It can be told, we are God's dwelling place. Thus we ought to do everything in our power to make ourselves pleasing and holy before the Lord. When we speak of physically constructing something like a temple we've got to have all the necessary funds and materials to build it. It really costs a lot to build especially at this time when there is economic distress all over the world. Spiritually, it is not like we are lacking in resources of any kind to fulfill this. The Holy Spirit has the gifts, well equipped and will never run low to carry out this task of building us into a temple of God
Ephesians 2:19-22
19 Brothers and sisters: You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; 22 in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
We find in the story of Paul that he eventually regained his eyesight and started proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God. Wherever we're coming from we should strive to follow his example of groping for the truth about the light while he was in darkness and blind. We have a responsibility in our hands which is very clearly proclaimed in today's psalm. As we find our way to God may we find ourselves taking part in the mission and call that Paul himself obediently followed and fulfilled. We are not just listeners and onlookers, we apparently have to do what the psalm reading tells us today. We have all been commissioned to go out to all the world and tell the Good News. No matter who we are, what we are, where we're from and where we are. We need to strive to do our best to improve our knowledge of God for He has great plans for all of us. There is really a need to equip ourselves in order to respond as best as we can to His call. We are the temples of the Holy Spirit, that's why we should take care of our bodies too. Just think of it, whenever we are preparing to receive guests in our home we always try our best to make it look presentable and go through extraordinary efforts to make it special. I believe that we should develop this kind of attitude each day as we bear in our minds that God dwells in us. It is our duty to make Him feel at home and make it a fitting dwelling place for Him. Let us make ourselves a living testimony of the gospel. What a way to live if by just looking at us people will be blessed and praise God for we become proof of His steadfast kindness and fidelity. Sounds very difficult but as God our Father is Almighty we continue to hope that all things are possible and we can do all things through Him. God is so good indeed, and reminded about my son’s allergy. If not for it I wouldn't have known of his drinking spree and could have failed to remind and emphasize to him what a few bottles of beer could have led him. I am thankful that as early as possible it has already been put to a stop. Although I would like to give my son the benefit of the doubt that even without the allergy I know that Allan knows his limitations and can very well overcome any possible addiction that is being hurled right in front of him by the enemy for he is a Youth for Christ. As parents we need to look after the welfare of our children and give them sound advice. There is indeed a need to speak up, be bold and courageous. There is really a need to remind ourselves constantly of this truth in order to respond as best as we can to this call in today's psalm reading. Once we've made a decision to embrace the truth and turn our backs on our old ways which are not headed to the path that God wants us to travel then we can be assured that we are right on track. Shout it out to the whole world and let it be known by everyone. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 117:1bc. 2
R: Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
1 Praise the LORD, all you nations; glorify him, all you peoples! (R) 2 For steadfast is his kindness toward us, and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever. (R)
The gospel today is about the story of "Doubting Thomas" which is also the story of each one of us. One time or another we can not deny that we've been like Thomas, too. We also doubted God in our own personal lives sometimes even without knowing it through our words and actions. Our experiences at times are mostly occasions that lead us to doubt. We all come to a point in our lives when our faith is greatly tested. But just like those holy and faithful souls including Father Abraham and the rest of our ancestors in the Old Testament whom the church said were in limbo before the coming of Jesus Christ, who waited and were rewarded with Heaven we, too should be hopeful that our time will come. Instead of dwelling on the negative we should realize that despite the locked doors in our lives God always stand in our midst and give His peace. We should be thankful to God for the several occasions in our life when we encountered difficulties for those were times when we discovered that God never left us. These experiences that cause fear and pain sometimes make us turn away from God and doubt Him. This is very common nowadays as we see people live their lives as if there is no God. Today's gospel is very appropriate for the kind of generation we have right now, a doubting and unbelieving race of people who no longer believe anything without first seeing. In the encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI entitled, "Spe Salvi" we are asked to nourish our faith, hope and love through prayer, unity of our own sufferings to that of Jesus Christ and belief in the reality of judgment. We are so blessed to have Pope Benedict XVI who was a teacher before he became pope. This present generation definitely benefited from his papacy. We must not assume that we are already good in our faith rather we must have the humility to admit that we still have a lot to learn before we can profess the words of Thomas with the same love and conviction. In today's gospel Jesus calls us to go beyond the boundaries and limitations of this world. It is not just the visible aspect that we should focus on. Let us all examine ourselves and evaluate what we have been doing for God and if we think we've reached the end of the line and we've given it our best shot then we are wrong. Our God is awesome, infinite and endless in glory that each day we have is an opportunity to improve our best. If we can go past it then we are truly blessed. Believe the unbelievable although we don't have proof. Just trust the peace emanating from Christ, the kind of peace that dwells in our hearts, feels very much at home and there to stay no matter what happens. Amen. Hallelujah!
John 20:24-29
Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
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