TAKE HIS WORD FOR IT

In today's 1st reading we would find that it is written that they are naked and not ashamed. Our sexuality is much more than just our bodies. It was after sin when they felt ashamed that they were naked. Sexuality is good. We cover our bodies not because our bodies are bad but what’s changed is our attitude.  The original meaning of sexuality was restored when Jesus came to earth and delivered us from our sins. Being free of sin renders us with no egotism, no possessiveness, no desire to dominate and without any fear and shame.  Let us pray that our egotism be healed and respond to God with faith, humility and love. The Sacrament of Matrimony is very sacred because it reflects God's desire to be in a relationship with man. This is how we should look at marriage instead of just a union between man and woman, God should be at the center. When people petition for marriage annulment cases several things are investigated, 1. whether it’s defective consent there was defective diriment impediment or a defective form. In a formal marriage annulment case usually it’s a defective consent. In such case the direction of the tribunal would like to know whether the spouse has an intention against children.  There are 4 goods of marriage and one of those goods is to have children. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1643 "Conjugal love involves a totality, in which all the elements of the person enter - appeal of the body and instinct, power of feeling and affectivity, aspiration of the spirit and of will. It aims at a deeply personal unity, a unity that, beyond union in one flesh, leads to forming one heart and soul; it demands indissolubility and faithfulness in definitive mutual giving; and it is open to fertility. In a word it is a question of the normal characteristics of all natural conjugal love, but with a new significance which not only purifies and strengthens them, but raises them to the extent of making them the expression of specifically Christian values."  The openness to children is one of the essential parts of marriage. If a party chooses marriage and somehow chooses in some way to avoid having children to frustrate the marital act to exclude children from inception through to end then that’s an invalid marriage. It’s a  great starting point for the tribunal to investigate. This is a canonical opinion from a canon lawyer and to find out whether the marriage is invalid or valid there is a need to petition a tribunal where a person resides.   No relationship in this world can last if God is not in the middle. We always have to put God in the center of everything. Amen. Hallelujah!

Genesis 2:18-24 

The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, 23 the man said: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken.” 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh. 

It is a very challenging task and we need to know how to really walk in God's ways in order to live a happy and favored life. There is only one thing needed and that is to follow the ways of the Lord. Whenever we come to a point in our lives when we encounter trials and difficulties and standing up firm in our faith in God seems to be an impossibility then all the more should we remain faithful and true to God. The psalm reading tells us exactly why. This fear being spoken of in today's psalm is the holy fear of the Lord and is different from other kinds of fear that we know. It's more of the kind of fear that is coupled with respect and is the beginning of wisdom as written in Proverbs 1:7. We have to be perfectly aware of this and strive to maintain it within ourselves so as not to lose sight of this aspect of God's Holiness. Over the years, the olive has been the symbol of peace, wisdom, glory, fertility, power and pureness. The olive tree and olives are mentioned over 30 times in the Bible, in both the New and Old Testaments. It is one of the first plants mentioned in the Bible, and one of the most significant. For example, it was an olive leaf that a dove brought back to Noah to demonstrate that the flood was over. The Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem is mentioned several times. Olive oil has long been considered sacred; it was used to anoint kings and athletes in ancient Greece. It was burnt in the sacred lamps of temples as well as being the "eternal flame" of the original Olympic Games. Victors in these games were crowned with its leaves. Today, it is still used in many religious ceremonies. Today's psalm mentions and compares children to olive plants. We have always been awed by such great affection a mother has for her child. We've seen a lot of things throughout time that attest to this. I am a mother myself and I have done things beyond my capacity because of how much I love my children.  This love of mothers for their brood grows into something very special which explains why they are referred to or likened to olive plants around the table. Let us hope and pray that the Lord will continue to look after our families. No matter how difficult this year is, for our families we have to be confident in God's assurance in today's Psalm reading. If we truly believe that we have an Extraordinary and Awesome God then we, too must be willing to take on the challenge of doing something out of the ordinary and really get out of our way to live out what God calls us to do. Nothing is ever wasted for it has always been proven throughout all generations that those who follow and obey the Lord will surely be blessed not only today but all the days of our lives. We really have to always start with the basics, keep it simple and really get down with the real stuff. We've got to take things one step at a time. We know for a fact that we humans have a tendency to make things complicated.  We know exactly why. It is because we want to make excuses, create our own rules and get away with it. God tries to make it as simple as possible for us but we just don't want it His way because we've got to have it our own way. That's when the problem starts. It is always easier said than done but we've got to take God's word for it. I like the writing on the shirts of my son, Jude and these young people when they attended the YFC (Youth for Christ) Youth Camp. It says, "It's not about me, it's all about God." It's right on target and what it is all about. For in the end and to top it all, it will all come down to us as a blessing and favor from God. Amen. Hallelujah!

P S A L M 

Psalm 128:1-2. 3. 4-5. 6

R: May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives.

1 Blessed are you who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways! 2 For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; happy shall you be, and favored. (R) 3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the recesses of your home; your children like olive plants around your table. 

God stooped down to the level of human beings and experience sufferings and death despite His Divine and Majestic nature all for the sake of God's great love for us that knows no boundaries. But we should remember always as St. Augustine said, “God who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.” Amen. Hallelujah! 

Hebrews 2:9-11

9 Brothers and sisters: He who “for a little while” was made “lower than the angels,” that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. 10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 He who consecrates and those who are being consecrated all have one origin. Therefore, he is not ashamed to call them “brothers,” 

If God said so then we should know better than to disobey. Actually this kind of thinking and belief has a tendency to make us react negatively. It's not because obeying God entails a lot of hardships and trials but in truth our human nature is inclined to rebel whenever we are being told by someone of what to do. We sometimes assert our independence in the wrong way. It would help us if we first assess the situation before we react. If somebody not trustworthy or not knowledgeable tells us something it would really benefit us if we just ignore and let the words that our left ear heard just pass through our right ear. We should be careful in dealing with other people and could really help if we lessen our interactions with them. But if our God speaks to us about something then we can never question the credibility of His words because He is a God who knows best. And if we are hoping and looking forward to a life of peace and joy we just better have to take His word for it and be like the children spoken of in the gospel today. Children have the gift to just receive and let their minds go to a place where adults don’t. They have the ability to animate things and have joy. They are always intently listening and receiving. This is the key to having access to the continuous existence of the flow of grace. If we look at the world around us and hear the news of what’s happening then we could lose hope if we listen to everything that’s going on around us. Unless we’re grounded in faith we could not survive it. We should pray that we continue to mature as  Christians. We have always come to mass and witness in the altar what priests are doing all over the world. We have to come into touch with the reality that the Holy Eucharist, the Most Blessed Sacrament is what’s redeeming the world. The world is fragile and unstable. We need to be around this table in the altar for constant infusion of God’s life and grace. This is our life, destiny and future. We need to be grounded in this truth and be able to say that we are stable in our relationship with God. We need to have a conviction in this world that the Lord is present to us in the altars of sacrifice. The Lord Himself established this act of worship that contains incredible power. We need to be grounded to our faith in the Eucharist and truly enter completely for us to be nourished and strengthened. It should not become just an act of routine. If this happens then this could be very sad and empty of its true meaning. Being grounded to the truth of the Eucharist could really change our faith and belief and therefore bring forth change in our lives. We always go to mass but our act of worship in the Eucharist table should change us for the better. We have to believe that the Lord is working in our lives whenever we come to receive the Eucharist. This should be firmly based on the stability of the truth that God is really present for us. It is like when we run in the sand and mud, we become unsteady because it is unstable, our feet can sink. We need stability in order to stand. We need a firm ground to walk on and find something to anchor ourselves to. We look at a child's heart that is fully grounded. We need to follow its example so that no matter what we see in our experiences, the trials and the tests, if we’re grounded and stable we can always surrender our life to God and live in peace. We have to be firmly grounded on the truth of the Lord's presence in the Eucharist in order for a fountain of joy and excitement to burst forth from us. This is in the knowledge that something new is going to happen each time we receive Him in the Eucharist. Let us pray that we be like children and utilize our inventive hearts so as to enter into an act of worship and believe.  We are always confronted with the greatest temptation of not entering into the act of worship and know in our hearts and minds that God is present completely in this Most Blessed Sacrament.  We have to develop this attitude that the Eucharist is indispensable and what’s most real and powerful for us. We need to be able to say that this is what matters most to us. In doing so we can make decisions that needs to be done and say, "Here I am Lord here is what I’ve done help me to be better tomorrow." Amen. Hallelujah!

Mark 10:2-16

 …People were bringing children to Jesus that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” 16 Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them.

COME TO YOUR SENSES

Today's 1st reading reminds me of this song.

When I look into Your holiness,

When I gaze into Your loveliness

When all things that surround me

Become shadows in the light of  you

When I found the joy of reaching Your heart,

When my will becomes enthroned in Your love.

When all things that surround me

Become shadows in the light of  you

I WORSHIP YOU,      I WORSHIP YOU

THE REASON I LIVE   IS TO WORSHIP YOU.

This song makes a lot of sense for our life should be a testimony of our worship to God. Amen. Hallelujah! 

Job 42: 1-3, 5-6, 12-17

1 Then Job answered the LORD and said: 2 I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be hindered. 3 I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know. 5 I had heard of you by word of mouth, but now my eye has seen you.

Another interesting event I am reminded of is one of the MI (Militia Immaculata) Meetings we had in the past  wherein we were asked to introduce ourselves briefly by saying our names, parishes where we belong and the time when we were consecrated to the Mother Mary. I can never forget the date I was consecrated (March 15, 2008) since it was the same date, but in 1995, of my mother's death anniversary but I would rather call it her birth to eternal life. It was highlighted by another significant event which was a dream I had at that same time of my aunt, Tita Edna who also passed away on the same month, March 24 in the year 1992. The dream was quite interesting and very vivid because I saw Tita Edna  riding in a van and the moment I saw her I took off immediately and ran after the van which I almost missed if I did not leap and managed to make it to the door of the van from which I almost fell. When I finally made it inside the van, I saw that she was about to eat so I offered her a hand sanitizer and saw that it made her so glad that I had it. She immediately applied it in her hands and thanked me for it. It suddenly gave me the impression that the van could be a symbol of our transportation to heaven. It is very difficult to catch that ride, we have to be always alert and vigilant we might end up missing it and worst never be able catch the ride ever again. That is, if we are too busy with other things we tend to neglect what should we be paying attention to and end up missing out on our ride and get a different ride which instead of bringing us to heaven, be brought to another destination which I guess none of us would like to be. We must always know on whose authority we are basing our actions. It will always help to examine ourselves and really be aware where our loyalty lies. Are we for God or against God or are we just for God in the superficial sense?  If we are deeply rooted in Him then we can withstand that horrible day of trial  and still find ourselves persevering in our faith. Just the thought of ending up in hell should really make us pray fervently to God.  Today's psalm teaches us the way to always be attuned to God's Spirit in order for us to truly see the word of God, as the light shining like a lamp for our feet. If we really want to be truly happy then there is just one thing we have to always do that is to always keep ourselves blameless before the Lord. We can never run away from the probing eyes of God because nothing is hidden from Him. We sometimes have this impression that our God requires impossibilities from us. We misinterpret and take things in a different way whenever we hear of rules and regulations to be followed. The decrees of our Lord are not meant to make things difficult for us nor do they burden or tie us down. This is the deception and we should start looking at it the right way. Just imagine life without God's decrees to guide us, it would be very disorderly and chaotic. It's like driving in the freeway wherein one can just go his or her own way without any regard for any traffic rules and regulations. Real freedom is the ability to follow God and being totally free of the grasp and hold of sin that brings death. Some sins bring instant death but others just like cancer slowly creep in and before we know it has already eaten us up whole.  God loves us so much that He has given us His decrees because it is in following them that we become totally free and live. The only way to true freedom is by following God's commands. In doing this we become free of the bondage of sin and live a power filled life based on the Truth. We should believe that if there is someone in and out of this world who is most reasonable, just, fair and at the same time loving, caring, slow to anger and rich in kindness that is no other than our God. One thing for sure, if He requires us something, He will definitely equip us for it because it is written, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." If we commit ourselves to following God then we will surely be blessed. Allow me to use the word "luck" or "swerte" in Tagalog in lieu of any other more appropriate word like blessed or pinagpala in Tagalog since I have always been hearing this word being used very often by some people in reference to certain situations within the broad context of this word. I just couldn't help but share it, first and foremost due to some personal circumstances. We often hear people say to another who is about to embark on something challenging, “good luck” If the word luck may have been associated with whatever negative meaning then consider it excluded from here and out of context for the mean time. Let's just say we would like to broaden the scope of our vocabulary. This is to further drive the point or message in today's psalm and is actually the catch here. This is to come up with an induction that following the law of the Lord is just as synonymous to being blessed, lucky, swerte or pinagpala or any other word that we could closely associate with this. It is not very easy to lead a life like that of the saints who followed the example of Jesus. Ignorance is not an excuse. We should always seek to enrich our knowledge about God so that we will continuously grow in our faith. Our world is ever changing with all the new technology coming up, it's so surprising that whatever is considered the latest and gold standard today may not hold true the following day. If there's one thing we should rely and hold on to in this very dynamic world of ours, then it should be something constant and enduring.  It gives us great consolation that we have a God who is true to His word. We may have heard it but we haven't learned yet. It is a lifelong journey and quest to know God better. Nothing can be more rewarding than having great peace in our lives. We can make this possible by adhering to God’s law and committing to following it in word and deed. It will always be well for us to consult the scriptures that shed light and give understanding. We've got to make sure that what we sought and yearn for, is what should bring us genuine riches, true delight and the most precious treasure which the world can not give and only God can bring about. It is only right that we follow the law of the Lord if we are really for God then our works should follow us and testify to who we really are. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 119:66, 71, 75, 91, 125, 130

R: Lord, let your face shine on me.

It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes. (R) 75 I know, O LORD, that your ordinances are just, and in your faithfulness you have afflicted me. (R) According to your ordinances they still stand firm: all things serve you. R. I am your servant; give me discernment that I may know your decrees. R. The revelation of your words sheds light, giving understanding to the simple.

We are blessed to have a line up of brilliant and anointed preachers who share their knowledge and zeal for the word of God in EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network). But there are only a few people who take on this mission of spreading the word of God because we don't fully realize this as baptized Christians, we are all sent by Christ on this mission. We should accept God's invitation and receive the word of God by living its message. We have a great responsibility in our hands and should respond to His Word for indeed the harvest is abundant but the laborers are few. The time is now to become part of this great harvest. Jesus knows exactly the kind of life we are headed to if we heed His call. What He expects from us is courage to go on and He will do the rest. Let us trust that God is truly the Good Shepherd who never abandons nor forsakes the lambs in the midst of the wolves. We, Catholics believe that God gave human beings reason although it sometimes gets darkened by sin but still human reason can figure out some things. One of the things that human beings figure out without God having to reveal it, is that human beings need to meet 4 qualities to be deemed a human being. The philosopher, before even Plato, Aristotle and Socrates, had this figured out. We find it mentioned in Wisdom 8:7, the 4 virtues or qualities are also called the hinge virtues because it is where all the other virtues or qualities of good people would hinge. The word cardinal means hinge. The Cardinals who surround the Pope are the doorway to the Pope. They are also the ones whom he rely the most for advice. Everything else depends on the cardinal virtues. (Prudence or wisdom, justice, temperance and courage or fortitude) Prudence is the ability to make right decisions in complex situations. They are decisions that lead to the best and right thing. Without this we can be in big trouble. We’ve got to be able to decide in a situation that we’re in what the right thing to do which is the best thing to do. How do we get something done? There are some folks who probably just can’t figure out what to do. There are other folks who look at the problem and they can figure out a solution. It’s a core and they execute that core. It’s practical wisdom. We’ll find in the Book of Proverbs a lot of things about wisdom even in Sirach, Ecclesiastes and all the wisdom literature in scriptures. We can also find all the other 3 cardinal virtues, like justice which means giving each person his or her due. We all know even as kids instinctively how important justice is. The first thing that a kid cries out as soon as he learns how to talk if he has brothers and sisters is “Not fair, he got more than I did” or “You ask me to do more than what that person is doing.” This is because we have instinctively or natively offensive justice. Each person has rights and ought to get their due. There’s also another part of justice that we forget, that is, we have obligations and duties to everyone. A person who is unjust is not a good person. To be just, we need to control our passions. Temperance is a virtue that balances and controls our passions. It is like controlling our desire for that last piece of cake if we know that it belongs to our sister. In order to be just, we’ve got to control our appetites. Make our appetites come into line with justice, truth and goodness. We’ve got to have that balance in our life in order to be a good and effective person. Temperance makes this happen. We also have to be courageous. If we are not courageous then every time a difficulty arises we’re going to shrink back. If there’s any danger involved in doing the right, just and wise thing then we’re just going to crack out and find an excuse because we’re afraid. Courage or fortitude helps us to master fear and not let fear keep us from doing what’s right. We’ve got have all these things but here’s the problem. When Adam & Eve decided to sin they let loose a weakness into our race and nature that impacts all of us. We call it original sin. Sin is not so original, we just copy what other people have done. There’s nothing creative about sin. Adam& Eve’s sin was the only original sin. What they did has an impact on us. By weakening their own nature, sin weakened man’s nature. They passed on to us a weakened nature. They separated themselves and the whole human race from friendship with God and were born into that. There’s a tendency in our nature to go on a downward drift, a drift off course and a tendency to a great degree is dealt with through grace. How do we get grace? Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has made possible for us, healing of our humanity. He gives us other gifts, faith, hope and charity that make it possible for us to really have wisdom, justice, temperance and courage. Without faith, hope and charity in this life, no one can really become truly wise. All throughout human history we see people who exercise these gifts. They may not be Christians, deeply spiritual people, or in a state of grace and can exercise some of these potentials here and there. But ultimately original sin means we are going to sin seriously and mess up. We need God’s grace for those 4 great virtues to be perfected. Faith, hope and charity are supernatural. These are things that human beings would never know that they need or could have without God giving them supernaturally that’s why they are called the theological virtues. We only know about them through divine revelation and we couldn’t know about them by reason. We can only have them through God’s grace. The theological virtues, faith, hope and charity are the crown of the first 4 cardinal virtues that transform and make them possible. God doesn’t want us just to be whole human beings and restore us to what Adam & Eve were when they blew it in the Garden. God wants us to be more than that. He wants to elevate our human nature and divinize it. He wants us to share in His own Divine nature. Charity is all about loving with God’s love. Loving as the 3 persons of the Holy Trinity love each other and sharing in that goes way beyond human nature. This is an incredible thing and call. It was only possible because God became man and we can share in his virtue. This is what the real Catholic life is all about. It’s not just about making it or going to heaven by the skin of your teeth after struggling. It’s about growing in holiness and becoming like Jesus all throughout our life, a champion not without struggles. As a matter of fact without the struggles we can never become a champion. It is possible with victory and excellence not with hopelessness, despair and frustration. This is God’s desire for us which is a fantastic calling. The power to do this is given to us. We are never alone because God is always with us. We should be so thankful to God for all the wonderful things He allowed us to think, feel, see and hear. Not only for the things that are visible but also the invisible. God has given us everything that we need, the love, care and protection that a child needs from a Father who loves us so much. The readings for today from the 1st, psalm to the gospel all speak of the importance of our senses. Sometimes we have this tendency to overlook these things and dwell more on the less important things. We must train our minds and hearts to know the top priority which is everything that connects us to God at all times. All we have to do is be aware that God reveals Himself in a very mysterious way that we have to continuously work for a heart and mind that is focused on the Lord, remove all distractions in our life so that He will reveal Himself to us. God is infinite and unlimited in nature and our minds can only comprehend as far as our limited brains allow. Let us seize every moment and opportunity in order to daily grow in our knowledge of the Lord. Let us all come to our senses. Once we've seen, heard, smelled, tasted, touched, felt and experienced who the Lord is in our lives then we are really blessed in the truest sense of the word. Although we can only come to the full understanding and knowledge of God when we die, we can still work our way to knowing God using the best of our abilities for it is written, if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. Have you ever experienced talking to someone but it seems that he/she is not paying attention. Let us not miss a single detail about our Lord and always be attentive to Him. If we are caught up in our own personal lives then we have a tendency to misunderstand the messages sent our way. Let us develop an attitude of total surrender to God and He in His goodness will make known to us things beyond our understanding. When we're on the phone we sometimes fail to hear what's being said to us on the other line. We can always hear this being said, Hello are you still there? It may be due to a low signal, our lack of attention and other things that disrupt the communication. We are reminded by God through the gospel to remove all hindrances and be able to hear him loud and clear. It is imperative that we heed his call and the time is now. Sometimes we end up doing things that we are not supposed to do and we get confused and that's because we are not attuned to our Life Coach, who is God and no one can lead us to the right direction only Him. We need to sharpen and make our senses very keen so that we will not miss out on anything. Some people who lack one of the senses like for example the blind people develop a keen sense of hearing, feeling and smelling. The blind have mastered well their other senses that they can hear, feel and smell the slightest sound, touch and scent that can be unnoticeable for some.  We should say from this point of view that the lack of one sense can enhance the other senses. We can also say that there are moments in our life when we have to shut out one of our senses, too. There are a lot of things being presented to us day in and out. We should know that some things are better left unsaid and ignored. In times like these we need to know exactly what we need to take in and which of our senses do we need to pay attention to and focus on in order to see and hear what the Lord is showing and telling us and be truly blessed. Amen. Hallelujah!

Luke 10:17-24

...Behold, I have given you the power ‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” At that very moment he rejoiced [in] the holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will... anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him...Turning to the disciples in private he said, Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

We don't have a straight answer to the many questions we have in life just like all these questions stated in today's 1st reading. In the same way, we sometimes do not have the answers to the things that happen to us. We may never come to a full understanding of these things. Just like Job we must keep up the faith and never question God's will in our lives anymore. Only God knows. Our consolation lies in the truth that He knows best.

There are times when we fail to stand firm in our convictions and commitments to God when the toughest gets really going. Though, God is always good and we can always rely on His ways to get us through. When we are confronted by a situation wherein we need to make a decision it may come to a point when we will falter and just like Job end up entertaining thoughts that could lead to a possibility of another option which is neither good nor bad but is not in conformity with the life statement that we have committed to God. When we finally make a decision it is good to be guided by the scripture readings. If we do, we may be surprised that things are falling in place and are being confirmed by God’s spoken word in the bible. We may be overwhelmed because of the continuous assurance and concern that God is showering us that there is no more room for doubt. God has all the answers and though we are not able to comprehend them all just like Job it is better for us to just be silent and completely trust Him. God is the beginning and the end. He is in charge in control and knows best. Amen. Hallelujah!

Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5

The LORD addressed Job out of the storm and said: 12 Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning and shown the dawn its place 13 for taking hold of the ends of the earth...Then Job answered the LORD and said: 4 Behold, I am of little account; what can I answer you? I put my hand over my mouth. 5 Though I have spoken once, I will not do so again; though twice, I will do so no more.

Technology has become so advanced nowadays that nothing remains unknown for long. With the latest in probes, sensors and the like in just one click of the computer everything is laid before us. Sometimes it just goes too far and out of bounds and we fail to conform and align all these innovations to the Author and Inventor of all these things. Let us not forget, He is the source of everything there was, is and will be. In the midst of all the trouble we're going through it is always a consolation to know that we have a God who knows every single thing that is going on with us and He cares and loves us a lot. For indeed in today's psalm reading is another confirmation that God knows our deepest thoughts and longings. We should always be aware of this undeniable truth that God's Spirit dwells in each one of us. There is no reason to doubt what today's psalm speaks about with regards to our relationship with our Creator. May we not forget and always remember who we are before the eyes of God. We can never allow our flesh, things of this world and the enemy to lure, confuse and deceive us any longer. It helps to always remember what St. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:11-13, "Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day..."  We are who we are in the eyes of God and not what the flesh, the world and the destructive enemy wants us to believe.  We are special to God, He calls each one of us by name. We should all value the special care and attention that God has given to us as His most valued among all of His creation.

This reminds me of this lady who used to ask me, "How do I look?" I would always reply, "You're beautiful." But she would say in return, "Oh you're full of baloney" and every time I would just laugh back at her. Eventually I got inspired to respond to her differently when I told her that it is not baloney but it's biblical that we are all beautiful. In fact the Tagalog translation in text message that I have received is quite funny, it goes something like this, "Kilabot sa ganda, nanginginig pa" (I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works.) which is stated right here in today's psalm. As man, we have the concupiscence or the natural inclination to the flesh, lust, greed and pride. The perfect formula for self destruction is based on this popular and well subscribed saying that goes like this, "If it feels good just do it." Pope John Paul II in his book, "Splendor of Truth" said that the power to decide what is good and evil is not within the power of man. This is clear in the book of Genesis when He forbid our 1st parents to eat of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God gave us the free will and the source of conflict came from the inability to acknowledge God as our Creator and that only Him can define morality. Man doesn't make rules of morality, we only discover it. The 10 commandments are an expression of God's love and the means to have true freedom which means the ability to do what we ought to do and not what we want to do. Catholic Morality is under attack as issues on abortion and artificial contraception have become so liberated. We should be firm in our stand not give in or budge an inch as we stand by the teachings of the Church. We should all value the special care and attention that God has given to us as His most valued among all of His creation. Our life is precious this we know is true as stated in today's psalm.  Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 139:1-3, 7-8, 9-10, 13-14ab

R: Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

1 O LORD, you have probed me and you know me; 2 you know when I sit and when I stand; you understand my thoughts from afar. 3 My journeys and my rest you scrutinize, with all my ways you are familiar. (R) Where can I go from your spirit? From your presence where can I flee? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I sink to the nether world, you are present there. R. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea, Even there your hand shall guide me, and your right hand hold me fast. R. Truly you have formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. 14 I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works.

We can surely benefit from paying attention to details at times. Or maybe there are times when we are completely aware of the details but just plain stubborn and hard headed. God gives us instructions that are very clear, the problem lies not in the things we ought to do but in us. In the 1st reading we are made aware of the consequences of our inability to fulfill our part of the covenant with God. The psalm reading further brings us to the realization that only God can bring us out of our miseries and there's nothing more sensible to do but obey God. Finally the gospel shakes us and wakes our senses to the pitfalls that we, Christians usually fall into as we fail to look into the details and really get the message whenever we are called to listen and accept Jesus in our lives. If we are to really pay close attention to the words of Jesus in today's gospel we will find that He used the word, woe which is defined as grievous distress, affliction, or trouble and is synonymous to anguish, tribulation, trial, wretchedness and melancholy. It is quite a strong word that people in the time of Jesus use to emphasize a point and get a serious message across. I guess, it applies not just to them but to us as well. It is very sad that the people in His time and nowadays do not differ much in this aspect. We've got to respond to this reality and call. Let us feast on the mighty deeds of Jesus rather than wait for something really woeful before we wake our senses up. Amen. Hallelujah! 

Luke 10:13-16 (or Matthew 18:1-5. 10)

13 Jesus said to them, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And as for you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.’ ” 16 Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” 

GO ON YOUR WAY

We should all strive to have the faith of Job especially in times of trials and difficulties. As the old saying goes, "When the tough gets going, the going gets tough!" It is only during these tough times that we can practice strength and endurance in our faith. This is all because we believe that we have a mighty vindicator in God our Savior. Amen. Hallelujah!

Job 19:21-27

...But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives, ...

Brothers and sisters, if we are confident that we are where we are supposed to be and the Lord allowed things to happen in our life the way they are happening right now then we should be still and know that God is in control. We need to understand the mysteries of our faith in order to appreciate it better. We have to go near as much as possible to the Word of God and experience it come to life and see His glory shining on us. As we go near Him we see his face and feel His love. We always have hope in the Lord who knows what's best for each one of us. There should be no doubt in our minds that He answers prayers. All we have to do is call on the Lord, trust that He hears the sound of our call and wait for Him with courage. When we get carried away by all the commotion there is a tendency that we neglect the essential and most central issue which is to always believe that we shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. There is really nothing that we should worry about if we always hold in our hearts the truth about Jesus. There may be times when we encounter disappointments and setbacks in life but this doesn't mean that God has stopped becoming the Loving God that He is, who suffered His only Begotten Son to die on the cross for our sake. Our focus should be on the truth of this love and everything that it stands for. This reminded me of a mini play staged in EWTN of a passenger waiting to be boarded on the airplane. He was the 1st and only person in the boarding area waiting patiently for his seat reservation to be called. He got surprised when someone came along and hardly ever waited when his seat number was called. He felt somehow annoyed at the idea of someone who just came and did not wait but got on the plane first although he managed to stop himself from making a scene. A lady with her young child also came and looked very excited to board the plane but he tried to warn them not to keep their hopes up too much because it would definitely take time and said that he had been waiting for a long time and came early but his number had not been called yet. To his surprise their numbers were called and happily boarded while he was once again left behind. He simply couldn't stand it anymore when a pleasant young lady came with all smiles on her face and speaking of how excited she is to board an airplane for the first time. The company of this nice lady kept her impatience at bay. She advised him to stop thinking about how the others were able to get there quickly but rather think of the joy he would have once he gets there. She assured him to just relax and make the most of his time because he has a reservation and a ticket all he needs to do is just wait. He did exactly just that and found himself at peace until the time his number was called. The same thing happens to the best of us when we are confronted with a tedious and exasperating process of waiting. We tend to lose our peace and joy and succumb to worry and doubt. If we are holding on to something that was assured to us by a trustworthy and reliable source we can put our worries to rest. Although sometimes anxiety can still find its way to our hearts and forget on whom our confidence lies.  If we remain in the Lord and put our trust in Him then there is nothing we should worry about. In life, there are 4 things which are 1. sin 2. grace 3. forgiveness 4. reconciliation that we could all learn a lot from. The 1st 3 are all a reality but #4 is only a possibility. Reconciliation calls us to true conversion. An example that fits this is a snake and caterpillar since both of them undergoes conversion. The snake sheds off its old skin but comes out the same while the caterpillar emerges into a butterfly. We have to ponder and think about setting our goals high, keeping our thoughts positive and coming up with new solutions. There is no room for fear for He is consistent to His nature as God. Let us strive to become the child He has meant us to be. Another thing we could learn something about is a puzzle. I am one person who never even thought of working on a jigsaw puzzle. I am not the type of person who would bother to even buy one. It just happened that when I was in Japan and saw all sorts of things which are being sold in a bazaar, I ended up buying one for no reason at all. In fact it took years before I finally opened it and put the puzzle together. That was when I actually experienced how to do it. It takes patience and perseverance to do it especially with the complicated puzzles. Sometimes in life we just back out and give up when things become complicated and when we do, we fail to witness the bounty of the Lord. As today psalm tells us, we've got to wait with courage and be stout hearted. We should all long for the day when we will have 100% confidence level in all our decisions for God. When the time comes it will totally remove all forms of anxiety and fear and incline ourselves to Him at all times. It should be our ultimate desire and nothing else, to always be in the presence of the Lord. To abide in Him at all times even when things are not very good. I could never forget and would always remember those times when I used to pick figs at Sis Loreta's garden. It was then that a thought came to my mind while I was climbing a ladder in order to get the figs in hard to reach places. Despite the fact that I was already on top of the ladder there were still some figs that I was not able to see and pick up right away although it was already right in front of me. They are being covered by the leaves of the tree and some are hidden in between branches. I just realized that it could be compared to how God showers us with all the blessings and graces that we need. There are times when we fail to see it though it is already right in front of us. Sometimes we have to really look very closely and try to turn our gaze into different angles in order to see it. What's funny was that when I thought that I've got almost every ripe fig in the tree, I noticed one big ripe fruit at the lowest part of the tree, there was even no need to use a ladder in order to get it. Sometimes in life we resort to a lot of means that are sometimes no longer necessary. All we have to do is believe that we will see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living if we will just be patient and full of courage. We ought to realize that if we wait on the Lord patiently and persevere long enough we will never be disappointed for He alone is our light and salvation. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 27:7-8a, 8b-9abc, 13-14

R: I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

7 Hear, O LORD, the sound of my call; have pity on me, and answer me. 8 Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks. (R) Your presence, O LORD, I seek. 9 Hide not your face from me; do not in anger repel your servant. You are my helper: cast me not off. (R) 13 I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD with courage; be stout-hearted, and wait for the LORD.

We are blessed to have a line up of brilliant and anointed preachers who share their knowledge and zeal for the word of God in EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network). But there are only a few people who take on this mission of spreading the word of God because we don't fully realize this as baptized Christians, we are all sent by Christ on this mission. We should accept God's invitation and receive the word of God by living its message. We have a great responsibility in our hands and should respond to His Word for indeed the harvest is abundant but the laborers are few. The time is now to become part of this great harvest. Jesus knows exactly the kind of life we are headed to if we heed His call. What He expects from us is courage to go on and He will do the rest. Let us trust that God is truly the Good Shepherd who never abandons nor forsakes the lambs in the midst of the wolves. We, Catholics believe that God gave human beings reason although it sometimes gets darkened by sin but still human reason can figure out some things. One of the things that human beings figure out without God having to reveal it, is that human beings need to meet 4 qualities to be deemed a human being. The philosopher, before even Plato, Aristotle and Socrates, had this figured out. We find it mentioned in Wisdom 8:7, the 4 virtues or qualities are also called the hinge virtues because it is where all the other virtues or qualities of good people would hinge. The word cardinal means hinge. The Cardinals who surround the Pope are the doorway to the Pope. They are also the ones whom he rely the most for advice. Everything else depends on the cardinal virtues. (Prudence or wisdom, justice, temperance and courage or fortitude) Prudence is the ability to make right decisions in complex situations. They are decisions that lead to the best and right thing. Without this we can be in big trouble. We’ve got to be able to decide in a situation that we’re in what the right thing to do which is the best thing to do. How do we get something done? There are some folks who probably just can’t figure out what to do. There are other folks who look at the problem and they can figure out a solution. It’s a core and they execute that core. It’s practical wisdom. We’ll find in the Book of Proverbs a lot of things about wisdom even in Sirach, Ecclesiastes and all the wisdom literature in scriptures. We can also find all the other 3 cardinal virtues, like justice which means giving each person his or her due. We all know even as kids instinctively how important justice is. The first thing that a kid cries out as soon as he learns how to talk if he has brothers and sisters is “Not fair, he got more than I did” or “You ask me to do more than what that person is doing.” This is because we have instinctively or natively offensive justice. Each person has rights and ought to get their due. There’s also another part of justice that we forget, that is, we have obligations and duties to everyone. A person who is unjust is not a good person. To be just, we need to control our passions. Temperance is a virtue that balances and controls our passions. It is like controlling our desire for that last piece of cake if we know that it belongs to our sister. In order to be just, we’ve got to control our appetites. Make our appetites come into line with justice, truth and goodness. We’ve got to have that balance in our life in order to be a good and effective person. Temperance makes this happen. We also have to be courageous. If we are not courageous then every time a difficulty arises we’re going to shrink back. If there’s any danger involved in doing the right, just and wise thing then we’re just going to crack out and find an excuse because we’re afraid. Courage or fortitude helps us to master fear and not let fear keep us from doing what’s right. We’ve got have all these things but here’s the problem. When Adam & Eve decided to sin they let loose a weakness into our race and nature that impacts all of us. We call it original sin. Sin is not so original, we just copy what other people have done. There’s nothing creative about sin. Adam & Eve’s sin was the only original sin. What they did has an impact on us. By weakening their own nature, sin weakened man’s nature. They passed on to us a weakened nature. They separated themselves and the whole human race from friendship with God and were born into that. There’s a tendency in our nature to go on a downward drift, a drift off course and a tendency to a great degree is dealt with through grace. How do we get grace? Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has made possible for us, healing of our humanity. He gives us other gifts, faith, hope and charity that make it possible for us to really have wisdom, justice, temperance and courage. Without faith, hope and charity in this life, no one can really become truly wise. All throughout human history we see people who exercise these gifts. They may not be Christians, deeply spiritual people, or in a state of grace and can exercise some of these potentials here and there. But ultimately original sin means we are going to sin seriously and mess up. We need God’s grace for those 4 great virtues to be perfected. Faith, hope and charity are supernatural. These are things that human beings would never know that they need or could have without God giving them supernaturally that’s why they are called the theological virtues. We only know about them through divine revelation and we couldn’t know about them by reason. We can only have them through God’s grace. The theological virtues, faith, hope and charity are the crown of the first 4 cardinal virtues that transform and make them possible. God doesn’t want us just to be whole human beings and restore us to what Adam & Eve were when they blew it in the Garden. God wants us to be more than that. He wants to elevate our human nature and divinize it. He wants us to share in His own Divine nature. Charity is all about loving with God’s love. Loving as the 3 persons of the Holy Trinity love each other and sharing in that goes way beyond human nature. This is an incredible thing and call. It was only possible because God became man and we can share in his virtue. This is what the real Catholic life is all about. It’s not just about making it or going to heaven by the skin of your teeth after struggling. It’s about growing in holiness and becoming like Jesus all throughout our life, a champion not without struggles. As a matter of fact without the struggles we can never become a champion. It is possible with victory and excellence not with hopelessness, despair and frustration. This is God’s desire for us which is a fantastic calling. The power to do this is given to us. We are never alone because God is always with us. We should be so thankful to God for all the wonderful things He allowed us to think, feel, see and hear. Not only for the things that are visible but also the invisible. God has given us everything that we need, the love, care and protection that a child needs from a Father who loves us so much. The readings for today from the 1st, psalm to the gospel all speak of the importance of our senses. Sometimes we have this tendency to overlook these things and dwell more on the less important things. We must train our minds and hearts to know the top priority which is everything that connects us to God at all times. All we have to do is be aware that God reveals Himself in a very mysterious way that we have to continuously work for a heart and mind that is focused on the Lord, remove all distractions in our life so that He will reveal Himself to us. God is infinite and unlimited in nature and our minds can only comprehend as far as our limited brains allow. Let us seize every moment and opportunity in order to daily grow in our knowledge of the Lord. Let us all come to our senses. Once we've seen, heard, smelled, tasted, touched, felt and experienced who the Lord is in our lives then we are really blessed in the truest sense of the word. Although we can only come to the full understanding and knowledge of God when we die, we can still work our way to knowing God using the best of our abilities for it is written, if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. Have you ever experienced talking to someone but it seems that he/she is not paying attention. Let us not miss a single detail about our Lord and always be attentive to Him. If we are caught up in our own personal lives then we have a tendency to misunderstand the messages sent our way. Let us develop an attitude of total surrender to God and He in His goodness will make known to us things beyond our understanding. When we're on the phone we sometimes fail to hear what's being said to us on the other line. We can always hear this being said, Hello are you still there? It may be due to a low signal, our lack of attention and other things that disrupt the communication. We are reminded by God through the gospel to remove all hindrances and be able to hear him loud and clear. It is imperative that we heed his call and the time is now. Sometimes we end up doing things that we are not supposed to do and we get confused and that's because we are not attuned to our Life Coach, who is God and no one can lead us to the right direction only Him. We need to sharpen and make our senses very keen so that we will not miss out on anything. Some people who lack one of the senses like for example the blind people develop a keen sense of hearing, feeling and smelling. The blind have mastered well their other senses that they can hear, feel and smell the slightest sound, touch and scent that can be unnoticeable for some.  We should say from this point of view that the lack of one sense can enhance the other senses. We can also say that there are moments in our life when we have to shut out one of our senses, too. There are a lot of things being presented to us day in and out. We should know that some things are better left unsaid and ignored. In times like these we need to know exactly what we need to take in and which of our senses do we need to pay attention to and focus on in order to see and hear what the Lord is showing and telling us and be truly blessed. Amen. Hallelujah!

Luke 10:1-12

Jesus appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves...

NO TURNING BACK

What a mighty God we serve! Whenever God reminds us of who He really is and the kind of God we should choose to follow, obey, serve, praise and love then all our doubts are erased. Our God is greater, stronger and higher than any other. He is awesome in power. Amen. Hallelujah! 

Job 9: 1-12 , 14-16

...4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed? 5 He removes the mountains before they know it; he overturns them in his anger. 6 He shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble. 7 He commands the sun, and it rises not; he seals up the stars. 8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea. 9 He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south; 10 he does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning.

Sometimes we are tempted not to say our prayers nor make any special effort to be good. It would have been easy to fall into sin and stop befriending God.  We know deep down that it is not a good thought since faith is friendship with God. It is never right to just aim for the bare minimum because that is not what friends do. It is not true that we don't need God. One way to make sure that we don't forget how much we need God is to always ask Him to bless us in all we do. We can do this by offering everything to God. Our works, joys and suffering at the beginning of the day. We must not neglect this and always practice hope. There are many things that we don't understand especially with the things that happen to us. We can always trust that it comes from God. We can turn to God in times of trouble and not run away from our problems. We should rely on our friend Jesus in both good and bad times. No matter what happens we should always lift everything to God in prayers. Day in and day out we should call upon the Lord. We know in our heart that in His great and unequaled love for us we can never outdo what God is doing and can do for us. We have to persevere in our prayers and never get tired nor stop in calling out to God for help. Amen. Hallelujah! 

Psalm 88: 10bc-11, 12-13, 14-15

R: Let my prayer come before you, Lord.

9 [10] Daily I call upon you, O LORD; to you I stretch out my hands...13 [14] But I, O LORD, cry out to you; with my morning prayer I wait upon you. 14 [15] Why, O LORD, do you reject me; why hide from me your face?

“I have decided to follow Jesus no turning back. Though no one follows, still I will follow.” This is part of the lyrics of a song that contains the message of what God wants to convey in today's gospel. We may want to ask ourselves, who is fit for the kingdom of God? Do you know how many times the word heaven or the kingdom of God is mentioned in the bible? 832 times. That's how many it is. There are so many images and symbols used to describe heaven. God obviously wants us to know about it so that we can be with Him there. God the Father, Jesus, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Most Blessed Trinity is in heaven. Jesus the 2nd Person in the Trinity has gone before us to prepare a place for us. He said that He will come back again so that where He is we can also be. Jesus teaches about heaven in so many ways. Sometimes it is easier to picture something in stories and words. When Jesus taught, He liked to take examples of everyday life of the people and teach us about the kingdom of heaven a place of joy and happiness beyond our imagination. There are many images of heaven that are presented to us by Jesus in the bible. Everything that we suffered for the kingdom of God will be rewarded a hundredfold in heaven. God invites us to join Him and enjoy heaven that was prepared for us before the foundation of the world. It is not easy to always do the right thing. Sometimes we fail to respond in the best manner possible. Today's gospel gives a tip on how to do it according to the way of Jesus. Life of detachment, this is the pathway to a simple life. There is a Jewish expression found in the gospel "Let the dead bury the dead!" which can be interpreted in English as the dead being the "slow pokes and half hearted people"  in Filipino are the so called " mga papatay-patay" This can also be related to God's call to us in in the Book of Revelation 3:14-19 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea, write this: " ...I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth..." This is a picture of hypocrisy and duplicity which the Lord rejects. Also in Luke 12:32-34- store treasures in heaven, let go of possessions in Luke 14:25-35 and Luke 16:13 which is about God and mammon. Money is not evil in itself but the love of money. Resources not shared is greed and talents not shared is lust.

We should always do things for the greater glory of God without any hesitation or doubt. Every single day we are always confronted with a lot of decisions that demonstrate where our loyalty lies. We may have decided on something but as we go along the way we find things that do not suit our comfort and expectations. This may cause us to have 2nd thoughts and doubts whether we really made the right decision or worse whether we still maintain the same conviction that we have before encountering a discouraging situation. For as long as we honestly and sincerely know in our hearts and minds that we intended to follow Jesus and acted on it then we should make a decision to really stick to it and never back out for to be fit for the kingdom of God is all worth it. Amen. Hallelujah! 

Luke 9: 57-62

As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”

IT’S PAID

If we are just going to look back and recall all the things that have happened in our life then we can never deny the presence of guardian angels as spoken of in today's gospel. God always makes His messages known to us in various ways but He confirms them to us too. God is assuring us that there is no need to be afraid because He directs us always to the right path and if ever we are led astray He constantly searches for us to lead us back to Him. We should remain eternally trusting in our faith in God as a child is with his/her parents. It is faith that must become the foundation of all that we do. If we are just going to look back and recall all the things that have happened in our life then we can never deny the presence of guardian angels as spoken of in today's gospel. There is this very interesting detail I read with regards to the instinctual behavior of oriental breed sheep whenever they get lost. According to this study, upon sensing such a misfortune, they stop their frantic wandering and just stay still. Instead of searching the right way on their own, they prefer to sit still and just wait instead until they are found by the shepherd. This somehow explains how Jesus in today's parable left the 99 in search of the astray. In our own lives we, too experience being lost and led astray. Sometimes we are too wrapped up in our problems and miseries that we just kept on searching for ways and means to get out of it. The more we do this the more exhausted we become and the less likely we find a solution. God our Father and Good Shepherd knows exactly what we are going through and He already figured out what to do. Instead of relying on our own efforts which are obviously no match for God's plan and design we might as well stop our frantic wandering and just stay still if we want God to find us. Another interesting message in today's gospel reading is the fact that the quantity is irrelevant and looks after every person for God cares for each one of us. God wants to put emphasis on this point that He is always with us and knows our deepest thoughts and concerns. Jesus makes all things possible for we are adopted sons and daughters of God.

Amen. Hallelujah!

No one can totally claim to know what's in store for us in the days to come. No matter how well planned and structured we've made our lives nothing can be too sure. For some people, death is something that should not be spoken of but in today's 1^st reading it speaks of it as if death is something to look forward to. Come to think of it, if there's something certain in this unpredictable life then that is death. For it is something that we should not take for granted. Though, we are not eagerly looking forward to it yet, knowing that we still have an unfinished business for the Lord. We might as well be ready for it so that when the time comes we can stand face to face with God and rejoice in it exultingly. The whole principle involved here is discovery and deciding. When our approach is discovery then we are being lead to the events in our life with a sense of total surrender, trust and faith in the Lord's Providence for the realization of things that are unseen and hoped for. God may not fully reveal and present us with a surprise but we maintain full confidence in a God who brought us to wherever we are right now. In deciding, our approach is a lot different since we already have an answer for something that we don't know yet. It boils down to the fact that we think we know too much but we don't. We end up playing God. We need to remain as man and allow God to be God of our life. When man becomes God, we lose everything because we are not God. We have to realize the impact in our life of discovery versus deciding. In all these uncertainties and disappointments we've met along the way, we can be sure of one thing. After all Job has been through, he was quite sure about something also in today's 1st reading.  There is no doubt about it and we can surely be at peace with the fact that God has hemmed in our paths. Amen. Hallelujah!

Job 3:1-3, 11-17, 20-23

...They wait for death and it comes not; they search for it rather than for hidden treasures, 22 rejoice in it exultingly, and are glad when they reach the grave 23 men whose path is hidden from them, and whom God has hemmed in!

Sometimes we are tempted not to say our prayers nor make any special effort to be good. It would have been easy to fall into sin and stop befriending God.  We know deep down that it is not a good thought since faith is friendship with God. It is never right to just aim for the bare minimum because that is not what friends do. It is not true that we don't need God. One way to make sure that we don't forget how much we need God is to always ask Him to bless us in all we do. We can do this by offering everything to God. Our works, joys and suffering at the beginning of the day. We must not neglect this and always practice hope. There are many things that we don't understand especially with the things that happen to us. We can always trust that it comes from God. We can turn to God in times of trouble and not run away from our problems. We should rely on our friend Jesus in both good and bad times. No matter what happens we should always lift everything to God in prayers. Day in and day out we should call upon the Lord. We know in our heart that in His great and unequaled love for us we can never outdo what God is doing and can do for us. We have to persevere in our prayers and never get tired nor stop in calling out to God for help. Amen. Hallelujah! 

Psalm 88:2-3, 4-5, 6, 7-8

R: Let my prayer come before you, Lord.

1 [2] O LORD, my God, by day I cry out; at night I clamor in your presence. 2 [3] Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my call for help.

Matthew 18:1-5. 10.

The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.”

THE WIDOW AND ORPHAN

I could still remember very well how my mother used to mention to us how God made all things possible for us especially at that time when my father suddenly died and we were just very young, aged 4, 3 and 1. Job is her favorite bible character, because he is the one whom she would always mention to us and whom she admired most. It could be due to the fact that like Job she almost lost everything when my father died because she was very young then. She and my father were just starting out as a family and then all of a sudden he died. She would always say that what was most hurting is the fact that my father had been a very good husband to her and good father to us which made it even more difficult for her to lose him. In addition to that is the fact that she was left all alone to carry the burden of the responsibilities of our family. It was just before my father died that we had our home built and got a big loan in the bank. She could have married a rich man whom I heard was interested in her but she did not entertain any suitors and never remarried. She had to bring up all of us by herself. At that time when she was down to almost nothing, she never thought that she could have passed through all those difficulties if not for God's Divine Providence.  Amen. Hallelujah!

Job 1:6-22

...Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair. He cast himself prostrate upon the ground, 21 and said, “Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!” 22 In all this Job did not sin, nor did he say anything

disrespectful of God.

We are the temples of the Holy Spirit. We do not have the Holy Spirit as a birth right but a gift. We are born with original sin and this redemption from sin and the kingdom of darkness is what makes it possible for us to receive of the Holy Spirit. A lot of people in our society like the part that we are temples. We claim that our bodies are temples so we have to treat it well and take care of it by doing exercise. But too often we say that we are temples but we don’t say of what. When we listen to the way we speak we find that we are temples of ourselves. Like the New Agers who consider themselves to be god. We see our bodies as the temple of ourselves because we see ourselves to be god. Each body should be treated with respect since it is the place where God can be worshipped which is derived from the presence of the Holy Spirit. This should be our purpose when taking all the aspects of our body with its wide variety of urges and desires. We can bring it all under the power of the Holy Spirit if only the body is well oriented to the worship of the Holy Spirit.  We've got to be aware of the fact that being a follower of God doesn't mean that we can be spared from all troubles and problems. God did not promise us this but one thing is sure, if we continue to stand by Him and all the things that He represents then we need not be anxious of anything at all for He got us covered. At this present time we can compare our life to a journey. We have been declared victorious and have conquered and overcome everything through Jesus Christ our Lord. And yet we still get distracted by the enemies who convince us otherwise. Let us march on to our victories and seize every opportunity that comes to us every day. We have to have something to overcome before we can become an overcomer, something to conquer before we become a conqueror and a test before we can have this testimony. Let us not lose heart because we are covered and protected by God like the young in the shadow of its mother's wings. Mind God's business and everything else will follow. This is the example that our mother left for us. We grew up always hearing our mother speak of Job's great faith and loyalty to God. She held on to every word of God in the bible and claimed every promise in it especially the one for the widow and orphan. Looking back at all those years our family had to pass through those trials and difficulties of growing up without a father by our side and our mother had to raise us all by herself there is no doubt that she did it because she inclined her ear to God and heard His word. If we are to die this very day, can we proclaim to the Lord with confidence these words in today's psalm? We ought to develop in ourselves the attitude of the saints and martyrs who have no fear of death. This doesn't mean that we have to be masochists and desire for a morbid death. Rather it should all because of the fact that we can firmly stand on the promises of a God who is able to supply us with everything.  For only God who is Himself the author of true happiness can grant us lasting and genuine joy to the full. In this present time when we are still bound to this world we may not be able to fully comprehend the glory that awaits those who live life in the presence of our God and hope in that eternal life  to come but we who are faithful will experience joy in full when His glory appears. There are times when we are being tested by the Lord to a point of almost giving up. But we simply and definitely must not. We are lucky we no longer belong to that time when you have to give up your life to profess your faith. That is why we always have to maximize our capabilities for God, nonetheless, it's not easy, but think of the inspiration that the early Christians martyrs left us to proclaim their faith. Temptations and distractions are everywhere it is so easy for us to stray away from the path to God. When it happens just pray hard to God that He will deliver us from that situation because every single minute of our life counts, let us seize the opportunity to achieve our goals that will bring us to our eternal abode. Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of that because the Lord our God sees all good things that we do and let us always focus on that and be conscious that whatever situation we are in now, we can always try to build a life that is anchored on God. We can confidently say these words from the psalm. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 17:1bcd, 2-3, 6-7

R: Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

1 Hear, O LORD, a just suit; attend to my outcry; hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit. (R) 2 From you let my judgment come; your eyes behold what is right. 3 Though you test my heart, searching it in the night, though you try me with fire, you shall find no malice in me. (R) 6 I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my word. 7 Show your wondrous mercies, O savior of those who flee from their foes to refuge at your right hand.

My mother was a teacher but when my father died she had to put up an interior decorating business to augment her income. For every business quotation and proposal that she had to prepare and work for she would always say that there were greater and well known companies that she had to compete with. She was not the greatest of all in fact maybe the least but she always ended up getting the project. She had always attributed it to God and been thankful for everything despite of it all. She has indeed experienced the liberating power of God's word in her life. This message in the gospel today is almost the same as yesterday. God also warns us not to exclude other people especially those who doesn't belong to the usual company of people that we mingle with. We sometimes tend to make exclusive God's invitation and forget that it is for everybody. We must always be open to all people no matter how different we are with each other. We should always be united in God's love and welcome those people who may be different from us in a lot of ways but maintain the same stand and conviction that should unite us in our faith in God. For united we stand, divided we fall. Amen. Hallelujah! 

Luke 9:46-50

...“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.” ...“Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”...