ST. MARTHA, PRAY FOR US

The Holy Eucharist is at the root of all holiness. How many saints have advanced to holiness through the Eucharist? Holiness has always found its center in the Eucharist. God recognizes the fact that we are material beings in embodied souls. God uses sensible signs to lead us to spiritual realities. This time, God did not just use a sign or symbol. Jesus offered bread and wine and turned it into His own body and blood. We remember the Holy Eucharist models, martyrs and saints who discovered the secret in the Body and Blood of Christ. We can not live without the Holy Eucharist. It is only through it that we can cope with the toil and exhaustion of this life journey. God is the source of every good thing and He pours it out on us from the moment of creation up to the present time. When we receive the bread and wine turned into the body and blood of Christ during the mass, He becomes a part of us. It is a call to love Him and be attached to Him. This invitation of God is not exclusive and is extended to all of us. It is our obedience and commitment to follow what God is telling us to do that matters most. We need not be at a loss for it was already agreed upon since the time of Moses in the Old Testament when the 10 commandments were written in the stone tablets and even up to the time when Jesus came in the New Testament since it tells of the same story and are parallel to each other. Our instructions were very clear, precise and consistent from that time on until the time of Jesus. Now is the time for us to do everything the Lord has told us. Amen. Hallelujah!

Exodus 24:3-8

3 When Moses came to the people and related all the words and ordinances of the LORD, they all answered with one voice, “We will do everything that the LORD has told us.”...Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people, who answered, “All that the LORD has said, we will heed and do.” 

God saves. There is no question about that but we have to also be diligent in fulfilling our part of the bargain. This reminds me of the vow I have made when it was impressed to me way back Oct. 7, 2007 in the reading from Book of Habakkuk 1,2-3.2,2-4. “Then the LORD answered me and said: Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; If it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.”

From then on I've been writing daily reflections that can be read by everybody and to my surprise it has become integrated in my daily activities. As time and days go by, a lot of things started to unfold before me, most especially the enormous message contained in that prophecy in Habbakuk. This has given me inspiration and joy to continue doing it. Definitely God is not asking us to resort to some extreme or out of this world act. The emphasis is on the importance of following the commandments of God and doing what we've got to do. We need not wait any longer and see any further for God wants us to start paying attention to His commandments and apply it in our very own lives in order to make a return for all the good He has done. There are times when we just have to ignore what other people may say or think and continue in the belief that we are God's people and have to be obedient in what He has asked us to do and stay loyal to Him no matter what the cost is. We've got to make things very clear for us. Sometimes we insist on doing things our way and more often than not we end up in trouble. It's about time we realize that there is no other way but the Lord's way. We get the impression that if we do one good thing for the Lord then the rest of our actions are already covered and justified. Well, that's what the enemy wants us to think so we can go on doing our own thing without much care whether is it really pleasing to God or not. Our God is perfectly and wholly good in every aspect and we can't expect Him to yield to a partly good and bad child. Because He loves us, we need to be disciplined in order for us to straighten up. There is this Catholic convert who was raised in the belief that the Catholic Church is the whore of Babylon. When he encountered for the first time listening to the Palestrina, he said that it doesn't sound like it came from hell and sounded much more like what the angels sound in heaven. When he visited for the first time, St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, he figured that the whore of Babylon could not be something this beautiful. He realized and understood that there could not be such a disconnection of what could be so beautiful and what is good and true. He could find all of these elements of goodness, beauty and truth in the Catholic church and what eventually brought him to the faith. The beauty that the faith produces is something that shines throughout more than 2000 years of the Church. We are not supposed to engage in a battle that is not destined to win at all. If we know that we are losing in the first place why pursue it? There are so many battles in life that we have to face everyday but there is no need to fight them all. It is not about us but about God. The only guarantee that we are going to win it through and through is to be sure first which side we are on and make sure that it is God's side. Let our words coincide with our work and action so that men will see and become convinced that we are God's obedient people. Sometimes we say one thing and mean something else. If we can confuse, convince and win people over to our side then we are definitely wrong if we think that we can do the same with God or even get away with it. If there's something we should be doing with our life then that is to be upright before the Lord first and foremost and everything will follow. It is not wise to gain the admiration of men at the expense of losing the approval of God. Nothing else matters more than being upright in the eyes of God. No matter how difficult things may seem to be at present we can always count on God at all times. The Lord hears our cries and supplications. He knows and sees all and He will surely make things right for us. No matter what happens to us we can always be assured of a God who will always look after us and will make sure that we are not taken advantage of. If God is for us, who can be against us? If we respond to His call and faithfully follow His precepts and be the person He has meant us to be then we are assured of His saving power. There are moments in our life when things happen to us and we feel that God is touching us in a special way. It seems so obvious that God is speaking to us in a variety of ways through our situations and circumstances. Today’s psalm reading tells us something very specific. It says that God will not just make us feel that we can somehow conclude that He is trying to communicate something to us but really show and demonstrate to the upright His saving power. There will always be times when we seem to not know where to go. No matter how difficult our situations may be, God will never leave us groping in the dark. All we have to do is to really take into serious consideration the words in today's psalm reading. The present civilization is in decline. There is so much moral decline and decay going on around us. The solution can be found in the psalm today. We have to have self discipline and will power to put a stop to the atheistic society that is on the rise. We need to become an active participant of the on going seminar for self restraint to control our appetites. To not pursue our own selfish good but the common good in order to rebuild our society and witness the saving power of God. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 50:1B-2, 5-6, 14-15

R. (14a) Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.

God the LORD has spoken and summoned the earth, from the rising of the sun to its setting. From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. R. “Gather my faithful ones before me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” And the heavens proclaim his justice; for God himself is the judge. R. “Offer to God praise as your sacrifice and fulfill your vows to the Most High; Then call upon me in time of distress;

I will rescue you, and you shall glorify me.” R.

Today is the feast day of St. Martha and I must admit that she is one of the saints who is close to my heart. First and foremost because of the fact that St. Martha's Church has become my official parish since I arrived here in the US. It is where I have gone for daily masses the most. She is a hardworking prayer intercessor who never stops in her labor for the service of God. Just like St. Martha we should all be firm believers that God answers all our prayers no matter how impossible it may be. Although the qualities of St. Martha depicted in a certain bible passage where she complained to the Lord that she is the one doing all the work does not speak very well of her we could still learn something from it. We should look at the example of the industrious and service oriented attitude of St. Martha especially when our lazy and careless sides get the better of us. It happens to the best of us when we sometimes run away from work and hesitate to be involved. As we make ourselves available for God's work we too like St. Martha in today's gospel can eventually transcend from that worried and anxious woman to a person of faith. When we are totally surrendered to the will of God nothing or no one should drive us to fear not even death itself. This is because we are confident of the saving power of God. He will never lead us to where His love can not reach us. We can always be assured of the loving arms of our Savior. Amen. Hallelujah!

John 11:19-27

21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 [But] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”...