THE BRIDE & THE BRIDEGROOM

We can not deny the fact that God makes His presence known to us in many wonderful ways that we can all think about. Today's sharing in Didache is inspired by a bible passage from today's 1st reading and is very reflective of a God who does not hesitate to answer our prayers. We too have experiences when we feel God's answer to our prayers in the form of circumstances and events that surround us. It is surely nice to hear about sharings that acknowledge the truth that God answers prayers like this one from Didache entitled: MESSAGE FROM THE PIANO

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. – 1 John 5:14

Lian, the daughter of my older brother, invited me to her wedding to be held in Virginia on November 21, 2008. I wanted to attend the wedding, but because I had 101 commitments in Manila, I thought I’d never make it.
Two days before my flight, I was at a mall shopping for stuff to bring to the US. I still had doubts that God really wanted me to go. I just needed one more confirmation.
Then, as I marveled at how an electronic grand piano in the middle of the mall operated by itself, it played The Star Spangled Banner. I often shop at this mall and I always hear this grand piano playing mostly love songs. This was the first time that it played a national anthem — and of the US at that! I knew then this was theconfirmation I was asking God for.
Yes, I asked God for a confirmation about my trip to the US because I’ve long believed the promise in today’s reading in 1 John 5:14-21, “that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” And, as I experienced, He gives us a definite answer! Cynthia Santiago (boses2go@gmail.com)

REFLECTION:
How confident are you that God hears you?

Lord, strengthen my faith, that I may always be confident that You listen to my pleadings. -end-


1 John 5:14-21
14 Beloved: We have this confidence in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, we know that what we have asked him for is ours.


Psalm 149: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 9
R: The Lord takes delight in his people.
...the LORD loves his people, and he adorns the lowly with victory. (R) 5 Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy upon their couches; 6 let the high praises of God be in their throats. 9 This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.

We are about to end the Christmas season and immediately enter into the Baptism of our Lord tomorrow. Then it will be followed by the Public Ministry of Jesus our Redeemer and Savior. The is what the Church does as we celebrate these different seasons of the Liturgical Calendar. We are encouraged to participate in the very action of Jesus Christ. We are constantly invited to renew our commitment to God so that we too can have a place in His home and dwelling place which is to spend eternity in heaven. We call ourselves Christians because we want to bear His name and be in a relationship with Him. What we want is to be joined and united with God to whom we really belong. We do not want to be in the care of feeble hands rather we want to be in the hands of Jesus. He has always been spoken of as the bridegroom. Just like a bride waiting for her bridegroom we should also respond to God in this way. We hear of women longing to meet the man who would someday bring her to the altar. A man who is truly in love wants her bride to be beautiful. The bridegroom loves and provides for her bride so that she would be radiant with beauty. The bridegroom joins himself to the bride and brings her home with him. The bride in return shares the identity of her bridegroom by acquiring his name. She loves the reality that she participates in the life of the husband. Somehow these things give as a peek of how God as the bridegroom feels for us as His bride. We are invited to participate in His life and take a hold of it in our hearts just like this young woman in love with a man who has taken her to himself. God has always shown His goodness and mercy to all. No one is in denial that despite our unfaithfulness He has always come around to save us. God takes possession of His people as a bridegroom to his bride. What happens when the bridegroom comes? We simply rejoice because the one that all the world has been longing for has come. As in Isaiah 63:19, "...Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down..." God indeed came and dwelt among us. All of our life has meaning because He lives in us. Amen. Hallelujah!

John 3:22-30
The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.