Everything happens for a reason and there is always a mission that goes with it. Sometimes we tend to get discouraged and disappointed when our plans do not turn out the way we wanted it to happen. We struggle at times and lose our direction. We fail to sometimes realize that our God is always in control and on top of everything. We should always have this mindset that He is a God who can make things happen. If it doesn't work out the way we expected things to be then be at peace that God has something better for us or the best is yet to come. What's most important is that we always pray for guidance and enlightenment from the Holy Spirit to direct us to the right path, make us sensitive and obedient to the Holy Spirit. If we seek God's will in our lives and consciously live out the teachings of the life of Jesus then we can be assured that we will never be led astray. Everything comes from God. All good things come from God. All blessings come from God. God pours out to us the all abundant love in every possible way. Love and life is not simple other wise we will be living in a heavenly world where there is no strife, deceit, injustice and division. The world we live in is fractured, unless we stop doing mundane and distracting things that pulls us away from visualizing the things of God then we will just find ourselves distracted and unfocused. We just might find ourselves going in all directions but not really finding where we are supposed to go. God sends us various messages that could be in the form of a vision or dream just like in today’s 1st reading. It tells us how Paul and the others traveled from place to place spreading the word of God with the guidance of the Holy Spirit directing them every step of the way. This is how we should relate to God by aiming to encounter Him in an intimate and personal way. Amen. Hallelujah!
Acts 16:1-10
…During the night Paul had a vision. A Macedonian stood before him and implored him with these words, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen the vision, we sought passage to Macedonia at once, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.
The Jews knew of the prophecy that from King David’s lineage would come forth a King, the foretold Messiah of Israel. During the reign of King Ahaz and all other kings of Israel who did evil things the royalty was cut off. During the Babylonian captivity and in exile, those born of the line of David, of royal blood went in hiding for fear of being killed. Even though the divinic dynasty was cut off, from the tree of Jesse, the father of King David, came forth the shoot that brought forth the King. We remember that it was prophesied in Isaiah 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” The genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1 tells of this family tree. We would find at the end of this lineage, Joseph who is the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus. Joseph is not king but a carpenter and being Jew knew of the prophecy as foretold by the prophet including this one from Isaiah 7:14 … the Lord Himself shall give you a sign, “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name Emmanuel.” as spoken to him by the angel who appeared to him. He finally understood the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel . Isaiah is important to better understand Jesus. Joseph knew of the need for secrecy and not to make public these things because the reigning king at that time is Herod. He is not Jew but an Edomite who was just appointed by the Romans to be king. He is king not for the Jews but for the Romans to collect taxes for them. This is mainly the reason why Herod wants all male babies born at the time of Jesus, dead. Joseph dreamed a lot of dreams and it was through them that Joseph was able to successfully carry out his mission as the protector of the baby Jesus. Another point of reference here is the fact that in the Old Testament (OT) there was a foreshadowing of the Magi or Wise Men who came to worship Jesus in the manger. It was at the time of the reign of Balak an evil king in the OT when Balaam also a wise man from the East prophesied in Numbers 24:15,18 that there shall come a Star out of Jacob and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel who will dispossess Edom . He was asked to exact a curse upon Israel but from his mouth came forth a blessing. A star and a scepter signifies kingship. In parallel, it was also the 3 wise men who were looking for a star that would direct them to the newborn King of Israel who would inform Herod of his whereabouts but warned in a dream not to go back to him. Jesus is truly our King. The Kingship of Jesus is accompanied by many more wonderful things that we still have to know of. In the Jewish tradition the # 3 and 7 stands for perfection and completeness. It is somehow puzzling to know that there are 3 sets of 14 generations from the time of Abraham to the exile to the time of Jesus. So why the #14? The significance of the #14 stands for the name of King David which is equivalent to 14 in Hebrew. The 3 sets of 14 stands for perfect royalty and king that all leads to Jesus. It could also be equivalent to 6 sets of 7. The #6 signifies the date when the beast is made or the beginning thus the #666 which signifies the beast of all beasts. The 6 of 7 sets could mean the beginning of the 7th set. 7 is also the Sabbath. The new 7 is the new creation. Jesus is the beginning of the 7th set. Why the fuss in all of these? It is a consolation to know that we have a God who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We will eventually come face to face with our Creator and God who made heaven and earth. The time is now to make a conscious move to be in touch with this truth. It is such a waste that we don't always realize God's presence among us. When there is nothing more rewarding than to always be aware of God's presence and cry out to Him in joy. Whenever we are in a relationship with someone and give our 100% into it then we can not help but expect it to work. But there are times too, when we have given our all and yet it doesn't seem to be enough. We sometimes are bound for disappointments. When these things happen then is really no reason to be sad for we can always go to God for consolation whose love for us endures forever. We are all called to become partakers and residents of the eternal Kingdom of God Elm Street " every time the girl in this movie falls asleep, her nightmare begins and Freddie Krueger appears to wreak evil and havoc in her life. She has to stay awake or else something really bad happens to her and the people around her. Somehow this should make us realize the importance of being awake, conscious and in touch with reality. If there's one thing that we have to always be aware of, that is God has our best interest in mind. It may not be easy to see, understand and have a grip on this reality always especially at times when we seem down and out as in falling flat on bed without a care in the world like dumb sleepyheads. We have to rise, wake up and shine. We ought to always get a hold of this truth in today's psalm and never let it leave our consciousness. We will eventually come face to face with our Creator, and the time is now to make a conscious move to be in touch with this truth. Our devotion to God should have no limits for He is Almighty, All Powerful and Holy. We should remain faithful to God and never stray away from the path where He leads us. Let us stay within the flock that God has formed for us. When we are being cared for by God who is constantly and consistently good, kind and faithful forever and ever then we are confident that we are safe and secure in the fold where we belong like a flock tended by the Good Shepherd. We should always remember that we have a God who cares for all our needs for we belong to Him. May we all take part in the grand banquet that God has prepared for us in heaven. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 100:1b-2, 3, 5
R: Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; 2 serve the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful song. (R) 3 Know that the LORD is God; he made us, his we are; his people, the flock he tends. (R) 5 The LORD is good: his kindness endures forever, and his faithfulness, to all generations.
We have to realize that we are living in a sinful world that we have to be very careful that we are not enticed by its call. Sometimes we do things in order to cope with the present times without realizing that we are already compromising the most essential truth about us. We are just passing by and temporary residents of this world, what will matter most is for us to prepare for our one true inheritance from God, live forever in His kingdom. Life is never easy and fair at times. Jesus Himself said something like it in today's gospel. If we go through trials and hardships on account of His name and sometimes lose heart when confronted by the doubting and questioning minds of some people then we should always stand firm in our principles and convictions anchored in Jesus. No matter how difficult it may seem we must not lose sight of what kind of suffering Jesus had to go through and all our problems will fade in the background. We should always have the attitude of humble acceptance and complete surrender clinging only to God and not on any person, thing, situation or possession in life. These experiences will all amount to something great in the end. Which reminds me of the story of a silversmith (narrated by Fr. Joseph Magdaong) who purifies silver by allowing it to sit on the fire at its extreme heat until it finally comes out pure. The silversmith knows that the work is done once the silver starts to reflect the image of the silversmith/refiner. Allow this to sink in to our souls for in time we will all come to know that we are in truth blessed and full of grace. And just like the Blessed Mother's response to the angel's announcement we also should say, "Thy will be done." In order for us to do this we must realize that all of us because of original sin has an innate weakness to sin. This is concupiscence which detaches a person from divine love. It is the counterfeit of love that Satan has introduced to the world to deceive and rid us of the true and authentic love. The enemy counterfeits love and the only manner we can defeat this is by receiving God’s divine love. In a world where we have lost divine love and participated in sin there is a demand to know the divine love. It is holistic and brings the person together. The enemy can not derail this love. It is the kind of love that interacts with creation and does not pillage it. It respects everything in creation. It changes, elevates and renews the human heart. It defends, protects and strengthens us over the power of concupiscence. This love could be very demanding and could be overwhelming in the sense that the world could hate us for this in the same way that Jesus is telling us today in the gospel. We have to realize that man can not live without God’s love. We need to experience, encounter, and make it as our own in order to participate intimately in it. Can we live in an impoverished and imperfect love? The answer is no. It is the injustice and imbalance that it causes in our nature that creates the lost peace. The circumstances that follow are catastrophic and will prevail unless we infuse ourselves with the living divine love that comes from God. Only Jesus can teach us how to live and receive it. God creates this place, the heart, where the lover can love the beloved and the beloved reciprocates that love. It freely gives to each other without condition and does not hope for anything in return. How can we live through the demands of this love? Remember, Jesus does not expect us to love with a divine love with our human power but it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us. It will empower us to live the exigencies of this love. The Comforter and Advocate remains with us and is given to us. It moves and enables us to love one another. Allows us to see as He sees, forgive as He forgives and love as He loves. Unless we invite Jesus into our human hearts and allow Him to nourish and form it we remain impoverished and lost. We have to rise up from this and seek to attain the intimacy of the love that is precious and seek only to give. We need to enter into this level knowing that God makes all things possible. Amen. Hallelujah!
John 15:18-21
18 Jesus said to his disciples: “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.
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