HOLY!

 We must keep in mind that every time we go to Church it is a day that is made holy not only because of certain events that we celebrate and observe but especially because of the people who come to church. Sometimes we don't really need an occasion to make each day holy, it is made possible if we will just respond to God's call of holiness. Whatever situation we are in right now is a call to holiness. No one is exempted from it no matter what our profession in life may be. Whatever it is that we do at the present time whether we think of it as something big or small, something that we enjoy doing or not or something we are good at or not, we must realize that it could be made holy by offering it to God. What's most important is the true desire to do things for the Lord through the people around us. Although, not at all times will people see it that way but the Lord God who sees through the heart and knows the motives behind every action will bless the action and thus made holy. As I was sharing yesterday, my laptop that was made unserviceable by some viruses got fixed through Hendrie’s help. I could never forget it because it gave me that feeling of relief then since the problem was a lot worse than before and could have caused irreversible damage. Hendrie did not even charge me anything for fixing it and even went to the trouble of delivering it to me. I can not thank him enough for his goodness and offered to pay for his services but he declined. He even told me just to buy an antivirus software for my computer instead of pay him. It was like the same advice being said in today's 1st reading. Judas Maccabees and his companions knew for a fact that after obtaining victory in crushing the enemies as being referred to in today's 1st reading or in the case of my laptop after eliminating all viruses in it that there is a need to maintain and sustain it. The same thing applies to our lives in relation to Jesus. He does not require us to pay Him back for what He has done in saving us for it is impossible to repay the victory He has won us over but we always have to make a conscious effort to keep ourselves pure, always dedicated to God and treasure the success granted to us. Amen. Hallelujah!

1 Maccabees 4:36-37, 52-59 (or Acts 28:11-16, 30-31)

36 Judas and his brothers said, “Now that our enemies have been crushed, let us go up to purify the sanctuary and rededicate it.” 37 So the whole army assembled, and went up to Mount Zion… For eight days they celebrated the dedication of the altar and joyfully offered holocausts and sacrifices of deliverance and praise. They ornamented the facade of the temple with gold crowns and shields; they repaired the gates and the priests' chambers and furnished them with doors.

Let us just hope and pray that every family that is celebrating a special occasion will always center on the greatness of God who made all good things possible most especially the chance to still celebrate important events. We should make a firm stand on whose side we really are. Why would we settle for something less when we can settle for what is best. In all our words, thoughts and actions we must give glory to our Mighty God. Amen. Hallelujah!

P S A L M

1 Chronicles 29:10, 11, 11-12, 12 (or Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6)

R: We praise your glorious name, O mighty God.

10 “Blessed may you be, O LORD, God of Israel our father, from eternity to eternity.” (R) 11 “Yours, O LORD, are grandeur and power, majesty, splendor, and glory. For all in heaven and on earth is yours.” (R) “Yours, O LORD, is the sovereignty; you are exalted as head over all. 12 “Riches and honor are from you.” (R) “You have dominion over all. In your hand are power and might; it is yours to give grandeur and strength to all.” (R)

We’ve got to maintain and stay within the context of what has been written. People sometimes overlook things and take it for granted. The church is a house of prayer and should keep it that way. Although some people may think that it is not the external appearances that matter most but what’s inside our hearts we still need to realize the importance of observing proper behavior and decorum when inside the church. Sure enough, this is all for the greater glory of God. The Jews are stubborn and remained in their unbelief in Jesus as the Messiah. They have a wrong notion of the Messiah which is based on the political image that the Jews have which is far from the lasting and eternal Kingdom that Jesus offers us. Today's gospel is a clear demonstration of how the Jews disobeyed God in the conduct of their activities and not only rejected Jesus but hated Him. They were the chosen people and yet it was to their loss that they did not accept Jesus and to our gain that salvation was extended to us all not only by virtue of blood but by faith. Whenever we go to church, God in His goodness does not strike anyone unworthy to enter the Church. Although he is reminding us in the gospel that when we go to the house of God it is important to make ourselves pleasing not only physically but spiritually before Him. When we pray to God and do good things with a hidden agenda then we are no different from a thief. Thieves know that there are things they can't have and thus resort to stealing. Sometimes we too, are like thieves when we pray to God and do good things with the sole purpose of pleasing God and eventually hope to have things in our own way. Behind every prayer intention there should be a sincere openness to the will of God and the total surrender to Him and not the other way around wherein we expect God to bend to our own personal wishes and caprices. Amen. Hallelujah!

Luke 19:45-48

45 Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.’ ” 47 And every day he was teaching in the temple area. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, 48 but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words.