BODY & SOUL

Given the several times Jesus has manifested His divinity to the disciples and after witnessing His power through all the signs, wonders and miracles He did right before their very eyes they should have understood well enough. But the case is not so and this happens when hearts have hardened and have eyes and not see, ears and not hear as in Mark 8:17-18. We can not deny the fact that we too, are like that when we fail to see, hear and understand in the way God wanted us to. Today's 1^st reading speaks of the yeast. It is written in Mark 8:15, "Be on your guard for the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod." Also in Gal 5:8-10 it is said, "That enticement does not come from the one who called you. A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough. I am confident of you in the Lord that you will not take a different view, and that the one who is troubling you will bear the condemnation, whoever he may be." The baker breaks up a solid block of yeast and spreads it over the dough, and just a small crumb of yeast causes the bread to rise. The secular culture constantly sprinkles its yeast into our lives. It is very sad and frightening but it has taken on a very consistent pattern in the lives of men and women of this world. At first, the reaction is initial shock but later on move to neutrality then to a life of sin. We have seen so many devout Catholics who started out good but then eventually stopped going to mass for fear of being judged as a Christian prude. We all know where these things are headed and sadly enough this leads to a lack of faith. One small thing leads to another until we come to a point where we start living a life of unfaithfulness to the commands of God. God has made all things possible for us in His goodness by allowing things to be within our mind's reach if only we would turn away from our stubborn and mindless ways. We can always choose to open our minds, hearts and senses to God's inspiration and promptings because this is definitely within our reach and capacity and God in his goodness will definitely not refuse to fill us to the brim and overflowing. We may have heard people say whenever they see someone suffering physically that it's better for them to suffer now while here on earth than after they die. For us, Catholics we believe in purgatory, a state or a place that purges us of our sins before we come face to face with our Lord. It is better than hell where there is no hope of being with God anymore.  Paul in today’s 1^st reading meant almost the same thing. We love the sinner but hate the sin. When Jesus died for us on the cross to redeem us from our sins, we have all been saved but if we continue to sin then it’s like delivering ourselves willingly to Satan who is the destroyer. While still here on earth and bound to our flesh we are still capable of atoning for our sins. On our final day here on earth that is when we are separated from our human bodies and left with just our souls. Whatever pain and suffering we are going through can be used to the advantage, if not of our bodies then of our souls. This is possible if we make a conscious effort of uniting it with Jesus’ suffering in Calvary in remembrance of Him. Celebrating Eucharistic liturgy is a requirement. Every time we are attending Holy Mass we remember the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, our Savior. He took away our sin so that we may share in the life of God for eternity. Amen. Hallelujah!

1 Corinthians 5:1-8

...deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. Your boasting is not appropriate. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough? Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

We look to God in all the things that come our way and offer it in prayers. We should not take matters into our hands but rather entrust it to God who leads us in His justice. We should always be vigilant and be aware of how we conduct ourselves before God. Get rid of hindrances and disturbances that get in the way for us to receive all signals coming from the Lord, so that we can get His message loud and clear. Let us always work toward the goal of becoming a pleasing sacrifice before God because He is faithful so we should be faithful and remain steadfast too. When things do not go the way we wanted and expected it, we must never lose hope and continue to focus on the truth of God's goodness and mercy. No matter how dark and menacing the clouds in the sky may seem it doesn't change the fact that behind it the sun continues to shine and never dim for a moment. If we call on to the Lord in our distress He will surely hear and answer us. This we should know and believe for sure because God can not be any other but goodness, mercy and compassion. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 5:5-6, 7, 12

R: Lead me in your justice, Lord.

4 [5] For you, O God, delight not in wickedness; no evil man remains with you; 5 [6] the arrogant may not stand in your sight. You hate all evildoers. (R) 6 [7] You destroy all who speak falsehood; the bloodthirsty and the deceitful the LORD abhors. (R) 11 [12] But let all who take refuge in you be glad and exult forever. Protect them, that you may be the joy of those who love your name.

Sometimes we are focused and obsessed about one thing that we completely forget what it’s all about and meant for. We always have to be grounded on the principle of love and mercy. Today’s gospel is once again about the Sabbath and Jesus is reminding us not  to be carried away or motivated by  the letter of the law but rather by the spirit of the law. Jesus made a clear statement regarding good and evil knowing that there will be times in our life when we might encounter similar situations with difficult people like the scribes and Pharisees in our Christian walk of faith. And in times like these do we need to be even bolder in standing up for what is right and the truth. On the other hand, when some things are not yet very clear to us we tend to act in a manner that we complicate things when we choose to decide on the thing which is most fitted to our own personal agenda. The key is to be consistent in our stand as faithful followers of Jesus Christ by knowing God better in each passing day. We need to acknowledge that God is God in our life in the way that He wants us not in the way that we dictate God to be. Amen. Hallelujah!

Luke 6:6-11

 ... Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” 10 Looking around at them all, he then said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so and his hand was restored. 11 But they became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.