CARRY ON

If we are to read the entire 1st reading which is taken from the Old Testament we can not help but think that we have a God who is vindictive. This is due to the fact that it shows an entirely different and ancient understanding of morality and punishment. This is why people who intend to read the entire bible are advised to read backwards, start with the New Testament before reading the Old Testament. We, the present day Christians are truly and deeply blessed when it comes to attaining a better understanding of God than the Israelites during those ancient times. The coming of Jesus in the New Testament made all the difference for us in terms of God's revelation of mercy and love. Just imagine our God coming to us in the form of man to suffer, die on the cross and resurrect after 3 days to show His great love and save us from our sins. Throughout all the ages we have never seen a much greater sacrifice than this. We have a glorious background and history for our faith and this is what puts us ahead of King David and all the others. With this ever prevailing truth and reality which persisted for more than 2000 years. Have we truly come to this point of realizing the implication of this undeniable and proven fact about Jesus? It is good to ask ourselves where we are right now in terms of this understanding. Have we progressed or retrogressed? May we find ourselves in the progressive end and moving forward in our love and knowledge of God. Amen. Hallelujah!

2 Samuel 24:2, 9-17
The LORD then sent a pestilence over Israel from morning until the time appointed,
and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beer-sheba died. But when the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD regretted the calamity
and said to the angel causing the destruction among the people, "Enough now! Stay your hand." The angel of the LORD was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. When David saw the angel who was striking the people, he said to the LORD: "It is I who have sinned; it is I, the shepherd, who have done wrong. But these are sheep; what have they done? Punish me and my kindred."

We should not ignore or overlook this truth about our God who is loving, merciful and forgiving. Let us not delay any longer and go back to Him with a contrite and repentant heart. No matter how big our sins are, we are blessed to have a God bigger than any of our sins. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7
R: Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
1 Blessed is he whose fault is taken away, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt, in whose spirit there is no guile. (R) 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you, my guilt I covered not. I said, "I confess my faults to the LORD," and you took away the guilt of my sin. (R) 6 For this shall every faithful man pray to you in time of stress. Though deep waters overflow, they shall not reach him. (R) 7 You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me; with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round.

Sometimes the most unlikely things happen to us with people and in places where we least expect them to happen. Jesus lived and grew up for the majority of His life here on earth with his relatives and in his native place. How can it possibly be that the Most Perfect Human being who ever lived on earth was rejected by his own kin? But that's how it was for Him and could possibly be also for us. This should encourage us to become better Christians knowing that if He was rejected we should not expect a special treatment for ourselves. We are just setting ourselves up for a big disappointment if we always have big expectations from others most especially from people very close to us. It would be well for all of us if we just carry on with whatever good we can do and leave the rest to God. If we have decided to really follow Jesus then we have to be ready for trials and persecutions for even Him the Son of God, who resides in His Heavenly kingdom, All Holy, Powerful, Immortal, and Creator of heaven and earth was rejected and mocked by His own kin and household. If we haven't fully decided yet and still holding back from Him and still lack the faith then we should realize that it's really to our greatest loss and disadvantage for Jesus can not perform His mighty deeds in our lives without our cooperation. Bottom line again, it is always our choice. We should make Jesus our choice in our thoughts, words and in deeds. And it should be a firm, clear and unwavering one, no ifs and no buts. Amen. Hallelujah!


Mark 6:1-6
...And they took offense at him. 4 Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house." 5 So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith. He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching.