When we have already experienced various levels of
discipline in the Lord and went through what we could say the longest and most
elaborate process while waiting for the answers to our prayers and thriving
purely on the Divine Providence of God then this consolation from today's 1st
reading assures us that in the end everything is worth it. Every trial and
hardship we encounter is our training ground and could gain for us a vast amount of
learning which could benefit us not only intellectually, emotionally and
spiritually but most of all in unforeseen and countless ways that could only be
acquired through that experience. We have to come to this realization and
continue to keep our hopes up in the one and only Lord Jesus who can make all
things possible for us. Amen. Hallelujah!
Letter to the Hebrews
12,4-7.11-15.
4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to
the point of shedding blood 5... "My son, do not disdain the discipline of
the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him;
6 for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every
son he acknowledges."
7 Endure your trials as "discipline"; God treats
you as sons. For what "son" is there whom his father does not
discipline? 11 At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for
pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are
trained by it...
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(102),1-2.13-14.17-18.
R. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy
name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. R. As a
father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who
fear him, For he knows how we are formed; he remembers that we are dust. R. But
the kindness of the LORD is from eternity to eternity toward those who fear
him, And his justice toward children’s children among those who keep his
covenant.
Sometimes the most
unlikely things happen to us with people and in places where we least expect
them to happen. Jesus lived and grew up for the majority of His life here on
earth with his relatives and in his native place. How can it possibly be that
the Most Perfect Human being who ever lived on earth was rejected by his own
kin? But that's how it was for Him and could possibly be also for us. This
should encourage us to become better Christians knowing that if He was rejected
we should not expect a special treatment for ourselves. We are just setting
ourselves up for a big disappointment if we always have big expectations from
others most especially from people very close to us. It would be well for all
of us if we just carry on with whatever good we can do and leave the rest to
God. If we have decided to really follow Jesus then we have to be ready for
trials and persecutions for even Him the Son of God, who resides in His
Heavenly kingdom, All Holy, Powerful, Immortal, and Creator of heaven and earth
was rejected and mocked by His own kin and household. If we haven't fully
decided yet and still holding back from Him and still lack the faith then we
should realize that it's really to our greatest loss and disadvantage for Jesus
can not perform His mighty deeds in our lives without our cooperation. Bottom
line again, it is always our choice. We should make Jesus our choice in our
thoughts, words and in deeds. And it should be a firm, clear and unwavering
one, no ifs and no buts. Amen. Hallelujah!
Mark 6:1-6
...And they took offense at him. 4 Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house." 5 So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith. He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching.
No comments:
Post a Comment