Acts 3:1-10
... But Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said,
“Look at us.” 5 He paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from
them. 6 Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give
you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk.” 7 Then Peter
took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and
ankles grew strong. 8 He leaped up, stood, and walked around, and went into the
temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God...
There is a lot to learn from the life of Abraham especially
the part when he kept on with his faith in God. He was already of age when God
promised him to be the father of all nations. All we need to keep in mind is
that our time will come and all we have to do is just continue to trust God in
His goodness and mercy and never let go of our faith. Just imagine what Abraham
had to go through. If it were us and not Abraham who had fallen into this kind
of fate we could have responded and reacted to this situation differently. Are
these words familiar to us? I do not deserve to be treated this way. I did not
do anything bad for God to punish me like this, as if God is a tyrant that is
ready to strike us with every wrong move. Why me and not the others who are a
lot more sinful than I am. And all these kind of things that we say without
much thought. If we are to look at the life of Abraham very closely we would
discover that he never let go of his faith in God despite the seemingly
irrational and hopeless situation he went through. Imagine in his old age when
his wife Sarah finally bore him a son God asked him to offer him as a sacrifice
which meant losing his son. He remained firm in his faith and continued to
trust in the word of the Lord. Abraham was tested and found to be true. In our
own lives, we too are called to prove ourselves worthy before the Lord in order
for all of the blessings to flow freely without any block or hindrance. We
don't expect a mango fruit if we planted a banana tree. It is pretty much the
same with our lives. If we strive to live up to the expectations of a child of
the Lord by giving Him honor and praise then we will surely be not disappointed
with the outcome. For God inhabits the praises of His people. Although we have
a tendency to forget or become out of focus since we are surrounded in this
world we are in by elements most especially the physical ones that make us more
inclined to pursue worldly things. We become sidetracked or worse completely
off track of the path where God is leading us. Let us live every single day of
our life conscious of the wonderful truth that we are God's people and He has
made a covenant with us. Almost everybody knows this famous Christian song from
kindergarten, “Father Abraham has many children, some of them are small, some
of them are tall, all of them are beautiful...” We remain beautiful as long as
we keep God's covenant and remain obedient and faithful to God. He is the
reason for everything and the source of all good things. Sometimes morbid
thoughts enter into our mind and immediately we'd think that it is always the
devil who does it but whether it is true or not this thought could be a wake up
call and reminder that in worst case scenarios or life and death situations
there is always a God ready to help us at any time. All we have to do is call
on Him. It is indeed good advice to always look intently on God and find all
the joys waiting for us. There is really no doubt that we need to further explore,
know and understand our faith. In doing so we have to constantly look to the
Lord, seek Him and recall His goodness. Jesus' name is undeniably powerful and
beyond measure. Its worth is more than all the riches we can gain in this
world. There is really nothing we can find even if we search far and wide, high
and low, more than what the Lord can offer. We could go on and on with so many
options we are confronted with daily in our lives. There is an endless list of
"To Do Things" but what comes first and last is always dependent on
our priorities. In deciding on our priorities we have to always involve God in
all the things happening around us. We would
be so glad to discover that as we place Him in the center of our heart,
body and soul He never fails in guiding and directing us. There is indeed great
power in the name of Jesus. There is a need to go through the different
seasons throughout the year for there is indeed a time and a season for
everything. Thus, we all go through different situations and circumstances in
life. Some of them do not make any sense if we fail to acknowledge the power of
God moving in it. There are numerous things that we can think, focus and decide
on but there’s only one thing I am sure of. We’ve got to acknowledge that
despite of it all God’s power remains to be above all things no matter what it
may seem to be. We should always keep in mind all the wonderful things He has
done for us. The Lord will never forsake nor abandon us. In the midst of all
the turmoil we inevitably face in our daily lives may we remain hopeful in the
Lord who is Almighty, provides for all means and prevails now and forever.
Whenever we experience difficulties in life we tend to question God right away
and somehow blame Him for what came upon us. Sometimes we come to a point in
our lives when we tend to question the will of God in our lives. I have plans
and you have plans but sometimes things do not fall into place and ask why
things happened the way it did and not the way we planned and expected. We just
need to always remember the marvels the Lord has done and always hold on to it.
If we live by the word of God which is perfect and remains forever then nothing
could go wrong. Our hearts will abound with joy and gladness as we further
explore, know and understand about our faith. In doing so we have to constantly
look to the Lord, seek Him, recall His goodness, keep our spirits up and make
our hearts rejoice like what today's psalm is telling us about. We may have
experienced a situation in our life when we encountered a lot of trials and
difficulties. Just when we're about to give up and lose hope, suddenly we came
across a particular incident or inspiration that perfectly fits or matches our
specific problem which gave us this hope and feeling that God knows exactly
what we're going through and promises to see us through it. The Lord is telling
us is in today's psalm and assures us that He remembers what He has promised
and will surely bring about what He said to us that He would do. If God
remembers, so must we. Every single day we are confronted with so many
challenges in life and we have to be always hopeful that the fulfillment of
everything that we have been praying for has come this Easter season. We should
believe that whatever delays or setbacks we are encountering serve as lessons
to be learned that benefit our spiritual journey with Jesus. There is a need to
go through the different seasons throughout the year before the dawning of a
new beginning during this Spring season. There is indeed a time and a season
for everything. It has the same message this Easter which is hope and victory
for after the passion and death of Christ is His resurrection. Amen.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9
R: Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.
...Look to the LORD in his strength; seek to serve him
constantly...Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name; make known among the
peoples his deeds!
Sing praise, play music; proclaim all his wondrous deeds!
Glory in his holy name; rejoice, O hearts that seek the
LORD!...
The mere mention of Jesus' name can bring healing and blessings.
Just think of what He can bring to us if He is with us. Let us urge Jesus to
stay with us for He is a God who doesn't impose but would rather wait for us to
invite Him. But we only invite people whom we recognize and are close to us.
Today's gospel is related to the 1st and psalm reading because it speaks of the
sense of sight which is to look and see. It speaks of a particular incident
wherein their eyes were opened and recognized Jesus. This is impossible if our
eyesight is impaired or blocked. There are so many things to take into
consideration why we sometimes fail to recognize people. It could be a lot of
different things that we ourselves have encountered and experienced. In
yesterday’s gospel, Mary of Magdala did not recognize Jesus right away. More
than anybody, we ourselves are in the position to recognize and identify these
things that prevent us from recognizing Jesus taking part in our lives. Jesus
reminded us to always dwell on the mysteries of His Life, Death &
Resurrection as stated in the scriptures. If you are Catholic then the rosary
is a big help also the Divine Mercy Chaplet whose feast we will be celebrating
this coming Sunday. We have to avail of the sacraments as much as we can, most
especially of the Holy Mass. There are so many ways, given our own specific
condition and situation in life in which we can always see God present in our
lives. Let us not wait for the time to come when we can no longer see no matter
how much we look because God has turned into someone beyond recognition. Let us
always look intently at God to prevent Him from totally fading in our life. We
really got to go back to the basics of the Catholic Church. In today's gospel
we are reminded that there is so much dialogue and debate going on around us
today we sometimes fail to recognize God in our midst. There is really a need
to read scriptures, understand it well and experience it daily in our lives so
as not to forget. God's ultimate call as shown in the gospel is to avail of the
sacraments most especially of the Eucharist. God is always present and visible
during the breaking of bread, the consecration part of the Eucharistic
celebration. As we can see that it was when Jesus took bread and break it that
their eyes were opened. This is Jesus'
will that we always do in memory of Him. Amen. Hallelujah!
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke
24,13-35.
...And it happened that while they were conversing and
debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, 16 but their eyes were
prevented from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, “What are you discussing as
you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas,
said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem Israel Jerusalem
were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has
appeared to Simon!” 35 Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
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