Today’s 1st reading brought back memories of something that I had been thinking about and wanted to buy many years ago. I had canvassed for good deals for quite some time but just couldn't push through with it for days. When I finally found the right thing I was in a hurry to buy it because I had a deadline to beat. It is a bit expensive I must say and took me a while before I finally decided on it. I was about to pay for it in the cashier when I suddenly looked intently at Sis Claire when she commented that I just pay in cash. Normally I would always go for the convenience of just swiping the card, I just didn't know why I decided to take her advice and looked for an ATM machine. As I walked in search of the ATM, I chanced upon this store that sells the same thing that I was about to buy for a much lower price. I was thrilled and bought it right away so I was able to save money from it. At that same day, Sis Nancy passed by the house and invited us to go to the mall. I was doing some chores so I decided to stay behind but Sis Marcy's persistence and Sis Nancy's patience to wait for me made me finally decide to go. I didn't realize that the money I had saved was meant for another thing I had been planning to buy too a long time ago which was on sale with a 70% discount. In today's 1st reading there is a passage which says, "Peter looked intently at him..." I am so grateful for all the surprise blessings I enjoyed then and realized that it all began when I looked intently at Sis Claire. In the reading Peter looked intently at the beggar. We all know that Peter is considered as the 1st pope in the Church as Jesus Himself had appointed Him (Mt. 16:18-19 "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church...") I consider Peter as one of the people who stirred in me the desire to be more committed in knowing more about our faith and the church which in turn I am also asking of you. Nowadays, there are lesser vocations for priesthood and Catholics have become more and more lax and started to drift away from the church and its teachings. We have to look intently at our Catholic faith. We've lost the awe and reverence that used to be observed in the Catholic Church that even priests and nuns have become modernized. The sense of wonder and amazement for these so called representatives of Christ here on earth has lost its magic. We have prided ourselves that we are modern day Catholics and since the times are changing there is also a need for some changes. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. What God said and did thousands of years ago remain the same now and forever. During the time of Jesus, the apostles who were left to continue His work were all filled with the Holy Spirit. The mighty presence of the apostles always command an aura of amazement and astonishment from the people who witnessed their signs and wonders. I hope and pray that those days would be back when miracles flourish in the church and all believers will all be filled with this great sense of loyalty, faithfulness and zeal for the Catholic Church which our Lord Jesus Christ Himself founded in remembrance of Him here on earth. Jesus' name is undeniably powerful and beyond measure. Its worth is more than all the riches we can gain in this world. Amen. Hallelujah!
Acts 3:1-10
... But Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 He paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk.” 7 Then Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles grew strong. 8 He leaped up, stood, and walked around, and went into the temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God...
There is a lot to learn from the life of Abraham especially the part when he kept on with his faith in God. He was already of age when God promised him to be the father of all nations. All we need to keep in mind is that our time will come and all we have to do is just continue to trust God in His goodness and mercy and never let go of our faith. Just imagine what Abraham had to go through. If it were us and not Abraham who had fallen into this kind of fate we could have responded and reacted to this situation differently. Are these words familiar to us? I do not deserve to be treated this way. I did not do anything bad for God to punish me like this, as if God is a tyrant that is ready to strike us with every wrong move. Why me and not the others who are a lot more sinful than I am. And all these kind of things that we say without much thought. If we are to look at the life of Abraham very closely we would discover that he never let go of his faith in God despite the seemingly irrational and hopeless situation he went through. Imagine in his old age when his wife Sarah finally bore him a son God asked him to offer him as a sacrifice which meant losing his son. He remained firm in his faith and continued to trust in the word of the Lord. Abraham was tested and found to be true. In our own lives, we too are called to prove ourselves worthy before the Lord in order for all of the blessings to flow freely without any block or hindrance. We don't expect a mango fruit if we planted a banana tree. It is pretty much the same with our lives. If we strive to live up to the expectations of a child of the Lord by giving Him honor and praise then we will surely be not disappointed with the outcome. For God inhabits the praises of His people. Although we have a tendency to forget or become out of focus since we are surrounded in this world we are in by elements most especially the physical ones that make us more inclined to pursue worldly things. We become sidetracked or worse completely off track of the path where God is leading us. Let us live every single day of our life conscious of the wonderful truth that we are God's people and He has made a covenant with us. Almost everybody knows this famous Christian song from kindergarten, “Father Abraham has many children, some of them are small, some of them are tall, all of them are beautiful...” We remain beautiful as long as we keep God's covenant and remain obedient and faithful to God. He is the reason for everything and the source of all good things. Sometimes morbid thoughts enter into our mind and immediately we'd think that it is always the devil who does it but whether it is true or not this thought could be a wake up call and reminder that in worst case scenarios or life and death situations there is always a God ready to help us at any time. All we have to do is call on Him. It is indeed good advice to always look intently on God and find all the joys waiting for us. There is really no doubt that we need to further explore, know and understand our faith. In doing so we have to constantly look to the Lord, seek Him and recall His goodness. Jesus' name is undeniably powerful and beyond measure. Its worth is more than all the riches we can gain in this world. There is really nothing we can find even if we search far and wide, high and low, more than what the Lord can offer. We could go on and on with so many options we are confronted with daily in our lives. There is an endless list of "To Do Things" but what comes first and last is always dependent on our priorities. In deciding on our priorities we have to always involve God in all the things happening around us. We would be so glad to discover that as we place Him in the center of our heart, body and soul He never fails in guiding and directing us. There is indeed great power in the name of Jesus. There is a need to go through the different seasons throughout the year for there is indeed a time and a season for everything. Thus, we all go through different situations and circumstances in life. Some of them do not make any sense if we fail to acknowledge the power of God moving in it. There are numerous things that we can think, focus and decide on but there’s only one thing I am sure of. We’ve got to acknowledge that despite of it all God’s power remains to be above all things no matter what it may seem to be. We should always keep in mind all the wonderful things He has done for us. The Lord will never forsake nor abandon us. In the midst of all the turmoil we inevitably face in our daily lives may we remain hopeful in the Lord who is Almighty, provides for all means and prevails now and forever. Whenever we experience difficulties in life we tend to question God right away and somehow blame Him for what came upon us. Sometimes we come to a point in our lives when we tend to question the will of God in our lives. I have plans and you have plans but sometimes things do not fall into place and ask why things happened the way it did and not the way we planned and expected. We just need to always remember the marvels the Lord has done and always hold on to it. If we live by the word of God which is perfect and remains forever then nothing could go wrong. Our hearts will abound with joy and gladness as we further explore, know and understand about our faith. In doing so we have to constantly look to the Lord, seek Him, recall His goodness, keep our spirits up and make our hearts rejoice like what today's psalm is telling us about. We may have experienced a situation in our life when we encountered a lot of trials and difficulties. Just when we're about to give up and lose hope, suddenly we came across a particular incident or inspiration that perfectly fits or matches our specific problem which gave us this hope and feeling that God knows exactly what we're going through and promises to see us through it. The Lord is telling us is in today's psalm and assures us that He remembers what He has promised and will surely bring about what He said to us that He would do. If God remembers, so must we. Every single day we are confronted with so many challenges in life and we have to be always hopeful that the fulfillment of everything that we have been praying for has come this Easter season. We should believe that whatever delays or setbacks we are encountering serve as lessons to be learned that benefit our spiritual journey with Jesus. There is a need to go through the different seasons throughout the year before the dawning of a new beginning during this Spring season. There is indeed a time and a season for everything. It has the same message this Easter which is hope and victory for after the passion and death of Christ is His resurrection. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9
R: Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.
...Look to the LORD in his strength; seek to serve him constantly...Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name; make known among the peoples his deeds!
Sing praise, play music; proclaim all his wondrous deeds!
Glory in his holy name; rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!...
The mere mention of Jesus' name can bring healing and blessings. Just think of what He can bring to us if He is with us. Let us urge Jesus to stay with us for He is a God who doesn't impose but would rather wait for us to invite Him. But we only invite people whom we recognize and are close to us. Today's gospel is related to the 1st and psalm reading because it speaks of the sense of sight which is to look and see. It speaks of a particular incident wherein their eyes were opened and recognized Jesus. This is impossible if our eyesight is impaired or blocked. There are so many things to take into consideration why we sometimes fail to recognize people. It could be a lot of different things that we ourselves have encountered and experienced. In yesterday’s gospel, Mary of Magdala did not recognize Jesus right away. More than anybody, we ourselves are in the position to recognize and identify these things that prevent us from recognizing Jesus taking part in our lives. Jesus reminded us to always dwell on the mysteries of His Life, Death & Resurrection as stated in the scriptures. If you are Catholic then the rosary is a big help also the Divine Mercy Chaplet whose feast we will be celebrating this coming Sunday. We have to avail of the sacraments as much as we can, most especially of the Holy Mass. There are so many ways, given our own specific condition and situation in life in which we can always see God present in our lives. Let us not wait for the time to come when we can no longer see no matter how much we look because God has turned into someone beyond recognition. Let us always look intently at God to prevent Him from totally fading in our life. We really got to go back to the basics of the Catholic Church. In today's gospel we are reminded that there is so much dialogue and debate going on around us today we sometimes fail to recognize God in our midst. There is really a need to read scriptures, understand it well and experience it daily in our lives so as not to forget. God's ultimate call as shown in the gospel is to avail of the sacraments most especially of the Eucharist. God is always present and visible during the breaking of bread, the consecration part of the Eucharistic celebration. As we can see that it was when Jesus took bread and break it that their eyes were opened. This is Jesus' will that we always do in memory of Him. Amen. Hallelujah!
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 24,13-35.
...And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, 16 but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?” And he replied to them, “What sort of things?” They said to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel ; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures. As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?” So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
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