I was reminded to share about this very blessed Growth in
the Spirit Seminar (GSS) at St. Martha. Everything turned out to be a surprise
for me. All the while I thought that it would be just like any other Spirit
Seminars I have attended. I was wrong and even one of the organizers, Brod
Pete, did not expect that a priest could come and minister to us the entire
duration of the seminar. This activity was on the same day that the SCRC was
currently being conducted so to be honest enough I must say that I wouldn’t had
been there if I had the opportunity to be at the SCRC but I am glad I was
there. We indeed have a God of surprises. Fr. Bernie Taylor gave us 2 talks and
prayed over us during the in filling of the Holy Spirit. The 1st
reading for today speaks of a watchman and this priest that God sent our way in
an extraordinary way became for us the mouthpiece of God who filled us with
God’s wisdom and love. Amen. Hallelujah!
Ezekiel 33:7-9
7 You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house
of Israel ;
when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.
Today's psalm reading is used as a preparatory psalm in the
Liturgy of the Hours just as it was used in the Old Testament. Each time we
hear it, there is an emphasis to the fact that is just the same as it is
proclaimed today. During the time of Moses there had been an incident of great
rebellion and testing on the part of the chosen people of God. The same message
is being said to us because there is a possibility that we also harden our
hearts today. Massah means rebellion and Meribah means testing. It refers to
the time they rebel when they had no water. Moses struck the stone in the
desert and water came out. We can read in Numbers 13 when Moses sent out spies
to check out the promise land and when they returned in Numbers 14 they were
full of discouragement. They came back and reported that the Land of Canaan Canaan .
But the people believed the spies and concluded that it’s impossible to overcome
these barriers. They wanted to choose new leaders and kill Moses & Aaron
and go back to slavery in Egypt .
Due to their unbelief the whole generation never entered Canaan
only the new generation with both Joshua & Caleb did. The goal is to enter
into rest in the land of Canaan but they refused because they believed their
fears rather than believe what they’ve already seen in God’s miracles in Egypt .
Psalm 95 is used so often in the Liturgy of the Hours and encourages us how
today we must listen well. They do not just apply to the people in Numbers 13
& 14. It also applies to the Church and we consider ourselves the New
Israel. Let God call us to attention. We don’t have to fall back to the same
sin of disbelief. No matter how hard the world makes us do so. The Church is
beginning to experience persecution. Today we have to keep in mind what God
already said in the past especially as we hear the words of His Son today.
Jesus Himself gives us a greater authority than the prophets and the angels.
When we look at our day, there are a number of strains that we have to alert
ourselves. There are New Age beliefs
that everything is God including the forces of nature. It is moving towards the
act of depersonalizing God by a vague force. It clouds the truth of God the
Father, God the Son & God the Spirit. There is this New Age notion vs. the
Christian notion of God. The catch here is the fact that there are no demands
upon the faithful to be obedient. A hardened heart is equivalent to
disobedience. There is no longer a clear distinction about the truths of the
faith. It's just a matter of loving nature and taking care of the environment.
No other demands like obeying the 10 commandments. The truth is not existent
with the New Age. They water down the Person of Jesus and lead others to
disbelieve in Him. Certain scholars deny Him as a historical figure or is
believed that He had a wife as depicted in the fictitious Da Vinci Code. These
are all things that are far from the authentic gospel. The image of Jesus is
being shaped to imitate our worst moments and sins. It makes him appear like He
is no better than we are and attack His moral character. It is an act of
impunity to God’s character as if He is just a character of fiction. It looks
like God is on the dock as C. S. Lewis put it. Instead of us being on trial,
God appears to be the one who’s on trial. Let us not fall into this kind of
thinking nor continue in our lack of faith or let anything shake our faith.
Some dogs are amazing in their ability to show devotion and faithfulness
although they do not even measure up to the dignity and standing of human
beings they are capable of obeying their master with so much love and
respect. This should make us realize all
the more can we do it and a whole lot better than that. We have to make a
decision to be with Christ. God is the Good Shepherd. He will not scatter but
draw people to holiness, righteousness and goodness. How can we be lost or led
astray? There are things we need to do if we want to be under the care of the Good
Shepherd, listen to His voice, follow His guiding hand and stay within the
circle of the flock He tends. The truth is that we should never have any doubts
about our decisions for as long as we know that it is all for the glory of God
first and foremost and everything else will follow. We have this faith and
confidence in God as in Philippians 4:6-8, "Have no anxiety at all, but in
everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known
to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever
is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever
is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of
praise, think about these things." When someone speaks to us we sometimes
ignore, refuse to listen, simply pretend that we haven't heard anything or
misunderstood what we heard because we are too distracted or busy to give time
to listen well. Let us always open our hearts and mind so that we become
sensitive to the voice of God talking to us.
If before we just
choose to do it whichever way we wanted it without much thought from now on let
us respond to God in the best way we can with hearts full of love and
obedience. When we grumbled and complained we all know for a fact that it
didn't make things any better. We would have to practice more and make perfect
the art of trusting and hearing God's voice. God is never short of anything.
God is God and He will always be. Let us no longer confuse ourselves with the
inaccuracies and discrepancies of our human hearts and minds. Let us keep it
focused on Him who is Holy and Perfect. Let us all acculturate ourselves to the
Kingdom of God
Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 (8)
R: If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
...Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the
LORD who made us. 7 For he is our God, and we are the people he shepherds, the
flock he guides. (R) Oh, that today you would hear his voice, 8 “Harden not
your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the desert, 9 where your
fathers tempted me; they tested me though they had seen my works.”
What the 2nd reading is telling us today is easier said than
done especially when it comes to the point when our own personal interests are
at stake. Just like any other difficult task that needs to be done we need to
study it well, apply what we've learned and repeatedly do it in order to gain
mastery over it. As the saying goes, "Practice makes perfect." and we
really need to. If we sincerely intend to become followers of Jesus then we
have to make sure that we are perfectly trained for the task of loving our
neighbor as ourselves. It would surely help if we can follow what this
charismatic song is telling us: "Little by little everyday, Jesus is
changing me. Since I've made that turn about face, I've been living in His
ways." This also reminded me about the talk of Charles Whitehead at the
SCRC. Now I know why, it is well fitted for the readings today. Especially his
experience on the train while riding with a bum or a punk. He described him
with a shocking orange hair standing on its ends and got the surprise of his
life when he felt a prompting of the Holy Spirit to tell that man standing
right next to him that he has nice hair. At first he was hesitant but he
finally gave in and told it to the man. With a loud and somewhat irritated
voice the man snapped at him, Why did you say that for? He mastered all his
strength in order to have the courage to answer him that he is a charismatic
and the Holy Spirit prompted him to say that. He wasn't prepared for the
response because the man asked him if the Holy Spirit has something to do with
Jesus and told him that for days he has been thinking about him. He excitedly
responded yes to him and that was the start of the man's conversion when he
asked him if he could spend time with him and tell more about Jesus. Surely
there were times when we heard and experienced the voice of God giving us out
of this world instructions and we responded nonchalantly as if we never heard
anything or outrightly refused and rejected it. Whichever way we chose to do it
before let us resolve to respond positively to God from now on. Charles
Whitehead decided for love when he risked being mugged by that punk in the
train. When he courageously obeyed God he witnessed a surprising conversion of
a bum. God is talking to us through the daily circumstances in our lives. Amen.
Hallelujah!
Romans 13:8-108
Brothers and sisters: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love
one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
God will always and without fail make His presence felt at
all times if we will just seek Him in all the things that we think, say or do.
He will always assure and confirm us especially in times of trouble and
distress. He is always with us, will never leave nor forsake us. I know that
with God there is no such thing as coincidence only Divine intervention. There
was a time when I've been wanting to find this specific passage in today's
gospel but I just can't locate it in the bible. I even quoted it in the letter
I made for a friend and wanted so much to include the specific book, chapter
and verse where to find in the bible but I was not able to do so. It is indeed
a pleasant surprise that what I was trying so hard to look for is now in
today's gospel which emphasized even more the message I was trying to convey to
her. Another important thing that I have been reminded once again is the truth
that to be a part of a community of believers is really valuable. The gospel
today affirms and confirms it because Jesus Himself advises us to have someone
whom we can pray with. But in connection with the reality of the presence of
guardian angels there is never a single moment in our life when we are alone,
all we have to do is acknowledge their presence and call on them to say our
prayers with them which means that even though we can not see them physically
present we can rely on them to always pray and be with us. Psalm 91:11-12 he
has given his angels orders about you to guard you wherever you go. They will
carry you in their arms in case you trip over a stone.
Surely what He tells us is something that we can hold on and
take to heart seriously. His great and steadfast love for us is new every
morning. We can no longer deny the truth that the hand of God is always
reaching out to us. Whether we reach out to Him too is all up to us. There
is this song that I really like which has the words, "If you draw near to
Him, He will draw near to you, to get a touch from the Lord is so real."
We could really feel God touching our lives every single day if we only draw
near to Him instead of shutting God out of our life. We may or may not be aware
of it but we are definitely capable of doing this. It may sound petty for some
but not a single day passes without God drawing near to us in different ways.
Sometimes we just fail to see it anymore when our actions bring us farther away
from God. If all our words, thoughts and deeds are always focused on God then
everything else will follow. Amen. Hallelujah!
Holy gospel from Matthew 18:15-20
15 Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins
[against you], go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he
listens to you, you have won over your brother. 16 If he does not listen, take one
or two others along with you, so that ‘every fact may be established on the
testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell
the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you
would a Gentile or a tax collector...19 Again, amen, I say to you, if two of
you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be
granted to them by my heavenly Father. 20 For where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
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