Don't we feel good that we have a God who can always bring
to fulfillment what He has promised? The Lord has spoken and it is our duty to
nurture and always remember the words He has spoken to us. Not a lot of people
like winter especially those people accustomed to the tropical weather. It’s
still winter in several parts of the world but spring is just around the
corner. Just like these seasons, God will fulfill all His promises just like
the blooming of the flowers in springtime. He sees our hearts and knows our
thoughts; we simply have to trust in His great power that He is able to make
all things beautiful. We have a very rich treasure of faith as Catholics and
one of them is our belief in life after death. We all know that our faithful
departed loved ones are now enjoying the beatific vision of God and are
constantly praying and interceding in our behalf. As Catholics, we believe that
one’s death anniversary is a person’s birth to eternity. Everyday we get
blessings from the Lord there is no doubt about it but for these blessings to
be explicitly shown and demonstrated to us in a very special way is another
thing. I could never forget the dream I had of my mother on her death
anniversary. In my dream she was showing me underneath our green sofa a lot of
duck eggs. There was even one that hatched right before my eyes. When my mother
was still living she has not failed in showing us how much she loves us. Even
up to this time I could still feel the love she has for us in ways that are
beyond what I could see with my physical eyes just like the dream I had. The
Lord God has given us so many promises like in today's 1st reading which is just
one of the many promises He has given us. It is one of the bible passages which
for quite a long time already hold a special meaning and inspiration for me. It
has kept me very positive in the midst of trials and sufferings. Some people
have always marveled at the inspiring stories of people who emerged victorious
and triumphant after a tragedy or a depressing and defeating situation.
Whenever they are asked to share their experience and impart their wisdom about
what they went through they come up with all sorts of things which kept them
going like a goal, dream, their family or a specific person whom they love
most. But let us be reminded where it's all rooted and founded on, in the truth
that God has blessed us with a lot of promises that is all bound to give us
success and that we can hold on to for sure and without a doubt will carry out
what it has said it will do. Unlike humans, God is able to fulfill all of them
without any doubt. We can always count and depend on Him. Amen. Hallelujah!
Isaiah 55:10-11
10 Thus says the LORD: Just as from the heavens the rain and
snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making
it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to him who sows and bread to him who eats,
11 so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me
void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.
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...
Well, I guess everybody is guilty of this. We really tend to
doubt and lose heart whenever the things that we want are not within our reach
and sight. We really have to strengthen our faith and hope for something we do
not see and wait with endurance. Just like what the 1st reading is
telling us today. There are so many unforeseen events at hand but we should
remain firm in our faith, patiently wait and hope that the Lord will be
gracious and reveal His glory. We may be going through a lot of trials and
uncertainties in life that we sometimes feel like things are not going to get
better. Or worse we may be experiencing it for quite some time and starting to
become impatient of our situation and start to think of resorting to ways and
means that this world offers rather than continue to trust in God’s steadfast
love that never ceases. Today's 1st reading reminds us to not lose sight of
what is truly important and of greatest value. Let us not be lured by the false,
empty and senseless promises, satisfaction and delight that it offers for
nothing compares to the glory of God to be revealed for us. For no eye has
seen, no ear has heard nor anyone has imagined what is in store for us in the Kingdom of God
Rom 8:18-23
Brothers and sisters: I consider that the sufferings of this
present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us...Now
hope that sees for itself is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees? But if
we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance.
There is a season and a reason. The farmers wait for the
proper and optimum time to plant their seeds, cultivate and harvest. Things can
not be done in a hurry. As in the following bible passages: Acts 17:
26-27...and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions,
so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though
indeed he is not far from any one of us. Psalm 31:14-15..."You are my
God." My times are in your hands;... Hebrews 4:16...So let us confidently
approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely
help... We can learn a lot from these words of God and ponder on them before we
make any rush decisions. We have to decide and act on things based on the Word
of God and be guided by them at all times. The seed being spoken of in today’s
gospel is the word of God. There is also a need to till the soil before we can
plant the seed. When I was just a kid I used to pity the farmers who work under
the heat of the sun while plowing the fields. It is clearly etched in my mind
how they guide the plow being pulled by the carabao while their feet sink into
the mud. The same way these farmers prepare the soil for a good harvest we, too
must prepare ourselves in order to become the rich soil that bears fruit. Let
us not waste the seed God has sown in our hearts. If we need to stay under the
scorching heat of the sun and sink our feet into the mushy field of our lives
why not, it will always be worth it knowing that the seed that God has planted
will surely reap a bountiful harvest, Amen. Hallelujah!
Matthew 13: 1-9
...8 But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a
hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. 9
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
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