WISH GRANTED

 Isn't it nice if someone you're asking for a favor would do as you requested? There are times when not all our requests, wishes and desires are granted. It may be due to our own shortcomings as recipient, the other person’s as the giver and could be many other reasons. According to St. Augustine, one of the four Great Fathers of the Church, the reason our prayers are not heard are (1) because our personal dispositions are not good (2) we pray badly (3) we do not persevere in prayer (4) we do not pray humbly (5) we pray without faith and (6) we ask for things which are not good for us. (From De civitate Dei) We can be assured of the fact that if we go to God then we are surely going to get the best answers to our prayers. It is also a good idea to follow Solomon's wisdom in today's 1st reading. And consequently this sharing from Didache. It is definitely just the right story that we needed to hear. Here it is entitled: Wise Discernment

  “Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.” – 1 Kings 3:9a
 The group of companies I worked for was closing down and I was about to lose my job. Some people with whom I had former business dealings offered me more than double my salary to manage their company. Upon closer scrutiny, I learned that this company didn’t pay minimum wages and didn’t pay the right taxes. But I desperately needed a better job then and lifted my cause in prayer to God. Through my wife’s prayer, God told me not to take the job.
A few years later, a multi-billion tax scandal landed on the front page of the papers. At the center of the scandal was this same company. Its owner, who had offered me the job, was on the run. If I had taken the job, I would have been his fall guy and taken the raps. I thanked God for the wisdom that he had given me not to take on that employment.
When we’re on the side of integrity and honesty, our discernment will always be a wise one!Rolly España (rolly@homeliving.com.ph)
 REFLECTION:Do you put your trust on what the world tells you or what God’s Word tells you?
Lord, thank You for the grace to discern what is wise from Your perspective.
-END-
Whenever we receive news that really surprise us in an unpleasant manner, we can either decide to keep our peace or lose it. There are ways to react to things that come our way. Our reaction could depend on how we see and feel about things.  Whenever we are confronted with slight or even big concerns it would be best not to succumb right away to our emotions and give ourselves some time to think and compose ourselves. God would definitely not leave us groping in the dark. But it would be best to follow Solomon's wisdom in today's 1st reading. We have to put our trust on what God’s Word tells us and not on what the world tells us. We have to pray to the Lord for the grace to discern what is wise from our perspective. Amen. Hallelujah!

1 Kings 3: 5, 7-12

...“Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.”...10 The LORD was pleased that Solomon made this request. 11 So God said to him, “Because you have asked for this — not for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but for understanding so that you may know what is right — 12 I do as you requested. I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you.”

Another interesting event I am reminded of is one of the MI (Militia Immaculata) Meetings we had in the past  wherein we were asked to introduce ourselves briefly by saying our names, parishes where we belong and the time when we were consecrated to the Mother Mary. I can never forget the date I was consecrated (March 15, 2008) since it was the same date, but in 1995, of my mother's death anniversary but I would rather call it her birth to eternal life. It was highlighted by another significant event which was a dream I had at that same time of my aunt, Tita Edna who also passed away on the same month, March in the year 1992. The dream was quite interesting and very vivid because I saw Tita Edna  riding in a van and the moment I saw her I took off immediately and ran after the van which I almost missed if I did not leap and managed to make it to the door of the van from which I almost fell. When I finally made it inside the van, I saw that she was about to eat so I offered her a hand sanitizer and saw that it made her so glad that I had it. She immediately applied it in her hands and thanked me for it. It suddenly gave me the impression that the van could be a symbol of our transportation to heaven. It is very difficult to catch that ride, we have to be always alert and vigilant we might end up missing it and worst never be able catch the ride ever again. That is, if we are too busy with other things we tend to neglect what should we be paying attention to and end up missing out on our ride and get a different ride which instead of bringing us to heaven, be brought to another destination which I guess none of us would like to be. We must always know on whose authority we are basing our actions. It will always help to examine ourselves and really be aware where our loyalty lies. Are we for God or against God or are we just for God in the superficial sense?  If we are deeply rooted in Him then we can withstand that horrible day of trial  and still find ourselves persevering in our faith. Just the thought of ending up in hell should really make us pray fervently to God.  Today's psalm teaches us the way to always be attuned to God's Spirit in order for us to truly see the word of God, as the light shining like a lamp for our feet. If we really want to be truly happy then there is just one thing we have to always do that is to always keep ourselves blameless before the Lord. We can never run away from the probing eyes of God because nothing is hidden from Him. We sometimes have this impression that our God requires impossibilities from us. We misinterpret and take things in a different way whenever we hear of rules and regulations to be followed. The decrees of our Lord are not meant to make things difficult for us nor do they burden or tie us down. This is the deception and we should start looking at it the right way. Just imagine life without God's decrees to guide us, it would be very disorderly and chaotic. It's like driving in the freeway wherein one can just go his or her own way without any regard for any traffic rules and regulations. Real freedom is the ability to follow God and being totally free of the grasp and hold of sin that brings death. Some sins bring instant death but others just like cancer slowly creep in and before we know it has already eaten us up whole.  God loves us so much that He has given us His decrees because it is in following them that we become totally free and live. The only way to true freedom is by following God's commands. In doing this we become free of the bondage of sin and live a power filled life based on the Truth. We should believe that if there is someone in and out of this world who is most reasonable, just, fair and at the same time loving, caring, slow to anger and rich in kindness that is no other than our God. One thing for sure, if He requires us something, He will definitely equip us for it because it is written, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." If we commit ourselves to following God then we will surely be blessed. Allow me to use the word "luck" or "swerte" in Tagalog in lieu of any other more appropriate word like blessed or pinagpala in Tagalog since I have always been hearing this word being used very often by some people in reference to certain situations within the broad context of this word. I just couldn't help but share it, first and foremost due to some personal circumstances. We often hear people say to another who is about to embark on something challenging, “good luck” If the word luck may have been associated with whatever negative meaning then consider it excluded from here and out of context for the mean time. Let's just say we would like to broaden the scope of our vocabulary. This is to further drive the point or message in today's psalm and is actually the catch here. This is to come up with an induction that following the law of the Lord is just as synonymous to being blessed, lucky, swerte or pinagpala or any other word that we could closely associate with this. It is not very easy to lead a life like that of the saints who followed the example of Jesus. Ignorance is not an excuse. We should always seek to enrich our knowledge about God so that we will continuously grow in our faith. Our world is ever changing with all the new technology coming up, it's so surprising that whatever is considered the latest and gold standard today may not hold true the following day. If there's one thing we should rely and hold on to in this very dynamic world of ours, then it should be something constant and enduring.  It gives us great consolation that we have a God who is true to His word. We may have heard it but we haven't learned yet. It is a lifelong journey and quest to know God better. Nothing can be more rewarding than having great peace in our lives. We can make this possible by adhering to God’s law and committing to following it in word and deed. It will always be well for us to consult the scriptures that shed light and give understanding. It is only right that we follow the law of the Lord if we are really for God then our works should follow us and testify to who we really are. We've got to make sure that what we sought and yearn for, is what should bring us genuine riches, true delight and the most precious treasure which the world can not give and only God can bring about. It is only right that we follow the law of the Lord if we are really for God then our works should follow us and testify to who we really are.

Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 119: 57, 72 , 76-77, 127-128, 129-130R: (97a) Lord, I love your commands.57 I have said, O LORD, that my part is to keep your words. 72 The law of your mouth is to me more precious than thousands of gold and silver pieces

God's daily assurance to us is written in the 1^st reading today. We should be thankful to God that with each passing day He never fail to remind us of His love and mercy  that no matter what happens we should continue to be hopeful in the promises of God our Savior. I would like to share with you these words of wisdom in Sabbath magazine which I am fully convinced and agree with 100%. THE PROMISES OF GOD FOR US Romans Chapter 8 is the centerpiece of Pauline theology on the nature of Christian life as we should live it. Verses 28-30, talks about the promises that God made long ago to make us all as it were the eldest of many brothers — that is, we receive the fullness of the inheritance that God has for us. (Under Jewish Law, the eldest son inherited virtually everything and it was his responsibility to provide for his siblings.) Paul tells us that for those who have faith in God, whatever situations we encounter in life will turn to our good. This may be difficult to believe at times but then God never promised us that life would be easy and simple. There will always be challenges to face and opportunities to exercise our faith. Thus it is important during better times to store up memories of God’s blessings so that they will help us to endure the lean times where His presence and blessings are more difficult to discern. This is also why God calls us to live in Christian communities with varying levels of commitment — so that we can avail ourselves of the support of each other during difficult times. It is good to be grateful for the gift of her as our mother, too. Jesus gives her to us from the cross so that she can be a comfort and support to us all. Often it is only through her faith and intercession that we are able to endure our trials, just as it was our mothers’ support that helped us through many difficult situations in our childhood. The greatest gift we can give to Mary on this day is to commit to a more faithful following of the call of Jesus. Let us pray to God for this grace through her intercession. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

There are 7 habits that have been identified for the last 2000 years that will lead us to success, excellence in every aspect of human life and holiness. The most important of human life is our relationship with God. But every other aspect like our relationship with other people, family, the way we are in the work place and all these things are governed by these 7 habits, patterns or qualities. These habits we can find in scriptures and see it in the life of saints. Even before God begin to reveal Himself to His people in Israel, human nature is smart and wise enough to see some things on its own. 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) Prudence is the ability to make right decisions in complex situations. Decisions that lead to the best and right thing. Without this we can be in big trouble. We’ve got to be able to decide in a situation that we’re in what the right thing to do which is the best thing to do. How do we get something done? There are some folks who probably just can’t figure out what to do. There are other folks who look at the problem and they can figure out a solution. It’s a core and they execute that core. It’s practical wisdom. We’ll find in the Book of Proverbs a lot of things about wisdom even in Sirach, Ecclesiastes and all the wisdom literature in scriptures. We can also find all the other 3 cardinal virtues, like justice which means giving each person his or her due. We all know even as kids instinctively 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. We’ve got have all these things but here’s the problem. When Adam & Eve decided to sin they let loose a weakness into our race and nature that impacts all of us. We call it original sin. Sin is not so original, we just copy what other people have done. There’s nothing creative about sin. Adam & Eve’s sin was the only original sin. What they did has an impact on us. By weakening their own nature, sin weakened man’s nature. They passed on to us a weakened nature. They separated themselves and the whole human race from friendship with God and were born into that. There’s a tendency in our nature to go on a downward drift, a drift off course and a tendency to a great degree is dealt with through grace. How do we get grace? Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has made possible for us, healing of our humanity. He gives us other gifts, faith, hope and charity that make it possible for us to really have wisdom, justice, temperance and courage. Without faith, hope and charity in this life, no one can really become truly wise. All throughout human history we see people who exercise these gifts. They may not be Christians, deeply spiritual people, or in a state of grace and can exercise some of these potentials here and there. But ultimately original sin means we are going to sin seriously and mess up. We need God’s grace for those 4 great virtues to be perfected. Faith, hope and charity are supernatural. These are things that human beings would never know that they need or could have without God giving them supernaturally that’s why they are called the theological virtues. We only know about them through divine revelation and we couldn’t know about them by reason. We can only have them through God’s grace. The theological virtues, faith, hope and charity are the crown of the first 4 cardinal virtues that transform and make them possible. God doesn’t want us just to be whole human beings and restore us to what Adam& Eve were when they blew it in the Garden. God wants us to be more than that. He wants to elevate our human nature and divinize it. He wants us to share in His own Divine nature. Charity is all about loving with God’s love. Loving as the 3 persons of the Holy Trinity love each other and sharing in that goes way beyond human nature. This is an incredible thing and call. It was only possible because God became man and we can share in his virtue. This is what the real Catholic life is all about. It’s not just about making it or going to heaven by the skin of your teeth after struggling. It’s about growing in holiness and becoming like Jesus all throughout our life, a champion not without struggles. As a matter of fact without the struggles we can never become a champion. But with victory and excellence not with hopelessness, despair and frustration. This is God’s desire for us which is a fantastic calling. The power to do this is given to us through the Holy Spirit. Amen. Hallelujah!

Romans 8: 28-3028 Brothers and sisters: We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

When you've found the joy of praising, serving and loving God above anything and made it a common occurrence in your daily life, just like a thread embedded in the fabric of your life then the kingdom of heaven is at hand. We are all called to develop this kind of relationship with God as our Father, Brother, Lover, Comforter and Friend. Just think about it, is there anything more you can ask for? Let us not hold back and do anything for the love of God. I believe in the saying, "Where your heart is, there your treasure is." Each person is unique. We all have our own peculiarities and that's how we are able to express ourselves as a human being. Each person has his or her own qualities and characteristics that separate us from the rest. For some it could be a certain quality like cooking, athletics, writing, dancing, singing, speaking, painting, sketching, or the present work we do and all other talents we could think about.  Whatever it is that we are good in doing or we have dedicated and engaged ourselves in, we should always put God in the center of whatever we have chosen to do. We need to find out what our core gift is and develop it. There should not be a trace of holding back or hesitation on our part but rather invest everything in it and give it our all to bring out the best in us and reflect the glory of God. It is not easy to be molded like clay. If there’s one thing that stopping us from becoming what God has meant us to be it is our free will because we can say yes and no to God. It is important that we do not lose sight of the truth that we are created in God's mastery and expertise and we are His masterpiece, a genuine work of His hands. If we can confidently and honestly say after careful examination of our lives that we are indeed the product of God's hands then we can stand firm on that dreary day mentioned in today's gospel. Once we've realized and lived this truth in the gospel then we can consider ourselves as the wealthiest man on earth. There is no other treasure and fine pearl more precious than God who is with and in us. Amen. Hallelujah!

Matthew 13:44-52

Jesus said to his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it…Jesus said to his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.