An All Powerful God becoming
a dependent human baby on the eve of Christmas day is very overwhelming. It
points to the truth that the meaning of Christmas is shocking but it is because
of love. St. John West Covina
1 John 4:11-18
We have come to know and to
believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love
remains in God and God in him. 17 In this is love brought to perfection among
us,...There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear...
The responsorial psalm for
today is just a repetition of yesterday. I feel that it is God’s way of constantly
assuring us of His great love for us. He never fails in reminding us of His
enormous and endless love that is displayed throughout the world. Which reminded me of another incident of this old lady close to my heart who was confiding of
some plans she is considering acting upon. I was just so surprised when I found
myself brave enough to advise her though she’s much older than I am to be
patient about her situation and not take actions without giving it much thought
and praying to God for it. I know I said this to her several times already
and still continue to remain unwavering in my position with regards to that
matter but then again the choice is all up to her. I just left her with this
words of wisdom that was impressed to me to say to her, that the end will never
justify the means and it would always help to put God first in everything we do
and He will do exactly what is stated in today’s psalm. Jesus Christ our Lord
entered into this world as a helpless little infant like we all did. We pray
that as the 3 Magi presented their gifts before God who took this humbling form
of an infant may we prostrate ourselves too in homage in adoration to God.
Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 72:1-2, 10, 12-13
R: Lord, every nation on
earth will adore you.
For he shall rescue the poor
man when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. 13 He
shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall
save.
We don't love properly as we
ought to do in the light of God's love because of fear, anxiety, doubt and
worry. We always have to keep our emotions and passion in check and balanced in
order for us to love appropriately. We should not be self possessed but rather
develop the proper detachment in loving and love the way God wants us. We have
to be rooted in a strong and active spiritual life so that when the worst
happens we can always think about the miraculous life. We have to be strong
always for God is riding in our boat, navigates for us and rows us gently down
the stream amidst all the storms in our lives. The miracles of Christmas
confirm that nothing is impossible with God. We are sometimes terrified of the
things we see around us but there is no reason to be afraid. For in today's
gospel He manifested His great power to the astonishment of the disciples. It
should remind us that the miraculous happens. We should focus on Jesus Christ
so that nothing can shake us. God has an absolute dominion and sovereignty over
our lives. Today's gospel tells us the story of His disciples who crossed the
lake. This Lake or Sea of Galilee can take on
a very significant meaning for all of us because of the many events in the
earthly life of Jesus associated to it that can impact our lives. We too, ought
to cross the lake in the midst of the storms in our lives. When we are not focused on Jesus we tend to
succumb to doubt and fear. We may be facing impossible circumstances but we
need not be afraid because Jesus can cross us through the other side of the
lake. We can ask the Lord to take over our boats to take us anywhere He wants
us to go. We can think of a circumstance that is worrying us which is causing
us to fear and be anxious. We’ve got to make a deliberate act of the will to
give to Jesus our personal Lord and Savior all of these things that wear us
down. What are the winds and waves that distract us in our lives? What is it
that threatens to destroy our boat and capsize it? Whenever we take our eyes
off Jesus we begin to be afraid and sink. We have to know what dominates us and
surrender it to Him. We need to place our focus from our human point of view
that humans do not walk on water to the miraculous as Jesus did. Sometimes we
just don’t get it. Today’s gospel speaks of the miracle of Jesus walking on the
sea which immediately took place after the feeding of the 5,000. One miracle is
happening right after another. If this had happened to us in what manner are we
suppose to react? We might not realize it but we can end up just like those
being spoken of in the gospel whose hearts were hardened despite the miracles
they themselves have witnessed. Sometimes when we succumb to fear in our lives
we end up hardening our hearts the same way that happened in the gospel. The 1st
reading also speaks of the same thing as it is written: There is no fear in
love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment,
and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. We must always strive to work
for the perfection of God’s love in our lives. We can start by removing all
traces of fear and surpass that inevitable situation wherein we are confronted
with our fears and can never run away from them. We are responsible for all our
actions and we can choose to go in one direction or another. We can wallow up
in fear and eventually harden our hearts in order to cope with it. Or, boost our faith in God in the midst of
trials, persecutions and terrifying circumstances that come our way and
consequently instead of hardening our hearts we strengthen it knowing that we
have a dependable God whom we can count on. And again I say, the choice is ours to make. It is time that
we widen or broaden our sight so that we will not end up with a tunnel vision
faith wherein we only see the central vision but not the peripheral vision. I
know of a senior citizen lady who has this kind of medical condition and she
said it's very difficult because she can't entirely see what is before her, she
has to always have someone with her whenever she goes out. The same is true
with our faith let us not be afraid due to our narrow visions and not fully
visualize and understand the actual and real scene that God has truly prepared
for us. Amen. Hallelujah!
Mark 6:45-52
...Jesus made his disciples
get into the boat and precede him to the other side...Then he saw that they
were tossed about while rowing, for the wind was against them. About the fourth
watch of the night, he came toward them walking on the sea. He meant to pass by
them. But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost
and cried out. They had all seen him and were terrified. But at once he
spoke with them, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” He got into the
boat with them and the wind died down. They were completely astounded...
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