Sometimes we come to a point where we are confronted with
difficult situations. We find it hard to handle it well in order to arrive at
sound decisions. This could be due to the fact that it can impact the lives of
other people especially those who have become close to us. But in whatever
decisions we make it will surely help if we will always be reminded of what the
1st reading today is telling us. Amen. Hallelujah!
Leviticus 25:1. 8-17
...Do not deal unfairly, then; but stand in fear of your
God. I, the LORD, am your God.”
God has indeed demonstrated his love and mercy to us
in so many ways for always. Sometimes we tend to overlook and take it for
granted. What I have been writing and sharing these past years since 2007 made
me realize to not overlook nor take for granted the very obvious fact that God
never leaves, forsakes nor abandon us 100% of the time. Just looking back at what happened from the
moment I started to commit to writing reflections up to the present makes me
see very clearly the significance of those events in my life in relation to the
life of Jesus here on earth. This is not just for me but is a calling for all
of us who believes in Jesus the Son of God who became man. In October 7, 2007 which
I mark as my 1st day, I received this message from Habakkuk 2:2-3, Then the
LORD answered me and said: Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so
that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on to
fulfillment, and will not disappoint; If it delays, wait for it, it will surely
come, it will not be late. It all started with the realization that I am headed
for the unknown especially with frightening consequences that followed when I
found out some information that are not in accordance to my personal plans and
expectation. After careful thought of these series of events it impressed
several significant occasions related to the scriptures and the life of Jesus.
I decided to document all my reflections as recommended in Habakkuk. Thanks to
Jesus being presented to us in every possible and even impossible means
especially at times when we encounter trials and difficulties. Every turn of
events should make us think of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus who was born as
man, suffered, died and resurrected on the 3rd day. These things should really
open up a lot of thoughts in our hearts. It proves that we have a God who
constantly wants to connect with us in countless and various ways. In God's
persistence He has to repeatedly announce His blessing upon us so that we will
be surely reminded of how much He wishes to make us prosper for this year 2013.
In Romans 8:14-15 it is written, "For those who are led by the Spirit of
God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall
back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry,
"Abba, Father!" We can give glory and praise to God right from where
we are. All we have to do is be faithful to the One and True God. We may not be
living in that time of the Maccabees when the Jews were forced to embrace pagan
practices. It was at that time when the ruler of the land wanted to eliminate
Jewish tradition and replace it with Greek. When they failed to carry this out,
Greek ways were imposed by force. This was at the time before Jesus came when Jerusalem was torn down.
Anyone who owns a Torah and those who circumcise their children were sentenced
to capital punishment. It was a period of great struggle and difficulty. A man
named Judas Maccabeus became the leader of a Jewish revolt against the
repressive policies of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the king of Syria . He led the Jewish people in
recapturing their temple from Syrian occupying forces in 164 B.C. preventing
the imposition of Hellenism upon Judaea, and preserving the Jewish religion.
Those who followed him arose and won in their struggle. The temple was
reclaimed and purified from the stain of idolatry. Thus the institution of the
Hanukkah (Festival of Lights) , when the temple was rededicated. We have to
maintain our fidelity to the Lord. It is in doing this that we truly attain
freedom by following and staying in the way of the Lord. We need a Helper in
the person of God the Holy Spirit. The Spirit dwelling within us should be
unleashed in order to dispel all kinds of darkness in order to see God's face
shining upon us. All our thoughts, words and deeds should be directed to giving
praise and honor to God. It may sound so easy to say but it is not an easy
thing to do. But we must realize that directing it to anyone or anything other
than God makes it all the more difficult and complicated in the long run. We
must not be tempted to make the short cut and take the easy and well travelled
road. Most often people will choose this path but we may be surprised at what
is waiting for us at the end of the road. We should choose the less travelled
road although it is narrow and small. As in Mt. 7:13-14, “"Enter through
the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to
destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and
constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” Mother Mary serves as a special road or
channel that God has given to humanity to go to God and receive His graces. It
does not obscure or diminishes the one and only Mediator, Jesus Christ, rather
she shows God's power even more. Jesus, the Son loves His mother and gives her
the greatest grocery of graces in heaven. Mary totally depends on her Son as in
the wedding feast in Cana by saying, "Do
whatever He tells you." Mary knows that her Son is the ultimate source
that's why she leads us to Him, the true Mediator. God Himself ordained that
His only Begotten Son be born of a human mother through Mary's obedience and
perfect surrender. When the angel appeared to Mary, he wasn't speaking his own
thoughts and words. He was sent by God to speak God's words. In Greek, the Hail
Mary is translated as Hail most highly graced one, meaning so completely
graced. Mary truly is filled with God's grace. When God conceived and born of
Mary she was free from the stain of original sin. He is getting ready the 1st
tabernacle of His Son here on earth. She is made holy, unstained and created in
the fullness of grace. God has placed in Mary the fullness of grace. Mary
conceived by her virginity and humility. It should be in our hearts to honor
Mother Mary because the Son is within her body. The Father is in the Son. It is
by grace that we are saved. Through Jesus and Mary all things are restored.
Everything is possible with God. Who are we to defy the manner that God Himself
has chosen for His Son to come to this world. This pattern of going to the Son
through the mother is a fool proof plan after all it is the plan of God. Do you feel at times that there is something
that God can do for us that He has not done? I don't think so, He has done
everything through Jesus Christ His Son. But if we sometimes feel this way then
maybe it's time to check our blocked list and start unblocking those that keep
us from receiving God's blessings. This
sharing by Bro. Bo Sanchez in Didache really touched me and I'm sure it will
touch you, too.
BLESSING ACCOUNT
Imagine if one day I ask for your bank account number and
tell you, “I’ve deposited one million dollars in your bank account.” Naturally,
you’d laugh and say, “Sure, Bo. Thanks. That’s a good one.” Of course, you
don’t believe I can give you a million bucks.
But let’s just say I really did put a million dollars in
your account. Would you benefit from it?
No, you wouldn’t. Unless you believe that I really gave you
a million dollars and withdrew it.
I believe God has deposited zillions of heaven’s resources
to your Blessing Account. You’ve got all the love, joy, peace, wisdom, holiness
and, yes — finances — that you need in this world to serve Him and live a happy
life.
But much of these zillions of blessings are unclaimed
because you say to yourself, “There are no blessings. God won’t bless me.”
Believe that your Blessing Account is full and withdraw from
your account.
God created the entire universe for you — a universe of
blessings that are only waiting to be claimed. Bo Sanchez
REFLECTION:
Have you claimed from your Blessing Account?
Today, I claim from my Blessing Account all that I need. In
Jesus’ name!
It boils down to one thing, only God can truly bless us in
the most wonderful and everlasting way. Although God's mercy is enormous and
endless, we should not take it for granted and think that we can do what we
want right now in a wayward manner. It is only wise that we avail of God's
mercy while we still can. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8 (4)
R: O God, let all the nations praise you!
1 [2] May God have pity on us and bless us; may he let his
face shine upon us. 2 [3] So may your way be known upon earth; among all
nations, your salvation. (R) 4 [5] May the nations be glad and exult because
you rule the peoples in equity; the nations on the earth you guide. (R) 5 [6]
May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you! 7 [8] May
God bless us, and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
The gospel reading for today is about the beheading of St. John the Baptist by
King Herod. Based on the gospel his motivations were fear of the people and not
of God and his reputation as king. He was bent on giving everyone what they
want. Why? So he could gain recognition, affection and much attention. For him
it was all about pleasing the crowd and making people happy no matter what the
consequences are. We, too sometimes fall into this trap and maybe we’re not
going around murdering people, killing or harming them as Herod did. We kind of
harm and murder people in different ways. Sometimes by killing their reputation
and damaging their spiritual life. What’s worse is that sometimes we can do
this in many ways and not even aware of it. These are both self centered and
ungodly in nature. We sometimes end up just like King Herod who failed to
act in accordance to what is pleasing to God. We may not have beheaded and
killed a person physically but could be in other aspects whenever we succumb to
selfish and worldly desires. This happens when we are being motivated to do
something based on the standards of men instead of God. In our fight to stand
up for what is right we encounter a lot of difficulties and go through really
rough times. Sometimes we have to cut off ourselves from seemingly legitimate
pleasures in life. It is not easy to uphold the truth but we should not
compromise this for anything in this world. Let us always remain focused on
Jesus and the truth. We are called by Jesus to be light and salt. But it is not
easy because we are surrounded by so many pressures and the trend out there. We
have our friends and relatives who are constantly influencing us. It’s so
difficult to make the right decisions and do the right thing. As we can see in
the gospel there is so much difference in the life of Jesus and John and the
life of Herod. Jesus and John are not concerned about who receives them and who
doesn’t because they are out there to do the will of the Father. Jesus loves us
and nothing stops Him. Not even rejection and not receiving attention and
affirmation that we all desire and crave. We can look into our lives and the
things that we o and say on a daily basis when we’re around our families and
friends or in the midst of our co workers. Attention, affirmation and
recognition is not a bad thing but if it affects and compromises our walk with
God then it’s wrong. Overcoming these things is very difficult but all is
possible with the Lord if we are fixed on Him. We just don’t rely on hearsays and hand me
downs info, do we? Today’s gospel clearly shows how totally misled Herod was in
believing such a thing about Jesus. We are no different from Herod if we are
not clear about the things of our faith. We must not confuse vital truths in
our faith which we sometimes do when we do not take the initiative of learning,
knowing and growing more in our knowledge of the word of God. As St. Jerome
Matthew 14:1-12
Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus and said to
his servants, "This man is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the
dead; that is why mighty powers are at work in him." Now Herod had
arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, the
wife of his brother Philip, 4 for John had said to him, “It is not lawful for
you to have her.” 5 Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people, for
they regarded him as a prophet. 6 But at a birthday celebration for Herod, the
daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests and delighted Herod 7
so much that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for. 8 Prompted by her
mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” 9
The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests who were present,
he ordered that it be given, 10 and he had John beheaded in the prison.
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