We may have all been confronted with some very disappointing
news and do not exactly know how to handle it with much patience and calm. We
must admit we sometimes blew it and acted very inappropriately with regards to
it. Although the world may see it as only right, fitting and normal reaction
the 1st reading today clearly tells us that no matter how
justifiable our anger may be in response to an injustice at the end of the day
it is our love for one another that should prevail. Amen. Hallelujah!
1 John 3:11-21
11 Beloved: This is the message you have heard from the
beginning: we should love one another,…
The Jews knew of the prophecy that from King David’s lineage
would come forth a King, the foretold Messiah of Israel. During the reign of
King Ahaz and all other kings of Israel who did evil things the
royalty was cut off. During the Babylonian captivity and in exile, those born
of the line of David, of royal blood went in hiding for fear of being killed.
Even though the divinic dynasty was cut off, from the tree of Jesse, the father
of King David, came forth the shoot that brought forth the King. We remember
that it was prophesied in Isaiah 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of
the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” The genealogy of
Jesus in Matthew 1 tells of this family tree. We would find at the end of this
lineage, Joseph who is the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus. Joseph is not
king but a carpenter and being Jew knew of the prophecy as foretold by the
prophet including this one from Isaiah 7:14 … the Lord Himself shall give you a
sign, “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name
Emmanuel.” as spoken to him by the angel who appeared to him. He finally
understood the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel . Isaiah is important to
better understand Jesus. Joseph knew of the need for secrecy and not to make
public these things because the reigning king at that time is Herod. He is not
Jew but an Edomite who was just appointed by the Romans to be king. He is king
not for the Jews but for the Romans to collect taxes for them. This is mainly
the reason why Herod wants all male babies born at the time of Jesus, dead.
Joseph dreamed a lot of dreams and it was through them that Joseph was able to
successfully carry out his mission as the protector of the baby Jesus. Another
point of reference here is the fact that in the Old Testament (OT) there was a
foreshadowing of the Magi or Wise Men who came to worship Jesus in the manger.
It was at the time of the reign of Balak an evil king in the OT when Balaam
also a wise man from the East prophesied in Numbers 24:15,18 that there shall
come a Star out of Jacob and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel who will dispossess Edom . He was asked to exact a curse
upon Israel
but from his mouth came forth a blessing. A star and a scepter signifies
kingship. In parallel, it was also the 3 wise men who were looking for a star
that would direct them to the newborn King of Israel who would inform Herod of
his whereabouts but warned in a dream not to go back to him in a dream. Jesus
is truly our King. The Kingship of Jesus is accompanied by many more wonderful
things that we still have to know of. In the Jewish tradition the # 3 and 7
stands for perfection and completeness. It is somehow puzzling to know that
there are 3 sets of 14 generations from the time of Abraham to the exile to the
time of Jesus. So why the #14? The significance of the #14 stands for the name
of King David which is equivalent to 14 in Hebrew. The 3 sets of 14 stands for perfect royalty
and king that all leads to Jesus. It could also be equivalent to 6 sets of 7.
The #6 signifies the date when the beast is made or the beginning thus the #666
which signifies the beast of all beasts. The 6 of 7 sets could mean the
beginning of the 7th set. 7 is also the Sabbath. The new 7 is the new creation.
Jesus is the beginning of the 7th set. Why the fuss in all of these? It is a
consolation to know that we have a God who is King. The King of kings and the
Lord of lords. We will eventually come face to face with our Creator and God
who made heaven and earth. The time is now to make a conscious move to be in
touch with this truth. It is such a waste that we don't always realize God's
presence among us. When there is nothing more rewarding than to always be aware
of God's presence and cry out to Him in joy. Whenever we are in a relationship
with someone and give our 100% into it then we can not help but expect it to
work. But there are times too when we have given our all and yet it doesn't
seem to be enough. We sometimes are bound for disappointments. When these things
happen then is really no reason to be sad for we can always go to God for
consolation whose love for us endures forever. We are all called to become
partakers and residents of the eternal Kingdom of God Elm Street " every time the girl in
this movie falls asleep, her nightmare begins and Freddie Krueger appears to
wreak evil and havoc in her life. She has to stay awake or else something
really bad happens to her and the people around her. Somehow this should make
us realize the importance of being awake, conscious and in touch with reality.
If there's one thing that we have to always be aware of, that is God has our
best interest in mind. It may not be easy to see, understand and have a grip on
this reality always especially at times when we seem down and out as in falling
flat on bed without a care in the world like dumb sleepyheads. We have to rise,
wake up and shine. We ought to always get a hold of this truth in today's psalm
and never let it leave our consciousness. We will eventually come face to face
with our Creator, and the time is now to make a conscious move to be in touch
with this truth. Our devotion to God should have no limits for He is Almighty,
All Powerful and Holy. We should remain faithful to God and never stray away
from the path where He leads us. Let us stay within the flock that God has
formed for us. When we are being cared for by God who is constantly and
consistently good, kind and faithful forever and ever then we are confident
that we are safe and secure in the fold where we belong like a flock tended by
the Good Shepherd. We should always remember that we have a God who cares for
all our needs for we belong to Him. May we all take part in the grand banquet
that God has prepared for us in heaven. Amen. Hallelujah!
P S A L M
Psalm 100:1b-2. 3. 4. 5
R: Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; 2 serve the LORD
with gladness; come before him with joyful song. (R) 3 Know that the LORD is
God; he made us, his we are; his people, the flock he tends. Enter his gates
with thanksgiving, his courts with praise; give thanks to him; bless his name.
5 For he is good, the LORD, whose kindness endures forever, and his
faithfulness, to all generations.
If we just try to look back and recall we will find that all
throughout our lifetimes we really have a lot of things to be thankful for. We
should continue to trust God who knows the things that happened, happening and
is bound to happen as in today's gospel. I should say that God is reminding me
once again of some special events in my life. Firstly because the gospel
reading is about the story of Phillip who was the one who introduced Nathaniel
or St. Bartholomew to Jesus which reminds me of this person in my life who was
also instrumental for the deepening of my faith in Jesus. I could still
remember the homily of Fr. Rolly when he said that today's gospel should remind
us of the person who brought us closer to God. In my life she is Gloria Dar. I
consider her a part of my Christian life in almost the same manner that Philip
in today's gospel was to Nathaniel/St. Bartholomew. I was just new in the
Catholic Charismatic Renewal then and I must admit that she was one person that
God has used tremendously in my life. I could never forget when I was still
pregnant with my son Jude most especially because it was Sis Gloria Dar who
envisioned Jesus carrying a baby standing in the middle of our prayer circle
and specifically described Him wearing the Sacred Heart attire and said these
words, "I have a message for my daughter, consecrate the baby in your
womb." This happened in a prayer
meeting I attended during that time which happened to be on the 9th day of my Sacred
Heart novena, and Sis Gloria, the prayer leader whom I just met, did not know
of my novena neither of my pregnancy nor would even suspect of it. Looking back
at my life back then most especially at that time when I first had this
devotion to the Sacred Heart, I can never deny and forget for the rest of my life
the dramatic and significant events that happened during my novena to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Jude Thaddeus which opened up the door for
miracles to happen. I have witnessed the
revelation of God's great love to me especially when I gave birth to Jude, my
1st born son, as proof of His undeniably awesome and unbelievable miracle when
he came out normal and healthy despite my problematic pregnancy. From that day
forward, God never ceased to amaze me every single turn in my life since His love
is beyond comprehension. Another thing worth mentioning is the fact that
today’s gospel happened to be the same gospel when I shared about my younger
son, Allan’s experience with Bishop Soc Villegas who told him to become a
priest. If we are clueless about a lot of things then we can be assured that
there is someone who knows all these things. Today's gospel gives us a glimpse
of Jesus' true divinity. He is God and Immortal, nothing is hidden from Him and
everything is known to Him. It gives us confidence knowing that we have a God
who is able to carry us through. We can learn from Nathaniel or St. Bartholomew
as we profess with confidence the very words that he said to Jesus and really
believe in word, thought and deed. Signs and wonders are wrought by God's
mighty hand each and every day. On top of it all is the promise of Jesus our
Savior to see greater things than we have all witnessed for the best is yet to
come. Amen. Hallelujah!
John 1:45-51
...Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered
and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” 49
Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of
Israel.” 50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you
that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” 51
And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and
the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
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