THE LANGUAGE OF GOD

Paul in today's 1st reading introduces Jesus to the Greeks. He hoped to lead them to Christ as he tried to unfold the powerful mystery of Christian life. He wanted so much for all of us to see God's movement in our lives. We may be living in a material world but we ought to see beyond and grasp the spiritual as well. Life is a mystery that we have to decode it properly. It may sound like we need to borrow the skills of Alfred Hitchcock in order to solve a mystery. In Theology they call it mystagogy which means guidance into the mysteries. According to Dr. Scott Hahn, a speaker in the EWTN program entitled, "Signs of Life" our entire human body is a sacrament of the person. Our eyes, smiles, words and actions tell something about us. God calls us now to something infinitely greater. It may be complex at one level but simple at another. It could be much like the 4 seasons that each represents a distinct and particular circumstance or feature. There is a time for everything. Although, I don't like winter, it is given that here in the US there are 4 seasons, and I can't do anything about it. I'll just have to live with it, and you know what, I've learned something from it, the same time I've learned something from Lenten season to Easter season. That there are some things in our life we have to go through or battle with or whatever we choose to do that we have to accept. Whether we like it or not there are certain seasons that we need to pass through. Jesus died and was crucified but He has certainly resurrected. All we have to do is entrust everything to the Lord. Just like Jesus we have to go through our own crucifixions and deaths but it is also certain that we will also have our resurrections. As the scripture says, no servant is greater than his master. We don’t expect to escape scar free. If Jesus did it so must we in our own personal way. It's so hard to imagine this while we are going through some trials but one thing is sure, God will always be the same powerful God, it doesn't change the fact that we have a victorious God. Everything points to the meaning of Jesus Christ in our life.  God made us material beings but we have to recognize that we too are embodied souls. Sometimes we get stuck in the material aspect and fail to advance into the spiritual. God uses sensible signs to lead us to spiritual realities from the visible to the invisible, earthly to heavenly, temporal to eternal and human to divine.  The moment we wake up we should already give thanks to God who made all things possible. His power and might are limitless and we are all subject under His dominion. Nothing escapes the knowledge of God and everything came to be because He is God and always in total control of things. Which reminds me of the e mail I received several years ago of a picture of a pick-up travelling 75mph in Flagstaff, AZ on US Highway 100 and was said to broke through the guardrail but miraculously and safely landed on the edge of a very high ravine. Anyone who could have seen it would definitely be amazed at how it happened. It even said this at the end of the email: If this guy didn't believe in God BEFORE, do you suppose he believes now? Let this be a reminder to all of us, GOD is in control! Amen. Hallelujah!

Acts 17:15, 22-18:1

...‘To an Unknown God.’ What therefore you unknowingly worship, I pro claim to you. 24 The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything. 26 He made from one the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, 27 so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us. For 'In him we live and move and have our being,' as even some of your poets have said, 'For we too are his offspring.' Since therefore we are the offspring of God,...

There is no conflict between faith and reason. There is no divide or arch rivalry between Church and Science. In fact, they imply a real need for each other. It's either we don't know our Science or we don't know our faith. It is overwhelming to know this information about the Human Genome Project. It is comprised of 2,000 scientists who worked to identify all the approximately 20,000-25,000 genes in human DNA and determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make it up. The project was completed in 2003 but analyses of the data will continue for many years. The philosophical implication of real science is so huge we can only conclude one thing, it is the language of God. We can benefit a lot from Science through good research that are producing cures rather than do something that is totally wrong. The scientists could sometimes cross the line. There is nothing wrong about being dedicated to the work that one does but there is a need to be passionate to the truth rather than in the political sense. This must not be contingent to any person or circumstance. Our faith calls us to goodness and we must play our part well. According to the Holy Father there is a danger that faith without reason would end up in fanaticism and reason without faith to paganism. If one is without the other a person would eventually fall into desperation. Faith purifies reason. Through faith we are united with, a real sharing of the life of Christ in contact with God, over come temptations and have His life within us. Finding the truth is not so hard but running away from the truth once we found it. Human intelligence is limited. Church does not condemn technology and science. It is open to discovery and corrections that would lead us to knowledge through faith and reason and to joy and peace that the world can not give. It is reasonable to believe in God. The miracles of Christ and the prophecies foretold have entered into several thousand years and still stand to this very day.  When we meet people that we like we long to be in their company and start to develop a bond with them. The more we know them and spend time with them the better our relationship becomes. Each day is a revelation of God's wonders and miracles most especially with the enjoyment and fun coupled with love that everyone experiences in the company of our loved ones, relatives and friends. God knows all our concerns and listens to our sighs and pleas. Today's psalm reveals to us the perfect location where we should be at in order to attain to such a relationship. Anywhere close to God. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 148:1-2, 11-12, 13, 14

R: Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

...his majesty is above earth and heaven. (R) 14 He has lifted up the horn of his people. Be this his praise from all his faithful ones, from the children of Israel, the people close to him. Alleluia.

Our knowledge of God comes in stages. We must all start now in our efforts to cultivate and nourish the love of God in our hearts so that a time will come when we can all understand God's word for what it really means. Whatever we're going through right now just consider it as preparation. Jesus said in yesterday's gospel that it is better for Him to go so that the Holy Spirit can come. Jesus meant for the Holy Spirit to come so that all men all over the entire planet can be reached being in the form of Spirit. This is the idea of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Jesus as a human being is limited by time and space unlike the Holy Spirit which is not bound by time and space. This explanation may not sound like a very brilliant idea and could just be a very minor reason out of the so many more relevant ones we can come up with regards to the Spirit of truth. It is just like the so many things in our life that we are unable to understand fully at a certain point in our life and even now at the present moment but in His perfect time we can all be assured that we will all be guided accordingly as God has intended it to be. God knows the limitations of our being and would always deal with all of us with compassion and wisdom in accordance to His All-Knowing nature. If we continuously seek God's will in our lives then we are sure to find it and God will not withhold it from us. Jesus in today's gospel is preparing and orienting His disciples for the work of the Holy Spirit. There is no doubt that the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives. There is no question on the part of the Holy Spirit in carrying out the work and having it done. The Holy Spirit is like an artist. A Master Sculptor can work on a hard substance like marble or clay which is malleable. Marble is a hard substance and very difficult to work with. It is chiseled and chipped away in order to form the image. On the other hand, clay is soft, easily shaped and formed. We could choose to be the marble or the clay. The Holy Spirit is the constant and we are the variable. The Holy Spirit can have it done in any way but it is just harder on us if we are not receptive to it. Chipping away is painful. If only we could just be the clay but for some of us, it just doesn't come that easy. Let's take Peter and Judas as an example. They do not differ in a lot of ways. Peter was a very rough man, just imagine a person taking hold of a sword and chipping away the ear of a Roman soldier. He also denied Jesus 3x. The only difference is that Peter did not sin against the Holy Spirit unlike Judas who fell into despair after betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of gold. Judas sinned against the Holy Spirit for imagining that his sins are bigger than God's love and mercy. To lose hope in a loving God is unforgivable. Mary teaches us about this hope in the best way possible. She is not the Spouse of the Holy Spirit for nothing. Mary wants us to be like her Son so that the Father can recognize us. When we have Mary and the Holy Spirit then we have Jesus. It's what really happened from the very beginning (Luke 1:35) and what will happen to us when we are open to the Holy Spirit. Amen. Hallelujah!

John 16:12-15

12 Jesus said to his disciples: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. 13 But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming...