REVERENCE & OBEDIENCE

We are in this world and still bound to our human bodies at the moment but time will come when we would have to leave everything behind. Whatsoever we did during the time when we were still in the flesh would be taken into consideration on that final day when we are confronted with the reality of death. Jesus on the day he died on the cross offered prayers, supplications with loud cries and tears and was heard. Salvation has been made available for us. We have been saved by Jesus who has fulfilled His part of the bargain. There are 2 important words in today's 1st reading, reverence and obedience, which are guidelines to help us and critical for us to fulfill our part of the bargain. Amen. Hallelujah!

Hebrews 5:7-9 (or 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13)
7 In the days when he was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; 9 and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

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. If this is the case it is only right and fitting that we do exactly what the psalm reading tells us. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 33:2-3, 4-5, 12, 22
R: Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
2 Give thanks to the LORD on the harp; with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises. 3 Sing to him a new song; pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness. (R) 4 For upright is the word of the LORD, and all his works are trustworthy. 5 He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full. (R) 12 Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he has chosen for his own inheritance. 22 May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you.

The passion and death of Jesus on the cross is the ultimate pain and suffering that a human being could endure. It follows that the ultimate sorrow a mother could experience is to see her very own son subjected to such an excruciatingly painful way to die. Mary stood at the foot of the cross as her heart was pierced with so much sorrow seeing her only Son, Jesus crucified. Only a heart full of faith, courage and conviction could withstand such kind of sorrow and pain. Speaking of these 2 words mentioned earlier which are reverence and conviction, Mary maintained reverence in God in that time of great sorrow and remained obedient. Such is the heart of Mary, a mother, immaculate and strong. Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us. Amen. Hallelujah!

John 19:25-27 (or Luke 7:31-35 or Luke 2:33-35)
25 Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.