We marvel at the sight of a field of grain that is fully
grown and ready for harvest without even realizing how it all came to be. There
is no doubt that the farmers worked long and hard to reap the fruits of their
labor. It is they who plant and water but the growth that happens came from the
life within. God is the Interior Light and Strength. The Holy Spirit gives the
inner anointing. Christ preaches through His ministers but the in dwelling of
the Holy Spirit gives us the mind and heart of God that makes us like Him and
become His sons and daughters. This is all due to the working of an Almighty
God who makes all things bright and beautiful. I could never forget what I
experienced when I was just new to the Charismatic Renewal. They were all
unforgettable ones and demonstrated the awesome power of God. There were lots
of wonders and miracles that are signs of God’s power and might. But it is not
always a bed of roses because it is also written that if we want to follow
Christ then we have to carry our cross. When we go through difficult times it
is sometimes very hard to still stand by our convictions and principles for God.
Plus the fact that there is a lot of contradicting moral values being promoted
in enticing propagandas and fads nowadays. It is a constantly grueling battle
between good and evil. Let us not be deceived and be aware on which side we
really are. Amen. Hallelujah!
1 John 2:21-28
Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what
you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son
and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life. 26
I write you these things about those who would deceive you. 27 As for you, the
anointing that you received from him remains in you, so that you do not need
anyone to teach you. But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false;
just as it taught you, remain in him. 28 And now, children, remain in him, so
that when he appears we may have confidence and not be put to shame by him at
his coming.
Is there any other place we would like to be other than in
the loving presence of God? This, I'm sure we can and should have a straight
answer without delay. No one should ever claim that they haven't heard or known
about God since it is our prime duty to spread and make it known throughout the
whole world. There is no denying to the truth that all of us are given the
chance to know who our God is and it is also our duty and responsibility to
take part in this mission of spreading the good news and make known to everyone
to the best of our ability the saving power of God. We should consider each day
as an opportunity to know and learn more about our God. Whether it be an
ordinary or special day in our life nothing should be amiss and should be spent
in giving glory to God our Savior and Master. We can never ever deny the
greatness of our God even just by looking at the simplest part of God’s
creation like the tiniest grain of sand to the largest ocean in the world. As
in Jeremiah 5:22, “Will you not tremble before me who set the sand as limit to
the sea, as an everlasting barrier it can not pass? Its waves may toss but not
prevail, they may roar but can not pass beyond.” We ask ourselves how in the
world can a tiny grain of sand hold the vastness of the ocean in the same way
we know that we have a God whose saving power is known throughout the earth. It
is our duty to ourselves to aim for the ultimate good which is the will of God
in our lives. This is not something that we still have to search and look for.
It is already programmed in us and made known to us by the Lord. If by any
chance this is not the case especially for those people who have not heard or
known about our Lord Jesus since birth then the Lord Himself knows how to deal
with them in accordance to His Divine Wisdom and Mercy. For us who have been
blessed and endowed with the privilege of hearing and knowing about Jesus, this
is coupled with a responsibility. The principle that to those who have been
given much, much is also expected definitely applies to it. We have a
responsibility in our hands to make known to everyone we meet about this vital
truth that could spell the difference between life and death. It is always for
our good to attend activities that nourish our soul. We are enlightened and
inspired because of the many good things we can learn from it. Whenever we hear
words of wisdom it could always help us make sense of the things happening
around us even suffering. It gives a feeling of special joy and gladness in every
person’s heart. If we continue to stand by the principles of God then we will
come to know that there is no truth in the saying that faith is against reason.
We can truly appreciate the relevance of the truth as explained by Pope John
Paul II that true faith come together with true reason. It is the same thing as
saying that Theology tells us that God created the world while Science tells us
how God created the world. The problem is that there is a great propaganda out
there. It makes sin appear with all its fun, excitement and glamour. It makes
virtue appear boring, lame, bland and unexciting. But the truth of the matter
is, it’s not. The pleasures that God created in this world are enjoyed the most
by those who don’t abuse them and use it simply. Who do we think enjoys food
most? The person who doesn’t know how to fast and engorges all the time or a
person after a fast experiences a feast? The virtuous person enjoys life the
most. The person who uses creation and all things according to God’s plan
enjoys it the most. It is because pleasure is God’s idea. All the good things
in the world that people want are God’s idea. Satan can’t invent even one bit
of pleasure. But God commands them to be
used so that it leads to life and a part of life is joy. The way to enjoy life
is to follow God’s commands. Life is not all about rules and regulations. God
did not just give us a bunch of rules and regulations that we are supposed to
obey like machines. What we do does not just proceed from who we are but also
makes us who we are. The actions we
engage, the words that we say and the things that we do have an impact on us.
We are making ourselves all the time. We, Catholics believe that God gave human
beings reason although it sometimes gets darkened by sin but still human reason
can figure out some things. One of the things that human beings figure out
without God having to reveal it, is that human beings need to meet 4 qualities
to be deemed a human being. The philosopher, before even Plato, Aristotle and
Socrates, had this figured out. We find it mentioned in Wisdom 8:7, the 4
virtues or qualities are also called the hinge virtues because it is where all
the other virtues or qualities of good people would hinge. The word cardinal
means hinge. The Cardinals who surround the Pope are the doorway to the Pope.
They are also the ones whom he rely the most for advice. Everything else depends
on the cardinal virtues. (Prudence or wisdom, justice, temperance and courage
or fortitude) We can also find all the cardinal virtues, like justice which
means giving each person his or her due in the Book of Proverbs, Sirach,
Ecclesiastes and all the wisdom literature in scriptures. We all know even as
kids instinctively how important justice is. The first thing that a kid cries
out as soon as he learns how to talk if he has brothers and sisters is “Not
fair, he got more than I did” or “You ask me to do more than what that person
is doing.” This is because we have instinctively or natively offensive justice.
Each person has rights and ought to get their due. There’s also another part of
justice that we forget, that is, we have obligations and duties to everyone. A
person who is unjust is not a good person. To be just, we need to control our
passions. Temperance is a virtue that balances and controls our passions. It is
like controlling our desire for that last piece of cake if we know that it
belongs to our sister. In order to be just, we’ve got to control our appetites.
Make our appetites come into line with justice, truth and goodness. We’ve got
to have that balance in our life in order to be a good and effective person.
Temperance makes this happen. We also have to be courageous. If we are not
courageous then every time a difficulty arises we’re going to shrink back. If
there’s any danger involved in doing the right, just and wise thing then we’re
just going to crack out and find an excuse because we’re afraid. Courage or
fortitude helps us to master fear and not let fear keep us from doing what’s
right. In the same way that we want justice to prevail always since it is very
frustrating when we encounter situations that are very unjust. We are reminded
in today's psalm that we can all be assured of the truth that the Lord rules
the earth and He rules with justice there is no doubt. We've got to take hold
of the marvelous things that God has done. Nothing else matters than the truth
that we are all loved by God and given the privilege of taking part in His
great kingdom in heaven. God revealed to us Himself in various different ways.
In the gospel of Mark: "the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God"
(Mk 1:1) is summarized by the phrase - The person of Jesus, and the gospel of
Luke:"The gospel of glory to God in high heaven and peace on earth to
those on whom his favor rest (Lk 2:14) is summarized by the phrase - Joy to the
world, while the gospel of John:"the gospel of the Word that became flesh
and made his dwelling among us and we have seen his glory" (Jn 1:14) is
summarized by the phrase - Eternal life then the gospel of Matthew is where all
this happened to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet (Mt 1:22)
and is written almost 55x in this gospel and summarized by the phrase - The
Coming of the Kingdom. God's saving power is manifested in this treasury of
books that have been preserved and handed to us from generation to generation.
No one can deny the fact that to all God has been gracious and loving with no
exception at all. God's faithful love should compel us to do the best we could
ever do. There was a time when my computer got bugged down and happened to be
the same time that I heard and was touched by the homily of Fr. Joseph Magdaong
in the healing mass at St. Christopher where Hendrie who fixed my computer was
serving as a member of the choir. It had been several years since I heard about
this story of a tailor and his needle but I would never forget and always
remember it especially the perfect timing and situation when I heard it. This
tailor who was about to die spoke his last and they were these words,
"Give me my key to heaven." At first those people who were there and
heard him did not understand what he was talking about until they realized that
he was asking for his needle. In the same way we must have our own keys in
heaven as we try to examine ourselves and find out what is it in our life that
can be compared to that needle in a tailor's life or our special talents that
we can offer to God. I could still very well remember that I was on the verge
of tears upon hearing that because I immediately thought of this computer that
I am using to spread the word of God through my everyday reflections on the
word of God that I write and share to others through e mail. I am just full of
gratitude and joy in my heart for all the amazing things that God had done
especially of the fact that this computer which I consider the needle in my
life remained in perfect condition since that time on. There is a need for us
to respond to God's call to each one of us to become channels of His blessings as
His power is revealed in us. We will just run out of excuses and alibis why we
should not give honor and praise to God. There is really nowhere to go but to
God and that we would have to realize not sooner or later but right now and act
on it. But we have to trust, hope and rely on God rather than our own power.
Let's face it we sometimes rely too much on ourselves and too little on God. We
are troubled about a lot of things when sometimes there's really no cause for
it. There are levels of anxiety. Exaggerated anxiety and discouragement are one
of the greatest obstacles to holiness. There is a level of anxiety that we just
have to trust in God's Grace and Goodness. We should not disturb our inner
peace not even momentarily. Life on earth is a great struggle indeed for God's
Kingdom. A lot of things can bother and bring us down but we do not have to
stay that way. We have to exercise our minds and wills to put our confidence in
God. He is the one whom we can totally trust and depend on to save us. Our life
is much about the daily revelations of God to us through all the circumstances
that surround us which points to only one truth, He is victorious. Victory is
surely in our hands once we've made the right move and choice. Let us take our
stand and know that God's grace is sufficient for us. We will not be put to the
test beyond our strength. Things are bound to get better for as long as we hold
on to God's promises. Today's psalm, kind of remind me of this preaching about
this wise man from the East in the Old Testament (OT), he is a prophet named
Balaam and served an evil and wicked king. King Balak wanted Balaam to exact a
curse upon Israel
but from his mouth came forth a blessing. He prophesied in Numbers 24:15,18
that there shall come a Star out of Jacob and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel who will dispossess Edom . A star and a scepter
signifies kingship. In parallel, it was also the 3 wise men in the New Testament
(NT) during the time of King Herod an Edomite who were looking for a star that
would direct them to the newborn King of Israel, Jesus. He is truly our King
and the fulfillment of God's promise. We are all called to respond with
gratitude to the Lord who has revealed His saving power to us. There is no
doubt that the God of the house of Israel is still the same one true
God of today. The same privilege is handed over to us as the chosen people of God , Israel
Psalm 98: 1,2-3ab, 3cd-4
R: All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of
God.
1 Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wondrous
deeds; his right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. (R) 2 The Lord has
made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his
justice. 3 He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house
of Israel .
(R) All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. 4 Sing
joyfully to the Lord, all you lands; break into song; sing praise. (R)
It is with the same humility and lowliness of St. John that we should
come before God to love, honor and serve Him. I could never forget the time
when we had fun looking up in the internet the meaning of our names. I found
out that my name Anna Jane means "grace" from the Hebrew name Anna
which is "God is gracious" and Jane which is the feminine translation
of the Hebrew name John. Each one of us is called for a purpose that is why today's
gospel should give us a new and more meaningful understanding of what St. John proclaimed
thousands of years ago when he announced the coming of Jesus. Let us hope and
pray that all of us will gain each day a better perspective of who we really
are and the role we portray in this life in relation to Jesus. If someone will
come to us in the same way that happened in today’s gospel we should also have
a ready answer when we are asked. We must know who we really are in relation to
Christ. We are all called to give a testimony through our own lives. I realized
that it was the holy arm of God that wrought all those signs, wonders and
miracles that I have witnessed especially after I have developed a personal
relationship with God through the charismatic renewal. I am full of gratitude
for the Lord of lords, King of kings, Almighty God and Greatest Physician of
all time. With that I am one with St.
John the Baptist in announcing these words in today's
gospel.
Amen. Hallelujah!
John 1:19-28
19 This is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and
Levites to him to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He admitted and did not deny it,
but admitted, “I am not the Christ.” 21 So they asked him, “What are you then?
Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered,
“No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those
who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?” 23 He said: “I am ‘the
voice of one crying out in the desert, “Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’
as Isaiah the prophet said.” 24 Some Pharisees were also sent. 25 They asked
him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the
Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among
you whom you do not recognize, 27 the one who is coming after me, whose sandal
strap I am not worthy to untie.” 28 This happened in Bethany
across the Jordan ,
where John was baptizing.
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