Ephesians 4:1-7. 11-13
1 Brothers and sisters: I, then, a
prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have
received, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one
another through love, 3 striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through
the bond of peace: 4 one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the
one hope of your call; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father
of all, who is over all and through all and in all...
It always pays to be watchful and
alert at all times. Although we sometimes fail to measure up due to our own
shortcomings or could be the doing of another, God assures us in today's psalm
that if we fall into the trap of the enemy we can always repent with a deep
remorse for our sins and resolve to make the precepts of the Lord the joy of
our hearts. In doing so, we find ourselves naturally restrained from sin and
maintain our innocence. It is so hard to live a life that is pleasing to the
Lord if we do not know exactly how to go about with it. It's just like when we
have to comply to certain requirements in school and follow the standard set by
it. We need to have a pattern or outline from which we can base our work. Just
as it is so in other things, the more we are all in need of God's precepts. The
absolute bedrock of spiritual life is to follow the 10 commandments. We are
sometimes misled into thinking that when we have a type of prayer then we think
that we already have a spiritual life. We’ve got to have the humility to admit
that God is smarter than we are and we need to follow and obey what we are told
in the 10 commandments. We should be totally and absolutely convinced that He
knows best. Satan uses half truths and half lies in his devilish tricks.
Satan’s claims seem to come true in one level. Take the example of our 1st
parents after eating of the forbidden fruit their eyes were opened and did
become in one sense like God. The fallen angels made their free choice by
radically and irrevocably rejecting God so in turn they seduce and mislead Adam
& Eve. It was through sin that humanity was afflicted by death. Because of
one man’s disobedience many were made sinners. When tempted in the Garden, Adam
failed to remain faithful to God and His commands. Jesus, the New Adam, is
God’s servant totally obedient to the Divine will. Jesus is the devil’s conqueror
and takes back the plunder. What the devil has stolen from us, Jesus has
recovered for us. Pope Benedict XVI commented about what the Lord experienced
in the desert and said that at the heart of all temptations is the act of
pushing God aside because we conceive Him as secondary. It is an act of
constructing our world with our own lights and building our own foundation and
setting God aside as an allusion. Temptations come in many varied forms but one
thing is sure, it does not invite us to directly do evil because it is too
blatant and would outright turn us off. It is very subtle and yet an act of
pushing God’s commands aside and placing the devil’s temptation as primary. If
we want to remain victorious throughout life, we have to keep Him in the center
of our life and hold on to His words which are Spirit and life. God’s ever
present help can be found in the scriptures. It's just like a soldier going to
battle wearing the armor of God. It never fails and always there to defend and
protect from the snares of the evil one. So always take up our sword which is
the word of God. God's perfect word can refresh the soul. Have you ever
wondered really how it feels to be refreshed? Whenever we take a shower or a
warm bath and put on clothes that are well fitted and comfortable it refreshes
our body. It could also be whenever we go to a place where we can unwind,
relax, be away from the tensions, stresses, noise and turmoil of the fast paced
lives that we lead and just appreciate the beauty of nature that surrounds us
and the peace and quiet it offers to our tired bodies in order to be more in
touch with God's voice in us. It is so refreshing it gives our minds and hearts
a better view and perspective of how to live our lives. The same thing with our
souls, we should always keep it clean, healthy and clothed with maximum
security, protection but comfortable enough we don't even know it's there. Like
it has become fused in us, there's nothing more right than following and
obeying the law of God. Today's psalm reading guides us on how we should go
about with our lives by always keeping in mind God's laws. None of us is
perfect but through our imperfections we can always run to God for help and
guidance. He will never refuse nor forsake us for He can only love and care for
us. There are people who have alienated themselves from God and we can’t just
force them to go back. God does not do that, it’s not how the Lord works,
instead we pray and pray for them. If we wait long enough and adhere to God’s
precepts then we will finally obtain joy in our hearts. As water prevails over
the rock throughout the course of time so does the Holy Spirit that is
continuously flooding or washing over the man’s heart. The Holy Spirit moves in and continues to
work upon us and tenderizes us. The song entitled, "Your Words Are Spirit
and Life" by Bernadette Farrell was impressed to me. It is a beautiful
song that I have always loved to sing and I just realized that the words of
this song are taken from this psalm which made me start singing it. Well, we
just have to fully discover what the words of God can make us do. When things
get out of hand we have no one to blame but ourselves for God is surely not
lacking in everything that He has given us for our own welfare. We've got
everything we need because there's nothing more that God could and should do
for us that He has not done. All we have to do is completely trust and obey the
judgments of the Lord. GOD'S LAW MAKES US LIVE A VIRTUOUS LIFE (CCC 1803
"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is
pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if
there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.") May we
truly recognize the genuine and precious treasures that we should all strive to
achieve and work for which is none other than these things spoken of in today's
psalm. Amen. Hallelujah!
P S A L M
Psalm 19:2-3. 4-5
R: Their message goes out through
all the earth.
1 [2] The heavens declare the glory
of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. 2 [3] Day pours out the word
to day, and night to night imparts knowledge. (R) 3 [4] Not a word nor a
discourse whose voice is not heard; 4 [5] through all the earth their voice
resounds, and to the ends of the world, their message.
To make disciples we need
disciplers. Evangelize. St. Paul
said “I am a disciple of Jesus, imitate me.” Live the gospel, become living
witnesses and role models. The disciples leave many things behind. In today’s
gospel we see that despite of who Matthew is God loves him. He was greedy and a
corrupt man. When he got up and followed Jesus he left his office. We have to
ask the Holy Spirit to reveal things to us. We have to throw away all our
garbage in our character and relationship like vices, lust, pride, anger,
materialism, being stingy in giving treasures to the Lord. We still have a lot
of things to be transformed in our lives. As in John 10:10, A thief
comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have
life and have it more abundantly. We need to remove the fear of surrendering to
the Lord. The disciples of Jesus love to be in the company of the Master. They
talked, walked, ate and spent time with Jesus to learn. They were with Jesus 24
hours a day and so must we to be His disciple. Here are some recommendations
from our retreat in order to be a disciple. First, we have to greet and thank
God before we get out of bed and wake up. Say our prayers and read the bible.
When we worship God we close our eyes. Make a habit of praying before starting
and after work. Pray before meals even in public places. Pray for safety when
we travel and pray before we go to bed. A disciples transforms his/her past for
God’s purposes. God uses all our past experiences for us to attain the kingdom of God
Matthew 9:9-13
9 As Jesus passed by, he saw a man
named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he
got up and followed him. 10 While he was at table in his house, many tax
collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. 11 The
Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with
tax collectors and sinners?” 12 He heard this and said, “Those who are well do
not need a physician, but the sick do. 13 Go and learn the meaning of the
words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous
but sinners.”
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