If we take time to study about the bible and our faith then
we will discover things we never knew existed before. We will come to a deep
and profound understanding of it which will bring us to greater heights in
terms of our knowledge of God. This will lead us to love and service in a very
meaningful way. Do you know that there is a commandment before the Decalogue or
10 commandments of God? Yes, there is and it is called Pre-Sinai. It is
noteworthy that today's 1st reading points to the reason behind this. I learned
this from a Lenten Retreat. When the people of Israel complained to God, He sent
them quail and manna as their food in the desert. Every morning they gathered
food from the ground and whenever they get more than they could eat for a day
they discovered the following morning that the excess got spoiled or rotten.
The moral lesson of this commandment is social justice. We should remove greed
in our midst and learn to care for others. We should also live within our means
and not desire something that is beyond our reach. The Israelites were so
discontented despite of the presence of manna in their midst. They did not
appreciate and were not grateful that God has provided them food. They sinned
against the Lord and directly rejected God's grace. Thus placing themselves
outside the protection of God and being predisposed to danger and calamity
which was exactly what happened to them when bitten by serpents in the desert.
In their journey to the Promised land, Canaan, the 5th gospel which is now
known as Palestine ,
the Israelites strayed away from God's path and went their own way. We should
learn the lesson of their story and choose to always stay within the protective
grace of God so as to attain the 5th gospel and Promised Land of God in our own
lives. The bible covers a span of more or less, 2000 years. Basing it on the
outline of the salvation history or covenant history which goes back to the
time of Adam & Eve and Noah and dates way back to 1800 BC during the time
of Abraham, Moses (1200), David (means the favored one,1000), Exodus (600) to
the birth of our Lord Jesus. We can see from this time line significant events
that happened from the time of Creation when God created man who fell into sin
and became unfaithful and how God continuously called us back to Him by showing
us who He really is throughout the length of time. It is so amazing how events
which are more than a thousand years apart can be connected and how God was
able to make things fall into perfect place like signs, wonders and miracles
made by His mighty hand throughout the length of time. Today's 1st reading is
one of the many discoveries I had or should I say made me look at things with a
new perspective. It is a foreshadowing
of Jesus crucified on the Cross and its power which became a source of healing
and salvation for us all. Ever since I have joined a bible study group,
Apologetics class and the like I have been discovering the wealth and treasure
of our Catholic faith. Thank and praise God for activities like these that
continue to shed light on our faith. I have always heard bible teachers say
that in order to have a better understanding of the scriptures we have to read
the bible starting from the New Testament before proceeding to the Old
Testament. It is true that the Old Testament is a foreshadowing of the New
Testament which is the full revelation of God's great love for us. Just like in
today's 1st reading we can establish a relationship between Jesus Christ dying
on the cross up on Mt.
Calvary Egypt and should speak confidence.
In our present time we should believe that we can overcome, social injustice,
sin and the culture of death. We have to believe in that because it is Almighty
God telling them to come. We don't fault them for seeing those realities, the
giants and scary things in the promised land but we fault them for not
trusting. When they complained against God, it is an insult to God for 2
reasons, first they forgot that God provides and God did provide the manna all
the time and also of water from the rock through God's power. In fact in 1 Cor.
St Paul speaks of this water from the rock that followed them as they journeyed
and the rock was Christ, "I AM" Jesus was with them in the desert. He
is the same God as yesterday. We must trust God at all times. These people in
the desert lost their patience however, was worn out and complained. We do an examination
of conscience, do we grumble like this? Sometimes we doubt if Jesus is really
with us in this journey. When we are trying to live the faith, being ridiculed,
made fun of while others are having all the fun. Whenever we are fasting and
resisting temptation we also may come to a point when like these people would
rather go back to Egypt
and slavery. When we embark the journey of the Christian faith and indeed try
to live up to all the teachings of the church, time will come when it is easier
to say to say “Let's go back to our own Egypt.” But Jesus said, my yoke is easy
and burden light. Let us not be fooled for the sins are the heavier burden. We
have to embrace Jesus, the one who comes to save and have more confidence than
ever in “I AM” that sets us free and truly believe we have eternal life. Amen.
Hallelujah!
Numbers 21:4b-9
...LORD said to Moses, “Make a saraph and mount it on a
pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover.” 9 Moses
accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone
who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
The Lord has already given us everything we need but we
still crave for something else. We sometimes doubt and question God's ability
to get us through it all. We tend to resort to means that is of our own and not
of God. Our rationalizing mind gets the
better in us when we exclude in the equation the awesome truth of who really
God is and what He is capable of doing in our life. Today’s psalm tells us not
to forget the works of the Lord. What better way to do that than to keep our
eyes focused on the price that God paid for us on the cross and the eternal
benefits it has brought upon us. In order to attain this we need to constantly
listen to the teachings of the Church. We have to familiarize ourselves to the
words of God in scriptures and the mysteries they hold. We have seen and
witnessed so much already to even doubt God's goodness. We hope and pray that
we will always remember and never forget. Our minds are limited and can not
comprehend beyond what can be explained by reason. God gave up His only
begotten Son, Jesus and allowed Him to be sacrificed on the cross. This could
never be explained by our logical and rational minds especially if we are
parents ourselves and have only one child. Who would give up an only child to
die a cruel and humiliating death for the sake of another and sinners at that?
But God did that and the only reason is His immeasurable and unfathomable love
for all of us. Today's psalm teaches a very important lesson and guideline that
we should always live by. If we want to maintain our strength and not be
susceptible to captivity in the hands of the enemy then we should always
remember and not forget the wonderful things that God has done to us. This
makes sense because God's works are holy and perfect we can surely rely on it
for everything. When the Israelites decided to follow Moses when they were led
out of Egypt
to the Promised Land and traveled a long time through the desert they
discovered that it was not an easy but a wearying and tedious journey. In the
same way when we travel through life we encounter challenges that sometimes
drive us to despair. However, we can draw inspiration from the readings today.
Just like the Israelites we should always have the hope of a new and better
life and be assured of the fact that with God on our side we will never be
defeated in battle, nor will we be allowed to starve and be fed with bread from
heaven. We easily forget things and become preoccupied with so many other
things. This happens to most of us and we tend to neglect what is truly
essential. Let us not focus on the lesser things but on what should dominate
our consciousness and awareness. We should always be alert and not easily
distracted and dissuaded by what is going on around us. Nowadays, we tend to
just rely on our own strength and understanding because we are living in a very
materialistic and advanced world and forget what's most important is to focus
on how God can be fully at work in our lives. We have seen and witnessed so
much already to even doubt God's goodness. We hope and pray that we will always
remember and never forget the works of the Lord. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 78:1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38
R: Do not forget the works of the Lord!
1 Hearken, my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to
the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter
mysteries from of old. R. While he slew them they sought him and inquired after
God again, Remembering that God was their rock and the Most High God, their
redeemer. R. But they flattered him with their mouths
and lied to him with their tongues, Though their hearts were
not steadfast toward him, nor were they faithful to his covenant. R. But he,
being merciful, forgave their sin and destroyed them not; Often he turned back
his anger and let none of his wrath be roused.
R.
What hold our attention and interest range from a variety of
people, places and things and we express them by engaging in various ways and
means. Some are hooked in business, sports, entertainment, romance, travel,
food, fashion, current events, issues with nature, outer space and all other
things we can think about that we can consider profitable, enjoyable, fun and
worthwhile to do. We had our moments and stages wherein we’ve been there and
done that. Coming from this point of view, we eventually realize whether now,
soon or later that ultimately we must acknowledge the fact that if there’s one
thing that should hold not just our attention
and interest but our constant admiration is the truth that is stated in today’s
2nd reading because it has definitely got it all. It is reminding us of the
things God has to go through just to show His great love. It sounds impossible
when we hear about this kind of love that God is sharing to each one of us.
This should give us the confidence and courage to carry on. Jesus is God, King
of Heaven and earth and the Master of all creation but took the form of a slave
and obeyed to the point of death. If we are to look at ourselves and try to
figure out who we really are as compared to God's greatness then we should not
even think of boasting anything about ourselves but rather we should always be
compelled to follow His example in our own little way. No matter how inadequate
and insufficient we are as a people we still try our very best to bridge our
gaps in the best human way we can. This should make us realize how much more
can the Lord do for us in His Godly power, resources and love. Christ divested
Himself of His dazzling glory and majesty. He was lost in the crowd, lived in
obscurity for the majority of His life and was thought to be Mary’s boy and
Joseph’s son since it was only in the last 3 years of His life that He went
public. When we are on top of everything there is greater danger of turning
away from God knowing that we have lesser need for God. Humanity has become so
full of itself. There is a need to be empty and sometimes the only way we can
fill up ourselves with God's grace and breathe life into us is through a
painful and difficult process. We are asked to empty ourselves of all that is
false, ignoble, and unreal so that we may become filled with Christ. Because
nature abhors a vacuum and so does grace. We must be filled with something. Tragically
we are filled with all kinds of desire, we want to be applauded, be promoted,
be consulted, be loved and be preferred to others. John the Baptist gave us our
ideal, I must decrease and He must increase (John 3:30) . All the foolishness,
unreality, intolerance, selfishness and the sin that is in us must decrease so
that we must fill the vacuum with our Lord who wants to share our life.
Whatever happens to us happens to Him and He wants us to let Him share because
only then will we find the rest that we pray for. A long time ago St. Francis
cried out loud, “He comes to His own today and receives Him not.” And so we
live lives that are restless, confused, frustrated and unfulfilled because we
do not share our lonely life with Him. So the prayer we learn as children and
the prayer that is said all over the world among Christians should be our
prayer now, Make our hearts like the meek and humble heart of Jesus. The Holy
Father, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI points out this route through Jesus as the
way to ascend to God. The orientation of the believer changed when Jesus came.
When Jesus offered Himself as the Lamb of sacrifice, He forever reconciled man
to God. Jesus goes out to Jerusalem as a lamb
without blemish to be sacrificed in the eyes of Israel . He goes beyond to a New
Jerusalem which opened for us the frontier from earth to heaven. In view of all
these we can always have confidence in all our actions and decisions if we have
consulted every plan we have to God in prayer. We experience peace and serenity that no
amount of wealth, fame and power can offer. The joy in our heart comes from knowing
that every single step of the way God is guiding and directing us. Most of all,
we have to learn the lesson that goes with everything that we've been through and
realize that there is nothing else we can do best but to totally surrender our
will to Him by being obedient to God at all cost. For we are the dear children
of God and everything become beautiful in His time. Amen. Hallelujah!
Philippians 2:6-11
Brothers and sisters: Christ Jesus, though he was in the
form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. 7
Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human
likeness; and found human in appearance, 8 he humbled himself, becoming
obedient to death, even death on a cross. 9 Because of this, God greatly
exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and
under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.
Today's gospel is an evidence of the concrete relationship
of the scriptures in the Old Testament with the New Testament. They are
interconnected in a very amazing way. If there's one thing that amazes me even
more, it is the thousands of years apart in terms of BC (Before the time of
Christ) and AD (Anno Domini/During and after Christ) that separates these
events and the tremendous power of God that defies the length of time by
connecting them and allowing every single thing in the entire history of
mankind to fall into its perfect place and pattern. We are just set to discover
wonderful and marvelous things that are beyond our imagination if we let God
just like Nicodemus in today’s gospel. He was a skeptic before but eventually
became a firm believer. It also contains
the most famous words of Jesus in the Gospel of John, “For God so loved the
world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not
perish but might have eternal life.” The purpose of the Gospel is stated in Jn.
20:31: “These things have been written so that you may go on believing that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that believing you may have life in His
name.” Everything comes through God’s
grace in the form of the scriptures as it is written from of old and revealed
right before our very eyes and within our hearing. Amen. Hallelujah!
John 3:13-17
13 Jesus said to Nicodemus: “No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” 16 For God so
loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him
might not perish but might have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through
him.
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