It doesn't mean that if we are friends of Christ we are totally free from life's difficulties and trials. There are still times when we are tensed and our hearts are troubled. We still worry, become anxious and afraid because we live in this reality. We should accept the fact, that just like Paul and Barnabas in today's 1st reading, who worked hard to spread the Good News they were still susceptible to the violence of this world. We can strive to avoid suffering but there is nothing we can do to eliminate it altogether. We can not prevent events that cause this. We still have trouble in our hearts. No one is capable of doing this only God who became man and entered this world. But let us not forget that even Jesus, the Son of God, who is true God and true Man was greatly distressed and troubled at the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:42-44) He prayed to God, "Father if Thou be willing remove this cup from me nevertheless not My will but Thine be done." When we pray to God this does not eliminate either what we are distressed of. We pray but still go through our mini passion. In the light of these things we ought to remember always that evil and death has no power over us because Jesus is resurrected. Whoever has God lacks nothing, He alone suffices. God will always prioritize us, His people but if we are stubborn and don't want to listen then we forfeit our price. Have you ever experienced your name or raffle ticket being called out in a draw and you forfeited your price because you weren't there, you weren't patient in waiting or you just decided that it would be better for you to just leave. Let us keep in mind that the price of eternal life is worth all our time and treasure. No one is excluded from the gift of eternal life. Everybody is given the same privilege as were given to the chosen people of God. God is fair and just in all His ways. All we need to do is respond in the way that the Gentiles did in today's 1st reading instead of reject it like what most of the Jews did. If we've really come to believe then we should also work to spread the Word of God. No one should ever claim that they haven't heard or known about God since it is our prime duty to spread and make it known throughout the whole world. Amen. Hallelujah!
Acts 13:44-52
44 On the following sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and with violent abuse contradicted what Paul said. 46 Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, but since you reject it and condemn ourselves as unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles...The Gentiles were delighted when they heard this and glorified the word of the Lord. All who were destined for eternal life came to believe, 49 and the word of the Lord continued to spread through the whole region...
Is there any other place we would like to be other than in the loving presence of God? This, I'm sure we can and should have a straight answer without delay. No one should ever claim that they haven't heard or known about God since it is our prime duty to spread and make it known throughout the whole world. There is no denying to the truth that all of us are given the chance to know who our God is and it is also our duty and responsibility to take part in this mission of spreading the good news and make known to everyone to the best of our ability the saving power of God. We should consider each day as an opportunity to know and learn more about our God. Whether it be an ordinary or special day in our life nothing should be amiss and should be spent in giving glory to God our Savior and Master. We can never ever deny the greatness of our God even just by looking at the simplest part of God’s creation like the tiniest grain of sand to the largest ocean in the world. As in Jeremiah 5:22, “Will you not tremble before me who set the sand as limit to the sea, as an everlasting barrier it can not pass? Its waves may toss but not prevail, they may roar but can not pass beyond.” We ask ourselves how in the world can a tiny grain of sand hold the vastness of the ocean in the same way we know that we have a God whose saving power is known throughout the earth. It is our duty to ourselves to aim for the ultimate good which is the will of God in our lives. This is not something that we still have to search and look for. It is already programmed in us and made known to us by the Lord. If by any chance this is not the case especially for those people who have not heard or known about our Lord Jesus since birth then the Lord Himself knows how to deal with them in accordance to His Divine Wisdom and Mercy. For us who have been blessed and endowed with the privilege of hearing and knowing about Jesus, this is coupled with a responsibility. The principle that to those who have been given much, much is also expected applies to it. We have a responsibility in our hands to make known to everyone we meet about this vital truth that could spell the difference between life and death. It is always for our good to attend activities that nourish our soul. We are enlightened and inspired because of the many good things we can learn from it. Whenever we hear words of wisdom it could always help us make sense of the things happening around us even suffering. It gives a feeling of special joy and gladness in every person’s heart. If we continue to stand by the principles of God then we will come to know that there is no truth in the saying that faith is against reason. We can truly appreciate the relevance of the truth as explained by Pope John Paul II that true faith come together with true reason. It is the same thing as saying that Theology tells us that God created the world while Science tells us how God created the world. 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. 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) We can also find all the cardinal virtues, like justice which means giving each person his or her due in the Book of Proverbs, Sirach, Ecclesiastes and all the wisdom literature in scriptures. We all know instinctively even as kids 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. In the same way that we want justice to prevail always since it is very frustrating when we encounter situations that are very unjust. We are reminded in today's psalm that we can all be assured of the truth that the Lord rules the earth and He rules with justice there is no doubt. We've got to take hold of the marvelous things that God has done. Nothing else matters than the truth that we are all loved by God and given the privilege of taking part in His great kingdom in heaven. God revealed to us Himself in various different ways. In the gospel of Mark: "the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God" (Mk 1:1) is summarized by the phrase - The person of Jesus, and the gospel of Luke:"The gospel of glory to God in high heaven and peace on earth to those on whom his favor rest (Lk 2:14) is summarized by the phrase - Joy to the world, while the gospel of John:"the gospel of the Word that became flesh and made his dwelling among us and we have seen his glory" (Jn 1:14) is summarized by the phrase - Eternal life then the gospel of Matthew is where all this happened to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet (Mt 1:22) and is written almost 55x in this gospel and summarized by the phrase - The Coming of the Kingdom. God's saving power is manifested in this treasury of books that have been preserved and handed to us from generation to generation. No one can deny the fact that to all God has been gracious and loving with no exception at all. God's faithful love should compel us to do the best we could ever do. There was a time when my computer got bugged down and happened to be the same time that I heard and was touched by the homily of Fr. Joseph Magdaong in the healing mass at St. Christopher where Hendrie who fixed my computer was serving as a member of the choir. It had been 3 years since I heard about this story of a tailor and his needle but I would never forget and always remember it especially the perfect timing and situation when I heard it. This tailor who was about to die spoke his last and they were these words, "Give me my key to heaven." At first those people who were there and heard him did not understand what he was talking about until they realized that he was asking for his needle. In the same way we must have our own keys in heaven as we try to examine ourselves and find out what is it in our life that can be compared to that needle in a tailor's life or our special talents that we can offer to God. I could still very well remember that I was on the verge of tears upon hearing that because I immediately thought of this computer that I am using to spread the word of God through my everyday reflections on the word of God that I write and share to others through e mail. I am just full of gratitude and joy in my heart for all the amazing things that God had done especially of the fact that this computer which I consider the needle in my life remained in perfect condition since that time on. There is a need for us to respond to God's call to each one of us to become channels of His blessings as His power is revealed in us. We will just run out of excuses and alibis why we should not give honor and praise to God. There is really nowhere to go but to God and that we would have to realize not sooner or later but right now and act on it. But we have to trust, hope and rely on God rather than our own power. Let's face it we sometimes rely too much on ourselves and too little on God. We are troubled about a lot of things when sometimes there's really no cause for it. There are levels of anxiety. Exaggerated anxiety and discouragement are one of the greatest obstacles to holiness. There is a level of anxiety that we just have to trust in God's Grace and Goodness. We should not disturb our inner peace not even momentarily. Life on earth is a great struggle indeed for God's Kingdom. A lot of things can bother and bring us down but we do not have to stay that way. We have to exercise our minds and wills to put our confidence in God. He is the one whom we can totally trust and depend on to save us. Our life is much about the daily revelations of God to us through all the circumstances that surround us which points to only one truth, He is victorious. Victory is surely in our hands once we've made the right move and choice. Let us take our stand and know that God's grace is sufficient for us. We will not be put to the test beyond our strength. Things are bound to get better for as long as we hold on to God's promises. Today's psalm, kind of remind me of this preaching about this wise man from the East in the Old Testament (OT), he is a prophet named Balaam and served an evil and wicked king. King Balak wanted Balaam to exact a curse upon Israel but from his mouth came forth a blessing. He 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 . A star and a scepter signifies kingship. In parallel, it was also the 3 wise men in the New Testament (NT) during the time of King Herod an Edomite who were looking for a star that would direct them to the newborn King of Israel, Jesus. He is truly our King and the fulfillment of God's promise. We are all called to respond with gratitude to the Lord who has revealed His saving power to us. There is no doubt that the God of the house of Israel is still the same one true God of today. The same privilege is handed over to us as the chosen people of God , Israel
Psalm 98: 1,2-3ab, 3cd-4
R: All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
1 Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds; his right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. (R) 2 The Lord has made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice. 3 He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel . (R) All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. 4 Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands; break into song; sing praise. (R)
The readings for today and the truth it conveys reminds of the many times I almost got bitten by a dog. It happened several times in the past and these experiences made me easily scared of dogs. And this incident that happened while I was jogging almost knocked me out when a very big black dog suddenly appeared before me from behind a parked car. It rushed to my side and saw that its height came to as high as my shoulders. It started sniffing me and sensing my fear started to bully me by barking at me and when I tried to walk away suddenly jumped behind me as if trying to push me around. I couldn’t move and just prayed and that was when its owner came to the rescue. I have been telling myself that I must overcome this fear of dogs. I realized that it is time that I should and reminded myself once again of this bible passage in Genesis 1:26 “...Then God said: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.” It tells us that we are over and above them all. We are on top of everything that God created and have dominion over them. This truth should always give us confidence to be strong and of good courage. It is further emphasized and affirmed in today’s gospel as Jesus said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these…” There is no reason to cower in fear. We have to work our way to progress because we are destined for greatness in Jesus name. Let us follow our God given destiny. Whenever we are under attack and in an off guard situation, it is always good to know that we are just like soldiers who should always be in full battle gear fresh from rigid training, physically and spiritually inspired by the works of our one and only most brilliant mentor, Jesus Christ. If we are just to make sense of everything that goes on around us each and every single day then we can never be far away nor get lost in this reality that Jesus is telling us in today's gospel. It is undeniable what God has done for all of us from the dawn of man to this present age of modern civilization. Let us not continue to be negligent, mindless, thoughtless, careless and apathetic of the truth in the gospel that the Church is teaching us. Until when will we remain deaf and blind to all of these things that have been for a long time being conveyed to us from time immemorial, from the time of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, the Judges, the Kings, the Prophets, in exile until the return and ultimately to the time of Jesus more than 2,000 years ago when God did the unimaginable and stooped down to become man. The bible itself speaks for the long span of time that God has been trying to lure us into an intimate relationship with Him. Are we really that dumb not to see all of these and remain unaffected by this astounding truth? Can we afford to play hard to get with God, who is as irresistible as He is. The time to enter into that relationship is now, not later nor tomorrow. Let us not waste any more of the precious time we still have in our hands. Amen. Hallelujah!
John 14:7-14
...Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip?... The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works... Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”
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