Even before things happen to us we already knew. In women, they call it intuition when even before finding out or seeing it with our very own eyes we already had a hunch or clue that it is going to happen. In people who are consistently loyal to God, it may not be called intuition but it is definitely something greater that this or the so called ESP (extra sensory power). Some people may doubt or question the credibility or authenticity of some things, circumstances and events following, surrounding or accompanying our faith in God. We can just let them be and continue on just like our fathers in today's 1st reading when they knew beforehand, not perhaps or maybe but with sure knowledge. Amen. Hallelujah!
Wisdom 18:6-9
6 The night of the passover was known beforehand to our fathers, that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith, they might have courage. 7 Your people awaited the salvation of the just...
Nothing is hidden from God and everything is known to Him. It pays to always consult our plans to God in prayers and everything we intend to do we should lay down before Him and seek His approval. He will never deprive us nor withhold from us the answers that we seek. If we sometimes forget these and tend to stray away from the right path then we should always be aware that everything that we say, think and do must always have reference to God our Creator. It may have happened to most of us when we get disappointed at how we still miss something so quickly despite our close watch. We sometimes end up confused and discouraged when things don’t happen the way we expect it despite our accurate and strict monitoring. We even ask ourselves how it could have happened. We may have heard and seen some terrible and frightening things in our life but we should always hold on to the truth that no matter how horrible the things that are happening around us they don't change the fact that our Lord is God and always in charge and in control. It doesn't matter that much how we think and feel but what matters most is how to feel and think just like God. For we can always rely and depend on it, 100%, fail proof and success guaranteed. We should place our trust not in men or in things but in God alone. The Lord did not promise us to be totally problem free but He gave His assurance that He will always be our Savior and Redeemer. God's power is beyond our full comprehension. He is Holy, Mighty, Immortal and Infinitely Great. Did it ever occur to you how all these things that surround us, from the skies, to the mountains, plains, the seas, the wind, all the heavenly bodies above, the things down below, all the creatures of the earth especially us, human beings came to be. Not a single theory about creation could suffice and would ever satisfy the wonders and marvelous things that God has done. Just thinking about all these things should make us always put our hope in Him, feel confident and assured that we are safe under His care, to help us from all our problems and shield us from all harm. It is a consolation to know that we are constantly assured by God especially in today's psalm to never doubt His power and goodness. His loving eyes is always upon us not leaving us for a single moment nor removing his stare even with a wink of an eye. It feels good to know that someone's eyes are upon us and looking after us. When we come to a point of despair and feel like things are not getting better, we ought to remember always that we are God's people and we are His own. Let us ask the Lord to lead us to the right path and decisions that we may work toward the building of God’s kingdom here on earth. We should not give room to any doubt, fear, anxiety, impatience, irritability, hatred, sadness, iniquity, unfaithfulness, disloyalty, pride and loss of self control. Let us not choose to give in to these. They are all characteristics that should not be found in a people the Lord has chosen to be His own. Our present situation may not be a perfect picture yet but we should all rejoice and be glad knowing that God was the one who chose us first and He will carry us through. All we have to do is just trust that the Lord will carry out with perfection all His plans for us no matter what situations or circumstances may arise in our midst. When God created this world and everything in it including us, He did not ask permission from anybody. It means that He has chosen us to be His own and not the other way around. This is the reason why the fallen angels/demons are so jealous of men. We are indeed special in the eyes of God for it is written in Gen 1:26, "Then God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion..." We are not just chosen by God to be His own even before everything came to be but we are on top of His creation. Let us never lose sight of this wonderful plan that God has for all of us. We may not be seeing it right now, having doubts about it, not paying attention to it or unable to commit to it. Whatever it may be, these are all hindrances that prevent us from gaining access to the goodness of the Lord. Never allow ourselves to miss out on this privilege that is accorded to all of us as the children of God. God chose us first and it is only right and fitting that we choose Him too. If we always focus on the Lord and put His words in our presence at all times then we can be assured that we have a lamp unto our feet that is lighting our path. We have to entrust all our cares and worries to the Lord for He can do better things for our lives than all our works combined. No matter how hard we try to succeed in what we do if it's not in accordance to God's plan then nothing will ever come out of it. We may succeed in one aspect but we will never be totally at peace for in the end it will always be the will and plan of God that will prevail. We just have to acknowledge that we are sparing ourselves of all the trouble and heartaches if we will just be obedient and completely trust in the Lord's plan. Let us truly be wise in the real sense of the word rather than of the world and not forfeit all our benefits from the Lord. We all have our personal plans and designs and we may not be able to fully understand what is going on at the present time. It is not easy for the wisdom in the eyes of God is foolishness to the world but what's most important is that we should always consult everything to God first, just believe and surrender everything to Him for He knows best. We have to realize this one most important truth that we should all subscribe to, which is to constantly align ourselves and conform to the will and plan of God in our lives. The power of God knows no limits and we can always rely on Him for anything that we are in need. Let us rely on God's power and completely trust Him to bring to fulfillment everything that He has promised. Just like the Blessed Mother Mary, who is Queen of heaven and earth, we too are destined for victory and royalty. If only we live out the example of her obedient life and carry Jesus in our hearts. Let us not lose hope and have faith in the Master Plan and Grand Design that God has for all of us. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20, 22 (12b)
R: Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
...See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness, 19 to deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine. (R) 20 Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. 22 May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you.
Father Abraham has indeed set a good example of faith for us all to follow. It was evidenced by his willingness to go forth even without knowing where he was to go, remaining faithful in a God who is trustworthy and being rewarded with Isaac as a symbol. When we were young we just follow where our parents lead us. We ought to be like little children with hands clasped by our loving parents trusting that they will not lead us to a place of danger. This should be our attitude towards God knowing that He will not allow us to go through something without seeing us through it. Just like Abraham in today's 1st reading when he went out not knowing where he was to go but by faith he sojourned. This reminds me of Father Benedict’s homily about Isaac. He said that Isaac was very unsuspecting and very trusting. He was already being led by his own father, Abraham to his death but he still asked in the most innocent way in Genesis 22:7-8, Isaac spoke to his father Abraham. “Father!” he said. “Yes, son,” he replied. Isaac continued, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for the holocaust?” “Son,” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the sheep for the holocaust.” Then the two continued going forward. We must also develop this same kind of trust in God for us to get to where God has destined us. This is where the theory of decide vs. discover apply. We can’t say that we know everything. We only decide on what we know. Only God knows everything. In times when we are at a loss it is best to trust God to decide for us while we discover. A distinguishing mark of Christians is the fact that they have a future it is not that they know the details of what awaits them, but they know in general that their life will not end in emptiness. Only when the future is certain as a positive reality does it become possible to live the present as well. The Pope reminds us that this perspective does not mean that we live only for the future. People of hope are building up a kingdom on earth but is also on a pilgrimage to that eternal kingdom God has in store for those who follow Him. Poet Robert Browning said, “our reach must be beyond our grasp or what’s a heaven for.” Hope is a future oriented virtue. It acknowledges that there is a future awaiting us that there is much much better than the present. The virtue of hope and its orientation in the future enables us to handle present distresses and struggles in a positive way. Amen. Hallelujah!
Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
Brothers and sisters: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen...By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place...he went out, not knowing where he was to go...By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age — and Sarah herself was sterile — for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy...By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac,...He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol. All these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth, for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land from which they had come, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
God is fair and just in all His ways. We can rely on Him to carry out everything perfectly. We should be relieved in the fact that everything will come to pass in His perfect time in accordance to God's standard and not ours. In the meantime, we should always be prepared. If we don't know what to expect then we are at a loss. Jesus in today's gospel tells us that sooner or later we will all come face to face with God on our last day here on earth. No one can deny the fact that we will all die and it is something that we must not be afraid of. Instead we should all be ready for it when it comes and while we still have time. There is always hope as long as we live. Those who have prepared and acted in vigilance will never be caught unaware. Nothing beats those who are always ready and prepared. We have a responsibility in our hands and we are accountable for it. Let us do all in our power to measure up and give it our best. We sometimes get shocked at how this modern world of ours have drifted further down the pit of moral decay and got into the lure of what seemed to be the accepted and existing norms of our society. It is so difficult most especially for us trying to live the call of Jesus in our lives. It looks like wherever we go we are faced by these challenges. Sometimes we feel like people have no more room for godly talk. Just when I thought that we're running out of godly resources in our environment today's gospel suddenly reminded me of the movie, "Spiderman". I can consider the following words of Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility" a modern version of this bible passage that I have quoted below. Although we are sometimes overwhelmed by the discouraging reality of the kind of world we live in, God never runs out of occasions and circumstances to always reinforce His words which serve as guiding principles in life that can always keep us attuned and conformed to Him rather than to this present world. Although there are times when we find ourselves overwhelmed by the tasks in our hands, we should be glad and rejoice that we are continuously being entrusted with responsibilities knowing that God will not give us anything that we can not accomplish. There is a need to be really vigilant at all times. Being always on the watch and careful of our actions at all cost. We must admit that there are moments when we become out of focus but God has always been faithful in giving us reminders. We need to have the confidence and conviction that we are where we are and doing what we are doing today because God has lead us to it. If such is the case then there is no reason to be afraid for we will surely be blessed. Today we should commit ourselves to the vigilant waiting for the Lord, for in Him alone, we place our trust. Doing God's will in our lives at all times is a sure way of preparing for the 2nd coming or the return of Jesus. There were lots of predictions as to when will this day come. Sometimes we lose track of what the 2nd coming of Jesus is all about and tend to be out of focus. Instead of focusing on the end of the world or the Armageddon in which the signs of the times that accompany the 2nd coming of Christ being proclaimed like the so called earthquakes, floods, fire and hailstorms and tornadoes are already happening and rattles us by causing so much fear, anxiety and confusion it would be better if we focus more on the reality that the Kingdom of God is at hand and is here right now within our individual selves. It would help us stay in focus and more in control if we concentrate more on our personal lives and mind our very own armageddon on our last day here on earth that we should all prepare for. Each day of our life is a battle being fought for the ownership of our souls that we really have to be mindful of right now, whether we will come to see the end of the world or not and it is coming soon or later that we really don't know. One thing is sure, we will all leave this earth and die and that is the reality that we all have to face and prepare for. During my nursing student days we used to make a lot of NCPs (Nursing Care Plan) especially in our clinical rotations in different hospitals. These NCPs based on our instructor's format are composed of 5 columns namely, ADPIE which stands for A- Assessment, D- Diagnosis, P-Planning, I-Implementation and E - Evaluation. We are able to carry out our duties well and give the optimum care to patients if we can come up with priority NCPs. It's just as the name itself says, nursing care plan with its important components (ADPIE). We all need to have a good NCP not just in the hospital setting but in our daily lives. In doing so we are well prepared and ready for anything that might or is bound to come up. If we are always on the look out and well equipped then we can picture ourselves just like those servants in today's gospel, truly blessed. There is really much and still more to learn from today's gospel. Jesus has left us with a vast resource of learning to attain to the kingdom of God
Luke 12:32-48
...Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. 34 For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be...Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 35 Jesus said to his disciples: “Gird your loins and light your lamps 36 and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. 38 And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants.” 40 You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” .....Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. .....Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.
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