Don't we feel good that we have a God who can always bring to fulfillment what He has promised? The Lord has spoken and it is our duty to nurture and always remember the words He has spoken to us. Just like the seasons that we always experience one after another all year round, God will fulfill all His promises just like the blooming of the flowers in springtime. He sees our hearts and knows our thoughts; we simply have to trust in His great power that He is able to make all things beautiful. We have a very rich treasure of faith as Catholics and one of them is our belief in life after death. We all know that our faithful departed loved ones are now enjoying the beatific vision of God and are constantly praying and interceding in our behalf. As Catholics, we believe that one’s death anniversary is a person’s birth to eternity. Everyday we get blessings from the Lord there is no doubt about it but for these blessings to be explicitly shown and demonstrated to us in a very special way is another thing. I could never forget the dream I had of my mother on her death anniversary. In my dream she was showing me underneath our green sofa a lot of duck eggs. There was even one that hatched right before my eyes. When my mother was still living she has not failed in showing us how much she loves us. Even up to this time I could still feel the love she has for us in ways that are beyond what I could see with my physical eyes just like the dream I had. The Lord God has given us so many promises like in today's 1st reading which is just one of the many promises He has given us. It is one of the bible passages which for quite a long time already hold a special meaning and inspiration for me. It has kept me very positive in the midst of trials and sufferings. Some people have always marveled at the inspiring stories of people who emerged victorious and triumphant after a tragedy or a depressing and defeating situation. Whenever they are asked to share their experience and impart their wisdom about what they went through they come up with all sorts of things which kept them going like a goal, dream, their family or a specific person whom they love most. But let us be reminded where it's all rooted and founded on, in the truth that God has blessed us with a lot of promises that is all bound to give us success and that we can hold on to for sure and without a doubt will carry out what it has said it will do. Unlike humans, God is able to fulfill all of them without any doubt. We can always count and depend on Him. Amen. Hallelujah!
Isaiah 55:10-11
10 Thus says the LORD: Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to him who sows and bread to him who eats, 11 so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.
We might have been waiting too for long for a specific blessing like a parched land for heavy rain. We must not lose hope despite the fact that we are constantly attacked and tormented by the enemy with a lot of doubts and insecurities. We should hold on fast to the Lord and consider everything as preparation. The Lord has spoken and it is our duty to nurture and always remember the words He has spoken to us. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalms 65,10.10-11.12-13.
The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest. 9 [10] You have visited the land and watered it; greatly have you enriched it. God’s watercourses are filled; you have prepared the grain. Thus do you prepare the earth: you drench plowed furrows, and level their ridges. With showers you keep the ground soft, blessing its young sprouts. You adorn the year with your bounty; your paths drip with fruitful rain. The untilled meadows also drip; the hills are robed with joy...
Well, I guess everybody is guilty of this. We really tend to doubt and lose heart whenever the things that we want are not within our reach and sight. We really have to strengthen our faith and hope for something we do not see and wait with endurance. Just like what the 1st reading is telling us today. There are so many unforeseen events at hand but we should remain firm in our faith, patiently wait and hope that the Lord will be gracious and reveal His glory. We may be going through a lot of trials and uncertainties in life that we sometimes feel like things are not going to get better. Or worse we may be experiencing it for quite some time and starting to become impatient of our situation and start to think of resorting to ways and means that this world offers rather than continue to trust in God’s steadfast love that never ceases. Today's 2nd reading reminds us to not lose sight of what is truly important and of greatest value. Let us not be lured by the false, empty and senseless promises, satisfaction and delight that it offers for nothing compares to the glory of God to be revealed for us. For no eye has seen, no ear has heard nor anyone has imagined what is in store for us in the Kingdom of God
Rom 8:18-23
Brothers and sisters: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us...Now hope that sees for itself is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance.
There is a season and a reason. The farmers wait for the proper and optimum time to plant their seeds, cultivate and harvest. Things can not be done in a hurry. As in the following bible passages: Acts 17: 26-27...and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, 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. Psalm 31:14-15..."You are my God." My times are in your hands;... Hebrews 4:16...So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help... We can learn a lot from these words of God and ponder on them before we make any rush decisions. We have to decide and act on things based on the Word of God and be guided by them at all times. The seed being spoken of in today’s gospel is the word of God. There is also a need to till the soil before we can plant the seed. When I was just a kid I used to pity the farmers who work under the heat of the sun while plowing the fields. It is clearly etched in my mind how they guide the plow being pulled by the carabao while their feet sink into the mud. The same way these farmers prepare the soil for a good harvest we, too must prepare ourselves in order to become the rich soil that bears fruit. Let us not waste the seed God has sown in our hearts. If we need to stay under the scorching heat of the sun and sink our feet into the mushy field of our lives why not, it will always be worth it knowing that the seed that God has planted will surely reap a bountiful harvest, Amen. Hallelujah!
Matthew 13: 1-9
...But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
No comments:
Post a Comment