Saturday, April 22, 2017

DOUBTING GENERATION


What a tremendous sight it is, in today's 1st reading that even the shadow can cure a sick person. I believe that God's power and might that was displayed and made known to all during the time of Peter has not changed since then. God does not change and remain as He is throughout time and eternity. It is us who needs to change in our perception of God as time goes by for what we know of God today is never enough for who He really is. We can only strive to know more of Him and hope to love God better who is Infinite. Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Jesus, King of Divine Mercy, we trust in you. Amen. Hallelujah!


Acts 5:12-16

... they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on one or another of them. 16 A large number of people from the towns in the vicinity of Jerusalem also gathered, bringing the sick and those disturbed by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.



God is the source of all good things. Only Jesus can satisfy our souls. We should be really careful in setting our priorities. Sometimes we end up making the wrong choices and decisions in life. We end up rejecting something that should be valued and treasured more than anything else in this whole wide world. All we need to do is trust that the Lord will always take care of all our needs we need not tire ourselves to the point of exhaustion because it is better to take refuge in the Lord than resort to trusting in or own strength and others. According to Fr. Joseph Koterski a Jesuit priest and a professor in Fordham University it helps to always have GRACE. G stands for Gratitude, R for Respect, A for Account (have an accounting of the things we have done whether good or bad), C for Charting (to chart our course of action in order to see where we're going) and E to Entreat the Lord for the energy  and enthusiasm He has been giving us in this life. We need to always think of the things we are grateful for. It will help us examine our conscience and live a holy life that is fitting for a people of God. There are times when we don’t feel like saying our prayers. Whenever we feel this way but still managed to gather all our strength to still commit to our prayers then we will surely find ourselves with renewed strength to start our day right. When we master the art of praying and always drawing near to God then we become "Untouchables".  This is due to the fact that no one is like God. There is none like Him, for no one else can do as much as the Lord God Almighty and All Powerful can. We can rely on God’s goodness and build confidence on that knowing that with God on our side we are undefeated. His might knows no limits and His power is able to do wonderful things beyond our imagination. Everything fits like a key in a hole. There is only one thing that is conveyed here that God allows things to happen for a reason and everything falls into its perfect place. God's love and mercy endure forever and do not fail. We can always count on the goodness of God at all times and in all circumstances all the days of our lives. Truly knowing and proclaiming that God is Lord of all our days makes all the difference. It gives us real joy and gladness for heaven and earth will fade but His words will remain. We may not have witnessed first hand when Jesus walked and lived on earth but we can never deny witnessing to God's miracles working in our lives every day. Truly knowing and proclaiming what we are celebrating this easter season makes all the difference. It gives us real joy and gladness that never fade. We should have the confidence to joyfully shout out what the psalm tells us today.  Amen. Hallelujah!


 Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24

R: Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.

...“His mercy endures forever.” ... I was hard pressed and was falling, but the LORD helped me. 14 My strength and my courage is the LORD, and he has been my savior.



We make difficult decisions in life that some people may find hard to understand. But some things whether seen or unseen, felt or not, go beyond the concrete and tangible things in life. Jesus will stop at nothing just to make known to us everything about Him. If we meditate on His brokenness and woundedness on the cross we would find ourselves no longer postponing or delaying to believe 100 % in Jesus if we really want to be blessed. It is a natural reaction from most people who hear about someone entrusted a big inheritance to feel envious of his/her good fortune. I always hear people say that such person is so lucky. Actually, there is no sense in feeling that way if we just realize that we've all been handed down an inheritance from God through Jesus Christ. We are a people beyond lucky but truly blessed. We should realize by now that we are more than royalty because we are heirs of not just a great fortune but an imperishable, undefiled and unfading inheritance. Amen. Hallelujah!

1 Peter 1:3-9
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you 5 who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith, to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time. 6 In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, 7 so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9 as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.


The gospel today is about the story of "Doubting Thomas" which is also the story of each one of us. One time or another we can not deny that we've been like Thomas, too. We also doubted God in our own personal lives sometimes even without knowing it through our words and actions. Our experiences at times are mostly occasions that lead us to doubt. We all come to a point in our lives when our faith is greatly tested. But just like those holy and faithful souls including Father Abraham and the rest of our ancestors in the Old Testament whom the church said were in limbo before the coming of Jesus Christ, who waited and were rewarded with Heaven we, too should be hopeful that our time will come. Instead of dwelling on the negative we should realize that despite the locked doors in our lives God always stand in our midst and give His peace. We should be thankful to God for the several occasions in our life when we encountered difficulties for those were times when we discovered that God never left us. These experiences that cause fear and pain sometimes make us turn away from God and doubt Him. This is very common nowadays as we see people live their lives as if there is no God.  Today's gospel is very appropriate for the kind of generation we have right now, a doubting and unbelieving race of people who no longer believe anything without first seeing. In the encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI entitled, "Spe Salvi" we are asked to nourish our faith, hope and love through prayer,  unity of our own sufferings to that of Jesus Christ and belief in the reality of judgment. We are so blessed to have Pope Benedict XVI who was a teacher before he became pope. This present generation definitely benefited from his papacy. We must not assume that we are already good in our faith rather we must have the humility to admit that we still have a lot to learn before we can profess the words of Thomas with the same love and conviction. Amen. Hallelujah!


John 20:19-31
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” 24 Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name



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