Jonah 3:1-10
...it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began his
journey through the city, and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing,
“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” 5 when the people of Nineveh
believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on
sackcloth...When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,
he relented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry
it out.
. It is stated that out of the depths, the Lord hears our
cry to Him. We are assured that with the Lord there will be mercy and fullness
of redemption. God is more than just merciful. The sacrifice of Christ has won
for us plenteous redemption. It is stated in the Catechism of the Catholic
church (CCC) 1949:
Called to beatitude but wounded by sin, man stands in need
of salvation from God. Divine help comes to him in Christ through the law that
guides him and the grace that sustains him: Philippians 2:12-13:Work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling; for God is at work in you, both to will
and to work for his good pleasure.
The devil has acquired a certain domination in man. Man is
dominated by greed, pride and lust.
CCC 407:
The doctrine of original sin, closely connected with that of
redemption by Christ, provides lucid discernment of man's situation and
activity in the world. By our first parents' sin, the devil has acquired a
certain domination over man, even though man remains free. Original sin entails
"captivity under the power of him who thenceforth had the power of death,
that is, the devil." (Hebrews 2:14)
Ignorance of the fact that man has a wounded nature inclined
to evil gives rise to serious errors in the areas of education, politics,
social action, and morals. The following bible passages attest to this. 1 John
5:19 We know that we belong to God, and
the whole world is under the power of the evil one.
Galatians 5:19-21
Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality,
impurity, licentiousness,idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy,
outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions,occasions of
envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before,
that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God
We are engaged in a battle that has been won but does not
stop there since we have to always put on our guard for the enemy does not
rest. He called the whole process of being saved as "justification"
.
"Man is saved by God's grace alone based on CCC 1996.
Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and
undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of
God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life. (Jn
1:12-18; 17:3; Rom 8:14-17; 2 Pet 1:3-4.)
-The question is how does the grace of God become an active
part of our life or "by what are we justified?" The example he gave
here was a newborn baby who is baptized. A baby has not merited anything yet
but is saved by the mere act of being baptized. He mentioned about Martin
Luther's despair about his salvation which led him to formulate the doctrine of
justification by "Faith alone" He misunderstood the Bible passage Rom
3:28 which mentioned faith alone apart from works of the law. Paul in this letter
to the Romans was pertaining to the Jewish Law which is being practiced during
their time like circumcision, washing of the hands and the like which are
practices that can not really justify a person.
Romans 3:21-30
...For there is no distinction; 23 all have sinned and are
deprived of the glory of God...
Justification actually means being "made
righteous" i.e. it entails the sanctification of his whole being (CCC
1989, 1990, &1995) We are justified not by faith alone nor by works alone.
Justification has its stages i.e. initial and progressive. Initial
justification takes place at our baptism. We still have a tendency to backslide
and during the hour of death is the period of intense spiritual battle over our
soul. That is why we need to mature in our faith.
Certainty of Salvation "Once saved, always saved?"
If we believe in this it tends to put off our guard. (1 Jn 5:13-14) We should
say instead "I know I am saved, still being saved and will continue to be
saved." Justification is a life long process as stated by Paul in 1 Cor.
4:3-5, 9:27.
In Phil 2:12 Paul also encouraged us to work out our
salvation with fear and trembling. For the enemy is waging war on us and we
need to be very aware of this and claim God's protection over us at all times.
(Eph.6:11-12)
Epistles against works? I guess there have been some
misunderstanding here of the following bible verses: Rom. 3:28 (Obedience of
faith) We should be aware of the truth that we know we are saved, still being
saved and will continue to be saved as stated by Paul in 1 Cor. 4:3-5, 9:27. In
Phil 2:12 Paul also encouraged us to work out our salvation with fear and
trembling. For the enemy is waging war on us and we need to be very aware of
this and claim God's protection over us at all times. (Eph.6:11-12)
Martin Luther based his belief on faith alone on this
specific verse he failed to see that Paul in addition to what I've mentioned
earlier was attacking the Jews with regards to their ceremonial laws and that
it is not enough to just hear the law but to observe it. (Rom 4:5 Total
adherence) An example he gave was attending the mass not just as an obligation
but with the heart. Consider it a privilege and do it for the love of God. He
said we are saved by grace not by works but we obtain the grace of God by good
works and the motive is mercy (Eph. 2:8-9 and Titus 3:5) as in today's psalm. We
continue to believe that God is merciful despite the many sins we have
committed. Though hard, there is a need to turn away from our wicked ways by
always keeping the word of God before us and conducting ourselves in accordance
to it. We all have our faults, failures and shortcomings. No one can deny the
fact that we all have sinned and fallen short of God's standard. It is to our
advantage if we take everything that comes to us most especially the trials and
difficulties as a form of offering to God for His greater glory. Just like what
the song says:
All that I am, all that I have I lay them down before you,
oh Lord
All my regrets, all my acclaims the joy and the pain, I'm
making them yours
[Chorus:]
Lord, I offer my life to you. Everything I've been through.
Use it for your glory
Lord I offer my days to you. Lifting my praise to you as a
pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer you my life
[Verse 2:]
Things in the past, things yet unseen, wishes and dreams
that are yet to come true
All of my heart, all of my praise, my heart and my hands are
lifted to you
We sing this song with all our heart with a hope in joyful
waiting for His redemption. There is no use in denying, covering up, pretending
or doing whatever other defense mechanisms we have before the Lord. We can not
hide anything from the Lord. Sometimes we miss the point when we do things so
that we look pleasing before the eyes of others, but what about in the eyes of
the Lord? We don't have to bother about hiding because the Lord is able to find
us. We might as well get our acts together so that when He finds us He'll like
what He'll see. We continue to believe that God is merciful despite the many
sins we have committed. Though hard, there is a need to turn away from our
wicked ways by always keeping the word of God before us and conducting
ourselves in accordance to it. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalms 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-7, 7-8
R: If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; Lord, hear my voice!
2 Let your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication. (R) 3 If you, O LORD,
mark iniquities, LORD, who can stand? 4 But with you is forgiveness, that you
may be revered. (R) 5 I trust in the LORD; my soul trusts in his word. 6 My
soul waits for the LORD more than sentinels wait for the dawn. More than
sentinels wait for the dawn, 7 let Israel wait for the LORD. (R) For
with the LORD is kindness and with him is plenteous redemption; 8 and he will
redeem Israel
from all their iniquities.
Everything really happens for a reason and we have to take
seriously the call or mission that God is entrusting to us. This invitation is
not just for Martha whose name Jesus called twice in today’s gospel. God have
been calling us not just twice but many times. It's time we respond to the call
by choosing the best part. Every day of our lives we are confronted with
choices and decisions that we have to make. Whether it is big or small, major
or minor and high or low impact it is in our disposition in relation to it that
makes all the difference. If we have made a choice or a decision then we have
to stand by it and be at peace with it.
Most especially if we know that we have consulted to God all our plans and
humbly obeyed then nothing should ever bother us. Let us be reminded through
the gospel today that worry and anxiety is not a composition of a decision or
choice made within the presence and will of God. Just like Mary we should also
find ourselves beside the Lord at His feet listening to Him speak. It is with
genuine peace, calm and serenity that we should conduct our affairs. In doing
so we acknowledge that God has always been guiding and directing us every
single step of the way. We should
realize the importance of bearing the fruit of peace and self control rather
than anxiety and worry which arose from the burden of Martha's service. We are
all guilty of being just like Martha at times when we succumb to worry and
anxiety not focusing our attentions on Jesus instead. Service pleases God and
is important in order to grow in our relationship with Him but we should
maintain a balance that we must not neglect what's most essential, end up with
misplaced values and defeating the good end/purpose for which it was intended.
May we all come to the point where we too, like Mary can comfortably sit and
listen attentively to Jesus in the midst of our busy world. She is not bothered
by its concerns, made the right choice and blessed with the better part as spoken
by Jesus. We need to get over the things that hinder us from fully experiencing
the best that can never be taken away. We need to know what our options are and
choose well. If we have found the contentment and confidence that Mary
developed in Jesus brought about by the right choices that she made then we can
be assured that it will not be taken away. Amen. Hallelujah!
Luke 10:38-42
...Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
“Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me.” 41 The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you
are anxious and worried about many things. 42 There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”
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