Hell could be defined as the place or state of punishment of
the wicked after death; the abode of evil and condemned spirits; Gehenna or
Tartarus. It is any place or state of torment or misery. It is surely a very
frightening place just like what is being described here in today's 1st
reading. It is definitely somewhere that we all don't want to end up in. No one
in his or her right mind would like to be in that kind of place. We all fear to
be thrown into hell and it would be best that we develop the holy fear of the
Lord if we want to be spared from it. Many people misunderstand the fear of the
Lord. Recalling the verse in Proverbs 1:7 and Proverbs 9:10, the fear of the
Lord is called the beginning or foundation of wisdom. In Proverbs 15:33, the
fear of the Lord is described as the "discipline" or
"instruction" of wisdom. They think that the fear of the Lord is something
that is good to have when you first start out as a Christian, but that you
should grow beyond it. That is not the case; rather, the fear of the Lord is
the beginning of wisdom because it is one of the foundations of our religious
life. It is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit enumerated in Isaiah
11:2-3. When we are infused with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we respond to
the promptings of the Holy Spirit the way that Christ Himself would. It
confirms the virtue of hope. We often think of hope and fear as mutually
exclusive, but the fear of the Lord is the desire not to offend Him, and the
certainty that He will give us the grace necessary to keep from doing so. It is
that certainty that gives us hope. The fear of the Lord is like the respect we
have for our parents. We do not wish to offend them, but we also do not live in
fear of them, in the sense of being frightened. In other words, it is not a
fear of punishment, but a desire not to offend God that parallels our desire
not to offend our parents. This gift "fills us with a sovereign respect
for God, and makes us dread, above all things, to offend Him. It is always for
our own good to have a holy fear in the Lord. It is not the same as fear in the
sense that we are just compelled to do something solely because of fear but
rather with love and respect. Amen. Hallelujah!
Malachi 3:19-20a
Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the
proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set
them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch, says the LORD of hosts. But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its
healing rays.
Is there any other
place we would like to be other than in the loving presence of God? This, I'm
sure we can and should have a straight answer without delay. No one should ever
claim that they haven't heard or known about God since it is our prime duty to
spread and make it known throughout the whole world. There is no denying to the
truth that all of us are given the chance to know who our God is and it is also
our duty and responsibility to take part in this mission of spreading the good
news and make known to everyone to the best of our ability the saving power of
God. We should consider each day as an opportunity to know and learn more about
our God. Whether it be an ordinary or special day in our life nothing should be
amiss and should be spent in giving glory to God our Savior and Master. We can
never ever deny the greatness of our God even just by looking at the simplest
part of God’s creation like the tiniest grain of sand to the largest ocean in
the world. As in Jeremiah 5:22, “Will you not tremble before me who set the
sand as limit to the sea, as an everlasting barrier it can not pass? Its waves
may toss but not prevail, they may roar but can not pass beyond.” We ask
ourselves how in the world can a tiny grain of sand hold the vastness of the
ocean in the same way we know that we have a God whose saving power is known
throughout the earth. It is our duty to ourselves to aim for the ultimate good
which is the will of God in our lives. This is not something that we still have
to search and look for. It is already programmed in us and made known to us by
the Lord. If by any chance this is not the case especially for those people who
have not heard or known about our Lord Jesus since birth then the Lord Himself
knows how to deal with them in accordance to His Divine Wisdom and Mercy. For
us who have been blessed and endowed with the privilege of hearing and knowing
about Jesus, this is coupled with a responsibility. The principle that to those
who have been given much, much is also expected definitely applies to it. We
have a responsibility in our hands to make known to everyone we meet about this
vital truth that could spell the difference between life and death. It is
always for our good to attend activities that nourish our soul. We are
enlightened and inspired because of the many good things we can learn from it.
Whenever we hear words of wisdom it could always help us make sense of the
things happening around us even suffering. It gives a feeling of special joy
and gladness in every person’s heart. If we continue to stand by the principles
of God then we will come to know that there is no truth in the saying that
faith is against reason. We can truly appreciate the relevance of the truth as
explained by Pope John Paul II that true faith come together with true reason.
It is the same thing as saying that Theology tells us that God created the
world while Science tells us how God created the world. The problem is that
there is a great propaganda out there. It makes sin appear with all its fun,
excitement and glamour. It makes virtue appear boring, lame, bland and
unexciting. But the truth of the matter is, it’s not. The pleasures that God
created in this world are enjoyed the most by those who don’t abuse them and
use it simply. Who do we think enjoys food most? The person who doesn’t know
how to fast and engorges all the time or a person after a fast experiences a
feast? The virtuous person enjoys life the most. The person who uses creation
and all things according to God’s plan enjoys it the most. It is because
pleasure is God’s idea. All the good things in the world that people want are
God’s idea. Satan can’t invent even one bit of pleasure. But God commands them to be used so that it
leads to life and a part of life is joy. The way to enjoy life is to follow
God’s commands. Life is not all about rules and regulations. God did not just
give us a bunch of rules and regulations that we are supposed to obey like
machines. What we do does not just proceed from who we are but also makes us
who we are. The actions we engage, the
words that we say and the things that we do have an impact on us. We are making
ourselves all the time. We, Catholics believe that God gave human beings reason
although it sometimes gets darkened by sin but still human reason can figure
out some things. One of the things that human beings figure out without God
having to reveal it, is that human beings need to meet 4 qualities to be deemed
a human being. The philosopher, before even Plato, Aristotle and Socrates, had
this figured out. We find it mentioned in Wisdom 8:7, the 4 virtues or
qualities are also called the hinge virtues because it is where all the other
virtues or qualities of good people would hinge. The word cardinal means hinge.
The Cardinals who surround the Pope are the doorway to the Pope. They are also
the ones whom he rely the most for advice. Everything else depends on the cardinal
virtues. (Prudence or wisdom, justice, temperance and courage or fortitude) We
can also find all the cardinal virtues, like justice which means giving each
person his or her due in the Book of Proverbs, Sirach, Ecclesiastes and all the
wisdom literature in scriptures. We all know even as kids instinctively how
important justice is. The first thing that a kid cries out as soon as he learns
how to talk if he has brothers and sisters is “Not fair, he got more than I
did” or “You ask me to do more than what that person is doing.” This is because
we have instinctively or natively offensive justice. Each person has rights and
ought to get their due. There’s also another part of justice that we forget,
that is, we have obligations and duties to everyone. A person who is unjust is
not a good person. To be just, we need to control our passions. Temperance is a
virtue that balances and controls our passions. It is like controlling our
desire for that last piece of cake if we know that it belongs to our sister. In
order to be just, we’ve got to control our appetites. Make our appetites come
into line with justice, truth and goodness. We’ve got to have that balance in
our life in order to be a good and effective person. Temperance makes this
happen. We also have to be courageous. If we are not courageous then every time
a difficulty arises we’re going to shrink back. If there’s any danger involved
in doing the right, just and wise thing then we’re just going to crack out and
find an excuse because we’re afraid. Courage or fortitude helps us to master
fear and not let fear keep us from doing what’s right. In the same way that we
want justice to prevail always since it is very frustrating when we encounter
situations that are very unjust. We are reminded in today's psalm that we can
all be assured of the truth that the Lord rules the earth and He rules with
justice there is no doubt. We've got to take hold of the marvelous things that
God has done. Nothing else matters than the truth that we are all loved by God
and given the privilege of taking part in His great kingdom in heaven. God
revealed to us Himself in various different ways. In the gospel of Mark:
"the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God" (Mk 1:1) is summarized
by the phrase - The person of Jesus, and the gospel of Luke:"The gospel of
glory to God in high heaven and peace on earth to those on whom his favor rest
(Lk 2:14) is summarized by the phrase - Joy to the world, while the gospel of
John:"the gospel of the Word that became flesh and made his dwelling among
us and we have seen his glory" (Jn 1:14) is summarized by the phrase -
Eternal life then the gospel of Matthew is where all this happened to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet (Mt 1:22) and is written almost 55x
in this gospel and summarized by the phrase - The Coming of the Kingdom. God's
saving power is manifested in this treasury of books that have been preserved
and handed to us from generation to generation. No one can deny the fact that
to all God has been gracious and loving with no exception at all. God's
faithful love should compel us to do the best we could ever do. There was a
time when my computer got bugged down and happened to be the same time that I
heard and was touched by the homily of Fr. Joseph Magdaong in the healing mass
at St. Christopher where Hendrie who fixed my computer was serving as a member
of the choir. It had been several years since I heard about this story of a
tailor and his needle but I would never forget and always remember it
especially the perfect timing and situation when I heard it. This tailor who
was about to die spoke his last and they were these words, "Give me my key
to heaven." At first those people who were there and heard him did not
understand what he was talking about until they realized that he was asking for
his needle. In the same way we must have our own keys in heaven as we try to
examine ourselves and find out what is it in our life that can be compared to
that needle in a tailor's life or our special talents that we can offer to God.
I could still very well remember that I was on the verge of tears upon hearing
that because I immediately thought of this computer that I am using to spread
the word of God through my everyday reflections on the word of God that I write
and share to others through e mail. I am just full of gratitude and joy in my
heart for all the amazing things that God had done especially of the fact that
this computer which I consider the needle in my life remained in perfect
condition since that time on. There is a need for us to respond to God's call
to each one of us to become channels of His blessings as His power is revealed
in us. We will just run out of excuses and alibis why we should not give honor
and praise to God. There is really nowhere to go but to God and that we would
have to realize not sooner or later but right now and act on it. But we have to
trust, hope and rely on God rather than our own power. Let's face it we
sometimes rely too much on ourselves and too little on God. We are troubled
about a lot of things when sometimes there's really no cause for it. There are
levels of anxiety. Exaggerated anxiety and discouragement are one of the
greatest obstacles to holiness. There is a level of anxiety that we just have
to trust in God's Grace and Goodness. We should not disturb our inner peace not
even momentarily. Life on earth is a great struggle indeed for God's Kingdom. A
lot of things can bother and bring us down but we do not have to stay that way.
We have to exercise our minds and wills to put our confidence in God. He is the
one whom we can totally trust and depend on to save us. Our life is much about
the daily revelations of God to us through all the circumstances that surround
us which points to only one truth, He is victorious. Victory is surely in our
hands once we've made the right move and choice. Let us take our stand and know
that God's grace is sufficient for us. We will not be put to the test beyond
our strength. Things are bound to get better for as long as we hold on to God's
promises. Today's psalm, kind of remind me of this preaching about this wise
man from the East in the Old Testament (OT), he is a prophet named Balaam and
served an evil and wicked king. King Balak wanted Balaam to exact a curse upon Israel
but from his mouth came forth a blessing. He 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 . A star and a scepter
signifies kingship. In parallel, it was also the 3 wise men in the New
Testament (NT) during the time of King Herod an Edomite who were looking for a
star that would direct them to the newborn King of Israel, Jesus. He is truly
our King and the fulfillment of God's promise. We are all called to respond
with gratitude to the Lord who has revealed His saving power to us. There is no
doubt that the God of the house of Israel is still the same one true
God of today. The same privilege is handed over to us as the chosen people of God , Israel
Psalm 98:5-6, 7-8, 9
R: The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.
5 Sing praise to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and
melodious song. 6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn sing joyfully before
the King, the LORD. (R) 7 Let the sea and what fills it resound, the world and
those who dwell in it; 8 let the rivers clap their hands, the mountains shout
with them for joy. (R) 9 Before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to rule
the earth; he will rule the world with justice and the peoples with equity.
Faith, hope and charity make it possible for us to really
have wisdom, justice, temperance and courage. Without faith, hope and charity
in this life, no one can really become truly wise. All throughout human history
we see people who exercise these gifts. They may not be Christians, deeply
spiritual people, or in a state of grace and can exercise some of these
potentials here and there. But ultimately original sin means we are going to
sin seriously and mess up. We need God’s grace for those 4 great virtues to be
perfected. Faith, hope and charity are supernatural. These are things that
human beings would never know that they need or could have without God giving
them supernaturally that’s why they are called the theological virtues. We only
know about them through divine revelation and we couldn’t know about them by reason.
We can only have them through God’s grace. The theological virtues, faith, hope
and charity are the crown of the first 4 cardinal virtues that transform and
make them possible. God doesn’t want us just to be whole human beings and
restore us to what Adam & Eve were when they blew it in the Garden. God
wants us to be more than that. He wants to elevate our human nature and
divinize it. He wants us to share in His own Divine nature. Charity is all
about loving with God’s love. Loving as the 3 persons of the Holy Trinity love
each other and sharing in that goes way beyond human nature. This is an
incredible thing and call. It was only possible because God became man and we
can share in his virtue. This is what the real Catholic life is all about. It’s
not just about making it or going to heaven by the skin of your teeth after
struggling. It’s about growing in holiness and becoming like Jesus all
throughout our life, a champion not without struggles. As a matter of fact
without the struggles we can never become a champion. But with victory and
excellence not with hopelessness, despair and frustration. This is God’s desire
for us which is a fantastic calling. The power to do this is given to us. It is
by knowing the virtues and the habits of champions like St. Paul and the Thessalonians. Amen.
Halleujah!
2 Thessalonians 3:7-12
7 Brothers and Sisters: You know how one must imitate us.
For we did not act in a disorderly way among you, 8 nor did we eat food
received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day
we worked, so as not to burden any of you. 9 Not that we do not have the right.
Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might
imitate us. 10 In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone
was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat...
It doesn't mean that if we have surrendered everything to
God then we can be rest assured that all things will work out well for us. We
must always be prepared for the worst since our faithfulness to God will always
be put to the test. As the bible says, gold is tested through fire and so is
our faith. No matter what happens, we have God's assurance that if we persevere
then not a hair on our heads will be destroyed. I have a thick hair and it has
become very long already because I haven't had a haircut for a long time
already. I guess this is one of the things that distinguish me from other
people. I am suddenly reminded of someone who told me that when she was looking
for me from a multitude of people, it was my hair that set me apart and helped
her recognize me from the others. You can already imagine how long and thick it
is, it has become so distinct. This is why every time I encounter a bible
reading that says something about the hair, I've always considered it very
personal and especially meant for me. This hair thing is very personal to me.
Every time I encounter a bible passage about hair it really strikes me owing to
the soft spot it holds in my heart. Some
people may find it very strange when we make certain decisions in life that may
not conform to their own personal beliefs. Life is like that, we encounter
circumstances that tend to pull our spirits down and we can only hope that
things will get better. There are times when we get bombarded by criticisms
left and right for certain decisions that we make to the point of feeling
insulted. We can not blame these people since they may be voicing out their
opinion from a different point of view and do not understand specifically from
where we are coming from. There are times when we think of one thing and
thought it to be the right thing but turned out to be the other. These things
that come our way, that could be related or in confirmation to it or could be
other things, sometimes we can never really tell or have no way of knowing at
all. Today's gospel assures us that whatever comes our way, for as long as we
try our very best to our utmost ability to persevere in the Lord then we will
surely be secured. As we aim to be great before God, trials and difficulties
may come our way, the way people in trial are experiencing right now, that none
could ever imagine. Let us continue to hold on to God's promise that if we are
faithful to Him then He is also faithful to us amidst all the difficulties we are
facing as written in today’s gospel, “.... but not a hair on your head will be
destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives...” The word
perseverance is defined in the dictionary as - steadfast, faithful 1 a: firmly
fixed in place : immovable b: not
subject to change 2: firm in belief, determination, or adherence : loyal. When
we decide to always be in the loving presence of God it means we stay away from
sin. This is not an easy thing to do in fact it is written in Mt. 18:21-22,
"Then Peter approaching asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against
me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus answered,
"I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. Our faith demands
a great deal from us even to the point of being hated by all. Our focus should
not be on what seems to be the downside of it because God assures us that not a
hair will be destroyed and our perseverance will secure our lives. This, we
could definitely count on. I believe that all of us will be given ample time to
prepare for the day of judgment but there is a need to recognize that the time
and the hour is at hand so as not to miss our appointment and always be ready
for it. We really have to prepare well, that's the message. Have you heard of
athletes preparing for a competition like Manny Pacquiao having to train
rigorously before a boxing fight. God is urging us to do the same for our
faith. Take every possible means of enriching our faith and love for God so
that we can always withstand whatever is coming our way. When we go beyond our
limits we also exercise our endurance so that we not only benefit physically
but spiritually as well. We are the
children of God and we are born to be winners so let us always train hard to
maintain that wonderful physique that God has given us for His greater glory.
Strong and mighty is our God and so are we! There are several things happening
in our life one after another and sometimes we are overwhelmed by it that we
tend to be sidetracked and distracted as to what we are supposed to do. We see
and hear a lot of things around us and we come to a point when we are no longer
sure which one to follow. If there's one sure thing that we can be assured of
that is we should not be terrified despite the enemy's deceptions for as long
as we are able to live our lives according to the truth of God which we all
have a responsibility to know and uphold. There is a vast source of information
and knowledge that we need to learn about our Infinite God and sometimes we
make the mistake of rushing and go in strides but with our limited human
capacities we always fall short and come up inadequate. Once again my vision of
a ladder is coming to view as if telling me that God will always be with us
every single step of the way, guide us through by showing us every facet of
life from the 1st or easiest to the succeeding and more difficult steps and
finally to the highest level. Today's gospel tells us of the certainty that
this world will come to an end but when it is going to happen, nobody knows.
Whether it is going to happen sooner or later should be the least of our
concerns. What's most important is that we are always ready. It is easy for us
to say, "Do not worry." or "I am not worried." but are we a
picture of what we say we are. Our actions speak louder than the words we say.
We ought to make a firm stand on this and really mean it. It is not like we
just believe in something then that's it. It will require more than that in
order for us to truly be a reflection of what we believe is true. If we think
that we can just go along with the majority or we have won over the support of
many and we are safe already then we are wrong. It is more of a personal
conviction on our part to really stand by it no matter what. What's worse is
that when we don't know what we really believe in then the worst happens. As
the gospel says, we should not be deceived. We've got to grow in wisdom and
understanding not as the world may put it but as the Holy Spirit of God fills
and empowers us. It is especially important that we build confidence on the One
True God, the source of our strength and courage. As in Ephesians 6:10-18,
"Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put
on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics
of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the
principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present
darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of
God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done
everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth,
clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness
for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to
quench all (the) flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of
salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all
prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit. To that end,
be watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the holy
ones..." These are the things we ought to focus on rather than be bothered
of the frightening things that are being said about the end times. I heard from
a priest's homily that there are just 3 things we need to do instead of being
bothered by these end of the world predictions. They are: 1. Do no harm to
others. 2. Do good to others. 3. Spread the word of God. It may not be as
simple as just 1,2 and 3 but it is definitely worth doing for it can surely
secure our lives on that final day. No one can really say when it is going to
happen but one thing is sure we all have to prepare and be ready for it right
now. Amen. Hallelujah!
Luke 21:5-19
5 While some people were speaking about how the temple was
adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, 6 “All that you
see here — the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another
stone that will not be thrown down.” 7 Then they asked him, “Teacher, when will
this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to
happen?” 8 He answered, “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my
name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them! 9 When
you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must
happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.” 10 Then he said to them,
“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be
powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome
sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.” 12 Jesus said to the crowd:
“They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues
and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because
of my name. 13 It will lead to your giving testimony. 14 Remember, you are not
to prepare your defense beforehand, 15 for I myself shall give you a wisdom in
speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. 16
You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and
they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all because of my
name, 18 but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. 19 By your perseverance
you will secure your lives.”
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