In the beginning God created everything to be in harmony,
man, the land and all creatures. But man sinned leading to a rupture with God,
one’s self and others. We have to go back to where God had intended it to be.
If everything happened by chance there is a tendency for us to wane in our
resolution and our responsibility is deemphasized. The understanding that a
Creator made the world leads to a fundamental responsibility to it.
When we watch these movies about the end of the world it
gives the impression that our world exists by random and we look upon the
universe as a product of chance. Everything that exists comes through Jesus.
Everything in the universe came through Christ. He is the foundation of all
reality. Creation is existent and made through and for Him. It does not exist
by chance and is ruled by God and His plan. Ephesians 1:3-6 Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every
spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation
of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us
for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his
will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the
beloved… Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was ordered by
the word of God, so that what is visible came into being through the invisible.
John1:3 All things came to be through
him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race; …We are capable of reason
because of our mind. God gives choices but we also have a free will we can go
beyond instinct and go against the will of God. We are the image of God and we
have a unique personality because of the dignity of a person. We are
unrepeatable which makes us distinctive and like God. Man and animals have some
similar gifts like emotions and body but what distinguishes us is reason. Our
freedom to choose what is right and wrong is conscience. We choose good and
avoid evil. It is easier said than done. How many people want to lose weight
but it is not easy to lose weight because there are a lot of temptations aside
from food. The same is true with our conscience. . In Romans 7:18 it is stated,
For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is
ready at hand, but doing the good is not. For I do not do the good I want, but
I do the evil I do not want. The natural law is humanizing, but it is
dehumanizing when we don’t obey the natural law. Human beings should make a
decision to accept Christ as the one mediator so we can go to heaven not in
hell. The speed of light is constant
throughout the universe, even gravity is a constant and because it applies in
the universe that is why we can apply science. There are laws, human beings
have reason and discover these laws. God made us distinct from all animals to
be able to do these things. Psalm 33:6 By the LORD’s word the heavens were
made; by the breath of his mouth all their host. This is a radical statement.
All the pagans believe that God created the world through sex and violence. God
created the world by His word and it came to be. All reality came to being by
God’s word. Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament
proclaims the works of his hands. Christians should study Science not be a
skeptic but to be able to discover the beauty of creation and God’s wisdom in
its order. To display the wonders of God.
Wisdom 13:5 Now if out of joy in their beauty they thought
them gods, let them know how far more excellent is the Lord than these; for the
original source of beauty fashioned them. Or if they were struck by their might
and energy, let them realize from these things how much more powerful is the
one who made them. For from the greatness and the beauty of created things
their original author, by analogy, is seen. We look at the ocean and see how
wide it is, the sunset, mountain vastness and outer space is even more amazing
with trillion of stars and millions of galaxies. We have perception so we do
not just see but we have a mind to appreciate it. Romans 1:19-20 For what can
be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them.
Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power
and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made.
As a result, they have no excuse; St. Bonaventure said that God loves creation
so much and took on human nature. The creatures of this sensible world signify
the invisible God. This part of reality we need to understand. All of this well
established theories of evolution are not meant to be opposed or refuted but we
can believe this but we get to the point of human beings. The Church teaches
first of all that every human being has a soul as all Christian and Jewish
believers. It’s not matter and does not depend on the law of Physics not
controlled by these laws. This is immaterial and not derived from an
evolutionary process. All of these material physical processes, a human has a
soul w/c is immaterial, can transcend merely physical acts could not evolve
from a physical natural process, and not governed by evolution. There is a way
to think rationally that we have a soul. Cardinal Newman said that a
convergence of data can come up with probabilistic clues of human transcendence
- Survival
of human experiences after near death experiences. A study done in 10 Dutch
hospitals and published in a medical journal in 2001. An accumulation of
very good controlled data that their consciousness were able to survive
their death. A lot of evidence out there of survival of consciousness
after near death. It exists outside of the human body and human
consciousness.
- Godel
theory- Human intellection is very different from machine intelligence.
Human beings can find mathematical truth that are not in the axioms that
they have been dealing with. Goes beyond axiomatic intelligence. Human
beings are beyond machine intelligence. No physical explanation for human
intelligence and beyond in axiom recognizing finite . Stephen Barr author
of Modern Faith and Ancient Physics said that human beings are not machine
like, human beings are always beyond the machine.
- The
clue of self consciousness. Self awareness transcends physical
limitations.. We could be aware of our awareness. We could have our own
inner world, it presents a real problem if all physical things are limited
to a certain sense. Something about
human beings that seems to elude the laws of Physics, what we are seeing
so far. Creative thinking totally different from machine thinking,
transcending mere physicality. Defying the laws of Physics. Plato
transcend mere physicality a desire for awareness of perfect truth. A
desire for perfect goodness and beauty. Separate us from the rest of the
animal kingdom.
We can always be assured that the God who loves us knows and
sees all and we can rely on His knowledge and understanding to carry us through
anything. Amen. Hallelujah!
Sirach 42:15-25
Now will I recall God’s works; what I have seen, I will
describe. At God’s word were his works brought into being; they do his will as
he has ordained for them. As the rising sun is clear to all, so the glory of
the LORD fills all his works; Yet even God’s holy ones must fail in recounting
the wonders of the LORD, Though God has given these, his hosts, the strength to
stand firm before his glory. He plumbs the depths and penetrates the heart; their
innermost being he understands. The Most High possesses all knowledge, and sees
from of old the things that are to come: He makes known the past and the
future, and reveals the deepest secrets. No understanding does he lack; no
single thing escapes him. Perennial is his almighty wisdom; he is from all
eternity one and the same, With nothing added, nothing taken away; no need of a
counselor for him! How beautiful are all his works! even to the spark and
fleeting vision! The universe lives and abides forever; to meet each need, each
creature is preserved. All of them differ, one from another, yet none of them
has he made in vain, For each in turn, as it comes, is good; can one ever see
enough of their splendor?
Nothing is hidden from God and everything is known to Him.
It pays to always consult our plans to God in prayers and everything we intend
to do we should lay down before Him and seek His approval. He will never
deprive us nor withhold from us the answers that we seek. If we sometimes
forget these and tend to stray away from the right path then we should always
be aware that everything that we say, think and do must always have reference
to God our Creator. It may have happened to most of us when we get disappointed
at how we still miss something so quickly despite our close watch. We sometimes
end up confused and discouraged when things don’t happen the way we expect it
despite our accurate and strict monitoring. We even ask ourselves how it could
have happened. We may have heard and seen some terrible and frightening things
in our life but we should always hold on to the truth that no matter how
horrible the things that are happening around us they don't change the fact
that our Lord is God and always in charge and in control. It doesn't matter
that much how we think and feel but what matters most is how to feel and think
just like God. For we can always rely and depend on it, 100%, fail proof and
success guaranteed. We should place our trust not in men or in things but in
God alone. The Lord did not promise us to be totally problem free but He gave
His assurance that He will always be our Savior and Redeemer. God's power is
beyond our full comprehension. He is Holy, Mighty, Immortal and Infinitely
Great. Did it ever occur to you how all these things that surround us, from the
skies, to the mountains, plains, the seas, the wind, all the heavenly bodies
above, the things down below, all the creatures of the earth especially us,
human beings came to be. Not a single theory about creation could suffice and
would ever satisfy the wonders and marvelous things that God has done. Just
thinking about all these things should make us always put our hope in Him, feel
confident and assured that we are safe under His care, to help us from all our
problems and shield us from all harm. It is a consolation to know that we are
constantly assured by God especially in today's psalm to never doubt His power
and goodness. His loving eyes is always upon us not leaving us for a single
moment nor removing his stare even with a wink of an eye. It feels good to know
that someone's eyes are upon us and looking after us. When we come to a point
of despair and feel like things are not getting better, we ought to remember
always that we are God's people and we are His own. Let us ask the Lord to lead
us to the right path and decisions that we may work toward the building of God’s
kingdom here on earth. We should not give room to any
doubt, fear, anxiety, impatience, irritability, hatred, sadness, iniquity,
unfaithfulness, disloyalty, pride and loss of self control. Let us not choose
to give in to these. They are all characteristics that should not be found in a
people the Lord has chosen to be His own. Our present situation may not
be a perfect picture yet but we should all rejoice and be glad knowing that God
was the one who chose us first and He will carry us through. All we have to do
is just trust that the Lord will carry out with perfection all His plans for us
no matter what situations or circumstances may arise in our midst. When God
created this world and everything in it including us, He did not ask permission
from anybody. It means that He has chosen us to be His own and not the other
way around. This is the reason why the fallen angels/demons are so jealous of
men. We are indeed special in the eyes of God for it is written in Gen 1:26,
"Then God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
Let them have dominion..." We are not just chosen by God to be His own
even before everything came to be but we are on top of His creation. Let us never lose sight of this wonderful plan that God has
for all of us. We may not be seeing it right now, having doubts about it, not
paying attention to it or unable to commit to it. Whatever it may be, these are
all hindrances that prevent us from gaining access to the goodness of the Lord.
Never allow ourselves to miss out on this privilege that is accorded to all of
us as the children of God. God chose us first and it is only right and fitting
that we choose Him too. If we always focus on the Lord and put His words in our
presence at all times then we can be assured that we have a lamp unto our feet
that is lighting our path. We have to entrust all our cares and worries to the
Lord for He can do better things for our lives than all our works combined. No
matter how hard we try to succeed in what we do if it's not in accordance to
God's plan then nothing will ever come out of it. We may succeed in one aspect
but we will never be totally at peace for in the end it will always be the will
and plan of God that will prevail. We just have to acknowledge that we are
sparing ourselves of all the trouble and heartaches if we will just be obedient
and completely trust in the Lord's plan. Let us truly be wise in the
real sense of the word rather than of the world and not forfeit all our
benefits from the Lord. We all have our personal
plans and designs and we may not be able to fully understand what is going on
at the present time. It is not easy for the wisdom in the eyes of God is
foolishness to the world but what's most important is that we should always
consult everything to God first, just believe and surrender everything to Him for
He knows best. We have to realize this one most important truth that we should
all subscribe to, which is to constantly align ourselves and conform to the
will and plan of God in our lives. The power of God knows no limits and we can
always rely on Him for anything that we are in need. Let us rely on God's power
and completely trust Him to bring to fulfillment everything that He has
promised. Just like the Blessed Mother Mary, who is Queen of heaven and
earth, we too are destined for victory and royalty. If only we live out the
example of her obedient life and carry Jesus in our hearts. Let us not lose
hope and have faith in the Master Plan and Grand Design that God has for all of
us. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalms 33:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R: By the word of the Lord the heavens were made.
...For upright is the word of the LORD, and all his works
are trustworthy. 5 He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the LORD the
earth is full...he spoke, and it was made; he commanded, and it stood forth.
The homily of Fr. Glenn in the TV mass with regards to the
gospel for today spoke of the name origin of Bartimaeus which was taken from
the words honor and dignity. He said that Jesus did not heal his blindness
alone but also restored his honor and dignity. He further said that all of us
have a mission and there is a need to distinguish this mission from ambition.
There is nothing wrong with ambition and said that there are 2 kinds of
ambitions, positive and negative. In order to recognize which of them is
present he spelled the word ambition in Tagalog as in ambisyon and enumerated
the words that can be found in it like, bisyo which means vice, isyo=issue and
yosi if read backwards which means cigarette. These words are things that can
bring about problems that give rise to malas=misfortune and sakit=sickness.The
words malas and sakit which are by products of a negative ambition can be turned
into something good if we have a positive ambition. Since these 2 words when
combined together can become concern which means malasakit in Tagalog. We are
called to develop a deep sense of concern for our fellowmen and at least start
with something in order to fulfill our mission. In today’s gospel the blind man
cries out to Jesus by the roadside upon hearing that Jesus is there. If we hope
to grow in our spiritual life then we can learn from Bartimaeus. We often times
are struggling with our vices and character flaws. Jesus wants to draw us
closer to Him. Bartimaeus showed us how to respond to this by calling out to
Jesus as Son of David. This signifies an acknowledgement and awareness of who
Jesus is. What keeps us from doing this is our struggle with our anguish and
our dependence on our own strength instead of immediately turning to God by
asking for the grace to grow in virtue. We can not change without God’s grace.
When he cried out to Jesus many told him to be quiet but he kept on crying out.
This is a beautiful point that we have to take into consideration. We should
not de discouraged or disappointed so easily. Another important thing being
pointed out here is the importance of family and friends that help us draw
closer to God. We need help from above and our friends and families to help us.
Bartimaeus has a strong spirituality because it is written that he immediately
followed Jesus despite Jesus' words, "Go your way" but he didn't go
his own way but followed Jesus. He was healed by word and in an instant the
moment Jesus spoke. During that time, the cloak signifies who you are. He is a
beggar and his cloak stands for everything he is and owns since he uses it to
place the money he gets from begging. Bartimaeus even left his cloak and rushed
to Jesus like he did not care about anything anymore for he found in Jesus
everything. Bartimaeus throws the cloak aside, this signifies a great desire
for Christ. We can not hide anything from God. In our lives, He sees the
motives in our hearts. If we go to Him, we will not be left unconsoled. We call
out to God to teach us faith and perseverance. There are times when what we
pray for takes a while. We must have the kind of faith that believes that Jesus
listens to our cries and answers our prayers. He makes us whole, holy and great
saints. Our faith should give us a new
sight about things. This new vision of life should make us see God so close to
us. The ways that we encounter Jesus today is no different 2000 yrs ago. We can receive Him body, blood, soul & divinity
in the Eucharist. We are in communion with Him through the sacraments. As
Catholics we perfect this new reality & wholeness of the presence of Jesus
in the sacraments where we’re given this great buffet of graces. We can make contact with Jesus in the
sacraments. If are we faithful to the sacraments and also in service to our
brothers and sisters then we encounter the living God in such a real way.
Another similar story that could somehow be compared to this is from Jn. 4:4 of
a Samaritan woman fetching water but when she learned about the life giving
water which Jesus spoke of she immediately left her jar of water when she
realized who Jesus is. She left behind her old life and follow the way of
Jesus. On the other hand there's this story of another unnamed blind man in Bethsaida, he was not
healed instantly rather slowly and gradually. He was healed by touch with a
spittle and was sent home. The evangelist, Mark where today's gospel is from
recognizes the differences in spirituality of the members of the community. He
knows that there are people that are quick in understanding things concerning
matters of the faith and there are those who are slow. But this doesn't mean
that we kick them out of the community. Mark sees the community as all sinners because
ours is a flawed community and it is for this reason that Jesus came. Peter
whom we thought was the first person who got it all right about Jesus as the
Messiah denied Jesus 3x but he was not thrown out of the community. He proved
himself true to his faith by his succeeding actions which led to his dying on
the cross upside down but eventually earned him the honor of becoming the 1st
pope of the Church. Just like Peter we have to experience everything in order
to fully understand what the secret of the gospel of Mark is all about. For in
the end, the Markan community mirrors the suffering, death and resurrection of
Christ, the Paschal Mystery which is the Markan secret. Amen. Hallelujah!
Mark 10:46-52
...Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the
roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry
out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” And many rebuked him,
telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David,
have pity on me.” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the
blind man, saying to him, “Take courage; get up, he is calling you.” He
threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. Jesus said to him in
reply, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied to him,
“Master, I want to see.” Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved
you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.
