Today’s 1st reading tell us the prophecy of the passion as foretold 500 years or more before the time of Jesus and give us an account of Judas’ betrayal. We are confronted with the fact that there are very troubling aspects that go with sin. We can see in Matthew 16:22 that the apostles were distressed. In John’s gospel there’s an account of deep emotions that troubled Jesus whenever He encounters death and betrayal. We’ve also experienced this in our own lives especially when people intentionally deceive us. These could be very disturbing but the Good News is that Jesus’ passion is about to conquer evil and death. We should take note that in both accounts of Matthew and John’s gospel this betrayal when satan entered the mind of Judas happened at the Feast of the Passover. This is also the time when Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist and taught the apostles of this Most Blessed Sacrament. The Eucharist is the heart of our faith and the very foundation of Jesus’ work. It is the goal of satan to attack our Eucharistic faith and take us away from it. Satan wanted to influence us and make us abandon this great sacrament that Jesus Himself instituted at the Last Supper. When we leave God we will succumb to another power. This is what satan is watching out for in order to maneuver his entrance into our hearts by using greed and lust. We must not lose sight of the cross because it is where the glory of God is revealed. It is made manifest in the love of the Son. Death is conquered by life eternal in the revelation of glory through obedience to the Father’s will. Satan is conquered. In John’s gospel we can see the betrayal of Judas in contrast with Peter’s denial. It is an interesting contrast because Judas betrays him, deeply regrets and tries to repent but what’s lacking was the return to our Lord. Peter turns back to Jesus while Judas despairs. He did not accept God’s mercy. We’re all sinners but do we repent and turn back or do we keep going along the path of sin. Often times in our confessions we have repeated sins but the beauty of confession is that we keep on turning back to the Lord. We keep the hope alive through the sacrament that gives us the grace to keep coming back to our Lord. Though, we never want to commit sin, It’s a terrible thing to sin because it is a betrayal of Jesus. Let us pray that we continue to have faith in Him and accept His mercy. Amen. Hallelujah!
Isaiah 50:4-9
...I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting ...The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame. 8 He is near who upholds my right; if anyone wishes to oppose me, let us appear together. Who disputes my right? Let him confront me. 9 See, the Lord GOD is my help; who will prove me wrong?...
When we hear of amazing stories we can not contain our excitement. May we be always mindful of it at all times and filled with this kind of emotion in all circumstances. We all have sinned and bore the guilt in us. We have all been destined to die but Jesus took upon Himself all our sins and paid it in full. He made an offering of Himself for our sake. The least we could do is to give honor to this Holy Sacrifice. Let us cloth ourselves with the blood which Jesus shed for us in Mount Calvary
1. nominal- when we deny to identify a person as a real person. Example is abortion, when doctors deny the fact that at the moment of conception a person already exists.2. real but limited - We do not deny but identify them as persons but with lesser worth like the sick and terminally ill. Just because they are old, weak and sick they deserve to die as in the case of euthanasia.
3. full and real but limited - Kills people as in the Holocaust.
The whole principle involved here is discovery and deciding. When our approach is discovery then we are being led to the events in our life with a sense of total surrender, trust and faith in the Lord's
We should ascribe to the real definition of personhood. It answers the question what, how and what is it meant to be. Our approach in life to achieve faith and righteousness is by discovery and through an authentic Christian life. Discovery can be best defined in the sense that we are open to the intention and purpose of God for us. With a seeking and expectant faith we should allow God to lead us in discovering what is ahead of us and prepared by God. The approach should be in a manner of discovering what God's intention is and respecting it. We've heard of several occasions when people are spared from death or any tragic or unpleasant event because they missed the bus, woke up late, got stuck in traffic and something just came up which delayed them. I guess, it has happened to us too, somehow. After feeling annoyed and impatient because of that incident, we just found out that what appeared to be a nuisance and a problem turned out to be a blessing. It will always be good to undergo trials and hardships in life and remain steadfast in the Lord for everything will pay off in the end. Not a single thing that we've been through for the glory of God will ever be in vain. It is only right that we give all glory, honor and praise to God. We need not wait and see any longer for it is in our very own lives that God wants us to start paying attention to in order to make a return for all the good he has done. What Jesus has done for all of us is the ultimate sacrifice of love ever known in the entire history of mankind. It is impossible for us to repay what He has done but with hearts full of gratitude we can follow what the psalm reading today is telling us. It is only right and fitting that we honor our vows and promises. This shows how grateful, confident and assured we are of the Lord’s goodness. It is only right and fitting that we give 100% loyalty to God who deserves more than all the praises we can give. Let us cloth ourselves with the blood which Jesus shed for us in Mount Calvary
Psalm 116:1-2. 3-4. 5-6. 8-9 (9)
R: I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living. 1 I love the LORD because he has heard my voice in supplication, 2 because he has inclined his ear to me the day I called. (R) 3 The cords of death encompassed me; the snares of the nether world seized upon me; I fell into distress and sorrow, 4 and I called upon the name of the LORD, “O LORD, save my life!” (R) 5 Gracious is the LORD and just; yes, our God is merciful. 6 The LORD keeps the little ones; I was brought low, and he saved me. (R) 8 For he has freed my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
Sometimes we are confronted with situations wherein we need to make some decisions that may entail giving up something that is obviously benefiting us. This is very difficult to do but if we have this expectant faith then we can choose to forgo of it since we are anticipating something better. Abraham demonstrated a great act of faith that is active with works that we should all aim to have. When situations like it arise we are sometimes tempted to decide in favor of what is convenient, comfortable and practical. But we just can not deny the fact that there are times too when the circumstances are pointing toward the other direction and our gut feeling is also whispering in agreement. Somehow this scenario is often encountered in our own lives and we just do not know anymore which way to go. It is in these moments that we must not lose faith and rely on the words and promises of God for they are trustworthy. Everything we lift to God in prayer and in doing so can surely receive guidance and direction. Amen. Hallelujah!
James 2:14-18
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? 17 So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 Indeed someone might say, “You have faith and I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.
The word of God never fails. It has always been a source of enlightenment, assurance and encouragement especially at times when we needed it the most. It has been consistently living up to what it stands for from Ephesians 6:17 as sword of the Spirit. Also in Hebrews 4:12, "Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart." We can always prove this to be true if we will constantly consult the word of God in the daily readings, we will find that it always perfectly fits the situation that we are presently in for we have a God who knows everything that is going on with us, is always around and never leaves us. We want to do things the easy and the quick way and this is not very surprising at all. Even St. Peter himself did not want to hear about the passion and death of Christ in today's gospel. We might be tempted to think that Jesus is a sadist because He wants to go through all the pain and suffering that the cross entails rather than be spared from it when He can obviously will anything to happen because He is God. Jesus wanted to set a good example for us by being obedient to the will of God the Father. It is only by dying on the cross that the resurrection can have meaning. Jesus wanted to show us that we may not be able to eliminate the harsh realities in life but we can always hope for a deliverance and resurrection in Him. Sometimes in life it is by going through something even the very difficult experiences that we learn great lessons. It is a brutal teacher indeed but we gain knowledge from it. We can always look to something and be assured that God will not let us go through something without seeing us through it. We better hold on to God and never let go rather than be won over by the false propaganda of Satan and end up a loser. In today’s gospel also we hear Jesus pose this question to His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” and in all places asked this in Caesarea Philippi. History tells us that this place is the center of paganism during that time. His disciples answered Him with a variety of things with regards to who He is. This is a question we ought to answer ourselves. The true meaning of His kingship is revealed on the cross. There is a newness in it, that He is a king who came not to be served but to serve. He speaks in riddles and parables but today’s gospel is the turning point as He speaks more openly and clearly although He still doesn’t want to tell everybody because they might misunderstand. It is difficult to understand the authentic identity of Jesus apart from the cross. This is why Jesus rebuked Peter when he tried to stop Him while talking about his suffering and death. He is trying to teach us that He’s the Savior and that God alone saves. He is the Messiah indeed through the Paschal mystery (suffering, death and resurrection). In this context we should learn to deny ourselves, take up our own crosses and follow Him. We must realize that no servant is greater than His master. If Jesus embraced His cross, so must we. We should not look at Jesus and see Him as someone who just taught us beautiful things as a teacher. We should go further and not allow Satanic temptation to pull us away from Jesus on the cross. It is the devil’s goal to pull us Christians away from the cross at all cost. Satan can easily lead us away from the cross because our human nature does not want to embrace the cross. It is just a natural reaction because we don’t want to suffer and lose our lives for this world. Jesus does not ask us but we’re invited to share in His Paschal Mystery and in His cross. The world oppresses us to deny the gospel because our ego dictates us to do it our way. We have to deny ourselves and let go of our ego. The world pushes us to live by our own rules. We need to relinquish ourselves and trust Him who is the Savior rather than trust ourselves with our own will. We are tempted by the world to go to a different direction which is not in alignment with the gospel and contrary to the spirit of the gospel. We must be aware of the struggles as spoken of in Daniel 7 where he speaks of end times, the struggle in this worldly kingdom and how God’s kingdom will triumph. We have to trust and believe in Him. Is it really in our gut that we are going to follow Jesus on the cross? The world is not taking us there rather it is the faith that we profess. He is the Savior. He saves us through the cross. Let us strive and choose to think the way God does and not as human beings do. Amen. Hallelujah!
Mark 8:27-35
Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Messiah.” 30 Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. 31 He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. 32 He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”...“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.”
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