Today’s 1st reading tell us the prophecy of the
passion as foretold 500 years or more before the time of Jesus and give us an
account of Judas’ betrayal. We are confronted with the fact that there are very
troubling aspects that go with sin. We can see in Matthew 16:22 that the
apostles were distressed. In John’s gospel there’s an account of deep emotions
that troubled Jesus whenever He encounters death and betrayal. We’ve also
experienced this in our own lives especially when people intentionally deceive
us. These could be very disturbing but the Good News is that Jesus’ passion is
about to conquer evil and death. We should take note that in both accounts of
Matthew and John’s gospel this betrayal when satan entered the mind of Judas
happened at the Feast of the Passover. This is also the time when Jesus
instituted the Holy Eucharist and taught the apostles of this Most Blessed
Sacrament. The Eucharist is the heart of our faith and the very foundation of
Jesus’ work. It is the goal of satan to attack our Eucharistic faith and take
us away from it. Satan wanted to influence us and make us abandon this great
sacrament that Jesus Himself instituted at the Last Supper. When we leave God
we will succumb to another power. This is what satan is watching out for in
order to maneuver his entrance into our hearts by using greed and lust. We must
not lose sight of the cross because it is where the glory of God is revealed.
It is made manifest in the love of the Son. Death is conquered by life eternal
in the revelation of glory through obedience to the Father’s will. Satan is
conquered. In John’s gospel we can see the betrayal of Judas in contrast with
Peter’s denial. It is an interesting contrast because Judas betrays him, deeply
regrets and tries to repent but what’s lacking was the return to our Lord.
Peter turns back to Jesus while Judas despairs. He did not accept God’s mercy.
We’re all sinners but do we repent and turn back or do we keep going along the
path of sin. Often times in our confessions we have repeated sins but the
beauty of confession is that we keep on turning back to the Lord. We keep the
hope alive through the sacrament that gives us the grace to keep coming back to
our Lord. Though, we never want to commit sin, It’s a terrible thing to sin
because it is a betrayal of Jesus. Let us pray that we continue to have faith
in Him and accept His mercy. Amen. Hallelujah!
Isaiah 50:4-9
...I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those
who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting ...The
Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like
flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame. 8 He is near who upholds my
right; if anyone wishes to oppose me, let us appear together. Who disputes my
right? Let him confront me. 9 See, the Lord GOD is my help; who will prove me
wrong?...
The ignorance of our faith is ignorance about Jesus. We may sometimes think
that evangelization is just work for the priests and the religious. It is not
limited to them but anyone who is baptized should take on this responsibility.
JFK once said, "Here on earth, God's work must truly be our own."
Nothing should ever stop us from being part of the work of God. God made man in
His own image and likeness. (Gen 1:26) In this context we need to define
personhood well and know the perils of limited definition. It could be classified
into 2 definitions, nominal and real. Nominal definition of personhood is
decided by man. It is approaching something that we don't know but we already
have the answer. We make decisions and play God. The dangers of this definition
of a person are: 1. nominal- when we deny to identify a person as a real person. Example is abortion, when doctors deny the fact that at the moment of conception a person already exists.
2. real but limited - We do not deny but identify them as persons but with lesser worth like the sick and terminally ill. Just because they are old, weak and sick they deserve to die as in the case of euthanasia.
3. full and real but limited - Kills people as in the Holocaust.
The whole principle involved here is discovery and deciding. When our approach is discovery then we are being led to the events in our life with a sense of total surrender, trust and faith in the Lord's
We should ascribe to the real definition of personhood. It answers the question what, how and what is it meant to be. Our approach in life to achieve faith and righteousness is by discovery and through an authentic Christian life. Discovery can be best defined in the sense that we are open to the intention and purpose of God for us. With a seeking and expectant faith we should allow God to lead us in discovering what is ahead of us and prepared by God. The approach should be in a manner of discovering what God's intention is and respecting it. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 116:1-2. 3-4. 5-6. 8-9 (9)
R: I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living. 1
I love the LORD because he has heard my voice in supplication, 2 because he has
inclined his ear to me the day I called. (R) 3 The cords of death encompassed
me; the snares of the nether world seized upon me; I fell into distress and
sorrow, 4 and I called upon the name of the LORD, “O LORD, save my life!” (R) 5
Gracious is the LORD and just; yes, our God is merciful. 6 The LORD keeps the
little ones; I was brought low, and he saved me. (R) 8 For he has freed my soul
from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
Sometimes we are confronted with situations wherein we need
to make some decisions that may entail giving up something that is obviously
benefiting us. This is very difficult to do but if we have this expectant faith
then we can choose to forgo of it since we are anticipating something better.
Abraham demonstrated a great act of faith that is active with works that we
should all aim to have. When situations like it arise we are sometimes tempted
to decide in favor of what is convenient, comfortable and practical. But we
just can not deny the fact that there are times too when the circumstances are
pointing toward the other direction and our gut feeling is also whispering in
agreement. Somehow this scenario is often encountered in our own lives and we
just do not know anymore which way to go. It is in these moments that we must
not lose faith and rely on the words and promises of God for they are
trustworthy. Everything we lift to God in prayer and in doing so can surely
receive guidance and direction. Amen.
Hallelujah!
James 2:14-18
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says
he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother
or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, 16 and one of you
says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them
the necessities of the body, what good is it? 17 So also faith of itself, if it
does not have works, is dead. 18 Indeed someone might say, “You have faith and
I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will
demonstrate my faith to you from my works.
The word of God never fails. It has always been a source of
enlightenment, assurance and encouragement especially at times when we needed
it the most. It has been consistently living up to what it stands for from
Ephesians 6:17 as sword of the Spirit. Also in Hebrews 4:12, "Indeed, the
word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword,
penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to
discern reflections and thoughts of the heart." We can always prove this
to be true if we will constantly consult the word of God in the daily readings,
we will find that it always perfectly fits the situation that we are presently
in for we have a God who knows everything that is going on with us, is always
around and never leaves us. We want to do things the easy and the quick way and
this is not very surprising at all. Even St. Peter himself did not want to hear
about the passion and death of Christ in today's gospel. We might be tempted to
think that Jesus is a sadist because He wants to go through all the pain and
suffering that the cross entails rather than be spared from it when He can
obviously will anything to happen because He is God. Jesus wanted to set a good
example for us by being obedient to the will of God the Father. It is only by
dying on the cross that the resurrection can have meaning. Jesus wanted to show
us that we may not be able to eliminate the harsh realities in life but we can
always hope for a deliverance and resurrection in Him. Sometimes in life it is
by going through something even the very difficult experiences that we learn
great lessons. It is a brutal teacher indeed but we gain knowledge from it. We
can always look to something and be assured that God will not let us go through
something without seeing us through it. We better hold on to God and never let
go rather than be won over by the false propaganda of Satan and end up a loser.
In today’s gospel also we hear Jesus pose this question to His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” and in all places
asked this in Caesarea Philippi. History tells us that this place is the center
of paganism during that time. His disciples answered Him with a variety of
things with regards to who He is. This is a question we ought to answer
ourselves. The true meaning of His kingship is revealed on the cross. There is
a newness in it, that He is a king who came not to be served but to serve. He
speaks in riddles and parables but today’s gospel is the turning point as He
speaks more openly and clearly although He still doesn’t want to tell everybody
because they might misunderstand. It is difficult to understand the authentic
identity of Jesus apart from the cross. This is why Jesus rebuked Peter when he
tried to stop Him while talking about his suffering and death. He is trying to
teach us that He’s the Savior and that God alone saves. He is the Messiah
indeed through the Paschal mystery (suffering, death and resurrection). In this
context we should learn to deny ourselves, take up our own crosses and follow
Him. We must realize that no servant is greater than His master. If Jesus
embraced His cross, so must we. We should not look at Jesus and see Him as
someone who just taught us beautiful things as a teacher. We should go further
and not allow Satanic temptation to pull us away from Jesus on the cross. It is
the devil’s goal to pull us Christians away from the cross at all cost. Satan
can easily lead us away from the cross because our human nature does not want
to embrace the cross. It is just a natural reaction because we don’t want to
suffer and lose our lives for this world. Jesus does not ask us but we’re
invited to share in His Paschal Mystery and in His cross. The world oppresses
us to deny the gospel because our ego dictates us to do it our way. We have to
deny ourselves and let go of our ego. The world pushes us to live by our own
rules. We need to relinquish ourselves and trust Him who is the Savior rather
than trust ourselves with our own will. We are tempted by the world to go to a
different direction which is not in alignment with the gospel and contrary to
the spirit of the gospel. We must be aware of the struggles as spoken of in
Daniel 7 where he speaks of end times, the struggle in this worldly kingdom and
how God’s kingdom will triumph. We have to trust and believe in Him. Is it
really in our gut that we are going to follow Jesus on the cross? The world is
not taking us there rather it is the faith that we profess. He is the Savior.
He saves us through the cross. Let us strive and choose to think the way God
does and not as human beings do. Amen. Hallelujah!
Mark 8:27-35
Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea
Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”
28 They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the
prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to
him in reply, “You are the Messiah.” 30 Then he warned them not to tell anyone
about him. 31 He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be
killed, and rise after three days. 32 He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him
aside and began to rebuke him. 33 At this he turned around and, looking at his
disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not
as God does, but as human beings do.”...“Whoever wishes to come after me must
deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whoever wishes to save
his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the
gospel will save it.”
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