CROSS OVER

I consider the river as one of the wonders of creation that God has gifted us with. I just recently had this opportunity to ride a boat across the Colorado River at the Grand Canyon and it was quite an experience. As I looked at the flowing river it had given me a sense of well being, power and strength. Especially, with the refreshing sound of the gush of the water, full of vigor and seemed so unstoppable.  The surrounding view of the Grand Canyon added to the greatness of the picture perfect scenery. Everything seems so marvelous. We have an awesome God who made all things beautiful. He is a God of impossibilities. Just try to imagine in today's 1st reading what happened on that day in the Jordan River when the river ceased to flow for the water flowing down from upstream halted in a solid bank. God displayed His Almighty Power by making the river halt. In the same way that there are some impossible situations that we need to cross over and could be compared to the raging waters of the river Jordan. We are being reminded of the awesome power of God that is able to put a stop to the river wild. On the other hand we can also look at this miracle as a form of challenge to us to start crossing over our boundaries in order to reach our destinations. Amen. Hallelujah!

Joshua 3:7-10a. 11. 13-17

... “This is how you will know that there is a living God in your midst, who at your approach will dispossess the Canaanites. 11 The ark of the covenant of the LORD of the whole earth will precede you into the Jordan. 13 When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the LORD, the Lord of the whole earth, touch the water of the Jordan, it will cease to flow; for the water flowing down from upstream will halt in a solid bank.” ...No sooner had these priestly bearers of the ark waded into the waters at the edge of the Jordan, which overflows all its banks during the entire season of the harvest, 16 than the waters flowing from upstream halted, backing up in a solid mass for a very great distance indeed, from Adam, a city in the direction of Zarethan; while those flowing downstream toward the Salt Sea of the Arabah disappeared entirely. Thus the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 While all Israel crossed over on dry ground, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD remained motionless on dry ground in the bed of the Jordan until the whole nation had completed the passage.

Nothing can ever stop us from proceeding to our God given destiny if we will just believe that He will make a way for us and make all things happen. Amen. Hallelujah!

P S A L M

Psalm 114:1-2. 3-4. 5-6

R: Alleluia!

...The sea beheld and fled; Jordan turned back. 4 The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like the lambs of the flock. (R) 5 Why is it, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back? 6 You mountains, that you skip like rams? You hills, like the lambs of the flock?

Today's gospel is one of the memorable parables for me because of the lessons and explanations it offers and learned from it about our Catholic faith concerning purgatory. Our God is consistent to all His attributes which includes not just merciful but just. We ought to realize that God treated us with ultimate love and mercy and it is only right and fitting that we fulfill all righteousness for the glory of God. Purgatory is an expression of this great love and mercy of God for us. He gives us all the chances we can get in order for us to square our accounts with God. We ought to realize that our entry to the kingdom of heaven can be withheld or worst be denied access to it.  Let us not place the eternal inheritance that is already being handed to us in grave danger. It tells us to be wise and diligent in handling our affairs well while we are still here on earth so as not to regret later the consequences of our actions. It is a consolation that the key lies in today's gospel. As we grow in the knowledge and love of God we can't help but become the person God has meant us to be, full of compassion and mercy. And the best way to attain this is to have a forgiving heart as implied in today's gospel. Forgiving someone who offended you 77x. This may sound “Mission Impossible” (MI) if we have become so attached to the values of this world. That's why there is an urgent need for us to always align ourselves to the will of God. It is only through His supernatural grace that we can do all things. We must avail of every possible means to attain holiness. The measure that we use with our brothers and sisters is the same measure that God will use to us. If we place judgment on others then we have also placed judgment on ourselves. Let us take care not to overlook and take for granted this reality that Jesus Himself said in the gospel. It is really a must that we learn to forgive those people who hurt us. The gospel requires us to forgive in order for us to go across whatever it is that is stopping us from fulfilling our God given destiny which is surely bound for success. We can never move on if we continue to harbor ill feelings in our hearts. It can be compared to the powerful flow of water in a river that can never be put to a stop unless we surrender it to God. We should truly be able to put a halt to the raging emotions in us. Thus, it is for our own good that we overcome all the hurts that we've experienced from people and really learn to forgive them from our hearts. Unless we do this we can never move forward and reach our goals and destinations in life. We read in the gospel that Peter wanted to put a limit on forgiveness. The gospel is especially relevant for those with deep hurts. Each time the memory of that hurt comes back, we have to forgive. We have to be honest that we haven’t been without guilt ourselves. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) 2843 it is stated, "Thus the Lord's words on forgiveness, the love that loves to the end,(Jn 13:1) become a living reality. The parable of the merciless servant, which crowns the Lord's teaching on ecclesial communion, ends with these words: "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."(Mt 18:23-35.) It is there, in fact, "in the depths of the heart," that everything is bound and loosed. It is not in our power not to feel or to forget an offense; but the heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit turns injury into compassion and purifies the memory in transforming the hurt into intercession." It is not in our power to not feel the hurt of the memory or even to forget because it is part of our emotional well being to do so when it comes back. But the heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit turns injury and the memory of the hurt to compassion. This ability to love comes from the Holy Spirit and can help us transform that hurt into intercession. Just like what Jesus did at the cross when He said, Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing even to the point of making excuses. When we run into people who have hurt us it is an unbelievable feeling to rise above the need for revenge. Forgiveness should be part of our life because revenge is just a never ending cycle. We have to adhere to putting God first and be disciplined in ourselves. We learn from the experience of forgiveness from the life of people who had been through a great deal of pain but were able to overcome it. We learn through their message of forgiveness and start ourselves as we forgive the little things done against us and then eventually it will be easy to forgive the big things. The gospel reminds us of our situation. We are debtors of an even greater debt. The reality of our situation is that we have a huge debt that we can't pay back.  We’re created out of nothing and while we were still sinners Jesus died for us to inherit eternal life. The debt you and I have is far greater than we can pay back. However great our suffering may be, it does not compare to what the Lord has done for us. If we think of this we may want to ask, is there anything way too big to forgive? On our own we can't do it but through the strength given to us from His love, forgiveness and mercy. We recall the words of Jesus while He was crucified on the cross. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do, today you will be with me in paradise and behold your son, behold your mother. These are words of compassion and love at a time He was suffering and in a great deal of pain. We have to look upon the crucifix and remember what the Lord has done for us. We should picture ourselves at the foot of the cross for our sins and its forgiveness.  No one in this whole wide world ever had a perfect circumstance and situation. We have all been through our share of sorrows. The saints became saints in the midst of their trying times. They had all the reasons to be bitter. Instead of living with regret and resentment they looked at Jesus who was rejected Himself and offered their rejection in union with His. When we are assailed by pain and suffering we look to Him. Though, He was innocent but He died for us sinners. If we have deep and lasting hurts whenever they come back all we have to do is look at our Lord who is innocent but suffered and died for our salvation. We pray to Jesus and ask to turn our hearts like His own. The measure that we use with our brothers and sisters is the same measure that God will use to us. If we place judgment on others then we have also placed judgment on ourselves. Let us take care not to overlook and take for granted this reality that Jesus Himself said in his words in today's gospel. The goodness and mercy of God is repetitively mentioned thus God expects us to be just like Him full of mercy and compassion to our brothers and sisters. And as we grow in the knowledge and love of God we can't help but become the person God has meant us to be, compassionate and merciful. And the best way to attain this is to have a forgiving heart as implied in today's gospel. Amen. Hallelujah!

Matthew 18:21–19:1

21 Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. 25 Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. 26 At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ 27 Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. 28 When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 29 Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. 31 Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. 32 His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. 33 Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ 34 Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. 35 So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”