During the time of the Old Testament, the prophets of Baal
known as the god of sexual fertility kill babies and offer it as sacrifice.
Archeologists found that some Israelites have followed this practice as
evidenced by babies in clay jars at the threshold of their homes. This kind of
practice leads to violence. We can read in the 1st reading what came
out of their infidelity to God. Nowadays we see this kind of violence. Every
day we see in the news the different images of this violence that come in all
forms although we do not want fertility and has all kinds of bills to prevent
fertility, the violence is there because the virtue of chastity and purity is
being violated. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defeated the prophet Baal and went into
the cave and prayed for rain. This cave is where the Monastery of Our Lady of
Mt. Carmel was
built. We can associate our devotion to Mt. Carmel
Alleluia! It finally
came! The approval of my I-140 petition, Immigrant visa finally came. Just like
this long awaited downpour or rain in today's 1st reading, I have waited, too
and anticipated several times although it seemed like there is nothing. Our God
is faithful. Amen. Hallelujah!
1st book of Kings 18,41-46.
Elijah then said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink, for
there is the sound of a heavy rain." ..."Climb up and look out to
sea," he directed his servant, who went up and looked, but reported,
"There is nothing." Seven times he said, "Go look again!"
And the seventh time the youth reported, "There is a cloud as small as a
man's hand rising from the sea." ...In a trice, the sky grew dark with
clouds and wind, and a heavy rain fell...
We might have been waiting too for long for a specific
blessing like a parched land for heavy rain. We must not lose hope despite the
fact that we are constantly attacked and tormented by the enemy with a lot of
doubts and insecurities. We should hold on fast to the Lord and consider
everything as preparation. The Lord has spoken and it is our duty to nurture
and always remember the words He has spoken to us. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalms 65,10.10-11.12-13.
The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful
harvest. 9 [10] You have visited the land and watered it; greatly have you
enriched it. God’s watercourses are filled; you have prepared the grain. Thus
do you prepare the earth: you drench plowed furrows, and level their ridges.
With showers you keep the ground soft, blessing its young sprouts. You adorn
the year with your bounty; your paths drip with fruitful rain. The untilled
meadows also drip; the hills are robed with joy...
We’ve got to straighten up some things about God. Who He is
and what He wants for our life. What is our picture of God? It’s not surprising
to know that most of us think that God doesn’t want us to have fun. It’s like
all the things that we want to do with our friends that are interesting and
exciting when we were young was against God’s commandments. It may seem like we
have to settle for less. What’s worse is that all the faithful Catholics get
less out of life. This is part of the propaganda way back in the Garden of
Eden. God gave us a magnificent paradise wherein there is perfect intimacy and
no shame with each other. In the Garden they have everything they need but gave
just one limit, not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This
is very interesting because God said, “Don’t do this because you will die.” The
reason why God commands us something is because He is a loving Father who cares
for us. He wants us to have the best. But then came the serpent, he didn’t
create Adam & Eve, nor gave the garden or anything at all. All the serpent
gave was a lie and told Adam & Eve not to listen to God or they’ll lose out
and won’t become like God. They were made to believe that God is holding out
something from them and is actually their rival because God doesn’t want them
to have what He has. So instead of trusting the one who gave them everything,
they trusted a stranger. They doubted and disobeyed God. Instead they listened
to the liar. They were hooked into a downward spiral of destruction. This is
what sin is all about. It is a trap. It is disguised as an apparent good
because the fruit looks good and desirable but it ends in disaster. The
relationship with God is messed up and so creation turned against them, thorns
and thistles appear and things in life become hard. This is what sin does, it
seemed small but it gets out of control. Things get worse and worse and there
are broken lives everywhere. This is the reality about sin. We are draining
life out of ourselves unless we recognize the One, True and Living God. 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. God created us when we came out of the womb, our
mothers and father have a great role in that but our creation continues every
single day of our lives. We’re even becoming someone more beautiful, mature and
stronger or someone weaker and more despicable. There’s no middle ground. We’re
going one way or another. Life leads either to heaven or to hell. That’s what
the acts that we commit do. Virtuous acts build in us strength. The word virtue
comes from the word manly which is strength and power. Virtue is a habit that
makes it easy and pleasurable to do the right thing. Golden virtue isn’t always
easy. It is hard. But what is vice, it is a habit that makes it easy to do the
wrong and evil thing. Let’s take exercise as an example. People make it their
New Year’s resolution and people who go to the gym noticed that it’s packed on
January but they’re gone by the 3rd week. If we’ve ever engaged in an exercise
program for the first time, we know that we feel bad, tired, exhausted and wake
up sore. This is because we do not have the habit of exercise. We have not
trained and our bodies are not used to it. It hurts and it’s hard the first
time we work out. If we persevere past the first few weeks and developed a
habit of regular exercise then we end up getting used to it and become easy
that when we don’t exercise we feel bad. What happens is that we build up the
power or the virtue. We’ve conditioned ourselves so that it becomes second
nature to us. If we want a progressive course we need to do something hard. No
pain no gain. The next time we work out we add up a little bit more since we
are stronger. We can move forward and grow in our ability to lift weights. This
is the deal. The actions we do have an impact of what we are. It’s like when we
start lifting weights we start to change and look different. We look like
someone who has strength, power and endurance. This is the point, God is about
building champions. The goal of the Christian life is to build champions. Well,
not necessarily athletic champions but spiritually. A real champion in every
aspect of life. God wants us to be strong, loving, wise and to have the power
to live. It’s not so much what we do that counts but it’s who we become. That’s
what the commandments, teachings and God is all about.
Heaven is the realization of being a champion. In heaven we
will be glorified magnificently. We will live forever with strength, power and
beauty sharing a new humanity with Jesus.
Nothing compares to the true and everlasting joy that awaits those who
will enter the Kingdom of heaven. We are all called to be with God in heaven.
On our final day it is not God who will condemn us but as the scripture tells
us , "...it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must
die..." and also added in today's gospel,
"... your opponent will hand you over to the judge..." We
really have to be attentive to all these things and details and not take them
for granted. We know how things can fall apart when we fail to attend to the
seemingly insignificant matters in our life. Remember God is on our side but He
is also a just and fair God. Though, Jesus has already won the battle and paid
the price and having known of this truth, it is: #1 the iniquities that we
continue to commit and #2 our opponent which both create a deadly combination
that can bring us to hell. It could ban us from the kingdom of heaven and what
could be worse than that? We really ought to realize the impact and importance
of this knowing that it is not just a lifetime that is at stake here but
eternity. Our righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees.
They may be observing all the rules and precepts but only because they want to
be pleasing in the eyes of others but what about in the eyes of God. God can
see through us and dig deep into us. It’s time to do something not just with
our outward appearances but with our hearts. Just think of farmers at work.
They have to plow the field and dig deep into the soil so that new life can be
planted and grow. It’s quite the same with us. We need to remove the dirt in
our hearts so that the Holy Spirit can plant new life in us. We need some work
to be done. It involves pain, suffering and recovery but it is all worth it.
Our fidelity is not with God if we keep up and hold on to our defenses,
justifications, gripes and complaints. We may not be aware of it but it becomes
our false idols. We have to throw it away and stop worshipping a false God.
It’s time we recognize who really is Lord of our lives. . Let us trust that God
who sees through our hearts and knows all things will find us worthy as we
strive to do our best to be part of His kingdom. Amen. Hallelujah!
Matthew 5:20-26
20 Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, unless your righteousness
surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the
kingdom of heaven. 21 “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You
shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to
you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever
says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever
says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. 23 Therefore, if you bring
your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against
you, 24 leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with
your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Settle with your opponent
quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand
you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you
will be thrown into prison. 26 Amen, I say to you, you will not be released
until you have paid the last penny.”
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