THE WARNING

We have a God full of love and the reason He warns us is because we are so stubborn and hard headed. God knows what await those who will turn away from Him not because He is a punishing and avenging God but because the consequence of disobedience and sin is catastrophic. Since He is holy, He could not stand the sight of sin and if we are not under His guiding and loving care then it will surely be a disaster. When will we ever learn? Since times in the past, that of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the prophets, the kings, in exile, the return and ultimately the coming of Jesus up to the period of martyrs, saints and to the present time, we never seem to listen at all. If we look at the present condition of our world today, we'll find so much chaos and disorder. People have lost their anchor in God and have been following their own selfish and worldly ways. Sometimes we need not look to the world anymore but in our own personal lives and be pronounced guilty as charge. How can we neglect and take for granted the lessons that God is teaching us everyday in our daily circumstances. God has been constantly reminding and teaching us but we have become stiff necked in the sense that we have decided to follow our own desires, shifted our focus and evade the real issue. We are misled by the seemingly good things or the half good and half bad suited to the taste seductions of this world. If we are not careful we might find ourselves totally drawn and find difficult to get out of it just like what today's 1st reading is telling us. God never gives up on us on the other hand it is us who give up on God. God has sworn a promise and He will be faithful to keep it if we stay faithful to Him. Amen. Hallelujah!

2 Kings 17:5-8, 13-15a, 18

...And though the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and seer, “Give up your evil ways and keep my commandments and statutes, in accordance with the entire law which I enjoined on your fathers and which I sent you by my servants the prophets,” they did not listen, but were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who had not believed in the LORD, their God. They rejected his statutes, the covenant which he had made with their fathers, and the warnings which he had given them. Till, in his great anger against Israel, the LORD put them away out of his sight...

Only God can deliver us from all our troubles. God is watching us in every breath, move, step and smile we make. Everything is a grace from God. It's about time we realize that no matter what our human efforts and geniuses do without God's grace, it will all be for nothing. We still exist because God's hand is upon us. The moment the Lord lets go of us we can all be gone in an instant. We need to be in touch with this reality at all times for us to always be reminded of the truth that without Christ, we cease to be.  Look at the word Christian, remove Christ in it and the only letters left are I, A and N which stands for I AM NOTHING. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 60:3, 4-5, 12-13

R: Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.

...10 [12] Have not you, O God, rejected us, so that you go not forth, O God, with our armies? 11 [13] Give us aid against the foe, for worthless is the help of men...

We should always be merciful to our brothers and sisters and always allow the Spirit of Love to prevail among us. Let us always strive to do our best in committing ourselves to the work that God has entrusted to us.  In our own personal lives whatever may be our situation we are all called to respond to God's call through the daily circumstances, situations and people that we meet in life and be guided always by the values and principles in today's gospel. We would be well if we will not forget but look back and recall the things that God has done in our lives and give back to God by answering His call, not holding back and daring to even go further and beyond what we think we are able to do. Our human tendencies make us judge wrongly. We tend to go by the standard of this world, our selfish desires and the temptations of the devil. These 3 things, the world, the flesh and the devil operate jointly to keep us from following the will of God in our life. The rules of this world are subject only to the exigencies of its nature which is purely external, material and physical. If we conform to the calling of this world we might find ourselves disposable and useless sooner than we think. This world of ours is friendly to the young, strong, wealthy and powerful. The moment they all cease to be then we'll find ourselves abandoned by the world. Our selfish desires feed only our ego and before we know it we are more hungry and empty than we used to be. The devil is so jealous of human beings that it is his mission to see us all rot in hell. He makes use of all his strategies and techniques to lure us in a very discreet way and before we know it we are already unable to get out of the trap we have fallen into. We must pray to God to keep our minds, eyes, ears, hearts and all other senses open to His grace. Amen. Hallelujah!

Matthew 7:1-5

1 Jesus said to his disciples: “Stop judging, that you may not be judged. 2 For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. 3 Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? 5 You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”