NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

Sis Pat Pua shared to me before about an experience she had way back in the Philippines when she wasn't in the Charismatic Renewal yet. She said she was at that time still grieving over the loss of her mother and adjusting to married life and relocation to the hometown of her husband. She said that during her time of grief she had a vision of her dead mother wearing a brown habit and clothes like that of St. Anthony of Padua. I learned from a talk a long time ago when I was still new in the Renewal about the spiritual war which could be found in Ephesians 6:10-20. The presence of the spiritual army of evil in the heavens could take the form of dead loved ones or even be disguised as holy and divine. Those spirits could take advantage of the present state a person is in which could be grief and be used against him/her. There is really a need to always anchor ourselves firmly to God and not be easily deceived which is exactly what Paul is telling and warning us in today's 1st reading. Another incident that I am reminded of from today’s 1st reading is the day that marks my anniversary year here in the US. It so happened that at that time I was exactly on my 3rd year and it mentioned this phrase, “…remember that for three years, night and day.”  Looking back at all those years, I must say that I will never forget every single day and night of it. Even if I do, I can resort to my personal journal or reflections which I have started in 2007. The experiences I have been through, brought my faith to depths, heights and lengths that I never could have thought or imagined possible up to this very day. Amen. Hallelujah!

Acts 20:28-38
...savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them. So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night and day,...


I grew up without a father because he died when I was barely 3 years old. My nanay (mother) was the only one who practically raised us up when we were still very young then. With all that we've been through, I can never ask God for more, for He was with us every step of the way just as nanay had said and believed when she was still living always emphasizing God's special care to orphans and widows. This should remind us why we must always be hopeful in His divine providence. Aren't we all blessed to have a God and Father who is our Savior and Redeemer. There are still more to be thankful about and it made me realize that if we will only be focusing more on the goodness and blessings that God send our way then there is really no more reason for us to be afraid or be discouraged. There is no doubt that God will always come to our rescue and will never forsake nor abandon. We all go through different situations and circumstances in life. Some of them do not make any sense. if we fail to acknowledge the power of God moving in it. There are numerous things that we can think, focus and decide on but there’s only one thing I am sure of. We’ve got to acknowledge that God’s power remains to be above all things no matter what it may seem to be. These experiences we have been through should bring our faith to greater depths, heights and lengths that we never could have thought or imagined possible. We can associate today's psalm with the first beatitude which is, "Blessed are they who are poor in spirit theirs is the kingdom of God." We can always find solace and consolation in the words of God but more than these is the truth that His words go beyond these feelings and emotions. Our God is able to bring into reality what He said He would do. The Holy Spirit is invisible but we can see its effects. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, peace, joy, kindness, goodness, patience, self control, humility, modesty, chastity and faithfulness. We should all be reflecting these fruits in our lives. We may still have a long way to go but we can start now. We need to make these effects visible by making the Holy Spirit work through our lives. Whether it be in the face of hardship, embarrassment, ridicule and always under the scrutiny of the self righteous judgments of other people, if we know that we've ran the race, finished to the end and fought a good fight of faith at all cost we can be assured of God's abiding presence. The Lord pours down His blessing on us. We have a task to do for the greater glory of God.
In our Catholicism study in St. Martha the speaker cited an example why we Catholics look up highly and venerate Mama Mary. He took Monalisa the famous and considered one of the masterpieces if not the greatest work of art of Leonardo Da Vinci. He said that Mama Mary is a reflection of God's greatness and His greatest masterpiece or creation. He explained further by citing another example of the moon getting its brightness from the sun. That's the true basis of Mary's greatness that some people even us Catholics do not realize so well. Our veneration and devotion to Mary is a way of worshipping God since we confess to the power of God manifested in the Blessed Mother. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 68:29-30, 33-35a, 35bc-36ab
R: Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.
28 [29] Show forth, O God, your power. the power, O God, with which you took our part; 29 [30] for your temple in Jerusalem let the kings bring you gifts. (R) 32 [33] You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, chant praise to the Lord 33 [34] who rides on the heights of the ancient heavens.

We can not discount the fact that evil is lurking in this world and temptations never stop to assail us. Remember that Satan is the father of lies and have gone to a great extent to lure people to his malice and schemes. It is evident how we see the world has become today. We tend to change loyalty and be convinced of the intricate and elaborate strategy of the enemy. He just doesn’t take things sitting down. He is definitely at work and should never be underestimated. We already have the victory in our hands but sometimes we just let it slip by. We’ve got to learn more and more from Jesus and know who is Master of our lives. Jesus is the hallmark sign of humility. He is obedient to the Father’s plan to the point of suffering and death. It went as far as taking up the cross for our salvation. As scriptures say, “Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart.” St. Augustine said that Jesus did not say, learn from me to do wonders and miracles, heal the sick, cast out devils, raise the dead but learn of me to be meek and humble of heart. God doesn’t expect the great signs, wonders and deeds. He does expect meekness and humility from us. Meekness is the virtue that moderates anger. Humility is so powerfully a Christian virtue and not as the pagan philosophers believe it to be. It is thinking that God alone is good and the source of all goodness. He distributes His gifts to all of us and is the goodness in all that we see. From this point of view we can say that to sin is being envious of God. When we sin it means we are jealous of God. It is our will, thinking and the intellect that primarily decides.  It is the appetite of the will that keep us from the moderate striving to reach our goal. We can cross the line from being the creature and the creator and try to procreate the things that belong to God. St. Paul says, that whatever we do, we do it for the name of the Lord. We do it because He directs, guides and inspires us to do it for His honor and glory and not our own We have to be void of pride and vain glory. We must not pride and delight in ourselves of any good deed that the Lord worked through us. Rather what we own and what is truly ours is our vices and sin. Beware of the wisdom of the world to have more and more. Jesus tells us to stop running after things and be anxious about them and always speaking about them. We ought to speak of the Kingdom of God first and everything will be added unto us. St. Francis warns us of practicing religion and saying beautiful words and always be concerned of how it looks like and how it shows to other people but care little about the deed. Love is what love does. Our love must be expressed in action. The spirit of the world wants the holiness that is ours to be apparent to people for a show. The interior spirit is what we should exemplify in. We must keep our eyes focused in God and do it to a certain degree. We must be patient when we suffer and things go bad. It is part of humility as well to have patience and persevere. We should keep pressing in our minds that we grow to a greater degree in our internal life when we fall in various trials and endure anguish of soul and body. St. Francis says that, what a man is before God, that he is and nothing more. How does God see us? What we are before God is the status that we need to believe and not the values of the world. We must not measure up to world’s standards and categories, live in another person’s place and be concerned of what they think of us.  It is a consolation to know that we are protected by God at all times. Everything has already been given to us. If there are moments when we don’t feel like it then we must realize that it is a deception. We must accept correction and achieve a holy state of life. It is about time that we clear things up and finally see what we are missing all along. We are assured in today's gospel that we are protected from the evil one for as long as we are consecrated in truth. We should always have an attitude to shun away from the false values of this world and draw ourselves closer to nothing but the truth. May we always seek the truth, stay in it and live it in our lives. Amen. Hallelujah!

Jn 17:11b-19

 ...I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one...