Nobody knows the exact time or hour of our departure here in
this world. One thing is sure it will come. No one is assured of tomorrow. Life
is never easy most especially if we commit to a life dedicated to follow the
example of Jesus Christ. It is always easier said than done but we can always
focus on the reward that awaits us just like any victorious battle the champion
emerges with the trophy and prize. It challenges us to always dwell on these
promises that can never be broken. If a trustworthy and honest person gave his
word we are confident that he/she will honor it. All the more should we be
confident of God’s word. If God spoke and promised then He will surely grant
it. We can never find lasting peace and happiness in this world. It is only in
the Lord that we can be assured of something permanent and lasting which we
could definitely not find in this world. Amen. Hallelujah!
1 Corinthians 7:25-31
...For the world in its present form is passing away.
We are all on the building business, building a life that
will endure, we are each a foreman to our building, we are own masters of our
own faith. Others take a material to build a shack or a cathedral, or worse to
build a tragedy , as William Shakespeare says, “to be or not to be” We are each
given a bag of tools, a stepping stone or a stumbling block. The buildings we
build could be tested in the loss of a loved one, broken relationship and the
like. How we react to them depends on whether we have built a house on sand or
rock, the test is the daily grind. There
is no end to the daily grind. We just have to live one day at a time. The success
of our challenges depends on whether we have taken the words of our Lord
seriously. To take the extra mile we must realize that nothing is built on
hatred. Nothing lasts until it is built on love. Forgiveness is important. A
person who is unforgiving suffers from various ailments. Pope John Paul II
forgave the person who tried to kill him. Is the Lord right? Have we built our
life on Him who is the rock? Or think that we know better. Our house is in ruin
only when we invite the Lord to come can we make it a fitting dwelling. The
only way to an everlasting love from which wells forth all other good things is
to listen to God's voice and do as we are told. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 45:11-12, 14-15, 16-17
R: Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.
10 [11] Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear, forget
your people and your father’s house. 11 [12] So shall the king desire your
beauty; for he is your lord, and you must worship him.
The Sermon on the Plain in the gospel of Luke speaks of the
conditions of the heart. In fact when analyzed it was counted as 6/9 since 6 of
them is about humility of the heart. Luke is a very good writer and devoted
himself to the study of the scriptures. To understand Luke and his writings,
one must understand Eastern and Ancient philosophy about the mind and the
heart. The purity of desire, cleanliness of intentions and nobility of
character all dwell in the heart of man. Eastern culture especially Near East thinks with its heart. God does not look on
appearance but into one's heart. The Eastern definition of humility which comes
from the word humus or soil are: 1. thinking of others before yourself, using
the "we language rather than "I" 2. Knowing our place in the
grand scheme of things. We must remember that "We are not the
Messiah" and must be free of any "Messianic complex" by
excluding arrogance which connotes violence, deceit, jealousy, conniving and
manipulative. God prefers it that Jesus is the Messiah because we mess things
up. We must know where we are supposed to stand. St. Thomas said that in order to see the
perfect exemplification of the beatitudes, we have to look to Christ. Jesus is
a happy man, a picture of freedom and joy. He loved doing the will of His
Father. We have to look to our Lord on the cross and despise what He despised
on the cross. They are the 4 things which we physically seek in this life,
wealth, pleasure, power and honor.
Wealth, he has none he was stripped naked even of His clothes. Pleasure
he was at the limit of physical and psychological suffering. Power, he was
nailed on the cross. Honor, he was mocked as he was publicly displayed and
crucified. The main point here is detachment. Jesus is detached from the things
which we typically seek. On the cross, he is the ultimate peace maker and the
bringer of divine mercy, if Aquinas is right then Jesus on the cross is a
picture of a happy man. Today I am reminded of my mother (nanay). She has
totally surrendered her life to the Lord during the time of her sickness
despite the opposition and difficulty I have imposed upon her brought about by
my narrow and selfish thinking. We would often argue whenever I hear her say
words like I am ready anytime God calls me to be with Him. I was only open to
the possibility of her physical healing but never entertained in my mind that
she would die soon. It must have been very painful at that time to be afflicted
with terminal cancer and at the same time see her children still clinging to
her and praying for an extension to her life. Now I know how my mother must
have felt back then while fighting her illness at that time with an only
daughter clinging tightly to her and not yet open to the possibility of being
left behind. Looking back, now I understand why she chose to die alone without
anyone of us, her loved ones by her side. She knew back then that I was not
ready for it. Even my eldest brother who was there in the hospital was not by
her side. She was just brought to the operating room for removal of water in
her lungs and she never came back. If there's one person whom I know who was
able to face death with so much courage and hope that is none other than my
nanay (mother). Blessed are you indeed, nanay for the kingdom of God St. Augustine
wrote, our hearts are restless until it rests on God. According to Oscar Wilde
there are 2 terrible tragedies in life, not to get what our heart sets upon or
to get it. Some of us get this truth the hard way. Poverty in spirit means that
we are empty. By nature of course we are like a vacuum because we have to be
filled with something. But we are usually filled with things, persons, places
and tragically we do not own them they own us. When we finally get what we long
for, that is when we realize that we can not have them nor could we own them
forever. The only way to attain true happiness is to be possessed by the Lord. It’s
a struggle everyday to break ourselves free so that the Lord can possess us. We
have to learn to let go of yesterday, happiness in the past or the future, we
must enjoy God’s gift to us today.
That’s why it’s called the present. We must learn to find our strengths
and staying power in the Lord. We must learn to face all these challenges with
our Lord and be empty of everything except Him. The beatitudes will serve as
our map in our quest to heaven. Beatitudes are like eyeglasses that help us to
see what is important so as not to lose sight of what is right. Whenever we are
to decide and act on something we might as well ask ourselves, “Is this choice
going to bring me closer to heaven?” The more we get our vision corrected the
more we get closer to heaven. What is going to bring us closer to heaven? St.
Francis of Assisi
is a pilgrim in search of the glory of God. He renounced his riches and served
God. These are the kinds of choices that pilgrims make to get closer to heaven.
We spend our whole lives to get closer to God. We are in contact with God and
making choices to be closer to God. If we live our lives as pilgrims in a
journey to heaven then we will be happy. We will be recognized for our love and
joy. We are not expected to take this journey alone and walk in a lonely path.
The Church is with us to help us in this journey and help us to stay in the
right path. The sacraments, mass, baptism and penance are the tools to reach
our heavenly destiny. God never wants us to be discouraged. We can bring all
our sins to Him in confession. The Eucharist the guiding light of our journey
is the earthly physical presence of Christ on earth. It guides, feeds and reminds
us of the manna in heaven. We also have the Blessed Mother when Jesus gave us
His own mother at the cross. She loves us as her children. The final
destination of our pilgrimage and journey is heaven.
Luke 6:20-26
20 Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God
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