We've got to grow in our faith in God. Just as we were born
infants when we came to this world but eventually grew into adults so must our
spiritual body. We can not remain as baby Christians. We must develop into the
full stature of Christ. Just think of a young child left all alone to take care
of himself. It is not possible. There should be at least someone who could look
after his needs, whereas a grown up man can live independently. We can not
remain like the babies who would always be in need of someone all the time.
We've got to achieve the full potential of who we are, a child of God who has
fully grown up. Amen. Hallelujah!
Ephesians 4:7-16
...And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others
as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the holy ones for
the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all
attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature
manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ. 14 so that we may no
longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching
arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful
scheming.
Today's psalm reminds me of this popular game called,
"Trip to Jerusalem "
I guess, everybody's familiar with it. We may all have played this game when we
were young or even when we're older. The fastest, quickest, most alert person
who gets the last seat wins. If we are not paying attention or are too slow
then we are bound to lose. We have to put up a good fight in this game in order
to win because the chairs are always lacking so every round there is always one
person who doesn't get a seat and gets eliminated. It is just a game but people
have a lot of fun doing their best so as not to be eliminated and win. People
who engage themselves in this kind of game and want to win exert a lot of
effort. It is so tiring and can exhaust one's energy in the game. And to think
that after all our efforts only one person gets to win. Isn't it a relief that
we can go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
We need not worry that all our best efforts would just be wasted because
God has reserved a seat for each one of us. If we are all set and very sure
where we are headed then nothing can stop us from being there. Considering, too
that we have a God who has secured a place and our future for us. John 14:1-3,
" Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You
have faith in God; have faith also in me.
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not,
would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may
be." Nothing or no one can prevent us unless we ourselves decide not to
go. The truth is, it's all up to us. We are confronted with a lot of things
every day and if there is one thing we should choose and decide for then peace
is one of them. It is important that we work and pray for peace to always reign
in our midst. If we have peace that passes understanding always safeguarded in
our hearts then we can rejoice in the Lord at all times. We should always be
confident of the truth that we are blessed and secure in the knowledge and
truth that we are where we are right now, doing what we are doing right now at
the exact time God has provided for us, for with God there is always a perfect
time for everything. When we are feeling tired from all the day's work all we
want to do is just go home. Nothing could be more rewarding than coming home to
a place where we find rest and peace. Our life here on earth could be compared
to something like this. It is nice to know that at the end of the day or our
life's journey we can go rejoicing to the house of the Lord and find ourselves
welcome there. Ideally, there should be no other place we want to be, more than
a place where there is peace and prosperity. It is a choice we have to make but
sometimes we make the wrong choices and choose to be just anywhere but in a
place such as this. We have all the time to be in different places that is fun
and exciting. There is nothing wrong with being in these places for as long as
we know our limitations but do we get the same joy and fulfillment when we go
into the house of God. We should be balanced human beings. We should not just
seek to satisfy our physical but spiritual needs as well. Let us tap our
dormant souls that are left unattended for so long and revive it to really feel
what the psalm tells us today. As much as we are confronted by the fact that we
are still inhabitants of this imperfect world we are in we can not live as if
it does not exist. We might as well make the most of what we can do while we
are part of it. We’ve got to set goals in order to achieve this and keep our
eyes focused on it. It helps to go through our daily life if we have set goals
that we want to achieve and fulfill. The SMART acronym tells us that our goals
should be S for specific, M for measurable, A for attainable or achievable, R
for realistic or relevant and T for timely or time based. This is very
effective in helping us improve as a person especially at times when we can't
get our acts together. We can always set SMART goals from time to time in order
to keep track of our performance in whatever field we want to work on and
excel. It helps a lot in assessing ourselves in order for us to make an
evaluation on how we our doing with our life. After each SMART goal we set for
ourselves and have achieved it gives us a sense of fulfillment knowing that we
have accomplished something. Little by little everyday we step up the ladder of
our SMART goals. All of these should eventually come up to rejoicing with what
we have made of our life. These we continue to do until it all sum up to bring
us to that ultimate SMART goal. It should all lead us and point to our final
destination when we go up to the house of the Lord. There is no greater joy
than being with the Lord. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5
R: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
1 I rejoiced because they said to me, “We will go up to the
house of the LORD.” 2 And now we have set foot within your gates, O Jerusalem.
(R) 3 Jerusalem ,
built as a city with compact unity. 4 To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the
LORD. (R) According to the decree for Israel , to give thanks to the name
of the LORD. 5 In it are set up judgment seats, seats for the house of David.
Today's parable in the gospel inspires and warns us once
again as that of the rest of the readings for today. This also reminds me of
the several trees I had the enjoyment of picking fruits from. I could still
remember when Sis Zeny's sister in Baldwin
invited us over to harvest the tangerines in their home. It was like an endless
harvesting because of the numerous fruits hanging from it. The same with
Jackie's tangerine and lemon trees in Placentia which my aunt and relatives and
a lot of people from West Covina look forward to having a share of, whenever I
bring it home and is extended to
Bernadeth's place of work in Rancho Cucamonga. Also with Sis Angela's persimmon
in her previous place of work and Sis Fe's guava and lemon trees in Walnut,
whom the people from San Lorenzo Bible Study gets to enjoy. Not to forget Sis
Loreta's fig tree also in Walnut whose fruits sometimes end up falling to the
ground before it gets picked since there are so many. It was like we were
picking a lot of the fruits this moment and the next few days it would be
sprouting with more fruits. Sis Loreta even calls her fig tree the tree of
Jesus. This is why this experience with these richly productive trees always
made me think of today's parable. I used to say that these trees would never
end up being cut. This should also make us realize that our life should also be
like these trees whose fruits have gone a long way in benefiting not just the
people around and close to us but extends even to those who are not close to us
and believe it or not people whom we don't even know. Jesus challenges us today
to bear fruit so as to become a beautiful sight and example for others to see
and follow. This should drive us to bear fruits that can be shared and enjoyed
by not just the people who are near to us but by everybody. Speaking of the fig
tree in today’s parable we should realize that it could be cut down after a
certain period if it does not bear fruit. It is the same with our covenant with
God if we read today's gospel. It reminds us that just like any other agreement
there is a specified period which only lasts until we are still alive once we
die, the contract is considered fully paid by Jesus but there are some
conditions that apply. Let us examine our part of the deal and make sure that
we don't end up like this fig tree in the parable it might finally be cut down
unless we take action, allow ourselves to be cultivated, respond positively and
bear fruit. The figure of speech used in the passages sounds scary. They were
meant to give emphasis on the need to bear fruit as heirs of the kingdom of God
Luke 13:1-9
...And he told them this parable: “There once was a person
who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit
on it but found none, 7 he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have
come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. [So] cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’ 8 He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for
this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; 9
it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’ ”
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