There are 3 steps to victory in spiritual warfare.
1. Define the enemy. Know that the enemy could be blatant or
subtle. It could be disguised in the form of lies, a force that leads us away
from Christ, or a person/desire that makes us act in contrary to Christ. The
subtlety of the enemy can be compared to this strategy, a frog placed in a pot
of water on a stove top that was being slowly heated until it boiled to death.
The frog could have easily jumped out of the pot if it was placed there when
the water was already boiling.
2. Determine the desires of the enemy. Its desire is to get
the people against each other. This is so, in order to lure us to sin and by
distorting the real face of sin to make us believe that we are not committing
it at all.
3. Do the opposite. If what we are doing leads us to sin
then do the opposite. If we feel like answering back or gossiping about a
person then don't.
We are also warned
not to cling to spiritual experiences to the point of losing sight of the
purpose of these spiritual delights which is to allow us to have a deeper faith
and hope in God. It should work as transmitters of spiritual growth. The only
spiritual and temporal benefit that we should gain from it most importantly
should bring us to the knowledge and love of God. The primacy of love is
emphasized in Lk. 10:19-20 which say "I have given you authority to
trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy;
nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you,
but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." If we've become so
inordinately attached to the gift it can lead to inappropriate use. According
to St. John of
the Cross there are dangers in using the gift since we can be susceptible to
vanity, vain glory or worst demonic manipulation. Let us not forget that for
the gifts to work there is a need for detachment and always be docile to the
leading of the Holy Spirit. Everything is for the greater glory of God. Amen.
Hallelujah!
Acts 2:42-47
42 They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles
and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers. 43
Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the
apostles…
God is the source of all good things. Only Jesus can satisfy
our souls. We should be really careful in setting our priorities. Sometimes we
end up making the wrong choices and decisions in life. We end up rejecting
something that should be valued and treasured more than anything else in this
whole wide world. All we need to do is trust that the Lord will always take
care of all our needs we need not tire ourselves to the point of exhaustion
because it is better to take refuge in the Lord than resort to trusting in or
own strength and others. According
to Fr. Joseph Koterski a Jesuit priest and a professor in Fordham University
Psalms 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
R: Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is
everlasting.
…Let those who fear the LORD say, “His mercy endures
forever.” (R) 13 I was hard pressed and was falling, but the LORD helped me. 14
My strength and my courage is the LORD, and he has been my savior… This is the
day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it. (R)
We make difficult decisions in life that some people may
find hard to understand. But some things whether seen or unseen, felt or not,
go beyond the concrete and tangible things in life. Jesus will stop at nothing
just to make known to us everything about Him. If we meditate on His brokenness
and woundedness on the cross we would find ourselves no longer postponing or
delaying to believe 100 % in Jesus if we really want to be blessed. It is a
natural reaction from most people who hear about someone entrusted a big
inheritance to feel envious of his/her good fortune. I always hear people say
that such person is so lucky. Actually, there is no sense in feeling that way
if we just realize that we've all been handed down an inheritance from God
through Jesus Christ. We are a people beyond lucky but truly blessed. We should
realize by now that we are more than royalty because we are heirs of not just a
great fortune but an imperishable, undefiled and unfading inheritance. Amen.
Hallelujah!
1 Peter 1:3-9
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is
imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you 5 who by the
power of God are safeguarded through faith, to a salvation that is ready to be
revealed in the final time. 6 In this you rejoice, although now for a little
while you may have to suffer through various trials, 7 so that the genuineness
of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by
fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus
Christ. 8 Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not
see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious
joy, 9 as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
The gospel today is about the story
of "Doubting Thomas" which I guess is also the story of each one of
us. One time or another we can not deny that we've been like Thomas, too. The gospel today is about the story of
"Doubting Thomas" which is also the story of each one of us. One time
or another we can not deny that we've been like Thomas, too. We also doubted
God in our own personal lives sometimes even without knowing it through our
words and actions. Our experiences at times are mostly occasions that lead us
to doubt. We all come to a point in our lives when our faith is greatly tested.
But just like those holy and faithful souls including Father Abraham and the
rest of our ancestors in the Old Testament whom the church said were in limbo
before the coming of Jesus Christ, who waited and were rewarded with Heaven we,
too should be hopeful that our time will come. Instead of dwelling on the
negative we should realize that despite the locked doors in our lives God
always stand in our midst and give His peace. We should be thankful to God for
the several occasions in our life when we encountered difficulties for those
were times when we discovered that God never left us. These experiences that
cause fear and pain sometimes make us turn away from God and doubt Him. This is
very common nowadays as we see people live their lives as if there is no
God. Today's gospel is very appropriate for the kind of generation we
have right now, a doubting and unbelieving race of people who no longer believe
anything without first seeing. In the encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI entitled,
"Spe Salvi" we are asked to nourish our faith, hope and love through
prayer, unity of our own sufferings to that of Jesus Christ and belief in
the reality of judgment. We are so blessed to have Pope Benedict XVI who was a
teacher before he became pope. This present generation definitely benefited from
his papacy. We must not assume that we are already good in our faith rather we
must have the humility to admit that we still have a lot to learn before we can
profess the words of Thomas with the same love and conviction. Amen.
Hallelujah!
John 20:19-31
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” 24 Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” 24 Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name
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