PLEASE ALL AND YOU PLEASE NONE

Whenever we decide to do something we always have to ask ourselves the pros and cons of our action. It is always wise to weigh things very carefully first before we come up with anything. In doing so it is best that we consult God in everything or take in consideration the values and principles that reflect the goodness of God. If we do this constantly we will eventually develop in ourselves a consciousness or inclination to act in accordance to God's will and commands as if we are being led right into it. I could never forget the longest time and most difficult I've experienced in waiting for a bus several years ago. It was unusually cold that day. I was standing in an unsheltered and out in the open bus stop all by myself. It was very early that morning and not a very good idea to be out there. I was feeling very chilly and my teeth started to clatter. What's worst was that I can't even ask anybody because people were just coming and going in a jiffy and it looked like I was the only one there who was waiting long enough. There was this one person who seemed to have waited as long as I did and could be the right person to ask but turned out to be Spanish speaking and can't communicate in English. We barely managed with our sign languages and my very few and broken Spanish. I doubted if I ever got any information right especially when he said something in effect that the bus I was waiting for comes only every hour. I was so disheartened since the bus I was waiting for already came at the exact time it was expected to come since I was there 15 minutes beforehand. The problem was that it was not in service and it just meant that I would have to wait for another hour for the next bus to come if what I gathered from the Spanish speaking man was true. I was hoping against all hope that what he said to me wasn't true at all and if ever that was true I hoped that a bus in lieu of the one that was not in service would come. Just imagine having to wait for an hour in that very cold and windy bus stop. But something in me felt that I should just wait and see first what will happen and hoped and prayed that a bus would come any minute since I was still in doubt whether it is possible that an express bus has an hourly interval on a weekday during the early hours in the morning. Something did happen, a Filipina came and although I didn't get any valuable information from her with regards to the bus I was waiting for, the long wait was not unbearable after all, especially with a fellow Filipino whom I was able to talk to with our native language.  But it did happen too, that she had to leave ahead of me because her bus came already and I was once again left all by myself. The long wait became uncertain again when the 1 hour mark passed by and still the bus did not come. I decided to ask another lady who seemed nice just in case she might be waiting for the same bus but she said she had never ridden that bus before and not familiar with the schedule. When she asked me what the time was, that was when I realized that another half hour had passed after that 1 hour mark that the bus was supposed to come. I felt that I could not wait any longer because it was way past the schedule and could be waiting for nothing. I was already thinking aloud as I voiced out my fears to the lady, that maybe the bus is not coming anymore because there is only a specified period of time that it passes there and changes its route after such time or it is not coming at all since there is a cut off time for some bus operation hours since there was a man whom I overheard was also waiting for the same bus but realized that he was not around anymore, did not wait any longer and left already. The lady whom I was talking to could not come up with any sure answers just like myself. All these things were all coming to my mind and felt that I should just leave and go back. I was about to leave already when the lady suddenly called, waved and shouted to me that the bus I was waiting for was coming. I wondered how she was able to see and knew right away and from afar that  the bus was coming. Anyway, I finally was able to get on the bus and reach my destination, it felt really good. Sometimes we go through life in the same manner like what I had experienced when we are uncertain, undecided, easily give up, question whether we are doing the right thing or not and ask why we have to go through hardships that seem unnecessary. These difficult experiences that we encounter teach us a lot about life. Especially when we have been waiting long enough already for something we've been praying for and nothing seems to be happening and come to a point when we want to give up and just turn our backs and leave it all behind. This is how we usually feel at times after waiting for a long time for what we have been praying for but such situations should give us a new found strength and hope because God always make a way. Whatever situation we are in right now we should never doubt that God can always make things right and consider it as God's way of teaching and leading us to the right path and exactly what the 1st reading is telling us. Amen. Hallelujah!

Isaiah 48:17-19

17 Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel I, the LORD, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go. 18 If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river, and your vindication like the waves of the sea; 19 your descendants would be like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, their name never cut off or blotted out from my presence.

Today’s psalm brought back memories of what I witnessed on television in 2010 when miners in Chile had to be rescued in a mine. Nobody would ever want to be trapped in a dark mine that is 2000 feet below. What caught my attention was the fact that although some of them had been rescued and brought up to the light they were still prevented from exposing their eyes to the light and were given dark shades to wear to protect them. This is what happens when we dare to step into the darkness and stay there too long we adapt to it and wanting to go back to the light instantly could be harmful. Let us not be led into the dark and imbibe it for too long that we find it difficult to adapt to light. Until now, we have no idea who we are and still in a conflict. Look at the things we do and engage in. This is because we don’t understand who we are. We will be judged by God according to our behavior. We should have God in the core of our identity. What builds our confidence? Think about it. This same reason should apply in our relationship with God. If we know and are aware of how we look right before God, then we should have the confidence of a beloved child of the God most high. How can we not be, knowing that we are covered by the Most precious blood of His Son Jesus who took all our sins and died on the cross for our sake then we should be the most confident person of all. Remember, we have the composure of a child of God.  Nothing should stop us from behaving in the way He has meant us to be, lifted up on a pedestal as His very dear children. Today's psalm tells us that if we follow the Lord we will not be in darkness and will have the light of life. God is true to His word and we can always hold on to it more than we can hold to our life. Just like any person striving to maintain a good standing in any aspect of life there are some rules to be followed. People nowadays have become increasingly divided, there are the poor and the wealthy and sometimes we see the not so good, arrogant, bad people cheat in order to get money and get away with it. We must always have this hope in God and not be tempted by the evildoers of their taunting that despite the goodness we do we are not getting anything out of our sacrifices. God knows the private conversations and thoughts and He exposes them and records everything. The idea that we can get away with anything we do is not a good idea. God knows our words, thoughts and deeds. Fear of the Lord in a positive way is one of the greatest virtues as in the book of Wisdom. It is stated that it is the beginning of wisdom if it is paralleled with trust that we will not be put to shame. Those wicked people who think that they have a lot of money, power, disobey God and don't use their resources in accordance to God's will can be compared to chaff that can easily be burned. If we have the right relationship with God then we too can be exposed to the heat of God's love like the sun that can make things go on fire but instead of burning becomes a source of healing like the rays of light shown in a monstrance which symbolizes being in God's presence. We should never lose hope nor fall into despair. Whenever we sin, we must not just acknowledge it. The lesson we always have to remember is to have humility to approach Christ as we acknowledge our sins. This should remind us of Peter and Judas, they both sinned and acknowledged it. Peter wept bitterly after denying Jesus 3x while Judas threw away the silver coins that were paid to him. The difference lies in the fact that Peter as the scriptures say, when he wept, looked at Jesus with a heart, humble and contrite, which God would not despise and ran to Mary. While Judas, fell into despair and hanged himself. Thus we remember these things and always run to God with humility and also to Mary, the mother of Christ who will obtain for us true contrition. There is really a need for God's people to always be connected to Him in order to survive whatever is going on at present and what is to come. We've got to always keep ourselves motivated to do all in our power for the glory of God. All other things fade in the background and should not get our attentions any more than we ought to believe that God is our only hope. We may have started at the peak but as time goes by we may have started to lag or worse go on a downward path. Or could have started off but never worked our way up then it's time we get things straight and be focused so as not to lose sight of the unsurpassed and unfading trophy and blessing that await those who are victorious in the Lord. Today’s psalm continues to give us the guidelines we need to live by to truly prosper in the Lord. God assures us that even though life may bring us so many heartaches and pains we can still stand firm and hope that we will have the light of life if we will persevere, not waver nor falter in following the Lord. Let us choose to live in the light rather than stay in the dark.  God gave us the freedom to choose let us hope and pray that we are always inclined to do the will of God in our lives to carry out His plan of prosperity in our life. It has been impressed to me that God has already given us the gift, all we have to do is open it and use it as intended to serve its purpose. Sometimes we remain stubborn in our old ways we don't realize that everything is just within our reach, it's just a matter of committing and deciding what is right before God. We all know that life becomes difficult when it comes to commitments and making decisions but it will always be worth it after all the hard work as implied in the psalm reading. It doesn't matter who or what we are, whether young or grown up, God will always find a way to bless us in various ways. We just have to open ourselves to Him and always draw near to Him and never stray away from His side. The scriptures say it all. We need not hesitate, stall, delay nor look for anything else further but just follow what the scriptures tell us to do. In fact the bible has an acronym which stands for (B) Basic (I) Instructions (B) Before (L) Leaving (E) Earth. Another thing I am reminded of is my son Jude when he was just a little boy aged 6. When my mother was hospitalized I was the one taking care of her during the day and my brother who is the eldest is the one who slept in the hospital at night and stayed by her bedside. When she died we were both not by her side or no one for that matter because she was brought to a different room for removal of water in her lungs and also the time when my brother and I had changed shift. I just arrived home coming from the hospital and had no thought whatsoever that my mother already passed away. I was in complete denial of the fact that she would be leaving us soon during that time, I had always hoped for a miracle and extension of her life although my mother kept on telling us back then that she is ready to go anytime. I could never forget when I was just entering our home, my son Jude suddenly came up to me while holding a bible in his hand and opened a page in front of me with a picture of a tree beside a river and animals grazing on the land. What my son told me was this, "Nanay (Mother) let’s do a bible study." Since I was so tired, I got the bible from him closed it and told him that we'll do it later. But he was persistent he opened the bible again and lo and behold saw the same picture and page that he showed me a few seconds ago. He did it again for the 3rd time and the same page in the bible was showing up. Because of that I was prompted to finally give in to his persistence and read the bible passage underneath the picture. It was exactly the same message in today's psalm reading. After reading it something in me prompted me to say to him that her grandmother is already healed and will soon be coming home to us from the hospital. This is without knowing yet that it was the same time too when she passed away. Later on I realized that it was God's way of telling us that indeed my mother is healed and has gone home although not to our earthly house but to a place of eternal rest and perpetual light, in paradise. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6

R: Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.

1 Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, 2 but delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night. (R) 3 He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers. (R) 4 Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away. 6 For the LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes.

Please all and you please none. This is something I used to hear my mother say and she is right. Today's gospel is a classic example of how people can never be totally pleased at all no matter what we do. You know why? It is because even Jesus and John the Baptist was unable to please all. In our efforts to please people somewhere and somehow things do not work out well. We should keep in mind that it will never go as well as we wanted it to be and might end up disappointed and discouraged. We should only strive to please God. In all relationships it is also best not to expect from each other.  This is because we are imperfect. We should not expect anything from people but from God alone. We just have to do things for the glory of God and expect Him to make everything perfect in the light of His goodness and love. With all humility, we should all seek the guidance and direction of our Lord in all that we do that everything will bring glory to God alone. We have a great responsibility in our hands. We must do our best so that the Lord find our generation, fitting and worthy of His blessings. May our work become a testimony of God's grace. There is a danger that if we do not pay attention to what God is telling us and be too preoccupied by the cares of this world we might end up ignoring the wave, call and shout of the Lord to us when we are not focused on God but rather on the anxieties of life. It happens that we sometimes become totally oblivious of what's going on around us that we are caught by surprise of what is right before us and what has passed by. This reminds me again of my bus experience since it was almost like the way it happened in the gospel today when they called to one another but didn't seem to understand what they were saying to each other. If I did not mind and listen to the wave, call and shout of that lady  I should have missed the bus and end up throwing away the worth and wasting the time I have waited there for so long just for nothing. God, just like that lady who was able to see and know even from afar and right away the bus that was coming, is able to see what we are unable to see and know at the moment with our limited sight and point of view and what is about to come. We have a God who will not put us through something for nothing. Although we have been waiting long and hard for our prayers to be answered we are assured that it is all worth it. For the Lord our God does not disappoint. Amen. Hallelujah!

Matthew 11:16-19

16 Jesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, 17 ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’ 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”