HIBERNATION

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Agatha, virgin and martyr. St. Agatha identified with Christ’s sufferings. It was said that the governor tortured her to live in a house of prostitution because she did not want to marry him and any other man because she already dedicated her life to God. Instead of giving in to the oppression and sufferings she resisted to the point of shedding blood and becoming a martyr. She persevered to the end with the divine strength and fortitude of Jesus who stayed up on the cross to save the world. Despite the jeers and mockery of those who say, "He saved others but He can't save Himself." We are all called to suffer and endure our own crosses with the hope of redemption by joining it to Christ’s suffering. We will find all sort of attacks in this world as it tries its best to get us away from Christ. All lure from the world can not satisfy us. In our struggles in life nowadays we are blessed that none of us are no longer in the same plight as those saints in the time of St. Agatha when we are called to suffer to the point of shedding blood. Although we have our own crosses to carry, we can resist and persevere with the strength of Jesus. Whatever we endure in life, our sufferings have meaning if we unite it with Christ's passion. We work and feel the fatigue that Jesus felt in carrying out His mission here on earth and still have compassion. Amen. Hallelujah!

Hebrews 13:15-17, 20-21
15 Brothers and sisters: Through Jesus, let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise...May the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant, Jesus our Lord, 21 furnish you with all that is good, that you may do his will. May he carry out in you what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

A sheep without a shepherd doesn’t know where to go and get food. They just stand there looking dumb and hungry. The Good Shepherd as stated in today's psalm makes us want for nothing more. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6
R: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 In verdant pastures he gives me repose. Beside restful waters he leads me; 3 he refreshes my soul. (R) He guides me in right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage. (R) 5 You spread the table before me in the sight of my foes; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. (R) 6 Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come.



In today's gospel, we can already imagine the apostles coming from their missionary efforts and are very tired. They were told by Jesus “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” They needed to recharge themselves to carry on their mission. Although we may not realize it but sometimes we just have to get away for a while in order to get the much needed rest that our bodies need. We may have come to a point in our lives when we feel like we are in a far away place all by ourselves in a deserted place as described by Jesus in today's gospel. When we sometimes think that our lives was suddenly put to a stop or on hold for it looks like we've reached the end of the line and nothing exciting seems to be happening we could consider ourselves to be in hibernation or in a forced resting mode although we may not like it. We ought to consider everything as preparation. Let us not despair and think that we going down the drain. God is not yet finished with us until He tells us so. Nothing is ever wasted for as long as we always make sure that we don't stray away from Jesus. Whatever aspect in life we may want to look at this it is best to take advantage of this period that we're going through to rest a while and just be in hibernation in order to come out better Christians ready to fulfill our God given destiny with much fire and enthusiasm. Amen. Hallelujah!

Mark 6:30-34
30 The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. 32 So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.