THE PARTY

When we make decisions we should be ready for its pros and cons. Even though things sometimes lean on the cons as it may always seem, we should not lose our confidence. This is based on the assurance that God has our best interest in mind. If we know that everything we did before and after such decisions have been consulted to God in prayer and asked for consent then we should remain steadfast. Whatever may be the outcome, we must freely and firmly stand by all our decisions based on our faith in God that He will always work for the good.  This reminds me of the time when my son asked me to help him ask permission from his father to attend 2 parties in a row, which is 2 consecutive days. Knowing his father, I did the best that I could so that I could obtain his approval. In fact my friend Bernadeth and I even agreed in prayer during our Divine Mercy and Rosary hour to lift this particular intention. I guessed that I was just 50% successful as far as obtaining permission is concerned because he was not allowed to go to both parties but just one. Once again I would like to take this opportunity to honor my son for his obedience and cool in the face of these circumstances because he did not insist in what he wanted but calmly accepted his father's decision. This was considering the fact that he tried to comply with the standing rule when it comes to partying to ask ahead of time which he did. Nowadays, most young people are no longer amenable to this kind of set up especially if they are 18 years old and older. They no longer consider asking for their parents' consent when it comes to this kind of thing. Some would even think of sneaking out and deal with it later or never. I am glad that my son still does and maintains the honor and respect due to us as his parents. This event became more significant for me as I come across this passage from the 1st reading today. I'm sure this time that every prayer is not just 50% success rate but 100%. Amen. Hallelujah!

Philemon 7-20

...14 but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary. 15 Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while,...

Not once did the word of God ever failed. My mother used to say that God loves the fatherless and the widow in a very special way as if nothing else matters. I grew up as a child constantly hearing her say this and believing it myself as I was growing up and knowing more about the Lord. She has greatly influenced my faith in God. I should say that wherever she may be right now, which I feel, think and believe is in the company of God with all His angels and saints in heaven, her memory will live on forever in my heart and the hearts of the people whose lives she touched. According to St. Therese, the poorer you are the more Jesus will love you. The world's point of view is very contradictory to the beatitudes. The world chooses strength over weakness and poverty. What seems to be foolish for the world and folly to man is wisdom to God. Jesus is attracted to our poverty and weakness because it is where we meet Jesus. Unlike the world who is attracted to strength and hires the smartest and world’s greatest. We have all kinds of difficulties and struggles. These are what drive us to Christ to cling to Him. Instead of always trying to complain and talk about it what we do is keep our eyes on the Lord. Sometimes He places something before us that He wants us to do. The challenge for us is to turn to Him in our weakness and cling to Him in prayer, faith, hope, love and abandon ourselves to Him. Let us trust God's mastery and expertise to mold and make of us a masterpiece, a genuine work of His hands. Today’s psalm reading mentioned the word captives which reminded me of priest’s talk on “New Kind of War” several years ago. There are always captives in war and he mentioned that we, Christians must be aware of the war that our adversary, the devil is waging on us. We have a very committed and determined adversary. Looking at the present moral condition of people here in the US he said that he is not surprised at all at how things are turning out in the present moment since the moral demise of a country precedes the ultimate demise. Whatever may be happening around us and could be getting worse with each passing day, we can be assured that God will help His friends but not His enemies. We need to know on which side we are. It is indeed a difficult battle we are facing in our lives but we must remember that human beings do not do well when all is well. We are strengthened by the trials just like steel that is subjected to heat in order to temper it. Greatness is forced on a lot of people just like what happened to those people after the incident in the Sept. 11 tragedy. It is pushed in the crucible of tribulation but despite of it we can be assured of the promises stated in today psalm. We should continue to rely on our one true source of help for only Him can satisfy our soul. God's help is all the help we need, nothing more and nothing less. We ought to realize by now what the wisest thing to do is not based in the standard of the world but of the Lord our God. Our confidence and trust must rest on the Lord alone who makes all good things possible. If we will always fill our hearts with gratitude and praise for the Lord then we will realize how things in our life turned out for good which seem to be not the case at the time it was happening for our God is faithful and everything that is said in today's psalm. Our hope should only be in the Lord for He alone keeps faith, secures justice, gives good, sets captives free, gives sight to the blind and raises up the lowly. It is a consolation to know and be reminded of it so as to always keep in mind that we have a God who is everything that we ever need, want and long for.

If God is able to do all things then there is really nothing to fear. We can always count on God to make things turn out for the best. Let us not be dismayed or discouraged by our circumstances for He will surely fulfill what He has promised. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 146:7, 8-9a, 9bc-10

R: Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.

The Lord secures justice for the oppressed, gives good to the hungry. The LORD sets captives free. (R) 8 The LORD gives sight to the blind. The LORD raises up those that were bowed down; the LORD loves the just. 9 The LORD protects strangers. (R) The fatherless and the widow he sustains, but the way of the wicked he thwarts. 10 The LORD shall reign forever; your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.

Have you ever experienced looking for something like eyeglasses placed on top of the head and end up going round and round wasting all your energy? Isn't it funny when we tire ourselves over this kind of things when there is really no need for it. Sometimes we are all guilty of looking for something far and wide without realizing that it is already right before our very eyes and under our noses. The same is true with God who is always with us and among us. We sometimes focus too much on the external things around us when there is obviously and absolutely nothing else we should focus on but God Himself if we want to be spared of going round and round and end up tired and confused. We are also reminded in the gospel today that we should not just go off unprepared. There is no room for excuses and we must recognize the need to be mindful of the things we do and take the right action. We should always remember that we have a gentle and compassionate God who deals with us very calmly. There is no need for us to panic or fret for God knows exactly where we are headed. Today's gospel tells us not to overreact by running in all directions not knowing where to go. We may have all been into a specific situation in life when we exhaust all means and use up our energies for something just to find out that we need not go through it at all. Sometimes we resort to a lot of needless things which eventually leave us tired and weak just to find out that in the end there was really no need for us to go through all the trouble. God wants to meet us where we are and we are in the path where God wants us for He, Himself can lead us out of it without any sweat, no matter how hopeless and desperate it may seem. All we have to do is give our full trust and confidence in Him and be at peace with whatever situation we are in at the moment by first accepting wherever we are right now and from there start to improve in our lives. The kingdom of God is among you. This statement of Jesus from the gospel urges us to get a hold of it right now for it is already among us. We've got to consciously live it every day and in whatever circumstance or situation we may be, whatever, whoever, whenever, wherever. Let's not wait for any further sign or cue. As it is written it can not be observed, we've got to act on it on our own. There's no need to wait for any stimulus or catalyst. It's got to be really coming from us to claim for ourselves this truth that is slowly taking on a downward spiral and in danger of being cast into oblivion especially now that the world today is influenced so much by things that contradict this truth or even deny its presence. It is sad that people nowadays live as if there is no God or worse they believe in God but it doesn't manifest or show in how they live. Let us not be amiss on this and fail to capture this most important truth that can impact not just a lifetime but eternity. We have become so preoccupied, lured by what the world offers and full of other things to even give room to what should really come first and be the spiritual beggar that we should be before the Lord. This is in relation too to the first beatitude and the sharing I read in Didache about being a spiritual beggar. Beggars can't be choosers and we maintain this attitude with the hope that the One who gives is generous. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God is the only beatitude stated in the present tense unlike the others which are all in the future tense. It makes perfect sense especially now as I read this passage from the gospel. Jesus urges us to get a hold of it right now for it is already among us. Let us make it clear, change this trend and take actions to make it reign in our lives dominantly for the power is already within us. We've got to empty ourselves, get rid of things that snatch away our focus on God so as not to come to a point where we end up in our worst state before we realize this truth. We can not be partying now and then regretting it later. We may not have any intentions of directly causing any harm but some things happen as a consequence of our action. We should always be cautious of the things we do and learn the lesson that we should not just go off unprepared. There is no room for excuses and we must recognize the need to be mindful of the things we do and take the right action, as we are reminded in the gospel. Sometimes we hear people say, things happen for a reason but sometimes too things could not have happened the way it did if we had known the reason. God is the reason and He should always be our reason. Amen. Hallelujah!

Luke 17:20-25

20 Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus said in reply, “The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, 21 and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the kingdom of God is among you.” 22 Then he said to his disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’ Do not go off, do not run in pursuit. 24 For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.”