Amos 7:10-17
12 Amaziah, priest of Bethel,
said to Amos: “Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah!
There earn your bread by prophesying, 13 but never again prophesy in Bethel; for it is the
king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.” 14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no
prophet, nor have I belonged to a company of prophets; I was a shepherd and a
dresser of sycamores. 15 The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to
me: Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”
It always pays to be watchful and alert at all times.
Although we sometimes fail to measure up due to our own shortcomings or could
be the doing of another, God assures us in today's psalm that if we fall into
the trap of the enemy we can always repent with a deep remorse for our sins and
resolve to make the precepts of the Lord the joy of our hearts. In doing so, we
find ourselves naturally restrained from sin and maintain our innocence. It is
so hard to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord if we do not know exactly
how to go about with it. It's just like when we have to comply to certain
requirements in school and follow the standard set by it. We need to have a
pattern or outline from which we can base our work. Just as it is so in other
things, the more we are all in need of God's precepts. The absolute bedrock of
spiritual life is to follow the 10 commandments. We are sometimes misled into
thinking that when we have a type of prayer then we think that we already have a
spiritual life. We’ve got to have the humility to admit that God is smarter
than we are and we need to follow and obey what we are told in the 10
commandments. We should be totally and absolutely convinced that He knows best.
Satan uses half truths and half lies in his devilish tricks. Satan’s claims
seem to come true in one level. Take the example of our 1st parents
after eating of the forbidden fruit their eyes were opened and did become in
one sense like God. The fallen angels made their free choice by radically and
irrevocably rejecting God so in turn they seduce and mislead Adam & Eve. It
was through sin that humanity was afflicted by death. Because of one man’s
disobedience many were made sinners. When tempted in the Garden, Adam failed to
remain faithful to God and His commands. Jesus, the New Adam, is God’s servant
totally obedient to the Divine will. Jesus is the devil’s conqueror and takes
back the plunder. What the devil has stolen from us, Jesus has recovered for
us. Pope Benedict XVI commented about what the Lord experienced in the desert
and said that at the heart of all temptations is the act of pushing God aside
because we conceive Him as secondary. It is an act of constructing our world
with our own lights and building our own foundation and setting God aside as an
allusion. Temptations come in many varied forms but one thing is sure, it does
not invite us to directly do evil because it is too blatant and would outright
turn us off. It is very subtle and yet an act of pushing God’s commands aside
and placing the devil’s temptation as primary. If we want to remain victorious
throughout life, we have to keep Him in the center of our life and hold on to
His words which are Spirit and life. God’s ever present help can be found in
the scriptures. It's just like a soldier going to battle wearing the armor of
God. It never fails and always there to defend and protect from the snares of
the evil one. So always take up our sword which is the word of God. God's
perfect word can refresh the soul. Have you ever wondered really how it feels
to be refreshed? Whenever we take a shower or a warm bath and put on clothes
that are well fitted and comfortable it refreshes our body. It could also be
whenever we go to a place where we can unwind, relax, be away from the
tensions, stresses, noise and turmoil of the fast paced lives that we lead and
just appreciate the beauty of nature that surrounds us and the peace and quiet
it offers to our tired bodies in order to be more in touch with God's voice in
us. It is so refreshing it gives our minds and hearts a better view and
perspective of how to live our lives. The same thing with our souls, we should
always keep it clean, healthy and clothed with maximum security, protection but
comfortable enough we don't even know it's there. Like it has become fused in
us, there's nothing more right than following and obeying the law of God.
Today's psalm reading guides us on how we should go about with our lives by
always keeping in mind God's laws. None of us is perfect but through our
imperfections we can always run to God for help and guidance. He will never
refuse nor forsake us for He can only love and care for us. There are people
who have alienated themselves from God and we can’t just force them to go back.
God does not do that, it’s not how the Lord works, instead we pray and pray for
them. If we wait long enough and adhere to God’s precepts then we will finally
obtain joy in our hearts. As water prevails over the rock throughout the course
of time so does the Holy Spirit that is continuously flooding or washing over
the man’s heart. The Holy Spirit moves
in and continues to work upon us and tenderizes us. The song entitled,
"Your Words Are Spirit and Life" by Bernadette Farrell was impressed
to me. It is a beautiful song that I have always loved to sing and I just
realized that the words of this song are taken from this psalm which made me
start singing it. Well, we just have to fully discover what the words of God
can make us do. When things get out of hand we have no one to blame but
ourselves for God is surely not lacking in everything that He has given us for
our own welfare. We've got everything we need because there's nothing more that
God could and should do for us that He has not done. All we have to do is
completely trust and obey the judgments of the Lord. GOD'S LAW MAKES US LIVE A
VIRTUOUS LIFE (CCC 1803 "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever
is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there
is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these
things.") May we truly recognize the genuine and precious treasures that
we should all strive to achieve and work for which is none other than these
things spoken of in today's psalm. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalms 19,8.9.10.11.
R. The judgments of the
Lord are true, and all of them are just.
7 [8] The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul;
the decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. (R) 8 [9]
The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the command of the
LORD is clear, enlightening the eye. (R) 9 [10] The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever; the ordinances of the LORD are true, all of them just. (R) 10
[11] They are more precious than gold, than a heap of purest gold; sweeter also
than syrup or honey from the comb.
The gospel for today urges us once again to look beyond not
only what the situation suggests but beyond the words being said to us by
Jesus. The scribes were not only very shortsighted and but also short of hearing in the sense that
they chose to entertain evil thoughts rather than on the most essential and
most important things which are the only ones that could bring healing and
fulfillment in our lives. Sometimes we fail to understand and see what the
situation or words being said to us really meant. We should always think that
God who is Holy and All Good can never be capable of willing something bad to
happen to us. Although it is a truth that almost all Christian believers would
agree to, it is not always the case when it comes to the kind of life we live.
Sometimes our own lives do not reflect the faith that we profess. Just like the
scribes in today's gospel who are supposed to be the learned and well versed
when it comes to the word of God but failed to live it in their lives. We are
also guilty of this despite our frequent attendance to prayer meetings, bible,
Catholicism studies and having experienced and witnessed the wonders and
miracles God has done in our life, still there is a moment when we succumb to
despair and doubt. May we always focus on the goodness of God and disregard the
evil tendencies and inclinations that we often harbor in ourselves. The problem
is that there is a great propaganda out there. It makes sin appear with all its
fun, excitement and glamour. It makes virtue appear boring, lame, bland and
unexciting. But the truth of the matter is, it’s not. The pleasures that God
created in this world are enjoyed the most by those who don’t abuse them and
use it simply. Who do we think enjoys food most? The person who doesn’t know
how to fast and engorges all the time or a person after a fast experiences a
feast? The virtuous person enjoys life the most. The person who uses creation
and all things according to God’s plan enjoys it the most. It is because
pleasure is God’s idea. All the good things in the world that people want are
God’s idea. Satan can’t invent even one bit of pleasure. But God commands them to be used so that it
leads to life and a part of life is joy. The way to enjoy life is to follow
God’s commands. Life is not all about rules and regulations. God did not just
give us a bunch of rules and regulations that we are supposed to obey like
machines. What we do does not just proceed from who we are but also makes us
who we are. The actions we engage, the
words that we say and the things that we do have an impact on us. We are making
ourselves all the time. God created us when we came out of the womb, our
mothers and father have a great role in that but our creation continues every
single day of our lives. We’re even becoming someone more beautiful, mature and
stronger or someone weaker and more despicable. There’s no middle ground. We’re
going one way or another. Life leads either to heaven or to hell. That’s what
the acts that we commit do. Virtuous acts build in us strength. The word virtue
comes from the word manly which is strength and power. Virtue is a habit that
makes it easy and pleasurable to do the right thing. Golden virtue isn’t always
easy. It is hard. But what is vice, it is a habit that makes it easy to do the
wrong and evil thing. Let’s take exercise as an example. People make it their
New Year’s resolution and people who go to the gym noticed that it’s packed on
January but they’re gone by the 3rd week. If we’ve ever engaged in an exercise
program for the first time, we know that we feel bad, tired, exhausted and wake
up sore. This is because we do not have the habit of exercise. We have not
trained and our bodies are not used to it. It hurts and it’s hard the first
time we work out. If we persevere past the first few weeks and developed a habit
of regular exercise then we end up getting used to it and become easy that when
we don’t exercise we feel bad. What happens is that we build up the power or
the virtue. We’ve conditioned ourselves so that it becomes second nature to us.
If we want a progressive course we need to do something hard. No pain no gain.
The next time we work out we add up a little bit more since we are stronger. We
can move forward and grow in our ability to lift weights. This is the deal. The
actions we do have an impact of what we are. It’s like when we start lifting
weights we start to change and look different. We look like someone who has
strength, power and endurance. This is the point, God is about building
champions. The goal of the Christian life is to build champions. Well, not
necessarily athletic champions but spiritually. A real champion in every aspect
of life. God wants us to be strong, loving, wise and to have the power to live.
It’s not so much what we do that counts but it’s who we become. That’s what the
commandments, teachings and God is all about.
Heaven is the realization of being a champion. In heaven we
will be glorified magnificently. We will live forever with strength, power and
beauty sharing a new humanity with Jesus. What about hell? Let’s look what vice
is about. A habit that instead of building up, deteriorates us. It starts small
just like exercise. There was a guy named Ted Bundy, who was executed in the
State of Florida
for horrible sexual crimes, murder and all sorts of perversion. He was sorry for
what he did. He didn’t ask for mercy but he warned people before he died. He
was interviewed and narrated how did this road begin. It began with looking at
pornographic books which incited in him the wrong kind of attitude towards other human beings and the opposite
sex. It became in his mind, instruments and play things. One thing led to
another and just gradually led him to murder, rape and all sorts of horrible
things. That’s the way it is with every sin. Sins that we commit are traps and
tricks that will lead us to habits and patterns of behavior that will change
us. When we tell the first lie we may not be a liar yet but it makes a lot more
prone to lie again. We start with kids maybe stealing a pack of candies from
the store. If we don’t stop that, the next time it will be bigger. Maybe for
teens it may be something like breaking in to a house and steal things. It just
keeps on going and it becomes easier and easier to do more horrible things.
Then we become a thief, an unjust person with just one little act. There’s a
little thing that illustrates all these. Sow a thought, reap an act, sow an
act, reap a habit, sow a habit, reap a lifestyle, sow a lifestyle, reap a
destiny. It all begins with a decision or thought, an act and then it becomes a
pattern. It has dared us to become who we are. There are 7 habits that have
been identified for the last 2000 years that will lead us to success,
excellence in every aspect of human life and holiness. The most important of
human life is our relationship with God. But every other aspect like our
relationship with other people, family, the way we are in the work place and
all these things are governed by these 7 habits, patterns or qualities. These
habits we can find in scriptures and see it in the life of saints. Even before
God begin to reveal Himself to His people in Israel, human nature is smart and
wise enough to see some things on its own. We, Catholics believe that God gave
human beings reason although it sometimes gets darkened by sin but still human
reason can figure out some things. One of the things that human beings figure
out without God having to reveal it, is that human beings need to meet 4
qualities to be deemed a human being. The philosopher, before even Plato,
Aristotle and Socrates, had this figured out. We find it mentioned in Wisdom
8:7, the 4 virtues or qualities are also called the hinge virtues because it is
where all the other virtues or qualities of good people would hinge. The word
cardinal means hinge. The Cardinals who surround the Pope are the doorway to
the Pope. They are also the ones whom he rely the most for advice. Everything
else depends on the cardinal virtues. (Prudence or wisdom, justice, temperance
and courage or fortitude) Prudence is the ability to make right decisions in complex
situations. Decisions that lead to the best and right thing. Without this we
can be in big trouble. We’ve got to be able to decide in a situation that we’re
in what the right thing to do which is the best thing to do. How do we get
something done? There are some folks who probably just can’t figure out what to
do. There are other folks who look at the problem and they can figure out a
solution. It’s a core and they execute that core. It’s practical wisdom. We’ll
find in the Book of Proverbs a lot of things about wisdom even in Sirach,
Ecclesiastes and all the wisdom literature in scriptures. We can also find all
the other 3 cardinal virtues, like justice which means giving each person his
or her due. We all know even as kids instinctively how important justice is.
The first thing that a kid cries out as soon as he learns how to talk if he has
brothers and sisters is “Not fair, he got more than I did” or “You ask me to do
more than what that person is doing.” This is because we have instinctively or
natively offensive justice. Each person has rights and ought to get their due.
There’s also another part of justice that we forget, that is, we have
obligations and duties to everyone. A person who is unjust is not a good
person. To be just, we need to control our passions. Temperance is a virtue
that balances and controls our passions. It is like controlling our desire for that last piece of cake if we
know that it belongs to our sister. In order to be just, we’ve got to control
our appetites. Make our appetites come into line with justice, truth and
goodness. We’ve got to have that balance in our life in order to be a good and
effective person. Temperance makes this happen. We also have to be courageous.
If we are not courageous then every time a difficulty arises we’re going to
shrink back. If there’s any danger involved in doing the right, just and wise
thing then we’re just going to crack out and find an excuse because we’re
afraid. Courage or fortitude helps us to master fear and not let fear keep us
from doing what’s right. We’ve got have all these things but here’s the
problem. When Adam & Eve decided to sin they let loose a weakness into our
race and nature that impacts all of us. We call it original sin. Sin is not so
original, we just copy what other people have done. There’s nothing creative
about sin. Adam & Eve’s sin was the only original sin. What they did has an
impact on us. By weakening their own nature, sin weakened man’s nature. They
passed on to us a weakened nature. They separated themselves and the whole
human race from friendship with God and were born into that. There’s a tendency
in our nature to go on a downward drift, a drift off course and a tendency to a
great degree is dealt with through grace. How do we get grace? Through the
death and resurrection of Jesus, God has made possible for us, healing of our
humanity. He gives us other gifts, faith, hope and charity that make it
possible for us to really have wisdom, justice, temperance and courage. Without
faith, hope and charity in this life, no one can really become truly wise.
All throughout human history we see people who exercise
these gifts. They may not be Christians, deeply spiritual people, or in a state
of grace and can exercise some of these potentials here and there. But
ultimately original sin means we are going to sin seriously and mess up. We
need God’s grace for those 4 great virtues to be perfected. Faith, hope and
charity are supernatural. These are things that human beings would never know
that they need or could have without God giving them supernaturally that’s why
they are called the theological virtues. We only know about them through divine
revelation and we couldn’t know about them by reason. We can only have them
through God’s grace. The theological virtues, faith, hope and charity are the
crown of the first 4 cardinal virtues that transform and make them possible.
God doesn’t want us just to be whole human beings and restore us to what Adam
& Eve were when they blew it in the Garden. God wants us to be more than that.
He wants to elevate our human nature and divinize it. He wants us to share in
His own Divine nature. Charity is all about loving with God’s love. Loving as
the 3 persons of the Holy Trinity love each other and sharing in that goes way
beyond human nature. This is an incredible thing and call. It was only possible
because God became man and we can share in his virtue. This is what the real
Catholic life is all about. It’s not just about making it or going to heaven by
the skin of your teeth after struggling. It’s about growing in holiness and
becoming like Jesus all throughout our life, a champion not without struggles.
As a matter of fact without the struggles we can never become a champion. But
with victory and excellence not with hopelessness, despair and frustration.
This is God’s desire for us which is a fantastic calling. The power to do this
is given to us. It is by knowing the virtues and the habits of a champion.
Amen. Hallelujah!
Matthew 9:1-8
...When Jesus saw their faith, he
said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.” 3 At that,
some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 Jesus knew
what they were thinking, and said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? ...
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