THE FOLD

Everything pales in comparison to knowing Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Whoever we are and whatever we may have become
is nothing compared to the full realization of who and what Jesus our God is to us most especially on the personal level. Once we've reached this point in our life like Paul in his letter to the Philippians then we can confidently say without a trace of hesitation and doubt these very words in today's 1st reading. Jesus is everything and without Him we are nothing. Amen. Hallelujah!

Philippians 3:3-8a
...But whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

Even way back in the Philippines I have always loved singing this song entitled, "As the Deer". I have always longed to sing it but the song with the somehow similar version of it that we often sing in Church and in the Song book has a different tune. Last night I had this conversation with this lady who mentioned about this song since it caught her attention when she saw the name of the composer written below the song. She found out that he is the nephew of someone we both know. At first I was doubtful whether it is really the song that I like because it has already happened before when the song turned out to be another version just with a similar title. But when I searched further I found out that it is really it. I am just overwhelmed by the fact that some things happen interestingly enough to keep our spirits up and make our hearts rejoice like what today's psalm is telling us about. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 105:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
R: Let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord.
2 Sing to him, sing his praise, proclaim all his wondrous deeds. 3 Glory in his holy name; rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD! (R) 4 Look to the LORD in his strength; seek to serve him constantly. 5 Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought, his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.

It is indeed a relief to find out from Fr. Rudy Horst's sharing in Sabbath that God does not turn His back on us no matter what we do. It is always us who turn away from God. When we turn away from God and get lost we can be assured that He is going to look for us and bring us back to the fold that is if we allow Him to. God will never force Himself on us but we can always count on Him to go looking for us just as in today's parable of the lost sheep. Let us not stray any further and try searching for greener pastures as we know it. We ought to settle down and stop breaking free from the fold where we belong for there is no other place better than being in God's loving embrace. Let us just allow God to set us on His shoulders and rejoice with Him together with all the angels and saints in heaven. Amen. Hallelujah!

Luke 15:1-10
...So Jesus addressed this parable to them. 4 “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? 5 And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy 6 and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.