We've got to grow in our faith in God. Just as we were born infants when we came to this world but eventually grew into adults so must our spiritual body. We can not remain as baby Christians. We must develop into the full stature of Christ. Just think of a young child left all alone to take care of himself. It is not possible. There should be at least someone who could look after his needs, whereas a grown up man can live independently. We can not remain like the babies who would always be in need of someone all the time. We've got to achieve the full potential of who we are, a child of God who has fully grown up. Amen. Hallelujah!
Ephesians 4:7-16
...And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ. 14 so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming.
Today's psalm reminds me of this popular game called, "Trip to Jerusalem " I guess, everybody's familiar with it. We may all have played this game when we were young or even when we're older. The fastest, quickest, most alert person who gets the last seat wins. If we are not paying attention or are too slow then we are bound to lose. We have to put up a good fight in this game in order to win because the chairs are always lacking so every round there is always one person who doesn't get a seat and gets eliminated. It is just a game but people have a lot of fun doing their best so as not to be eliminated and win. People who engage themselves in this kind of game and want to win exert a lot of effort. It is so tiring and can exhaust one's energy in the game. And to think that after all our efforts only one person gets to win. Isn't it a relief that we can go rejoicing to the house of the Lord. We need not worry that all our best efforts would just be wasted because God has reserved a seat for each one of us. If we are all set and very sure where we are headed then nothing can stop us from being there. Considering, too that we have a God who has secured a place and our future for us. John 14:1-3, " Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be." Nothing or no one can prevent us unless we ourselves decide not to go. The truth is, it's all up to us. We are confronted with a lot of things every day and if there is one thing we should choose and decide for then peace is one of them. It is important that we work and pray for peace to always reign in our midst. If we have peace that passes understanding always safeguarded in our hearts then we can rejoice in the Lord at all times. We should always be confident of the truth that we are blessed and secure in the knowledge and truth that we are where we are right now, doing what we are doing right now at the exact time God has provided for us, for with God there is always a perfect time for everything. When we are feeling tired from all the day's work all we want to do is just go home. Nothing could be more rewarding than coming home to a place where we find rest and peace. Our life here on earth could be compared to something like this. It is nice to know that at the end of the day or our life's journey we can go rejoicing to the house of the Lord and find ourselves welcome there. Ideally, there should be no other place we want to be, more than a place where there is peace and prosperity. It is a choice we have to make but sometimes we make the wrong choices and choose to be just anywhere but in a place such as this. We have all the time to be in different places that is fun and exciting. There is nothing wrong with being in these places for as long as we know our limitations but do we get the same joy and fulfillment when we go into the house of God. We should be balanced human beings. We should not just seek to satisfy our physical but spiritual needs as well. Let us tap our dormant souls that are left unattended for so long and revive it to really feel what the psalm tells us today. As much as we are confronted by the fact that we are still inhabitants of this imperfect world we are in we can not live as if it does not exist. We might as well make the most of what we can do while we are part of it. We’ve got to set goals in order to achieve this and keep our eyes focused on it. It helps to go through our daily life if we have set goals that we want to achieve and fulfill. The SMART acronym tells us that our goals should be S for specific, M for measurable, A for attainable or achievable, R for realistic or relevant and T for timely or time based. This is very effective in helping us improve as a person especially at times when we can't get our acts together. We can always set SMART goals from time to time in order to keep track of our performance in whatever field we want to work on and excel. It helps a lot in assessing ourselves in order for us to make an evaluation on how we our doing with our life. After each SMART goal we set for ourselves and have achieved it gives us a sense of fulfillment knowing that we have accomplished something. Little by little everyday we step up the ladder of our SMART goals. All of these should eventually come up to rejoicing with what we have made of our life. These we continue to do until it all sum up to bring us to that ultimate SMART goal. It should all lead us and point to our final destination when we go up to the house of the Lord. There is no greater joy than being with the Lord. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5
R: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
1 I rejoiced because they said to me, “We will go up to the house of the LORD.” 2 And now we have set foot within your gates, O Jerusalem. (R) 3 Jerusalem , built as a city with compact unity. 4 To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD. (R) According to the decree for Israel , to give thanks to the name of the LORD. 5 In it are set up judgment seats, seats for the house of David.
Today's parable in the gospel inspires and warns us once again as that of the rest of the readings for today. This also reminds me of the several trees I had the enjoyment of picking fruits from. I could still remember when Sis Zeny's sister in Baldwin invited us over to harvest the tangerines in their home. It was like an endless harvesting because of the numerous fruits hanging from it. The same with Jackie's tangerine and lemon trees in Placentia which my aunt and relatives and a lot of people from West Covina look forward to having a share of, whenever I bring it home and is extended to Bernadeth's place of work in Rancho Cucamonga. Also with Sis Angela's persimmon in her previous place of work and Sis Fe's guava and lemon trees in Walnut, whom the people from San Lorenzo Bible Study gets to enjoy. Not to forget Sis Loreta's fig tree also in Walnut whose fruits sometimes end up falling to the ground before it gets picked since there are so many. It was like we were picking a lot of the fruits this moment and the next few days it would be sprouting with more fruits. Sis Loreta even calls her fig tree the tree of Jesus. This is why this experience with these richly productive trees always made me think of today's parable. I used to say that these trees would never end up being cut. This should also make us realize that our life should also be like these trees whose fruits have gone a long way in benefiting not just the people around and close to us but extends even to those who are not close to us and believe it or not people whom we don't even know. Jesus challenges us today to bear fruit so as to become a beautiful sight and example for others to see and follow. This should drive us to bear fruits that can be shared and enjoyed by not just the people who are near to us but by everybody. Speaking of the fig tree in today’s parable we should realize that it could be cut down after a certain period if it does not bear fruit. It is the same with our covenant with God if we read today's gospel. It reminds us that just like any other agreement there is a specified period which only lasts until we are still alive once we die, the contract is considered fully paid by Jesus but there are some conditions that apply. Let us examine our part of the deal and make sure that we don't end up like this fig tree in the parable it might finally be cut down unless we take action, allow ourselves to be cultivated, respond positively and bear fruit. The figure of speech used in the passages sounds scary. They were meant to give emphasis on the need to bear fruit as heirs of the kingdom of God
Luke 13:1-9
...And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, 7 he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. [So] cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ 8 He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; 9 it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’ ”
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