FAITH & REASON

We can ask the doctor and find that there are people who don’t go for a consultation or they continue to ignore the signs unless their symptoms have become so severe. Some people refuse to go to the doctor unless they discover the truth. This is surely the way we react to the word of God. The truth for us is that we are the children of God. Our names have already been written down but we refuse to think about it. Our instinct tells us of these things but we refuse to listen. The word of God never penetrates our minds. The devil tempts us by saying there is no heaven or hell but our instincts tell us that there is indeed heaven and hell but say instead there is still time, there is no need to hurry. All we have is today, yesterday and tomorrow is a word. Our lives are given to us moment by moment in love in the sacrament of the present moment. We only have the present moment to be aware who we are. Our resolutions are not good enough. What are we doing today? Today is all we have. Let us not put for tomorrow what we can do today for the Lord himself has spoken and will surely do as He said. Amen. Hallelujah!

Ezekiel 17:22-24

…I, the Lord, Bring low the high tree, lift high the lowly tree, wither up the green tree, and make the withered tree bloom. As I, the Lord, have spoken, so will I do.

There is no conflict between faith and reason. There is no divide or arch rivalry between Church and Science. In fact, they imply a real need for each other. It's either we don't know our Science or we don't know our faith. It is overwhelming to know this information about the Human Genome Project. It is comprised of 2,000 scientists who worked to identify all the approximately 20,000-25,000 genes in human DNA and determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make it up. The project was completed in 2003 but analyses of the data will continue for many years. The philosophical implication of real science is so huge we can only conclude one thing, it is the language of God. We can benefit a lot from Science through good research that are producing cures rather than do something that is totally wrong. The scientists could sometimes cross the line. There is nothing wrong about being dedicated to the work that one does but there is a need to be passionate to the truth rather than in the political sense. This must not be contingent to any person or circumstance. Our faith calls us to goodness, play our part well and give all the glory to God. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16

R: Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.

1 [2] It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to your name, Most High, 2 [3] to proclaim your kindness at dawn and your faithfulness throughout the night. (R) 12 [13] The just one shall flourish like the palm tree, like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow. 13 [14] They that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. (R) 14 [15] They shall bear fruit even in old age; vigorous and sturdy shall they be, 15 [16] declaring how just is the Lord, my rock, in

whom there is no wrong. (R)

“Ruah" is the Hebrew word for Spirit of God; breath of God. We were told to always listen to the "ruah" since it is during these times when there is something big happening. Signs and wonders always follow the ruah. In Acts 5:12 the apostles were empowered by "ruah" during Pentecost and became bold and full of courage to spread the good news. Right after empowerment the Church is formed and brought about the birth of the Body of Christ, built on the blood of those who believed in the "ruah" and martyred as in Acts 7. In the same as when God breathe life in Genesis 2:7 and brought about Creation. People are so impatient that they do not try Christianity all the way. In today's 2nd reading we are being encouraged to persevere as a Christian and go all the way. We should listen to the "ruah" because those who will not, will only fail because there really is no other way. According to the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, there is a danger that faith without reason would end up in fanaticism and reason without faith to paganism. If one is without the other a person would eventually fall into desperation. Faith purifies reason. Through faith we are united with, a real sharing of the life of Christ in contact with God, over come temptations and have His life within us. Finding the truth is not so hard but running away from the truth once we found it. Human intelligence is limited. Church does not condemn technology and science. It is open to discovery and corrections that would lead us to knowledge through faith and reason and to joy and peace that the world can not give. It is reasonable to believe in God. The miracles of Christ and the prophecies foretold have entered into several thousand years and still stand to this very day.  St. Augustine said, “I believe in order to understand and I understand in order to believe.” St. Thomas in his book entitled, Summa Theologica uses reason to explain the existence of God. Faith corrects our fallen reason. We have to approach God with faith and reason. Faith must be explored by human reason although there is a point where it becomes a mystery. Philosophy is based on reason and Theology is based on faith. The common source is God. Faith & knowledge are divine in nature. They are not contradictory at all. Faith being divine is above reason but is not accepted by modern secular society because faith can not be proven. If it could be proven then it has to be a philosophy. To one with faith no explanation is necessary. To one with no faith no explanation is possible. Reason alone is not sufficient to guide men. We need revelation. We must carefully distinguish truths known by reason and truths by a higher revelation. Reason & revelation though distinct is not opposed to each other. Faith preserves reason from error and reason should do service in the cause of the faith. This service is rendered in 3 ways. Reason should prepare the minds of men to receive the faith by proving the truth which faith presupposes. Reason should explain and develop the truth of the faith and propose them in the scientific form. Ultimately reason should defend the truth revealed by Almighty God. The greatest obstacle in prayer is to resort to prayer not to stir in us to will what God wills but only to persuade God to will in us what we will. Let this truth be the consummation of this prayer, Almighty God heal my weakness, wash my uncleanness, give light to my blindness, cloth my nakedness and enrich me in my poverty. May my heart receive the bread of angels. Amen.  Hallelujah!

2 Corinthians 5:6-10

6 Brothers and sisters: We are always courageous, although we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yet we are courageous, and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord. 9 Therefore, we aspire to please him, whether we are at home or away. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.

Our God is good all the time! God does not expect us to be instant saints. He assures us that all we need is a small seed of faith sown in our hearts. As it grows, God can do wondrous things beyond our expectations. Each one of us with no exception has a seed that God has planted in our hearts. God is always at work in us. Whether we are doing something or not, He is the Mastermind, Creator and Executor of everything. It is not through our efforts and abilities that we are able to accomplish anything. All we have to do is just allow this growth to take place in us and not hinder or obstruct it. He can see through our future and knows well also what we are going through at the moment and what we had been through. All things work for the good of those who love and serve God. All we need to do is just cooperate as He operates. Sometimes we have this impression that we can effect change on other people so when they don’t we succumb to despair or blame ourselves for not doing a good job. Or when people come out renewed we sometimes take the credit for it and say that it if it wasn’t for us that person would not have made it. It is simply presumptuous on our part to think this way. We may think that we know better but we can never deny that God knows best. It is definitely true what this sharing in Companion tells us. That’s why we really have to keep this in mind. “It is God’s work to convert people and transform their lives. As much as a preacher and teacher can convince people of the truth of the Gospel, it is still only the Holy Spirit who has the power to convict us of these truths such that we will be willing to live and die for them. Open my heart, Lord, to the truth of the Gospel so that my mind and heart would be truly formed in all that is good and perfect.” No matter how hopeless and discouraging things may seem to appear we have to be fully convinced in the power of God to produce great outcomes from very humble beginnings. All we've got to do is stick to God through and through and things will always turn out for the best. Amen. Hallelujah!

Mark 4:26-34
26 Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land 27 and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. 28 Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.” He said, "To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade." With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.