VICTORY SIGN

Today’s readings bring back memories of the victorious court hearing of Sis Joy Manipis way back in October 2009. It happened on the day the last appariton of Our Lady of Fatima is being celebrated which is in 2 days (October 13). At that time, we were a bit apprehensive about it because of the negative feedbacks we have been getting with regards to the status of the case since the police report and witness' statement do not favor her and could mean losing the case. There were several people in the community who cited similar cases and lost as if to warn not to put our hopes up too much and just be disappointed in the end. The truth shall prevail. These are the exact words we claimed and held on to in the midst of all doubts and discouragements we faced before victory was officially declared. Amen. Hallelujah!


Romans 1:1-7
...Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, 6 among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ;...


Sis Joy Manipis has been a loyal and faithful member of the God's Children Prayer Group. For years she has been tirelessly and selflessly servicing the seniors by bringing them to and from the prayer meeting and back to their homes. In the process of doing this they met an accident almost two years ago when a motorcycle crashed into her car. When we learned about it we really felt bad. Although no one got hurt in her van and the man riding the motorcycle was not seriously hurt, inaccurate reports were made with regards to the accident which almost caused Sis Joy to lose the case. In fact it was because of her natural tendency or instinct to be of help that caused the inaccurate reports. Sis Joy was about to change to her right lane and had her signals on already but hadn't changed lane yet when the motorcycle crashed into her van but when she saw the man overthrown into the pavement she did not think anymore and immediately shifted to the right most portion of the road in order to help the man. The witness and the policeman who saw her in the right most lane did not know any better. We were firm in our faith although there were lots of discrepancies about the truth in what really happened and what the witness saw during the car accident. We can not blame some people who said some discouraging comments upon hearing about it because they said that the court judgment will be based on what was written in the police report based on what the witness said. Not much can be done to change it or win the case. But the truth has indeed prevailed for the judge had finally given his verdict and it is not guilty. Amen. Hallelujah!


P S A L M
Psalm 98:1. 2-3ab. 3cd-4
R: The Lord has made known his salvation.
1 Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds; his right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm.


Stubborn, stiff necked, hard headed and what else can we say to ourselves when we still doubt and falter in our faith in God. For so many times already, God has moved and shown His mighty power working in our lives in so many instances and yet we still fail to act and respond in accordance to what God has done for us. We still insist on doing things in our own way instead of acknowledging the truth that there is nothing really more we ought to see and witness than the only Beloved Son of God who came down from heaven in order to suffer and die on the cross just to show His great love for all of us. If we can think of something greater than this then maybe we can continue in our stubborn ways and be justified in our evil ways but we can search long, far and wide and find none. For the love of God manifested in Jesus is the greatest love and sacrifice ever known. Amen. Hallelujah!


Luke 11:29-32
29 While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. 30 Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. 32 At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.”