Amen. Hallelujah!
Romans 8:1-11
"...For those who live according to the flesh are
concerned with the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the
spirit with the things of the spirit. The concern of the flesh is death, but
the concern of the spirit is life and peace. For the concern of the flesh is
hostility toward God; it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it; and
those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; on
the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if
Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive
because of righteousness. If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the
dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to
your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you.
We can't claim to be this kind of person, a Christian but
conduct ourselves in a very unlikely way. Let us no longer be deceived by the
false and misleading truths and principles that this world presents to us every
single day. We have to be grounded at all times on this truth that today's
psalm is telling us. There was a time when Tita Neds complained that something
is wrong with the television. She said that somebody fixed it already but it
didn't stay fixed for long. It wasn't the manufacturer who repaired it that was
why. If it was brought to its manufacturer they would definitely know what to
do with it. We've got to be conscious of this reality and apply it to
ourselves. When something goes wrong we should know where to go, to whom we
really belong, the Lord. This is the covenant: we belong to the Lord and He
belongs to us for we are His people and He is our God. If we look at what's
happening in the world today most especially the economic crisis wherein even
the leading nations are being challenged by the present situation then we are
really bound to anticipate the worst. Not even those people who used to be very
confident of their present jobs in their respective stable companies can be too
sure of what's going to happen next. There have been so much speculations of
what will be the outcome of this worldwide problem of the economy and most of
them are not good. With all these rubble, there is just really one thing we
need to focus on and that is God. It is not easy to live life in this world but
we can rejoice and be glad, we have an army, a battalion, a full house of
saints with all the angels constantly and endlessly praying and singing in
heaven, the so called triumphant Church/army of God, who intercede in our
behalf and is joyously inviting us to be one of them. We are being reminded by
the readings today to always keep ourselves blameless before the Lord no matter
how tough things are. God wants to be with us, there is no doubt about that.
But just like water and oil which can not be put together and mixed so is God
and man if we are in sin or harbor anything that can not be attributed to the
holiness of God. We can not force two different things to go together. Water is
a polar molecule and oil is non polar. They do not mix because they are two
different substances as in the adage, "Like dissolves like." God can
not change. He is already who He is, Holy in all His ways. We can be like God
in His holiness and goodness if we want to be with Him forever. We can change
not on our own but by God’s grace. Let us not lose sight of what a mighty God
we serve who made the heavens and the earth. We pray to God to open our eyes
that we may see the wonders of His love. We should think profoundly of our
daily walk with the Lord which consists of not only a leisure stroll in the
plains and valleys of life but a steep climb up to the top of the mountain. We
must avail of the sacrament of reconciliation. It gives us renewed strength and
hope. Our life consists of steep and dangerous climbs but we must not forget
that God is always at our side. If we are to carefully assess our life we would
find that it feels good whenever we are able to overcome most of our pitfalls
though there are some that still needs improvement. We must praise and thank
God that every time we experience a fall back and backslide we can immediately
go back to Him through the sacrament of confession which restores us to our original
path and right track. It is God's desire that we will someday come face to face
with Him. There is a need for us to prepare for that day. We are sometimes
guilty of not focusing on God's countenance alone, there are times when we get
distracted by other things and today's psalm reading serves as the reminder. I
heard a story about God's radiating and blinding light that when we stand
before Him nothing is hidden from Him, He will never turn away from us but if
we ourselves are tainted with the guilt of our sins then we can not withstand
His presence and will definitely hide and ran away from Him, far from His ever
blinding Light that penetrates us. Let us all hope that when that day comes we
can stand in His Holy Presence and claim with confidence our rightful place in
His Kingdom. For our information, all of us are eligible to be in heaven with
God. There is no doubt about this since we have been made and washed clean by
the Blood of the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. A virgin is with
child. The Old Testament scriptures have foretold of this and point to the
coming of Christ. The prophets preannounced and prefigured His coming and
pointed to the fulfillment in Jesus in the New Testament. He has loved us first
and continues to do so. He encounters us ever anew in the sacraments especially
in the Eucharist. The Church helps us to respond to God’s initiative through
word and teaching and the gathering of believers who respond faithfully. We
have to be firm, resilient and faithful people of God. We’ve got to really
focus on what is truly important and essential. We live in a world where there
are so many distractions that we tend to lose sight of what should be our
greatest and most important concern. After all has been said and done we will
find in the end that what truly matters is not what will last only in this
lifetime but for all eternity, a reward from God our Savior. When somebody
invites us for a party we just don't go there without preparing ourselves for
it. Much more gatecrash and just go to a party without an invitation. We are
blessed that God has invited us. The best we could do being privileged, honored
and counted to come to His banquet in heaven is to make preparations and always
be ready to take part in it, really belong and not end up an outcast. We should
not lose sight of this standing invitation that God gives us in our daily life.
There is indeed a need to always be prepared so that when the final moment
comes we can reside in the heavenly abode of God. In every game there is a rule
to follow and only those who play it fair and square can finish to the end and
win their prize. Today’s psalm gives us a guideline to follow in order to make
it through. We should always long to see the face of God at all times in every
person, event and circumstance in our lives. Let us always hold on to this
image so that someday when we finally come face to face with God we will
receive a blessing and reward for He will surely bring about what He said He
would do. In the course of the time and in the history of mankind we hear of
people like Abraham chosen by God. The chosen people were given laws and
ordinances to follow. The remnants of the chosen people or those who were
faithful to God in keeping these commandments like Simeon and Anna, Joachim and
Anne are those who belong to the Hebrew generation, kept the Jewish tradition
and prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah. This initiation of God in
loving us first should bring us to act and make love blossom as a response on
our part. We've got to be aware that the no one but the Lord is the King of
glory. Amen. Hallelujah!
P S A L M
Psalm 24:1b-2. 3-4ab. 5-6
R: Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
1 The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness; the world and
those who dwell in it... Who may go up the mountain of the LORD? Who can stand
in his holy place? "The clean of hand and pure of heart, who are not
devoted to idols, who have not sworn falsely. They will receive blessings from
the LORD, and justice from their saving God.
Today's parable in the gospel inspires and warns us once
again as that of the rest of the readings for today. This also reminds me of
the several trees I had the enjoyment of picking fruits from. I could still
remember when Sis Zeny's sister in Baldwin invited
us over to harvest the tangerines in their home. It was like an endless
harvesting because of the numerous fruits hanging from it. The same with
Jackie's tangerine and lemon trees in Placentia which my aunt and relatives and
a lot of people from West Covina look forward to having a share of, whenever I
bring it home and is extended to
Bernadeth's place of work in Rancho Cucamonga. Also with Sis Angela's persimmon
in her previous place of work and Sis Fe's guava and lemon trees in Walnut,
whom the people from San Lorenzo Bible Study gets to enjoy. Not to forget Sis
Loreta's fig tree also in Walnut whose fruits sometimes end up falling to the
ground before it gets picked since there are so many. It was like we were
picking a lot of the fruits this moment and the next few days it would be
sprouting with more fruits. Sis Loreta even calls her fig tree the tree of
Jesus. This is why this experience with these richly productive trees always
made me think of today's parable. I used to say that these trees would never
end up being cut. This should also make us realize that our life should also be
like these trees whose fruits have gone a long way in benefiting not just the
people around and close to us but extends even to those who are not close to us
and believe it or not people whom we don't even know. Jesus challenges us today
to bear fruit so as to become a beautiful sight and example for others to see
and follow. This should drive us to bear fruits that can be shared and enjoyed
by not just the people who are near to us but by everybody. Speaking of the fig
tree in today’s parable we should realize that it could be cut down after a
certain period if it does not bear fruit. It is the same with our covenant with
God if we read today's gospel. It reminds us that just like any other agreement
there is a specified period which only lasts until we are still alive once we
die, the contract is considered fully paid by Jesus but there are some
conditions that apply. Let us examine our part of the deal and make sure that
we don't end up like this fig tree in the parable it might finally be cut down
unless we take action, allow ourselves to be cultivated, respond positively and
bear fruit. The figure of speech used in the passages sounds scary. They were
meant to give emphasis on the need to bear fruit as heirs of the kingdom of God
Luke 13:1-9
...And he told them this parable: “There once was a person
who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit
on it but found none, 7 he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have
come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. [So] cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’ 8 He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for
this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; 9
it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’ ”
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