NOBLE TASK

Is there anything more that God could have done for us that He has not done? After accepting freely, the most humiliating death on the cross more than 2000 years ago, this act of love has not lost its effect and continues to benefit us in the most amazing and unfathomable way. If only we fully accept what Paul is telling us in today's 1st reading then we are all saved. It is a consolation to know that though we are sinners God will always have mercy on us because He knows exactly what our hearts are made of and filled with. We may not be doing the right thing because we are totally unaware of the truth but God will never leave us in our ignorance. I remember one time when I attended a Catholicism Study and learned a lot of things that I thought I already know. I was shocked to find out that even though I was educated as a Catholic from Kinder to College there are still some things that I do not know of yet. Since the times are changing fast there are also other issues in the Church which are non- existent before but is now a major issue like the stem cell research and in vitro fertilization. There is really a need to update and upgrade our knowledge in our faith so that we can be truly effective in the ministry that God has appointed to us in the same way that Paul was in today’s 1st reading.

 First Letter to Timothy 1:1-2.12-14.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy, my true child in faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry.

I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief. Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

I have always been amazed of the fact that the scriptures of the Old Testament has always been spoken of as the foreshadowing of the New Testament which is the fulfillment of everything that was written. The apostles were able to connect Jesus to the scriptures in the Old Testament and became very convinced that He is indeed the Messiah and Savior of the world. The 1st reading and the Psalm reading for today were written almost 500 years apart. This is judging from the timeline of the reign of King David (1000BC) to whom the Psalms were attributed. Despite the time gap we can detect the uniformity of the messages. We live in a dynamic world and it changes so fast. They say that nowadays, whatever we hold true for now may not be the case later. It is a consolation to know that in the midst of this unsure world we still have something that we can hold on to. The words of God can stand the test of time and will remain to be true from generation to generation. There may be some negative speculations and forecasts that are being hurled right in front of us about our present situations most especially with the uncertainty and unpredictability of prevailing conditions. We need to keep this in mind, only God can keep us safe from all harm. A holy man once said this, "If we don't go to the desert we have nothing to bring in the marketplace." If we have no prayer then nothing works. We have to pray. We need to take time to be alone with God because if we don't, then we make ourselves vulnerable to the enemy. The scriptures tell us of stories based on real life experiences of holy men and women who lived at a different time and period than today. It is a consolation to know that the God of yesterday is still God of today and tomorrow. This gives us the confidence to really hold on to Him for He is living and true now and forevermore. The message of the readings tells us to turn our gaze on the inevitable which is sure to come. If we try to look at the facts of life there are very few things that we can permanently hold on to. All these things will come to pass and we will all eventually leave this world no matter how long we may have lived already, it will eventually come to an end. When that final day comes we must be found prepared and ready for the inheritance that God gives us. When we went to Las Vegas I saw that one of the shows we can watch for entertainment is a magician named Angel. I was reminded of the time when he was a guest in Oprah. He wowed the viewers and the crowd by being able to predict 5 days before the show the things that Oprah and 2 random guests from thousands of people from  the audience are going to say. He wrote in a piece of paper these three things: delicious, John and Kevin and kept them in a suitcase with a surveillance camera on for 5 days so that no one can see it or even come near it before the show. What’s very interesting was the fact that on the day of the show when Oprah was asked what word comes to her mind she answered, “delicious” and the other 2 who were chosen randomly from almost more than a thousand crowd along Michigan Ave. in Chicago. It was done by throwing a ball and whoever catches it will be the one who will be asked. The man from the crowd who got the ball was asked the name of his first pet and he answered, “John” while the woman who got the other ball was asked who was her first kiss and she answered, “ Kevin”. All of their answers matched the 3 things that he wrote 5 days in advance. It was kind of unbelievable to see something like this and couldn’t quite come up with a good explanation how it came to be. If it was just a trick he did make a good presentation because it appeared very convincing. How can a man predict in advance the things that these people are going to say? If this man who claims to have the power of prediction was able to do it all the more can a powerful God predict our future. But we must keep in mind that it’s choice not chance that determines our destiny. There is only one real failure in life that is possible and that is not to be true to the best one knows. We should always settle for best and make God our choice. For there is nothing more assuring than the fact that we have a loving God and Father who surely has our destiny secure. We must be secured in the knowledge that as children of God our Father we are heirs of His Kingdom and co-owners of this vast creation. May we find the Lord as the only treasure in our lives worth keeping. When God calls us for a task we should always be ready, willing and able to follow Him no matter what the cost. Always follow where the Lord leads us. Nothing else could be worth more than God's inheritance. Sometimes we are confronted with so many allurements that we begin to be influenced by the way the world judges things. Let us always hold fast to God's views and ideals that we may not lose sight of the path to life and our inheritance. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalms 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 11

R: You are my inheritance, O Lord.

1 Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge; 2 I say to the LORD, my Lord are you. 5 O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup, you it is who hold fast my lot. (R) 7 I bless the LORD who counsels me; even in the night my heart exhorts me. 8 I set the LORD ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed. (R) 11 You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever. (R)

The most holy and sacred woman who ever lived here on earth is Mary. We are so blessed to have her as our own mother, for Jesus shared and extended to us this noble and holy privilege. Today we celebrate the Feast of the Our Lady of Sorrows and commemorate the courage and strength of Mary in carrying out the most noble task ever known to man which she has faithfully fulfilled thus it gives us the inspiration to not grow weary in facing further trials that come our way and not despair and lose hope. The passion and death of Jesus on the cross is the ultimate pain and suffering that a human being could endure. It follows that the ultimate sorrow a mother could experience is to see her very own son subjected to such an excruciatingly painful way to die. On an afternoon of unnatural darkness she had to endure such cruel pain and agony that more than human nature could endure. Mary had to stand by and see the soldiers come and claim as their own all that was left of her dead son (John 19:24-25, Matthew 27:35). There at the foot of the cross was the little heap of Christ’s earthly belongings. They are the only heirlooms and the only souvenirs that she could have. There is the seamless tunic that she must have woven stitch by stitch with such love. There was his headdress which she had mended and his sandals which she had kept clean. And now these men were casting lots as to whose they should be as a reward and recompense for putting her son to death. We know that this world of ours is cruel, cold and heartless. But it can be kind to all men on 2 occasions, at birth and death and to be born and to die. To come into the world and to go out of it finds hospitality easily even from the world. But how was our Lord treated on those occasions? Why was it that it seemed too much just for Him to be born? It took the Almighty all His time to obtain a visible foothold of His own world. He wasn’t wanted. There was no room for Him in the inn. Though, we did hear the angels voices singing on the hillside that night but those voices soon changed. It changed into wailings of women, mothers mourning the loss of their sons in the killing of the innocents because man had been seeking God to murder Him. And at His death He wasn’t allowed to die a natural death like the rest of men. In the very prime of manhood His life was trampled out of Him as if it was something tiresome. His body was swiftly buried or else it would be polluting the air of festivity in the city (Mark 15:42, John 19:31) Mary stood at the foot of the cross as her heart was pierced with so much sorrow seeing her only Son, Jesus crucified. Only a heart full of faith, courage, strength and conviction could withstand such kind of sorrow and pain.  Mary never fainted nor faltered maintained reverence in God in that time of great sorrow and remained obedient. She is the “Stabat Mater” (Standing Mother) and such is the heart of Mary, a mother, immaculate and strong. Mary is the Lady of Sorrows for all these but we know from our faith that the pain of our Lady from that afternoon is nothing to what she endures now every time she sees a soul lose the garment of sanctifying grace for we are her children for Jesus said “Behold, your mother.”  For whenever we sin, a human being made in the image and likeness of God is brought lower than the beasts.  All the beauty is turned into hideousness. All the love turned into hatred and despair. There is only one evil in our lives and that is sin. Sin means we lose our God, the light goes out of our soul and we have become withered branches fit only to be burned in everlasting fire. We are living in a world now that says that sin doesn’t matter. That sin is only a little word in a dictionary that has long since lost its meaning. “Times have changed” we are told. Sin is the source of Mary’s greatest sorrow. May we realize that it places us in a better position with God when we know that we have the Our Lady of Sorrows, none other than our very own Blessed Mother who will always be with us, offering her cries and tears as she constantly prays for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. She is perfect enough for God to be the mother of His only Son surely she will also be for us, more than perfect as our Mother. Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us. Amen. Hallelujah!

John 19:25-27 (or Luke 7:31-35 or Luke 2:33-35)

25 Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.