This week is kind of hectic for the Filipinos in St. Martha's Church and I guess for the rest of the Churches with Filipino parishioners since it is the upcoming feast of St. Lorenzo Ruiz. A novena prayer has already started in St. Martha in honor of him and a feast and special celebration is scheduled this Sept. 28. People were asked to take part and were assigned various tasks in setting up the Church. Some were assigned to decorate the Church, others are going to be a part of the stage play, while others were in charge of the food to be served after the mass. St. Lorenzo Ruiz is the 1st Filipino Saint and there are lots of Filipinos here in West Covina so it is indeed going to be a day of celebration with so much joy. Amen. Hallelujah!
Ezra 6:7-8. 12b. 14-20 ...The Israelites — priests, Levites, and the other returned exiles — celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy...
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. The fastest, quickest, most alert person who gets the last seat 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!
P S A L M 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. (R)
Today's gospel speaks of a big gathering or crowd that prevents the people closest to Jesus to come near Him. Whenever there are big gatherings in the Church you can be sure that Filipinos are actively taking part in these activities. I am sure God appreciates our efforts to always become part of feasts and celebrations in His honor but what's most important is that as we are active in taking part in these activities we not only become physically present and close to God but really live, act, and put into practice His word with all our minds, hearts and souls. Let us follow the example of our Blessed Mother Mary who heard the word of God and acted on it. In doing this we can be instruments of bringing more people to God through the Church. Amen. Hallelujah!
Luke 8:19-21 19 The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. 20 He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you.” 21 He said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”
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