We are God’s people. In Isaiah 64: it is written, Do not be
so very angry, LORD, do not remember our crimes forever; look upon us, who are
all your people! We have to grow deeper in God’s presence as in Colossians
2: 6-7, So, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted in
him and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught,
abounding in thanksgiving. If we have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord we have to
live in union with Him and keep our roots deep in Him. We have to build our
lives on Him and become stronger in faith as we were taught and be filled with
thanksgiving. An example is a bamboo tree. It takes 5 years to grow the roots
and grow deeper. In order to grow deeper we need to pray and read scriptures.
We have to develop an attitude of gratitude and be thankful for everything in
all circumstances. Statistics say that around the globe more than 2,000 people
die in their sleep each year. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16 it is written,
rejoice always. We have to make it a point to be present in community
gatherings that help us grow in our faith. We have to submit ourselves to the
Potter and imagine ourselves as the clay. We smile whenever we have trials
because it is meant to transform us. We have to work on our character flaws.
Let us consult Galatians 5:22-23 at all times since it tells us, the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Also in
Ephesians 4:1-4, I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner
worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with
patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity
of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were
also called to the one hope of your call;… We have to be united with one
another and live a life that others are better. We have to be kind in our words
and choose the right language that do not destroy or malign. We have to love,
accept and appreciate one another. We are the work of His hands and God’s
people. Our job is to welcome everybody
in a loving relationship. We leave it up to God. It is His business not ours to
bless and transform each person. He is able to make us into a brand new person
if we allow Him. We are all called to be like eagles and soar high because they
can fly above the cloud when they sense a storm coming. With all the cares and
troubles of this world that face us daily we sometimes grow faint and weary and
wonder when these things will come to an end. It is always a consolation to
know that we can depend on an eternal God whose power is everlasting and to
whom we can withdraw strength from. Today is a day of song and gladness,
Hallelujah! From the first (On eagle's wings) to the psalm (Loving and
Forgiving) and up to the gospel reading (Lift up Your Hands), they all have the
lyrics of favorite Christian songs. God is indeed a God of awesome goodness
that He wanted us to start this day with a song of joy and gladness in our
hearts. What a confirmation that today all bible readings contain the lyrics of
these famous Christian songs. This is one way of telling us that we should be
practicing here on earth what we'll be doing for eternity which is singing
happily together when we meet with God in heaven. You are incredible Oh God!
Nothing compares to You, You are incomparable! Amen. Hallelujah!
Book of Isaiah 40,25-31.
To whom can you liken me as an equal? says the Holy
One...The LORD is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. He does
not faint nor grow weary, and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny. He gives
strength to the fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound. Though young men
faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall, They that hope in the LORD
will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles' wings; They will run
and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.
We can never fathom the wisdom of God but we can always
remain confident in the truth that His kindness is perfect and everlasting. He
makes all things work for good. When we feel so helpless, miserable and alone,
never ever doubt that He can't help but be the loving God that He is. God loves
us so much that he will adjust to our needs and make things work for good.
There is no reason for us to even doubt and hold back anything from the Lord
for nothing is too difficult for Him. If we are confident of God's Providence in our lives then
nothing should even make us doubt that God is able to redeem us and take us out
of misery. God has made known His kindness, mercy and secures justice for all.
He knows exactly what we need at the precise moment and brings forth everything
in its appointed time. Furthermore, God wanted to take our transgressions as
far as the east is from the west. How far is the east from the west? Only God
knows. We know that the distance is unfathomable, that’s what the Lord does
with our sins. How much does He loves us? We know that His love and mercy is
immeasurable. There is really none like our God. And reading part of the psalm
reading made me remember the song "Loving and Forgiving". He is our
best bet for always and there is no one or nothing else that could or should
take first place in our lives more than the Lord. Whenever we receive goodness
and kindness from people we meet we are very much delighted and pleased with
it. How much more would we feel if we have God's favor resting upon us. There
is nothing else better compared to this. We may search long and hard but we can
never really find true satisfaction and remain restless unless we have God in
our life. We only have to believe in God's kindness and mercy and we will
surely see it happen in our life before our very eyes. He is our refuge and
strength. To whom can we go but to God alone. The world’s point of view is very
contradictory to the message that God wanted us to live by. We need to pray hard for the desire to always
follow what is pleasing before the Lord and not forget that it is what really
matters first and foremost. We are so blessed that we did not live during the
time when Christians were being persecuted and martyred and what we are
enjoying right now are already the benefits of God's marvelous work wrought by
His mighty hand. This is why we should stop complaining and just keep our hope
if we truly believe that we have a God and Father who is full of kindness and
goodness. This reminds me of the prophet Amos. He is a prosperous herdsman/farmer,
well educated and traveled. His time (746-786) was an age of prosperity but
severely marked with moral decay and spiritual bankruptcy. He experienced a
luxurious life, lived in the garrison city a place dominated by people of power
and had all the time to study the scriptures. He lived in affluence, belonged
and embraced the "clan system/wisdom" which is a guild or crusade to
maintain the purity of the tradition of the temple of Jerusalem
Psalms 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10
R: O bless the Lord, my soul!
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all my being, bless his
holy name. 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (R) 3
He pardons all your iniquities, he heals all your ills. 4 He redeems your life
from destruction, he crowns you with kindness and compassion. (R) 8 Merciful
and gracious is the LORD, slow to anger and abounding in kindness. 10 Not
according to our sins does he deal with us, nor does he requite us according to
our crimes.
As we continue the
process of living, dying and the hope of resurrecting, we the church of God St. Paul
tells us in his letter to the Philippians that this mind be in us which was in
Christ Jesus who although he is God emptied Himself taking the form of a
servant (Philippians 2,6-11). Christ divested Himself of His dazzling beauty
and glory and he was lost in the crowd and he was thought to be Mary’s boy and
Joseph’s son. We are asked to empty ourselves of all that is false of all that
is ignoble, all that is unreal so that we may become filled with Christ.
Because nature abhors a vacuum and so does grace. We must be filled with
something. Tragically we are filled with all kinds of desire, we want to be
applauded, be promoted, we want to be consulted and we want to be loved. We
want to be preferred to others. Look at all the fears that fill, stifle and
paralyze us. We are afraid of sickness, growing old and of death. We are afraid
of the thought of what comes after death. Don’t we remember Shakespeare, “To
sleep for a chance to dream, what dreams may come when we have shuffled off
this mortal coil must give us pause to that undiscovered land from whose no
traveler returned…” John the Baptist gave us our ideal, I must decrease and He
must increase (John 3:30). All the foolishness, unreality, intolerance, the
selfishness and all the sin that is in us must decrease so that we must fill
the vacuum with our Lord who wants to share our life. He wants to be part of
the trivia that make up our waking hours. Whatever happens to us happens to Him
and He wants us to let Him share because only then will we find the rest that
we pray. Things, places, circumstances and people are really interwoven by God
in our lives in a very special way as if creating a wonderful picture and
scenario. Like an intricate and beautiful artwork that is embroidered or woven
into the fabric of our lives for us to witness, appreciate, get a message and
draw inspiration and strength from. A long time ago St. Francis cried out loud,
“He comes to His own today and receives Him not.” And so we live lives that are
restless, confused, frustrated and unfulfilled because we do not share our
lonely life with Him. So the prayer we learn as children that is said all over
the world among Christians should be our prayer now, Oh Jesus meek and humble
of heart make our hearts like unto Thine. Matters of the faith are very
difficult to accept and understand for some people for they will always
question and rationalize things. There are some things that can not be
explained and we simply have to pray to God to reveal them in our hearts. This
is why Jesus in today's gospel emphasized the importance of being like the
little children. We, grown ups are always caught up in the cares and concerns
of this world that we sometimes forget
who really is in charge of everything and tend to overpower God. The
same way a child entrusts everything to his/her parents we, too should learn to
trust that God our Father will take care of us. We can learn a lot from the
children who are full of trust and confidence in their parents. If we will only
learn the secret of the childlike then we can surely acquire the wisdom of God.
If we always maintain in us a high level of confidence in God who is our loving
Father then we are never far from achieving it. May we acquire the trusting
attitude of the children and continue to discover the wonders of God’s love. As
Catholics we have this great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus which
symbolizes the great love of God. Our Catholic practices can be found in the
bible. God has made a covenant with His people and has been fathering us in
order to bring us together into His loved flock in heaven. The devotion to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus is widespread all throughout the world. We are body and
soul and need the external festivities. We have to remember that it's one thing
to celebrate feasts and it's another to live His great love and make it alive
in our daily lives. It has to be more than a mere devotion and celebration. We
encounter people who have a condescending and sneering attitude towards popular
devotion of the Catholic Church and consider them as meaningless routines. We
are reminded through these devotions that there is no material or event in our
lives that can not be directed for the greater glory of God. Although sometimes
we come to a point when these practices and devotions that lift us up simply
become like magic and opium for our troubles and miseries. We fail to grasp the
essence of these devotions and treat them like the hypocrites in prayer and the
pagans with some superstitious beliefs. Some Catholics fall into the trap of
looking at these as a never fail prayer. Sometimes there is a magical or
manipulative misuse like an abracadabra. It should not predispose us to a
ritualistic behavior and must not lead us down to the path of nowhere. Although
the absence of it may appear as we are like those idealists that once saved we
are always saved so there is no need for such devotions. We may fall into the
dangerous scenario as if we are putting God to the test. These devotions should
be a means of communication between God and His people. God is not telling us
to do away with these things but rather do it with a sincere and repentant
heart. It should blossom into a relationship that is pictured in today's
gospel. God is continuously searching for us and wants to bring us together in
a family of love. Our devotions should develop in us a confidence to draw near
to God as He invites us in today’s gospel. We have only one Master and Lord, Jesus
Christ. It will save us great pain and suffering if we follow and obey Him.
There is no other way, truth and life but Him. It's inevitable that we travel
through life and take the journey but to choose to travel with or without Him
makes all the difference. It is the wisest thing to do if we choose to be with
Him all throughout for His burden is easy and yoke is light. Be wise. Amen.
Hallelujah!
Matthew 11:28-30
Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am
meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. 30 For my
yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
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