There are so many distractions in this world that break us
away from our God given destiny to be holy. From that period when time is not
yet known, up to this present age, God has already been telling us of the
things we ought to know and believe in. We have a tendency to fall away because
of the many things that we encounter daily in life. We fail to hold on to what
should truly be our priority and become totally oblivious of the real and
genuine call of God. Today's 1st reading reminds us of this most important task
that we ought to stick and commit to for our own sake and welfare. Let us grasp
this vital truth as if holding on to our very life. Let us clear things up and
set everything right so as to build the highest level of confidence and
conviction to lead a holy life. Amen. Hallelujah!
1 Peter 1:10-16
...the Spirit of Christ within them indicated when it
testified in advance to the sufferings destined for Christ and the glories to
follow them. 12 It was revealed to them...Like obedient children, do not act in
compliance with the desires of your former ignorance 15 but, as he who called
you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, 16 for it is
written, “Be holy because I am holy.”
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
Psalms 98:1, 2-3, 3-4
R: The Lord has made known his salvation.
1 Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done wondrous
deeds; his right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. (R) 2 The LORD has
made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his
justice. 3 He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house
of Israel .
(R) All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. 4 Sing
joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; break into song; sing praise.
Nothing is ever wasted or taken for granted if we work for
the glory of God. We have a Generous and Almighty God who doesn't need anything
from us but whom we need everything from. What's at stake here is not just a
limited period of time here on earth but eternity. It surely is worth all our
time, effort and resources. Let us not continue to be duped by the enemy into
believing his lies and deception and switch our total allegiance to God. Be
wise and act now. Amen. Hallelujah!
Mark 10:28-31
Peter began to say to Jesus, “We have given up everything
and followed you.” Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has
given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred
times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers
and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
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