EXTEND IT TO YOUR GALILEE

It was a very refreshing feeling when I attended the mass at San Lorenzo Parish a few weeks ago and found out that Ruby is now a regular attendee of the El Shaddai prayer group and choir there. Most especially when Ruby and I greeted each other and as always  remembered Eugene, her husband who already passed away. She told me that God is good and is feeling contented despite the feeling of loneliness from time to time that comes from the loss of her husband. I told her Eugene is happy where he is right now. We may have lost a loved one and have been deeply hurt but we should always have the hope and consolation that those who died in Christ will rise again just as today's 1st reading tells us. Amen. Hallelujah!

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

... For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, console one another with these words.

This challenge and call to proclaim God's Word has been non stop and very persistent. In fact today's psalm tells us to announce it day after day. There should never be a day that passes without us giving praise and glory to God. When we have an appointment or a schedule it requires us to make necessary preparation for it before the date itself. There are times when we have to go through stressful activities in order to meet some requirements that go with it. This should make us think all the more of the greatest appointment we have to face on that final day and act in accordance to the demand of the inevitability and reality of this day. How much more are we supposed to prepare for that unknown day if indeed we believe that we have to be there and get to our destiny, where we are supposed to be in God's Kingdom. We should always be prepared for the day when we will come face to face with God. Every single day should be lived as if it's our last. How easy it is to put ourselves in the center of the universe. We are not the center of the universe, God is. We are just here on earth for a few fleeting years. 70 if we are strong in which to serve God. St. Theresa of Avila said to never waste a moment in time because she knows that every moment in time can secure heaven. When all is over and the battle has been won as in Revelation, God's name will be written in our foreheads and it will never be night again nor will we still need lamp or sunlight again because the Lord is our Light. There are so many things in life that worry us every day. We encounter people and circumstances that disturb our peace. We can't help but be stirred up and sometimes lose our focus. The truth is there is nothing that should bother us at all. We've got to hold on to the truth always that God is on top of everything. We have to be perfectly aware of the fact that the Lord has the whole world in the palm of His hand and will surely rule it with justice and constancy. It is always worth our all when we stand by the principles of God. No matter what it is that we are going through right now we can always draw strength and inspiration in this truth and not be moved. We look at our own lives and see that it is dark in many ways in the form of bad stories that we hear about. We are not perfect but we can do something to bring the glowing radiance of Christ to the world. We must be able to calm ourselves and silence our mind over a lot of worries and anxiety. In doing so we could immediately feel the peace and assurance that God never ever leaves us every step of the way. It helps to do the 3Rs: Reflecting, Remembering, Renewing. It is really important that we constantly reflect on the word of God, wherein the scriptures become fully alive in our life. We should always remember how God helped us in a certain experience. In doing so, hope starts to rise again. It is equally important that we live a balanced life by renewing so that we don't get worn out by the daily turmoil of our life. Those who toil will reap and will be able to reflect God's glory through the fruits of their harvest. We have 101 reasons to always rejoice and be glad. Jesus came and entered humanity in the most humble way. He loved us as we are and was willing to be born in a manger. He doesn't wait for us to transform ourselves but take us for who we are. It is very consoling to know that we have a God who was willing to be born into the messiness of our lives. We may not have received all the things we have been asking for specifically but we continue to believe that God in His goodness and mercy did answer all our prayers in the way that He deemed is best. It doesn't change the fact that He is God, always in control and every single thing works according to His master plan and divine purpose. We can be assured that He will carry out the plan He has for us, as in Jeremiah 29:11, For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe, plans to give you a future full of hope. God is over, above, around, about and all over the world. It is only right and fitting that we give glory to God who is above all. Let us always be grounded on this truth and make it clear for us so as not to fall into the trap and deception of the gods of the nations which are things of naught. Let us truly be faithful to the one and true God who made the heavens. We should listen, learn and be part of the task of spreading God's word to every person if we are really one with Him. No one is excluded from God's call of love. We often hear people saying that life is unfair but it is always a consolation to know that we have a God who is consistently good and just all the time. We can surely rely on Him all the time. God is sending all of us a friendship despite our coldness towards Him. He gives us all that we need. He is as good as He is great. He is very lavish with His promises and faithful in keeping them.  Whatever situation we are in we should always take the opportunity of showing forth God's glory at its best in our own lives. Nowadays, people tend to make decisions based on money. We must not discount the fact that money is important but it should not be the sole and major deciding factor when we come up with a decision. If we know exactly why we are here and what we are here for then there's no reason to doubt that God is always at our side to love, support and make things work for good. But we need to believe that God's power knows no limit. This world of ours is amazingly designed by God. DNA a double helical structure,   which is found in every living creature, which includes us, humans, is also existent in the solar system. Scientists found out that the pattern in which the planets rotate around the sun is also in a double helical conformation. It is undeniable evidence by the signature of God scattered all over the planet and extends to the entire universe that not even the most intelligent and brilliant astrologers could explain. We are indeed blessed and endowed with a wealth of endless benefits and cures just lying around us and within our reach. He is Great and Mighty and to Him alone do we put our trust. We must not be discouraged and continue to hope in His power. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 96: 1, 3, 4-5, 11-12, 13

R: The Lord comes to judge the earth.

1 Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all you lands. 2 Sing to the LORD; bless his name. (R) Announce his salvation, day after day. 3 Tell his glory among the nations; among all peoples, his wondrous deeds. (R) For great is the LORD and highly to be praised; awesome is he, beyond all gods. For all the gods of the nations are things of nought, but the LORD made the heavens. R. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and what fills it resound; let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!

Then shall all the trees of the forest exult. R. Before the LORD, for he comes; for he comes to rule the earth. He shall rule the world with justice and the peoples with his constancy. R.

We may all have experienced rejection at one time in our life. It's very painful and difficult as it is to be rejected by someone but what's even worse is the fact that the people whom we expect to back us up are the ones who turn their backs on us. We must not despair if this happens for even Jesus experienced the same thing. All we have to do is follow the example of Jesus in continuing the work that God has given us to do and not lose hope. What Jesus was offering to the people in Nazareth was not wasted for it was extended to the people in Capernaum (town in Galilee) and to the whole region. We all have our own Nazareths and we must not despair over it rather we must look forward to reaching out to the Galilees of our lives and move on to the next level. We all have other aspects and regions in our life that we also need to pay attention to and develop. We just have to put our trust in the Lord who is able. Everything will come to pass and God's word will always carry out its mission and not go back to Him without accomplishing its purpose. Today's gospel brings back my focus on what I have been doing since I came here to the US. I can still very clearly remember that day of OCT 7, 2007 when I received God's Word in Habakkuk 2:2-3 which is: 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.
From then on I've taken it upon myself to write down daily reflections based on the assigned bible readings as my personal mission for Jesus. During the course of my writing I have inevitably included in my journal people whom I have encountered and inspired and touched my life in a special way which all just happened in a way that the scriptures unfold and reveal our participation in each and every message being conveyed and sent to us in the daily readings. Since then these reflections have amounted to quite a lot already and during my free time, I have been bent on compiling and organizing all the daily reflections that I have written since OCT 2007. I have made an index and table of contents for it. It has become easier and readily available for quick reference. Several years ago the foreword in Companion for today’s gospel and the reflection of Fr. Steve Tynan in Sabbath have encouraged me to continue with this mission. In the foreword it says:
Jesus does not “pull any punches here.” He says it simply as He sees it. This is the best way to make the truth known. Jesus needs to let people know what His mission is from the beginning so that they cannot accuse Him of deception later on. Whether people understand Him or not is not the issue at the moment. What is critical is that the Gospel is proclaimed in its fullness and that everybody has the opportunity to respond to it in its fullness as well.
In Sabbath, I partly quote Fr. Steve:
...Jesus was never interested in any attention the people wanted to give Him — His sole concern was to live and proclaim the Gospel as best as He could.
It is this example that we must seek to follow. Otherwise, we will become distracted from the things that should be our focus and we will fail to achieve what we could have achieved, if only we had been wholly obedient to God.Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL
 I am fully aware of my shortcomings and imperfection in spreading the Word of God but it is in what Fr. Steve said above that gave me the courage and strength to keep on going. It is in this very personal and significant events and circumstances that I encounter daily whether big or small that we have truly been part of the Word, yes, the Word that is made flesh. Jesus is indeed in each one of us. God gives me a reason to always have something to write about and the presence of each one of us in this present life have given me a lot of reasons to continue writing. Everybody has been a source of inspiration and God’s instrument. We should all find ourselves believing the same thing. God believes in us. We may sometimes come to a point in our lives when we have to act out of faith despite the uncertainty of our situation. We may also suffer the disapproval, ridicule and objection of the majority who questions the logic of our actions and doubts our motivations. I am sure that the widow in Zarephath hesitated if not faltered for a moment when asked to give away hers and her son's last meal in the time of famine just as Naaman the Syrian objected and grumbled at first when they were told of what to do by these 2 great prophets of their time. If we are to look closely at the qualifications of these 2 characters from today's gospel we would find that they both do not belong to the chosen race of God, the Israelites. Their only qualification was that they followed and obeyed what they were told to do.  You know why? God does not call the qualified rather He qualifies the called. We are all called by God. Our response depends on how we feel and think about it. They (Naaman and the widow) felt that persistent and undying spark of love that does not lie when God called and spoke to them in their hearts. Always take the opportunity to recognize Jesus in every situation of our life lest we lose the chance and fail to recognize it. God will not come uninvited. He will enter only if we open up the doors of our hearts and welcome Him. He will never force Himself on anyone. He is the Perfect Gentleman. He respects our longings and desires that sometimes without realizing it we've completely missed our chances and lost what truly matters and counts. Let us not end up rejecting Jesus in our hearts and missing the only Blessing that really matters because we are too preoccupied with other small blessings. Jesus is already with us but we sometimes drive Him away with our indifferences, doubts, fears, unbelief, and ignorance of the true wisdom of God. Let us pray fervently to God that He will always be with us to stay. Amen. Hallelujah!

Luke 4:16-30

Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day...18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” 20 Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. 21 He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”22 And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” 23 He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’ ” 24 And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. 25 Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. 26 It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27 Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury...