An experience I just couldn't forget is looking at the birds in an aviary. It was very fascinating to watch this mother bird that never leaves her nest not even for a single moment. I find it very interesting that in the several times I had been watching it, I never saw it anywhere else but perched in the nest. This was why I can hardly see her young just its little head when it peeked out of the nest. During that time I looked intently at the mother bird and told her as if it would understand me, to show me her baby bird. To my disbelief the mother bird as if it understood me flew a small distance away from the nest and exposed her young. It was not just one but 2 baby birds. This incident made me remember this article I read in the August 2010 issue of Reader's Digest entitled, "Amazing Pets" It was about the different kinds of pets that people have, showcasing their extraordinary abilities and most especially the bond and relationship they have developed with their masters. This kind of thing is not new anymore wherein we encounter this special connection between man and the other living creatures of this world. This should not surprise us anymore for today's 1st reading gives us the best explanation there is. Amen. Hallelujah!
1 Corinthians 8:1b-7, 11-13
...there is one God, the Father, from whom all things are and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things are and through whom we exist...13 Therefore, if food causes my brother to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I may not cause my brother to sin.
Technology has become so advanced nowadays that nothing remains unknown for long. With the latest in probes, sensors and the like in just one click of the computer everything is laid before us. Sometimes it just goes too far and out of bounds and we fail to conform and align all these innovations to the Author and Inventor of all these things. Let us not forget, He is the source of everything there was, is and will be. We should always be aware of this undeniable truth that God's Spirit dwells in each one of us. There is no reason to doubt what today's psalm speaks about with regards to our relationship with our Creator. May we not forget and always remember who we are before the eyes of God. We can never allow our flesh, things of this world and the enemy to lure, confuse and deceive us any longer. Also in Ephesians 6:11-13, "Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day..." We are who we are in the eyes of God and not what the flesh, the world and the destructive enemy wants us to believe. We are special to God, He calls each one of us by name. We should all value the special care and attention that God has given to us as His most valued among all of His creation. As man, we have the concupiscence or the natural inclination to the flesh, lust, greed and pride. The perfect formula for self destruction is based on this popular and well subscribed saying that goes like this, "If it feels good just do it." Pope John Paul II in his book, "Splendor of Truth" said that the power to decide what is good and evil is not within the power of man. This is clear in the book of Genesis when He forbid our 1st parents to eat of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God gave us the free will and the source of conflict came from the inability to acknowledge God as our Creator and that only Him can define morality. Man doesn't make rules of morality, we only discover it. The 10 commandments are an expression of God's love and the means to have true freedom which means the ability to do what we ought to do and not what we want to do. The following are notes from our Catholicism study about the principles of Catholic Morality.
Morality is defined in the dictionary as conformity to ideals of right human conduct but based on Catholic principles is further defined as fully conformed to God and His will, an expression of our love for God and follows the moral law. It is clear that God has defined morality and not man.
Morality is objective. It is defined by God's revelation not subject to man's will. We are warned not to be enticed by the tempting appearance and enticing call of this world like the flies attracted to sugary coating of the fly paper, got trapped, unable to get out and eventually ended up dead. In Rom 12:2, it is said that we should not conform ourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of our mind, that we may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect. That is in order for us to have the right relationship conformed with God by obeying the teachings of the church which is an extension of the Body of Christ meaning God is with us. God has equipped us with the totality of the means of salvation and we can overcome anything with the grace of God and achieve true freedom and joy.
Moral law is known by human reason (Natural Moral Law) and perfected by Divine Revelation. Divine revelation is God's way of communicating His will to us. We submit to God's will because we are created in his "image and likeness" (Gen.1:26-27) and our ultimate end is to be with God. We are in this world but we are not of this world. We came from God and we all go back to Him. That is what our life is really all about since all of us will die someday and each day that passes should be thought of as a day closer to God. Since our end is God we should all know how to relate with God. In John 1:12 it is said that we are the adopted children of God. We are partakers of the divine nature of God (2Peter 1:3-4)
Morality is Universal. It applies to all people in all places and at all times. Holiness is our objective and by doing so we should be closely united with God. We have a higher dignity than that of the animals and we should not degrade ourselves since man is a spiritual being. Animals do not communicate with God only humans pray. St. Augustine said, "Our hearts are restless until it rests on God." We are compared to a donut which has a hole in the center that needs to be filled in by God.
Man has the duty to educate his conscience. An uneducated conscience can err. Everybody has to keep on forming our conscience and our standard is the word of God and the Holy Spirit. It helps to know of the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, peace, joy, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, modesty, chastity and self control.
The Church is the final and infallible interpreter of moral law. This is not dependent on the kind of church ministers we have.
Law of Catholic Morality is the purest and highest form because it comes from God. A famous man once said, "I do not need a Church to tell me that I am wrong when I know that I am wrong, what I need is a Church that tells me I am wrong when I think that I am right." Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI rallies against the principle of Moral Relativism which relies on the "it depends" justification. We all have the "Freedom of Conscience" and we can choose to have a good, lax or bad conscience depending on whether we will not or will adhere and obey the teachings of the church. Another principle that almost all people of this world fall prey into is the "Fundamental Option" which states that if there is no specific rejection of God in my heart then there is no sin committed. This is where the issue of a lax conscience falls. A person shapes God according to his/her own image instead of us, humans, His creatures adjusting to God's own image and likeness. Morality is unchangeable for God does not change. We are obligated to conform our conscience to the will of God. There is so much chaos and darkness prevailing in the world today because of the endless redefining and constant injection of other beliefs into our moral values which was long before established in the 10 commandments by Moses. And even before Jesus came for He Himself said that He came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it.
The talk on Catholic Morality inevitably tackled about the issues of abortion and artificial contraception which should make us firm in our stand to not give in or budge an inch.
Our life is precious this we know is true. We are all part of God's wonderful creation, all we have to do is be sensitive and respond to it as naturally as any other creature should to its fellow creatures and most especially to the One and Almighty God and Creator who made us all. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 23-24
R: Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
1 O LORD, you have probed me and you know me; 2 you know when I sit and when I stand; you understand my thoughts from afar. 3 My journeys and my rest you scrutinize, with all my ways you are familiar. (R) 13 Truly you have formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. 14 I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works.
Today's gospel inspired me to share about my mother. I could never forget this passage because it is one of her favorites since I grew up always hearing her quote this. (Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing…) My mother was widowed at a very young age of 32 and left with our care when we were still very young, aged 4, 3 and 1. She never remarried and just devoted her life to us. She was not just our mother but stood as our father at the same time. She worked hard in order to provide for all our needs. As far as I can remember, we were never in want at any single time. My mother would always attribute this to God our Provider. She often said that widows and orphans are very special to the Lord. I had an experience before when I was just new in the Charismatic Renewal and still in the honeymoon stage with the Lord. I was boldly declaring about my new found relationship with God and Mama Mary and somebody who happened to be a "born again" Christian kept on contradicting me. I should have been irritated and annoyed with her because I wasn't doing anything wrong with my outward display of feelings but I decided to keep up a nice face, still be gracious to her and just kept silent. I could have answered back and defended myself but I felt in my heart that it won't do any good to both of us. Although it should not always be the case we should fervently pray that we will always strive to be good and trust God. He knows perfectly well what's in our minds and hearts and what matters most is that we think, speak and act exactly the way Jesus would. We sometimes have to go through such unpleasant experiences but just like what today’s 1st reading tells us about getting a hold of ourselves we need to master the act of self restraint in order to promote harmony in our relationship with others. Whenever we feel that someone doesn't like us we should still treat that person with the same kindness we treat a person who likes us. We must not have special preferences in people and try to treat them equally as best as we can. It is very difficult but if we continue to pray to God for grace then we can carry on with it and do exactly what the gospel says. Amen. Hallelujah!
Luke 6:27-38
...32 For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same...Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
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