We have always heard priests use these words in today’s 1st
reading to pronounce a blessing to the church people usually during the end of
the mass. It always give us a feeling of unexplainable joy and peace in our
heart even at times when we just read it and chance upon it in most religious
cards, prayer books and the like. Thus, we have always felt good about it. Now
we know why. These very words according to the 1st reading are the Lord’s words
to Moses, thousands of generations before and still hold the same efficacy that
goes with God’s spoken word. It never loses its impact and meaning even up to
the present time. Peace is a gift that we get from Jesus Christ. He is the Son
of God and through Him we become sons and daughters of God not of the world.
The Word became flesh to make us "partakers of the divine nature":(2
Pet 1:4) "For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became
the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus
receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God." "For the Son of
God became man so that we might become God." "The only-begotten Son
of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that
he, made man, might make men gods." (Catechism of the Catholic Church 460)
When Jesus unlike Adam who did not trust, assumed human nature and became
obedient to the Father to death, He gave man a new beginning. As we are off to
start this new year we can start anew with Jesus Christ and begin it with Him.
We may never know what the future holds for us but we know that God holds our
future. Let us start the year 2013 right and receive God's blessing as stated
twice in today's first reading. Amen. Hallelujah!
Numbers 6:22-27
22 The Lord said to Moses: 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons
and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24 The
Lord bless you and keep you! 25 The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be
gracious to you! 26 The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace! 27 So
shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
God has indeed demonstrated his love and mercy to us in so
many ways for always. Sometimes we tend to overlook and take it for granted.
What I have been writing and sharing these past years since 2007 made me
realize to not overlook nor take for granted the very obvious fact that God
never leaves, forsakes nor abandon us 100% of the time. Just looking back at what happened from the
moment I started to commit to writing reflections up to the present makes me
see very clearly the significance of those events in my life in relation to the
life of Jesus here on earth. This is not just for me but is a calling for all
of us who believes in Jesus the Son of God who became man. In October 7, 2007
which I mark as my 1st day, I received this message from Habakkuk 2:2-3, Then
the LORD answered me and said: Write down the vision Clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on
to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; If it delays, wait for it, it will
surely come, it will not be late. It all started with the realization that I am
headed for the unknown especially with frightening consequences that followed
when I found out some information that are not in accordance to my personal
plans and expectation. After careful thought of these series of events it
impressed several significant occasions related to the scriptures and the life
of Jesus. I decided to document all my reflections as recommended in Habakkuk.
Thanks to Jesus being presented to us in every possible and even impossible
means especially at times when we encounter trials and difficulties. Every turn
of events should make us think of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus who was born as
man, suffered, died and resurrected on the 3rd day. These things should really
open up a lot of thoughts in our hearts. It proves that we have a God who
constantly wants to connect with us in countless and various ways. In God's
persistence He has to repeatedly announce His blessing upon us so that we will
be surely reminded of how much He wishes to make us prosper for this year 2014.
In Romans 8:14-15 it is written, "For those who are led by the Spirit of
God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall
back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry,
"Abba, Father!" We can give glory and praise to God right from where
we are. All we have to do is be faithful to the One and True God. We may not be
living in that time of the Maccabees when the Jews were forced to embrace pagan
practices. It was at that time when the ruler of the land wanted to eliminate
Jewish tradition and replace it with Greek. When they failed to carry this out,
Greek ways were imposed by force. This was at the time before Jesus came when Jerusalem was torn down.
Anyone who owns a Torah and those who circumcise their children were sentenced
to capital punishment. It was period of great struggle and difficulty. A man
named Judas Maccabeus became the leader of a Jewish revolt against the
repressive policies of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the king of Syria . He led the Jewish people in
recapturing their temple from Syrian occupying forces in 164 B.C. preventing
the imposition of Hellenism upon Judaea, and preserving the Jewish religion.
Those who followed him arose and won in their struggle. The temple was
reclaimed and purified from the stain of idolatry. Thus the institution of the
Hanukkah (Festival of Lights) , when the temple was rededicated. We have to
maintain our fidelity to the Lord. It is in doing this that we truly attain
freedom by following and staying in the way of the Lord. We need a Helper in
the person of God the Holy Spirit. The Spirit dwelling within us should be
unleashed in order to dispel all kinds of darkness in order to see God's face
shining upon us. All our thoughts, words and deeds should be directed to giving
praise and honor to God. It may sound so easy to say but it is not an easy
thing to do. But we must realize that directing it to anyone or anything other
than God makes it all the more difficult and complicated in the long run. We
must not be tempted to make the short cut and take the easy and well traveled
road. Most often people will choose this path but we may be surprised at what
is waiting for us at the end of the road. We should choose the less traveled
road although it is narrow and small. As in Mt. 7:13-14, “"Enter through
the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to
destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and
constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” Mother Mary serves as a special channel that
God has given to humanity to receive His graces. It does not obscure or
diminishes the one and only Mediator, Jesus Christ, rather she shows God's
power even more. Jesus, the Son loves His mother and gives her the greatest
grocery of graces in heaven. Mary totally depends on her Son as in the wedding
feast in Cana by saying, "Do whatever He
tells you." Mary knows that her Son is the ultimate source that's why she
leads us to Him, the true Mediator. God Himself ordained that His only Begotten
Son be born of a human mother through Mary's obedience and perfect surrender.
When the angel appeared to Mary, he wasn't speaking his own thoughts and words.
He was sent by God to speak God's words. In Greek, the Hail Mary is translated
as Hail most highly graced one, meaning so completely graced. Mary truly is
filled with God's grace. When God conceived Mary she was free from the stain of
original sin. He is getting ready the 1st tabernacle of His Son here on earth.
She is made holy, unstained and created in the fullness of grace. God has
placed in Mary the fullness of grace. Mary conceived by her virginity and
humility. It should be in our hearts to honor Mother Mary because the Son is
within her body. The Father is in the Son. It is by grace that we are saved.
Through Jesus and Mary all things are restored. Everything is possible with
God. Who are we to defy the manner that God Himself has chosen for His Son to
come to this world. This pattern of going to the Son through the mother is a
fool proof plan after all it is the plan of God. Do you feel at times that there is something
that God can do for us that He has not done? I don't think so, He has done
everything through Jesus Christ His Son. But if we sometimes feel this way then
maybe it's time to check our blocked list and start unblocking those that keep
us from receiving God's blessings. This
sharing by Bro. Bo Sanchez in Didache really touched me and I'm sure it will
touch you, too.
BLESSING ACCOUNT
Imagine if one day I ask for your bank account number and
tell you, “I’ve deposited one million dollars in your bank account.” Naturally,
you’d laugh and say, “Sure, Bo. Thanks. That’s a good one.” Of course, you
don’t believe I can give you a million bucks.
But let’s just say I really did put a million dollars in
your account. Would you benefit from it?
No, you wouldn’t. Unless you believe that I really gave you
a million dollars and withdrew it.
I believe God has deposited zillions of heaven’s resources
to your Blessing Account. You’ve got all the love, joy, peace, wisdom, holiness
and, yes — finances — that you need in this world to serve Him and live a happy
life.
But much of these zillions of blessings are unclaimed
because you say to yourself, “There are no blessings. God won’t bless me.”
Believe that your Blessing Account is full and withdraw from
your account.
God created the entire universe for you — a universe of
blessings that are only waiting to be claimed. Bo Sanchez
REFLECTION:
Have you claimed from your Blessing Account?
Today, I claim from my Blessing Account all that I need. In
Jesus’ name!
It boils down to one thing, only God can truly bless us in
the most wonderful and everlasting way. Although God's mercy is enormous and
endless, we should not take it for granted and think that we can do what we
want right now in a wayward manner. It is only wise that we avail of God's
mercy while we still can. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
R: May God bless us in his mercy.
1 [2] May God have pity on us and bless us; may he let his
face shine upon us. 2 [3] So may your way be known upon earth; among all
nations, your salvation. (R) 4 [5] May the nations be glad and exult because
you rule the peoples in equity; the nations on the earth you guide. (R) 5 [6]
May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you! 7 [8] May
God bless us, and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
We could have succumbed to anxiety, anger, panic and drastic
measures due to some things that happened to us. We could have justifications
and rationalizations that things should have been resolved within a certain
period and acted upon immediately. Though, it didn’t happen the way we wanted
things to happen and may not understand well enough why things have to be
delayed or stalled when it should have been resolved immediately. We should
just always trust in God’s Divine Providence despite of some reasons still
unknown to us at a particular time. For it will be revealed in the fullness of
time that God has designed since there is a perfect time for everything in
accordance to God’s Perfect Plan. Jesus is born of a woman. What the Catholic
faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Jesus Christ. God
sent His Son born of a woman and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us. To become the mother of the Savior, Mary
"was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role. Mary is Mother
of God and this title protects the reality of the Incarnation. She is also the
Mother of us all. We can experience her maternal love through our devotion to
her. We are also her children in an ever present way with her union with God. Yahoo!
Need I say more. Hooray for all of us who are heirs to the God's kingdom. May
we give our best in proclaiming to each and every person that we are truly
God's child in thought and in deed. Amen. Hallelujah!
Galatians 4:4-7
4 Brothers and sisters: When the fullness of time had come,
God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to ransom those under
the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 As proof that you are
sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba,
Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then also an
heir, through God.
We've seen and witnessed a lot of things in 2013 and years
in the past. It is undeniable if we are constantly seeking God's help in our
lives that we are able to make it through the past year all by God's grace,
mercy and love. If we will just take time to really reflect on our lives we
will be amazed of what we will find out especially of the message that God
wanted us to hear and know about. Once we’ve known of these things we will
surely keep it close to our hearts. May we like Mary keep and reflect always in
our hearts the truth about Jesus that we have been confronted with from the
very beginning and for all eternity. What happened to us in the past can be an
occasion when we could identify with the shepherds in today’s gospel who
returned glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as
it had been told to them. To whom do we entrust the things in our lives? Do we
trust in our own understanding and capabilities more than we do God? Just like
us, Mary had a lot of things going on in her life back then and most of them
she did not exactly know where it’s going to lead her but her faith in God kept
her going joyfully and securely. It pays to always spend time for some
reflections of the heart. And we can learn a lot from Mary’s attitude of being
reflective of the things happening to her as in today’s gospel. Amen.
Hallelujah!
Luke 2:16-21
16 The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the
infant lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known the message
that had been told them about this child. 18 All who heard it were amazed by
what had been told them by the shepherds. 19 And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and
praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.
21 When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the
name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
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