We've got to grow in our faith in God. Just as we were born
infants when we came to this world but eventually grew into adults so must our
spiritual body. We can not remain as baby Christians. We must develop into the
full stature of Christ. Just think of a young child left all alone to take care
of himself. It is not possible. There should be at least someone who could look
after his needs, whereas a grown up man can live independently. We can not
remain like the babies who would always be in need of someone all the time.
We've got to achieve the full potential of who we are, a child of God who has
fully grown up. Amen. Hallelujah!
Ephesians 4:7-16
...And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others
as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the holy ones for
the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all
attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature
manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ. 14 so that we may no
longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching
arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful
scheming.
Today's psalm reminds me of this popular game called,
"Trip to Jerusalem "
I guess, everybody's familiar with it. We may all have played this game when we
were young or even when we're older. It's the fastest, quickest, most alert
person and gets the last seat who wins. If we are not paying attention or are
too slow then we are bound to lose. We have to put up a good fight in this game
in order to win because the chairs are always lacking so every round there is
always one person who doesn't get a seat and gets eliminated. It is just a game
but people have a lot of fun doing their best so as not to be eliminated and
win. People who engage themselves in this kind of game and want to win exert a
lot of effort. It is so tiring and can exhaust one's energy in the game. And to
think that after all our efforts only one person gets to win. Isn't it a relief
that we can go rejoicing to the house of the Lord. We need not worry that all our best efforts
would just be wasted because God has reserved a seat for each one of us. If we
are all set and very sure where we are headed then nothing can stop us from
being there. Considering, too that we have a God who has secured a place and
our future for us. John 14:1-3, " Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let
your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling
places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a
place for you? And if I go and prepare a
place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I
am you also may be." Nothing or no one can prevent us unless we ourselves
decide not to go. The truth is, it's all up to us. We are confronted with a lot
of things every day and if there is one thing we should choose and decide for
then peace is one of them. It is important that we work and pray for peace to
always reign in our midst. If we have peace that passes understanding always
safeguarded in our hearts then we can rejoice in the Lord at all times. We
should always be confident of the truth that we are blessed and secure in the
knowledge and truth that we are where we are right now, doing what we are doing
right now at the exact time God has provided for us, for with God there is
always a perfect time for everything. When we are feeling tired from all the
day's work all we want to do is just go home. Nothing could be more rewarding
than coming home to a place where we find rest and peace. Our life here on
earth could be compared to something like this. It is nice to know that at the
end of the day or our life's journey we can go rejoicing to the house of the
Lord and find ourselves welcome there. Ideally, there should be no other place
we want to be, more than a place where there is peace and prosperity. It is a
choice we have to make but sometimes we make the wrong choices and choose to be
just anywhere but in a place such as this. We have all the time to be in
different places that is fun and exciting. There is nothing wrong with being in
these places for as long as we know our limitations but do we get the same joy
and fulfillment when we go into the house of God. We should be balanced human
beings. We should not just seek to satisfy our physical but spiritual needs as
well. Let us tap our dormant souls that are left unattended for so long and
revive it to really feel what the psalm tells us today. As much as we are
confronted by the fact that we are still inhabitants of this imperfect world we
are in we can not live as if it does not exist. We might as well make the most
of what we can do while we are part of it. We’ve got to set goals in order to
achieve this and keep our eyes focused on it. It helps go through our daily
life if we have set goals that we want to achieve and fulfill. The SMART
acronym tells us that our goals should be S for specific, M for measurable, A
for attainable or achievable, R for realistic or relevant and T for timely or
time based. This is very effective in helping us improve as a person especially
at times when we can't get our acts together. We can always set SMART goals
from time to time in order to keep track of our performance in whatever field
we want to work on and excel. It helps a lot in assessing ourselves in order
for us to make an evaluation on how we our doing with our life. After each
SMART goal we set for ourselves and have achieved it gives us a sense of
fulfillment knowing that we have accomplished something. Little by little
everyday we step up the ladder of our SMART goals. All of these should
eventually come up to rejoicing with what we have made of our life. These we
continue to do until it all sum up to bring us to that ultimate SMART goal. It
should all lead us and point to our final destination when we go up to the
house of the Lord. There is no greater joy than being with the Lord. Amen.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5
R: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
1 I rejoiced because they said to me, “We will go up to the
house of the LORD.” 2 And now we have set foot within your gates, O Jerusalem. (R)
3 Jerusalem ,
built as a city with compact unity. 4 To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the
LORD. (R) According to the decree for Israel , to give thanks to the name
of the LORD. 5 In it are set up judgment seats, seats for the house of David.
Today's parable in the gospel inspires and warns us once
again as that of the rest of the readings for today. This also reminds me of
the several trees I had the enjoyment of picking fruits from. I could still
remember when Sis Zeny's sister in Baldwin
invited us over to harvest the tangerines in their home. It was like an endless
harvesting because of the numerous fruits hanging from it. The same with
Jackie's tangerine and lemon trees in Placentia which my aunt and relatives and
a lot of people from West Covina look forward to having a share of, whenever I
bring it home and is extended to Bernadeth's
place of work in Rancho Cucamonga. Also with Sis Angela's persimmon in her
previous place of work and Sis Fe's guava and lemon trees in Walnut, whom the
people from San Lorenzo Bible Study gets to enjoy. Not to forget Sis Loreta's
fig tree also in Walnut whose fruits sometimes end up falling to the ground
before it gets picked since there are so many. It was like we were picking a
lot of the fruits this moment and the next few days it would be sprouting with
more fruits. Sis Loreta even calls her fig tree the tree of Jesus. This is why
this experience with these richly productive trees always made me think of
today's parable. I used to say that these trees would never end up being cut.
This should also make us realize that our life should also be like these trees
whose fruits have gone a long way in benefiting not just the people around and
close to us but extends even to those who are not close to us and believe it or
not people whom we don't even know. Jesus challenges us today to bear fruit so
as to become a beautiful sight and example for others to see and follow. This
should drive us to bear fruits that can be shared and enjoyed by not just the
people who are near to us but by everybody. Speaking of the fig tree in today’s
parable we should realize that it could be cut down after a certain period if
it does not bear fruit. It is the same with our covenant with God if we read
today's gospel. It reminds us that just like any other agreement there is a specified
period which only lasts until we are still alive once we die, the contract is
considered fully paid by Jesus but there are some conditions that apply. Let us
examine our part of the deal and make sure that we don't end up like this fig
tree in the parable it might finally be cut down unless we take action, allow
ourselves to be cultivated, respond positively and bear fruit. The figure of
speech used in the passages sounds scary. They were meant to give emphasis on
the need to bear fruit as heirs of the kingdom of God
Luke 13:1-9
...And he told them this parable: “There once was a person
who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit
on it but found none, 7 he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have
come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. [So] cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’ 8 He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for
this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; 9
it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’ ”
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