When we come to a situation when we are not getting any good
advice as to what we should do next while the unpredictable turn of events made
matters worse then we feel trapped. This
happens when our waiting period has been unusually long and delayed already for
a very unreasonable time and some are already having doubts and speculations as
to the outcome of our present situation. Despite all the negative things that
are up coming we continue to hold on to God's word and promise. We may not have
expected things to happen the way it did and as we try to look back and recall
what we could have done or not, we have to come to the realization that if we
have done what God has led us to do and decided then we can be at peace like
the royal official in the gospel who believed what was told of him. Due to the
urgency of his request which is a matter of life and death since his child is
dying, he was expecting Jesus to go with him. He could have insisted on it but
instead believed and obeyed when instructed to just go by himself. The gospel
speaks to us the same message of Jesus to the royal official to just believe
and obey while anticipating for the time when we will be met by the bearer of
the good news that we have already claimed, declared and believed in. The
sufferings of Jesus won for us the key that opened the gate of heaven. It was
through His suffering and death on the cross that we have been saved. It is a
huge key that opens up a lot of things. The saving power of God brought about
by His sufferings should make us see our own suffering as something that can
bring about wisdom, power and transformation. It is in our suffering that our
ego and flesh dies. We should allow suffering to make sense and give meaning in
our life. In doing this we can be of help and inspiration to others who are
going through the same thing. We have to develop a peaceful disposition in the
midst of suffering. We have to deal with suffering the proper way by suffering
with grace. Just consider everything as preparation. We've got to have joy in
the midst of suffering in the knowledge that God's will is in it. If we can
only develop this profound understanding that God permits or allows everything
that is happening in our life. Though, it is sometimes difficult to accept when
we ourselves are confronted with suffering but we have to hold on to the truth
that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according
to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). God has the power to see and help us through it
all. Do we have knowledge of who truly the Lord is as spoken of in today’s 1st
reading in Isaiah. The Lord speaks that the things of the past shall not be
remembered. This is a passage that needs to be heard when we go to confession.
The Lord is all powerful and is a God who means what He says. When He says, I
forgive, He means it. Do we really believe and take His word and what He said?
If we truly know who God is then we should believe that the things of the past
shall not be remembered. He wills to leave the things in the past. Although we
may have no concept of how some things are, the devil wants to play with us,
until the day we breathe our last. He would taunt us with such questions as,
did the Lord really forget our sins? The saints who have moved into a deeper
level or increase of faith believe this scripture. Yes we have sinned and
offended the love of God to the point of shedding tears for true contrition but
we do not fall into the path of taking back the guilt and shame upon us. The
Lord has taken it away, He has healed us. The Lord pushes it away and forgives
us with the tremendous love, mercy and power of God to forgive sins. But this
is what the devil does, he wants to build a wall to prevent us from moving into
a relationship with God. The Lord can forgive everyone as long as we take claim
of our sins, shed our tears and fix our attention on the love of God. Amen.
Hallelujah!
Isaiah 65:17-21
17 Thus says the LORD: Lo, I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth; the things of the past shall not be remembered or come to
mind. 18 Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I
create; for I create Jerusalem
to be a joy and its people to be a delight;
We sometimes think that God does not answer our prayers but
He does. Let us not fall into this wrong notion, lose hope and turn into
different kinds of addictions which cause so much wasted pain and suffering.
This is a wicked age and our life should redeem. Only the Lord our God can
bring about this redemption in our lives. If the Son of God had His enormous
and most unbearable share of suffering for our sake don't we think that we
should also bear our own daily crosses? We should have the courage and the
strength to suffer for the gospel most especially at this time of the world
when there is great hostility to the gospel. To suffer always with the
confidence that God who sees and knows all would definitely see us through it
all. God is above all our troubles, fears and anxieties, whatever it may be,
our ills and even death itself. The "culture of death" and its
kingdom has been robbed of its power. Jesus has resurrected from the dead and
the kingdom of God
Psalms 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-13
R: I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
1 [2] I will extol you, O LORD, for you drew me clear and did not let my
enemies rejoice over me. 3 [4] O LORD, you brought me up from the nether world;
you preserved me from among those going down into the pit... For his anger
lasts but a moment; a lifetime, his good will. At nightfall, weeping enters in,
but with the dawn, rejoicing. (R) 10 [11] “Hear, O LORD, and have pity on me; O
LORD, be my helper.” 11 [12] You changed my mourning into dancing; 12 [13] O
LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.
There are many ways that God can manifest His healing to all
of us. Sometimes it comes to us in the most unexpected and unique way. All we
need to do is believe and it will be done. As humans we sometimes make the wrong
call and end up suffering the consequences of our decisions. When we do, we
eventually learn the lessons of our mistakes and become more capable of making
the right choice, hopefully. It is
always safe to put ourselves in the center of God's will. God do not make wrong calls the way we do. We
can always trust God to do the right thing at the right time and place. In
today’s gospel, the royal officer is an example of a person who exhibited an
increase in the level of his faith. One of the fathers of the Church said that
there are degrees of faith. This man’s beginning of faith started when his son
was on the verge of dying. He hears that Jesus is there so he went and walked
from Capernaum to Cana
and typically it would take 14 hours to do that. This is the 1st degree, it takes
an effort to walk for hours to see the Lord. The next step is when he hears the
word although he doesn’t see that his son is healed, he believed. After that,
there’s a deepening of faith that comes. When he heard what Jesus said, he
realized that there is power in the word of Christ for what he was told he
believed and also for the rest of his household. There are moments in our faith when we don’t
see but do we truly believe that the word of the Lord is true. We know the
words but are we convinced and do we really believe Him? It happens to each one
of us, we know that the Lord has the power and we come and turn to Him with all
our needs but have we reached to the point when we have increased and perfected
our faith. During this period of Lent we are invited to deepen our faith. We
can’t stay in the level of our 1st communion level of faith. We need
to deepen our relationship with God and it must not remain that way. It is good
to look at the level of our relationship with God and see if we have grown
mature. We often have an excuse for ourselves. We ought to maintain that
relationship with the Lord in the level of a child and yet we are called to
mature in that relationship with Him. There is a need to broaden and expand our
heart to a greater love. It takes effort and dedication on our part to do this.
We must not sound to the Lord as an always, “I need, give me” person who is
just concerned about ourselves. God will help us but we have to put our trust
in Him. We ask the Lord for assistance and He responds but when we get what we
want we forget Him and we don’t go back to Him. This is an immature way of
interacting with the Lord. We need deepening of our relationship and to move
beyond our current level of faith. Amen. Hallelujah!
John 4:43-54
...Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and
wonders, you will not believe.” 49 The royal official said to him, “Sir, come
down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will
live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. 51 While he was on his
way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. 52 He asked
them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left him yesterday,
about one in the afternoon.” 53 The father realized that just at that time
Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household
came to believe.
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