THE PUZZLE

 It amazes me how jigsaw puzzles can look so topsy-turvy when piled in a disorderly heap but can turn into something beautiful once the pieces are put together right. All that is needed is to take time to figure out which pieces should stick together. There might be a need to sit down, be patient and really look at each piece very closely. Upon reading this bible passage from today's 1st reading it made me realize that our life is like a jigsaw puzzle at times. We are God's children and we have to see and recognize the work of God in our lives. We may be seeing a disorderly heap at the moment but we have to believe that there is more to it. Let us pray that the understanding and instruction being spoken of from today's 1st reading will be upon us. May we come to see the tiny scattered pieces of our lives that we find hard to make sense of as part and parcel of the big and beautiful picture of God’s plan. Sometimes we make a lot of excuses and alibis to the point of lying in worst case scenarios when we are confronted by difficult situations. We tend to justify our shortcomings just to get away with it. Today's 1st reading tells us of a time when we will no longer have an excuse and alibi because God will make perfect every situation that everything that is left for us to do is decide for Him alone. I have learned from our bible study that the gospel of St. Matthew is where we can find written 55x, "the fulfillment of what the Lord said through the prophets" (Mt.1:22). In those passages, Matthew reminds us about the facts in the life of Jesus which are the fulfillment of the prophecies from the Old Testament which has become one of its peculiar characteristics making "The Coming of the Kingdom" the main theme of the gospel. I could still remember that it was the same message that was impressed to me in the opening prayer that I was assigned with in our bible study at San Lorenzo. Here’s the Opening Prayer:

We praise and thank you Lord that we are once again gathered in Your name to study about the scriptures specifically about the gospel of St. Matthew under the guidance of Fr. Hyacinth. May we gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of the life of Jesus here on earth for us to really appreciate the fulfillment of what the Lord had said through the prophets. May this lead us to a personal relationship with Jesus in order to truly reflect it in our lives and become the fulfillment as we transform ourselves into the person that God has meant us to be. This we pray in Jesus name. Amen.

The message did not stop there because today's 1st reading is taken from Isaiah one of the prophets in the Old Testament and speaks of the particular prophecy being spoken of by St. Matthew and the foreword in "Companion" at that time (Daily Reading Guide Journal) was written like this:

"We are preparing for the birth of Christ; the Jewish people were preparing (and still are) for the coming of the Messiah. The prophets often spoke of a future full of promise and hope. We live in the fruits of that promise as Christians who have welcomed the Messiah and built our lives on His revelations of the love God has for all people. Let us continue to witness to the fulfillment of the promises of the prophets and thus be a light to the world that lives in darkness."  And these were the exact words written in a Kerygma gospel reflection. “Are you a missionary in your own way, in your own home, community or workplace? Are people who see your way of life attracted to Christ  or are they turned off?”

I am writing all of these to emphasize even more the overwhelming truth that the fulfillment of what the Lord said is at hand because our God is the God of the past, present and future and is the same God who fulfilled His promise to our forefathers long before time and will remain faithful to the end of time. Amen. Hallelujah!

Isaiah 29:17-24

...On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; and out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. 19 The lowly will ever find joy in the LORD, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel...Now Jacob shall have nothing to be ashamed of, nor shall his face grow pale. When his children see the work of my hands in his midst, they shall keep my name holy; they shall reverence the Holy One of Jacob, and be in awe of the God of Israel. 24 Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding, and those who find fault shall receive instruction.

Brothers and sisters, if we are confident that we are where we are supposed to be and the Lord allowed things to happen in our life the way they are happening right now then we should be still and know that God is in control. We need to understand the mysteries of our faith in order to appreciate it better. We have to go near as much as possible to the Word of God and experience it come to life and see His glory shining on us. As we go near Him we see his face and feel His love. We always have hope in the Lord who knows what's best for each one of us. There should be no doubt in our minds that He answers prayers. All we have to do is call on the Lord, trust that He hears the sound of our call and wait for Him with courage. When we get carried away by all the commotion there is a tendency that we neglect the essential and most central issue which is to always believe that we shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. There is really nothing that we should worry about if we always hold in our hearts the truth about Jesus. There may be times when we encounter disappointments and setbacks in life but this doesn't mean that God has stopped becoming the Loving God that He is, who suffered His only Begotten Son to die on the cross for our sake. Our focus should be on the truth of this love and everything that it stands for. This reminded me of a mini play staged in EWTN of a passenger waiting to be boarded on the airplane. He was the 1st and only person in the boarding area waiting patiently for his seat reservation to be called. He got surprised when someone came along and hardly ever waited when his seat number was called. He felt somehow annoyed at the idea of someone who just came and did not wait but got on the plane first although he managed to stop himself from making a scene. A lady with her young child also came and looked very excited to board the plane but he tried to warn them not to keep their hopes up too much because it would definitely take time and said that he had been waiting long and came early but his number had not been called yet. To his surprise their numbers were called and happily boarded while he was once again left behind. He simply couldn't stand it anymore when a pleasant young lady came with all smiles on her face and speaking of how excited she is to board an airplane for the first time. The company of this nice lady kept her impatience at bay. She advised him to stop thinking about how the others were able to get there quickly but rather think of the joy he would have once he gets there. She assured him to just relax and make the most of his time because he has a reservation and a ticket all he needs to do is just wait. He did exactly just that and found himself at peace until the time his number was called. The same thing happens to the best of us when we are confronted with a tedious and exasperating process of waiting. We tend to lose our peace and joy and succumb to worry and doubt. If we are holding on to something that was assured to us by a trustworthy and reliable source we can put our worries to rest. Although sometimes anxiety can still find its way to our hearts and forget on whom our confidence lies.  If we remain in the Lord and put our trust in Him then there is nothing we should worry about. In life, there are 4 things which are 1. sin 2. grace 3. forgiveness 4. reconciliation that we could all learn a lot from. The 1st 3 are all a reality but #4 is only a possibility. Reconciliation calls us to true conversion. An example that fits this is a snake and caterpillar since both of them undergoes conversion. The snake sheds off its old skin but comes out the same while the caterpillar emerges into a butterfly. We have to ponder and think about setting our goals high, keeping our thoughts positive and coming up with new solutions. There is no room for fear for He is consistent to His nature as God. Let us strive to become the child He has meant us to be. Another thing we could learn something about is a puzzle. I am one person who never even thought of working on a jigsaw puzzle. I am not the type of person who would bother to even buy one. It just happened that when I was in Japan and saw all sorts of things which are being sold in a bazaar, I ended up buying one for no reason at all. In fact it took years before I finally opened it and put the puzzle together. That was when I actually experienced how to do it. It takes patience and perseverance to do it especially with the complicated puzzles. Sometimes in life we just back out and give up when things become complicated and when we do, we fail to witness the bounty of the Lord. As today psalm tells us, we've got to wait with courage and be stout hearted. We should all long for the day when we will have 100% confidence level in all our decisions for God. When the time comes it will totally remove all forms of anxiety and fear and incline ourselves to Him at all times. It should be our ultimate desire and nothing else, to always be in the presence of the Lord. To abide in Him at all times even when things are not very good. I could never forget and would always remember those times when I used to pick figs at Sis Loreta's garden. It was then that a thought came to my mind while I was climbing a ladder in order to get the figs in hard to reach places. Despite the fact that I was already on top of the ladder there were still some figs that I was not able to see and pick up right away although it was already right in front of me. They are being covered by the leaves of the tree and some are hidden in between branches. I just realized that it could be compared to how God showers us with all the blessings and graces that we need. There are times when we fail to see it though it is already right in front of us. Sometimes we have to really look very closely and try to turn our gaze into different angles in order to see it. What's funny was that when I thought that I've got almost every ripe fig in the tree, I noticed one big ripe fruit at the lowest part of the tree, there was even no need to use a ladder in order to get it. Sometimes in life we resort to a lot of means that are sometimes no longer necessary. All we have to do is believe that we will see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living if we will just be patient and full of courage. We ought to realize that if we wait on the Lord patiently and persevere long enough we will never be disappointed for He alone is our light and salvation. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14

R: The Lord is my light and my salvation.

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The LORD is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid? (R) 4 One thing I ask of the LORD; this I seek, to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, that I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD and contemplate his temple. (R) 13 I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD with courage; be stout-hearted, and wait for the LORD.

There is a need to have a strong faith in God and profess it in our words and actions because He will never put us to shame, God is able to perform a miracle in our life.

It is a given fact that our Christian faith holds that with God there's nothing impossible. God is always faithful and the problem lies in our part of the faith. Today's gospel tells us exactly that when he healed a blind man. What's in question here is Jesus' warning to keep it a secret. Sometimes we do not fully understand or have misconceptions about matters of the faith. If there's one thing sure, then that is the truth that we have to always follow God's instructions because He would always lead us to the right path where we can be assured always of His love and care. All we have to do is nurture to maturity our faith in God in order for us to truly understand what God expects us to do. And with that I again quote what is written in today's 1st reading, "Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding, and those who find fault shall receive instruction" It is very sad to know that there are times when we always expect something great and extraordinary to happen before we get excited about who Jesus is and what He can do with our lives. Sometimes our sense of awe and wonder in the miracles He has done for our lives has a tendency to lessen or worst even take away its real essence. That even without it we should always have the same feeling of great admiration for Jesus no matter what happens be it awe inspiring or not for it doesn't change the fact that He is always God Almighty. We need not say and have all the thrilling and exciting encounters with God for us to say that He is indeed present for He is supposed to be felt and experienced in all circumstances and will always be present with or without the so called "miracle" for each day given to us is already a miracle in itself. Today's gospel is very timely, as always, I should say. It reminded me of a friend who was so apologetic for what she did and admitted to being hard headed and stubborn for not following the warning given to her. Just like these 2 blind men who were healed and were warned sternly, she did not follow instruction. Sometimes we just can't blame them and her for acting the way they did. It was something they thought was the right thing to do and could be the right thing or nothing wrong with it. It happens to most of us when we think we know better but we really don't. It's always good to follow what God tells us to do as based in the scriptures than just rely on our "good old feelings" like what we usually do. It boils down to one important thing, obedience because we can sometimes be blinded by pride and stubbornness as Fr. Martin Macasaet said in Companion with regards to the gospel. Furthermore he wrote this, Reflection Question: Are you proud? Would you rather have your own way than follow what God instructs you to do, as written in the Scriptures? Lord Jesus, open the eyes of my heart and humble me. Teach me to follow You with utmost obedience. Amen. Hallelujah!

Matthew 9:27-31

27 As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out, “Son of David, have pity on us!” 28 When he entered the house, the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?”  “Yes, Lord,” they said to him. 29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” 30 And their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” 31 But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.