It can be told, we are God's dwelling place. Thus we ought
to do everything in our power to make ourselves pleasing and holy before the
Lord. When we speak of physically constructing something like a temple we've
got to have all the necessary funds and materials to build it. It really costs
a lot to build especially at this time when there is economic distress all over
the world. Spiritually, it is not like we are lacking in resources of any kind
to fulfill this. The Holy Spirit has the gifts, well equipped and will never
run low to carry out this task of building us into a temple of God
Ephesians 2:19-22
19 Brothers and sisters: You are no longer strangers and
sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the
household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is
held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; 22 in him you also
are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
We find in the story of Paul that he eventually regained his
eyesight and started proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God. Wherever we're coming
from we should strive to follow his example of groping for the truth about the
light while he was in darkness and blind. We have a responsibility in our hands
which is very clearly proclaimed in today's psalm. As we find our way to God
may we find ourselves taking part in the mission and call that Paul himself
obediently followed and fulfilled. We are not just listeners and onlookers, we
apparently have to do what the psalm reading tells us today. We have all been
commissioned to go out to all the world and tell the Good News. No matter who
we are, what we are, where we're from and where we are. We need to strive to do
our best to improve our knowledge of God for He has great plans for all of us.
There is really a need to equip ourselves in order to respond as best as we can
to His call. We are the temples of the Holy Spirit, that's why we should take
care of our bodies too. Just think of it, whenever we are preparing to receive
guests in our home we always try our best to make it look presentable and go
through extraordinary efforts to make it special. I believe that we should
develop this kind of attitude each day as we bear in our minds that God dwells
in us. It is our duty to make Him feel at home and make it a fitting dwelling
place for Him. Let us make ourselves a living testimony of the gospel. What a
way to live if by just looking at us people will be blessed and praise God for
we become proof of His steadfast kindness and fidelity. Sounds very difficult
but as God our Father is Almighty we continue to hope that all things are
possible and we can do all things through Him. God is so good indeed, and
reminded about my son’s allergy. If not for it I wouldn't have known of his
drinking spree and could have failed to remind and emphasize to him what a few
bottles of beer could have led him. I am thankful that as early as possible it
has already been put to a stop. Although I would like to give my son the
benefit of the doubt that even without the allergy I know that Allan knows his
limitations and can very well overcome any possible addiction that is being
hurled right in front of him by the enemy for he is a Youth for Christ. As
parents we need to look after the welfare of our children and give them sound
advice. There is indeed a need to speak up, be bold and courageous. There is
really a need to remind ourselves constantly of this truth in order to respond
as best as we can to this call in today's psalm reading. Once we've made a
decision to embrace the truth and turn our backs on our old ways which are not
headed to the path that God wants us to travel then we can be assured that we
are right on track. Shout it out to the whole world and let it be known by
everyone. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 117:1bc. 2
R: Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
1 Praise the LORD, all you nations; glorify him, all you
peoples! (R) 2 For steadfast is his kindness toward us, and the fidelity of the
LORD endures forever. (R)
The gospel today
is about the story of "Doubting Thomas" which is also the story of
each one of us. One time or another we can not deny that we've been like
Thomas, too. We also doubted God in our own personal lives sometimes even
without knowing it through our words and actions. Our experiences at times are
mostly occasions that lead us to doubt. We all come to a point in our lives
when our faith is greatly tested. But just like those holy and faithful souls
including Father Abraham and the rest of our ancestors in the Old Testament
whom the church said were in limbo before the coming of Jesus Christ, who
waited and were rewarded with Heaven we, too should be hopeful that our time
will come. Instead of dwelling on the negative we should realize that despite
the locked doors in our lives God always stand in our midst and give His peace.
We should be thankful to God for the several occasions in our life when we
encountered difficulties for those were times when we discovered that God never
left us. These experiences that cause fear and pain sometimes make us turn away
from God and doubt Him. This is very common nowadays as we see people live
their lives as if there is no God. Today's gospel is very appropriate for
the kind of generation we have right now, a doubting and unbelieving race of
people who no longer believe anything without first seeing. In the encyclical
of Pope Benedict XVI entitled, "Spe Salvi" we are asked to nourish
our faith, hope and love through prayer, unity of our own sufferings to
that of Jesus Christ and belief in the reality of judgment. We are so blessed
to have Pope Benedict XVI who was a teacher before he became pope. This present
generation definitely benefited from his papacy. We must not assume that we are
already good in our faith rather we must have the humility to admit that we
still have a lot to learn before we can profess the words of Thomas with the
same love and conviction. In today's gospel Jesus calls us to go beyond
the boundaries and limitations of this world. It is not just the visible aspect
that we should focus on. Let us all examine ourselves and evaluate what we have
been doing for God and if we think we've reached the end of the line and we've
given it our best shot then we are wrong. Our God is awesome, infinite and
endless in glory that each day we have is an opportunity to improve our best. If we can go past it then we are truly
blessed. Believe the unbelievable although we don't have proof. Just trust the
peace emanating from Christ, the kind of peace that dwells in our hearts, feels
very much at home and there to stay no matter what happens. Amen. Hallelujah!
John 20:24-29
Thomas, called
Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other
disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I
see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and
put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 Now a week later his
disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the
doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your
hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” 28
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him,
“Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have
not seen and have believed.”
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