WALK ON WATER

Every time I watch the TV whether it's the local or TFC news there is always unrest and discontentment. People are rallying all over the world not only in the Philippines. There are several issues today that question the management of the respective leaders. People are fighting and badmouthing words at each other. Above all of these things we must not forget and always remember that no matter what happens we will always be God's people and that is all we need to put order in our chaotic life. We look all around us and see the sinful way the people live in society. People do not realize how destructive their way of living to the point of ruining themselves. Instead of being repentant they resort to all kinds of evil ways and thus bring to themselves an incurable wound as what Jeremiah said in today's 1st reading. Life expectancy in some places of the world has gone down to 55 to 65. This is not due to poverty but the behavior that destroy society. Statistics show that 60% of the population is being aborted in the womb. If we do not repent incurable destruction can come upon ourselves. Just like any great power that existed like, Napoleon's empire, the Roman's and the Soviet, all of them were unable to sustain any virtue in their society and thus they all perished. We can not depend on any state but we need to depend on God. If we look at the history of the world, we can see self destruction if we fail to repent and depend on God. Despite the sin God loves us. He wants us to realize this and go back to Him. Amen. Hallelujah!

Jeremiah 30:1-2, 12-15, 18-22

...For thus says the LORD: Incurable is your wound, grievous your bruise; 13 there is none to plead your cause, no remedy for your running sore, no healing for you... 22 You shall be my people, and I will be your God.

I could never forget this talk from the Lenten Retreat which was about prayer. The speaker started the talk by stating that life is a mystery. Faith is a mystery.

I. The Church professes the mystery of our faith repeatedly in the CREED. I believe in God... In these repetitions, we hope to eventually imbibe and absorb this mystery as best we can.

II.  We celebrate this mystery through the LITURGY & SACRAMENTS. In the celebration, we hope to grow in our understanding of the fullness of the Holy Trinity. The sacraments are the vessels of grace. There is something greater than this that we should come to understand. We are the vessels of grace and the sacraments serve as a reminder of this. The sacrament of matrimony depicts the love of a man and a woman with God in the center. We can only hope to have a better understanding of these mysteries as we celebrate and partake of it.

III. Morality. We live the mystery in accordance to the life of Jesus, an authentic Christian life.

IV. PRAYER. is the litmus test or yardstick of our faith. Our souls have holes that need to be filled or plugged and it is in prayer that we don't end up placing the wrong plugs that fit our souls. We develop a discerning power through prayer. The way of prayer is not a feeling but a decision. Prayer could very well be patterned after the seasons of the church. There's a part of our life when we need to die, suffer and rise and so are prayers should always be full of faith, hope and love. It prepares us to live a life of relationship. At the end of the day it's all about relationship. We might not be fully aware of this but we engage in relationships every single day of our life and they all contribute to this life of mystery we have. We just have to be careful by checking first with whom we are building a relationship with. We've got to make sure that we are progressing towards the fullness of our relationship with God. We need to remove the restrictions that we place on prayer. Though, we need to test if it's really God's Spirit. We need to keep in mind that we are in a journey to God and we are obliged to study and learn all there is to know because wrong spirit could be in the form of ignorance. I just found out that the word anti means in lieu. Satan is so envious of Jesus he wants to be Jesus and every time we do not decide for Jesus in our actions then we choose the act in lieu of Jesus and in effect become an anti-Christ. We need to be aware that whenever we are about to pray, go to church and do something good, Satan would do everything in his power to distract us. We need to cultivate our soul in order to grow. Anything that improves our relationship with God is prayer. In fact, the mere act of suddenly remembering to give a loved one a call is already a form of prayer. The way we relate to our loved ones, family, friends, relatives and the people around us could already be a form of prayer. When we are in the middle of a breath taking scenery in nature and become full of joy and awe brought about by it, it's almost like a prayer of appreciation for God's wonderful work and creation. The language of intelligence relies on rational thinking while the language of the soul appreciates beauty and makes use of images. In order to understand this more deeply we have to look at the Parable of the Seed and the Sower. This parable contains a lot of imagery to convey its message. Although the parable is about the seed and the sower, the soil is of utmost concern in this story. You know why? We are the soil. It is our soul and spirituality.  In fact the name of Adam, the first man created by God was derived from the Hebrew word Adama, which means soil.  We need to cultivate the soil, Prayer is the fuel that cultivates our soil. Prayer is God's gift. God's perfect love reaches out to us when we sin or commit mistakes. Remember when Adam & Eve fell into sin, God immediately searched for them, in Gen. 3:9, "Where are you?" Prayer is an act of raising one's mind to God. We need humility for it to be perfect. Humility comes from the word humus which means dirt. If only Adam & Eve were humble enough to admit their wrongdoings instead of point fingers at each other as in Genesis 3:11-13 ...You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!" The man replied, "The woman whom you put here with me--she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it." The LORD God then asked the woman, "Why did you do such a thing?" The woman answered, "The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it." Who knows we could have had a different story and could still be in paradise if they had instead admitted, asked for forgiveness and prayed in a posture of humility.  We have a universal call to prayer thus our yearning for God. The bronze serpent became the source of healing as they looked at the object. God allows certain objects to become a source of blessing from Him as we focus on our faith in God, our hearts can communicate better. As humans we are sometimes prone to distraction that we sometimes need visual aids/reminders to refocus our gaze on the Lord. Man is naturally in search of God. It is God who called and thirsted for us first. Prayer is a response to man's thirst for the thirst of God. It is a response of faith to a God who is reaching out to us. God gives us the Living Water that will not make us thirst anymore. Whenever we see a particular race of people, we'll know right away where they belong because of how they look, the language they speak and other peculiar things that is characteristic of them. This should also be the case with us, a people who belong to God. We should develop in us all the characteristics that will set us apart as a people of God. We should never ever doubt that God has His eyes always upon us. He is always looking out for our welfare. No matter how hard things may seem to be at present we can always count on the Lord who looks down on the earth from heaven. We can always count on God for all our needs. Let us not be discouraged by the things we see and hear but rather keep our focus on God who answers prayers. Let us keep our hope and faith in the Lord who never turns His back on those who continue and persevere in their prayers and pleas to God. God knows the perfect time for everything. It is not a matter of delaying and withholding His blessings but rather a matter of perfect timing. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 102:16-18, 19-21, 29, 22-23

R: The Lord will build up Zion again, and appear in all his glory.

The nations shall revere your name, O LORD, and all the kings of the earth your glory, 16 [17] when the LORD has rebuilt Zion and appeared in his glory; 17 [18] when he has regarded the prayer of the destitute, and not despised their prayer. (R) 18 [19] Let this be written for the generation to come, and let his future creatures praise the LORD: 19 [20] “The LORD looked down from his holy height, from heaven he beheld the earth, 20 [21] To hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die.” (R)

I have come to develop a special attachment to every gospel story that speaks of the Sea of Galilee and this started way back in the Philippines. The Sea of Galilee has taken on a deeper meaning in my life way back in 2007 when I decided to come here to the US. In Mt. 4: 18 the Sea of Galilee is where Jesus' call to the first disciples took place. It is the place where Jesus chose His Apostles and also where the apostles immediately left everything and followed Him. (Luke 5:10-11). Which reminds me too of that song entitled, "Lord, you have come" The background setting of this song is biblically based on the gospel stories of the call of Jesus to Peter and the apostles at the Sea of Galilee.  It held a special and deep meaning that touched my heart in an unexplainable way owing to the occasions and incidences that were connected and related to it. It is good to recall and look back where our own Galilees are. I can still remember very well my own sea of Galilee, should always keep in mind and never forget. As we gather all our strength and courage we, too like the disciples should never turn back and go forth to our own Galilees. I could still recall the bible story in Luke 5 entitled, "The call of Simon (later on named Peter) the Fisherman." It was way back in Feb. 4, 2007, during those times when I was discerning and weighing my decision to come here to the US with my friend Joy. This gospel reading from Luke specifically caught my attention, confirmed and gave me confidence in what I was planning to do and eventually did. Just like Peter who was skeptical at that time I was also feeling so unsure about my decisions then and this phrase really had a great impact on me back then coupled with the priest's homily that went with it. That was like many years ago now. I feel like God is reminding me again of that scene at the Sea of Galilee (also known as the Sea of Gennesaret) when I, just like Peter decided to respond to God's call in my own personal way. I have been writing and sharing about this message constantly. But I believe God in His awesome and almighty wisdom, intelligence and knowledge reveals things in stages for the benefit of our limited capacities and understanding. The series of events and daily readings became an eye opener and has given me a better understanding of all the things that have happened since. I realized it is always good to look back, recall and never forget those times in our lives when Jesus was calling us for a certain task and decided to follow and obey. As I develop in myself a broader understanding of the Call at the Sea of Galilee I also realized the need to go across it and experience a higher level of union with God.  In the gospel of Luke back then, the situation was different since the Sea of Galilee in that given bible passage was very reassuring since it gave an impression of peace and calm which was very conformed to my situation back in the Philippines before I left for the US. When I finally arrived here in the US and experience life away from my loved ones and encountering the challenges I now face I was able to relate to that gospel in Mark 4:35-41 also at the Sea of Galilee when the disciples were faced by a violent squall and big waves filling up the boat to the brink of causing it to sink. Very much unlike the gospel in Luke when Peter having obeyed and followed to put out into the deep water was rewarded with a miracle, Lk. 5:6-8 “... when they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing... and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking.” Immediately upon arriving the US I was also greeted with a lot of pleasant surprises like passing the NCLEX-RN, getting a hospital petitioner, being able to travel to the East Coast (New York, Michigan, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Chicago, Washington DC) for free and winning the grand prize in the Nurse Expo. All these experiences of the disciples in the Sea of Galilee I have noticed that I can personally relate to especially in the manner of the sequence I have encountered them. In both occasions, the disciples having followed and obeyed Jesus in both gospels of Luke and Mark came to this scenario or condition of their boats both in danger of sinking. Although both happened in the Sea of Galilee, as I look at my own life the gospel in Luke which I encountered before I left the Philippines reflected the positive and confirming things that were happening back then just as the disciples having followed and obeyed Jesus' specifically the bible passages at the Sea of Galilee in Luke 5:4-6 "Jesus said to Peter, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master we have worked hard all night and caught nothing  but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this they caught a great number of fish their nets were tearing." On the other hand the gospel in Mark which I have encountered now that I am already here in the US reflects the trials and difficulties which I can relate to the disciples response to the bidding of Jesus to cross to the other side were greeted by a not so pleasant surprise with a violent squall to the point where the boat was already filled up with water and in the brink of sinking. After having made those decisions in 2007 which eventually brought me to my present situation here in the US, I must say I can somehow relate to how the disciples felt back then. It made me realize that I have also come to a point in my sailing with Jesus in my very personal Sea of Galilee when I have also witnessed violent squalls in my life here in the US and been brought to situations to the point of sinking but have been constantly assured of God's tremendous power. I have witnessed Him pacify the turbulent winds in my life which have left me with a great calm in the midst of the storm. In today's gospel it is cited that Jesus came toward them walking on the sea and his invitation to Peter to get out of the boat and go to Him on the water which reflects the need to go beyond this call of Jesus at the seashore of Galilee. In the same way we are called to respond in our own personal way to Jesus by carefully looking at our own lives as we go through a series of stages and discover the various experiences we had which led us to accepting His call at our own Sea of Galilee, sail with Him across it, not be afraid of the storm that assail us, and even get out of our boats and start walking on water.  It may sound impossible but that is exactly what God expects us to do. We can not just remain in the security of our boats all the time we've got to gather all our courage to step out of our boats and believe that we are able to overcome anything with Jesus on our side. If we have faith and do not doubt then we are able to overcome the impossible in our lives. If we are in a middle of a very scary situation there is no reason for us to doubt that God can rescue us even though our problems are insurmountable. God wants us to continue believing and trusting in Him even in the middle of a storm in our life. If we hold on to God then nothing can shake us. There is no reason for us to be afraid. We can walk on water. Jesus is Lord and is over and above all our fears, troubles and anxieties. Amen. Hallelujah!

Matthew 14:22-36 (or Matthew 15:1-2. 10-14 )

22 Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds...During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. 27 At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” 28 Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” ...