattathias and his sons gathered in a group apart...Mattathias answered in a loud voice: “Although all the Gentiles in the king’s realm obey him, so that each forsakes the religion of his fathers and consents to the king’s orders, 20 yet I and my sons and my kinsmen will keep to the covenant of our fathers. 21 God forbid that we should forsake the law and the commandments. 22 We will not obey the words of the king nor depart from our religion in the slightest degree.” 23 As he finished saying these words, a certain Jew came forward in the sight of all to offer sacrifice on the altar in Modein according to the king’s order. 24 When Mattathias saw him, he was filled with zeal; his heart was moved and his just fury was aroused; he sprang forward and killed him upon the altar. 25 At the same time, he also killed the messenger of the king who was forcing them to sacrifice, and he tore down the altar... 

                

God saves. There is no question about that but we have to also be diligent in fulfilling our part of the bargain. This reminds me of the vow I have made when it was impressed to me way back Oct. 7, 2007 in the reading from Book of Habakkuk 1,2-3.2,2-4. “Then the LORD answered me and said: Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; If it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.”

From then on I've been writing daily reflections that can be read by everybody and to my surprise it has become integrated in my daily activities. As time and days go by, a lot of things started to unfold before me, most especially the enormous message contained in that prophecy in Habbakuk. This has given me inspiration and joy to continue doing it. Definitely God is not asking us to resort to some extreme or out of this world act. The emphasis is on the importance of following the commandments of God and doing what we've got to do. We need not wait any longer and see any further for God wants us to start paying attention to His commandments and apply it in our very own lives in order to make a return for all the good He has done. There are times when we just have to ignore what other people may say or think and continue in the belief that we are God's people and have to be obedient in what He has asked us to do and stay loyal to Him no matter what the cost is. We've got to make things very clear for us. Sometimes we insist on doing things our way and more often than not we end up in trouble. It's about time we realize that there is no other way but the Lord's way. We get the impression that if we do one good thing for the Lord then the rest of our actions are already covered and justified. Well, that's what the enemy wants us to think so we can go on doing our own thing without much care whether is it really pleasing to God or not. Our God is perfectly and wholly good in every aspect and we can't expect Him to yield to a partly good and bad child. Because He loves us, we need to be disciplined in order for us to straighten up. There is this Catholic convert who was raised in the belief that the Catholic Church is the whore of Babylon. When he encountered for the first time listening to the Palestrina, he said that it doesn't sound like it came from hell and sounded much more like what the angels sound in heaven. When he visited for the first time, St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, he figured that the whore of Babylon could not be something this beautiful. He realized and understood that there could not be such a disconnection of what could be so beautiful and what is good and true. He could find all of these elements of goodness, beauty and truth in the Catholic church and what eventually brought him to the faith. The beauty that the faith produces is something that shines throughout more than 2000 years of the Church. We are not supposed to engage in a battle that is not destined to win at all. If we know that we are losing in the first place why pursue it? There are so many battles in life that we have to face everyday but there is no need to fight them all. It is not about us but about God. The only guarantee that we are going to win it through and through is to be sure first which side we are on and make sure that it is God's side. Let our words coincide with our work and action so that men will see and become convinced that we are God's obedient people. Sometimes we say one thing and mean something else. If we can confuse, convince and win people over to our side then we are definitely wrong if we think that we can do the same with God or even get away with it. If there's something we should be doing with our life then that is to be upright before the Lord first and foremost and everything will follow. It is not wise to gain the admiration of men at the expense of losing the approval of God. Nothing else matters more than being upright in the eyes of God. No matter how difficult things may seem to be at present we can always count on God at all times. The Lord hears our cries and supplications. He knows and sees all and He will surely make things right for us. No matter what happens to us we can always be assured of a God who will always look after us and will make sure that we are not taken advantage of. If God is for us, who can be against us? If we respond to His call and faithfully follow His precepts and be the person He has meant us to be then we are assured of His saving power. There are moments in our life when things happen to us and we feel that God is touching us in a special way. It seems so obvious that God is speaking to us in a variety of ways through our situations and circumstances. Today’s psalm reading tells us something very specific. It says that God will not just make us feel that we can somehow conclude that He is trying to communicate something to us but really show and demonstrate to the upright His saving power. There will always be times when we seem to not know where to go. No matter how difficult our situations may be, God will never leave us groping in the dark. All we have to do is to really take into serious consideration the words in today's psalm reading. The present civilization is in decline. There is so much moral decline and decay going on around us. The solution can be found in the psalm today. We have to have self discipline and will power to put a stop to the atheistic society that is on the rise. We need to become an active participant of the on going seminar for self restraint to control our appetites. To not pursue our own selfish good but the common good in order to rebuild our society and witness the saving power of God. Amen. Hallelujah!

P S A L M

Psalm 50:1b-2. 5-6. 14-15

R: To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

God the LORD has spoken and summoned the earth, from the rising of the sun to its setting. From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. R. “Gather my faithful ones before me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” And the heavens proclaim his justice; for God himself is the judge. R. “Offer to God praise as your sacrifice and fulfill your vows to the Most High; Then call upon me in time of distress;

I will rescue you, and you shall glorify me.” R.

We sometimes wonder why things happen unexpectedly in our lives like we have no clue that it's going to happen. But there are times when we could have known for sure that it certainly was headed our way but we were just too busy minding other things that it just faded in the background and we failed to recognize that very critical hour of our visitation. As stated in Companion we must not take for granted the grace of God when it is offered to us, as our refusal always will have dire consequences. We should always place God in the center of our lives. It should not be a surprise at all if we only take with great seriousness the message being conveyed to us in today's gospel. Once again I am reminded of a mentally challenged person who regularly attends Wednesday evening mass with his caregiver who happens to be a member of the choir. In spite of his mental disabilities he still managed to participate by mumbling some words as he tried to keep up with the singing in the choir and the responses all throughout the mass. Although he is unable to receive Holy Communion, he still eagerly lined up as he was given a blessing by the communion minister. I know that in God's infinite goodness and mercy, He still looks with so much love, compassion and understanding at this man. He may be mentally incapable of knowing the things going on around him during the mass but it doesn't stop God from loving him just the same. So when we are confronted with our incapacities and shortcomings let us not be hindered by it and still go to God no matter how we may look or appear before others. A mentally disabled man is free of any liability that has something to do with any exercise of the mind due to his condition but we who are mentally sound and given the full capacity of the use of our minds will have to measure up to it for us not to end up in a miserable, pitiful and weepy situation. We may end up saying that a mental retard is better off than we are if such will be the case. God is weeping for us, for there is really a need for us to answer His call and take responsibility for our actions lest we lose time and forfeit it. Amen. Hallelujah!

 Luke 19:41-44

41 As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace — but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. 44 They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”