FATHER, FRIEND & PARTNER

There are times when we find ourselves praying just to manipulate God. We must realize that we do not pray to change God. He is immutable but He does use prayer to change us especially our hearts in order to conform us to His own heart. St. Theresa said to God, "Give me what you want." We pray that God gives us what He wants. As a good Father, He does not spoil His children neither does He deprive us. He gives us what we lack and what we need. If there's something that we want but God recognizes as not what's best for us then He doesn't give it to us. On the other hand God sometimes wants us to wait. We often become impatient and wonder why the wait. Oftentimes too, God gives us what we want in order to gain our trust and ultimately come to a point when we want what He wants. This is because of the fact that we can trust God to know what is best for us more than ourselves. Whenever an election is upcoming it is expected to hear all kinds of things just for a candidate to get elected. We should take on the responsibility of a campaign manager, but not for any election candidate but for the Lord. If we are given a chance to cheer up a friend who is feeling homesick, bored and depressed then we should do so by telling how through God's grace we can manage to go through it all if we vote for God straight and all the way. Amen. Hallelujah!

2 Timothy 4:1-8

...2 proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.... put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry...7 I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. 8 From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.

Let us not forget that our bodies are God's temple and we should make an effort of maintaining our health at its prime, so that just like Samson we can have the strength to hurdle whatever is coming our way. There are many things that we don't understand especially the things that happen to us. We can always choose to trust that it comes from God. We are His beloved son or daughter with an awareness that God is fathering us and has brought us into a family. We should have a childlike fearlessness that we can appropriate and exercise as we trust God who never fails. In God we find the most secure and safest shelter. If we will always fill our hearts with gratitude and praise for God we will realize as we look back and recall that we really have a lot of things to be thankful to God. Let us proclaim God's goodness and mercy. Our God is incomparable for He loves us with a love greater than any other. In God we find the most secure and safest shelter. Let us constantly build our confidence in God who never fails. There is really nowhere else to go but to Him alone. By just looking back at our past and present we can only come up with just one thing which is God is constantly at work and in charge of our lives for as long as we live. The mention of being called even from a mother’s womb, is one of the symbols of God’s words. The Word that reaches to the ends of the earth, penetrates the hearts of people and able to separate soul and spirit.  It should be our duty to spread God’s Word. Evangelization is defined with a very broad meaning and although preaching is its core there's more to it than just that. It is crucial that we reflect the values of Jesus. There is the so called "Equipping the Saints". We need to go through a process to achieve this. We process information in the mind, it is mind centered since it is a quest for knowledge. Formation is soul centered, it is a quest for wisdom and go through it by making decisions in the heart. Transformation is the meeting of mind and soul since it is a quest for spirituality. Propagation is the fullness of mind, body and soul resulting to authentic and meaningful faith in action. It is sometimes called Evangelization. The Balloon Story tells us of a child who saw balloons of different colors rising up in the sky. The child exclaimed how beautiful it looked up there with all the different colors. An old man told the child that it's not the colors that makes the balloons rise up but what's inside of it. As we become formed and equipped for evangelization we become Good messengers of the Good News. Furthermore, we need to differentiate between good and great leaders.  A good leader when the company is doing good, is one who faces the mirror and look back at the reason why the company is doing well but looks out of the window and to others when the company is performing bad. On the other hand, a great leader is one who looks out of the window and point to others as the reason why the company is doing well but when things are bad, looks at himself and ask what he can do to help. Jesus is a great leader because when things got really bad for humankind, He did not point any finger but instead came as man and redeemed us all. Evangelization should work towards making humanity whole again and free men and women from things that hinder them from being whole again. We should treasure the salvation that Jesus has given us. Do away with sin that makes us broken. Avoid not just sin but the occasions of sin.  When we speak of the 5th commandment which is, "Thou shall not kill" there is an unwritten command too, that we need to be peacemakers. There is no peace without justice. We need to fight injustice and unjust structures.

The Principles of Catholic Evangelization
1. Live the gospel-use words only when necessary. Walk the talk
2. Challenge others by one's example and lifestyle
3. Uphold true values. People first than profit. Embrace peace and justice. A Capitalist value works differently, it upholds profit at all cost.
4. Open our hearts to the saving power of God. From a distance foolishness and wisdom look alike but if we come closer we'll find that foolishness is an open mouth and wisdom is an open mind. In evangelization we need to approach it in a manner of discovery with an element of surprise rather than deciding which means we already have an idea of it. In discovery, God brought us to where we are although not fully revealing but trusting. We discover God and the wonders of His wisdom.

5. Build community                          

6. Identify and really call injustice as injustice. Accept and handle the truth. Sometimes the closer we are to power the farther we become to truth.
7. Work for a better society. Life is a gift from God but what we make of it is our gift to God. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 71:8-9, 14-15ab, 16-17, 22

R: I will sing of your salvation.

8 My mouth shall be filled with your praise, with your glory day by day. 9 Cast me not off in my old age; as my strength fails, forsake me not. (R) 14 But I will always hope and praise you ever more and more.

Sometimes we come to a point when we can not fully understand the things that are happening in our lives but what matters most is to always follow the example of our Blessed Mother. She is one woman whom we can surely rely, depend and follow if we truly want to be closer to Jesus and be able to do what God wants us to do. Who should come to our mind whenever we speak of Mary? Jesus. If it's not the case then we are misled and on the wrong path. Mary brings us closer to Jesus who tells us what to do as we keep all these things in our heart. After all it was in the Blessed Mother's womb that God became man. Literally speaking it was in her womb that He took on the form of a human being and had a feeling, pumping, viable and bloody heart. This is a revealed God who had manifested Himself. Our Blessed Mother carried Him in her womb. We know she pondered the mysteries in her life which is in today's gospel. Poetically speaking even in cross cultures, the human heart has always been seemed as a profound symbol of love, faithfulness, steadfastness, commitment, passion, loyalty, diligence, and the very anchor of the feelings, passions and emotions. When Mary was a teenager we know that she said to Angel Gabriel, "Let it be done unto me according to your word." If we may analyze this very closely, the word "it" in her response made her the Mother of God. At the same time it meant execution during 1st century Palestine if a woman gets pregnant outside wedlock. Her "it" meant that and yet she was willing to take that because of her love, faithfulness, steadfastness, commitment, passion, loyalty, diligence and the very anchor of her balanced feelings, passions and emotions. Then her "it" meant having her baby in a stable, soon her "it" meant her flee to Egypt with Joseph and her baby in the middle of the night. Twelve years later meant losing Jesus in the Passover in Jerusalem as narrated in today's gospel which prefigures about 20 years later, Jesus slain as the Passover Lamb when she witnessed her Son slain while she was standing at the foot of the cross. Eventually her "it" led her to Pentecost with the Apostles, her assumption into heaven and ultimately her coronation as Queen of Heaven and Earth.  Her "it" to Gabriel meant the seemingly negative events in her life before her crowning. But how did she endure all of these elements of sorrow involved in the life of her Son? The answer is her Immaculate Heart, that's how and why she sustained her being a perfect Christian disciple and example. She is a model for our own hearts believing in the words of the Archangel Gabriel, Mary maintained or retained all these things that the profound human heart speaks of and symbolizes. The passion which is the love that is willing to suffer for the other. Think of the Pieta, steadfast at the foot of the cross, or the Stabat Mater (Standing Mother) Traditionally speaking, Mary remained steadfast, she was sorrowful no doubt but never did she fainted nor swooned. She was the standing mother at the foot of the cross. This is an example for us in a time of sorrow. We can also live our "it" whenever our "it" may seem like what Mary endured.  She is an example to us of a heart with a strong balanced emotion. All of us modeled after Mary should be able to say with Mary, "I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to Thy word." When we find out the details of this total commitment and what it truly means, we must accept God's grace to be like Mary and to be faithful to our "it" or unconditional commitment to the Lord our God. We have to consecrate our lives to the Holy Family then never ever turn back. Pope Benedict XVI gave an insight with regards to the proper, sincere, authentic and true devotion to popular piety in the Catholic Church especially to Mary, he said that Mary's womb is the place where God was able to gain access into humanity.  We celebrate our personal relationship with Mary because it has fostered so profoundly the ultimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If we have fallen in love with the bridegroom, Jesus we appreciate and honor His mother Mary immensely. Indeed, Mary helps us to love Jesus, to yield to the Spirit and to let "it" be done to us according to God's word. Mary tells us to do whatever Jesus tells us from the wedding feast in Cana in John 2. Mary will never rest until we rest in her Son.  Our relationship with Mary and Joseph focuses us on Jesus because of this we value our relationship with the Holy Family. Amen. Hallelujah!

Luke 2:41-52

...“Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he said to them. 51 He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus advanced [in] wisdom and age and favor before God and man.