NO TURNING BACK

What a mighty God we serve! Whenever God reminds us of who He really is and the kind of God we should choose to follow, obey, serve, praise and love then all our doubts are erased. Our God is greater, stronger and higher than any other. He is awesome in power. Amen. Hallelujah! 

Job 9: 1-12 , 14-16

...4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed? 5 He removes the mountains before they know it; he overturns them in his anger. 6 He shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble. 7 He commands the sun, and it rises not; he seals up the stars. 8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea. 9 He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south; 10 he does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning.

Sometimes we are tempted not to say our prayers nor make any special effort to be good. It would have been easy to fall into sin and stop befriending God.  We know deep down that it is not a good thought since faith is friendship with God. It is never right to just aim for the bare minimum because that is not what friends do. It is not true that we don't need God. One way to make sure that we don't forget how much we need God is to always ask Him to bless us in all we do. We can do this by offering everything to God. Our works, joys and suffering at the beginning of the day. We must not neglect this and always practice hope. There are many things that we don't understand especially with the things that happen to us. We can always trust that it comes from God. We can turn to God in times of trouble and not run away from our problems. We should rely on our friend Jesus in both good and bad times. No matter what happens we should always lift everything to God in prayers. Day in and day out we should call upon the Lord. We know in our heart that in His great and unequaled love for us we can never outdo what God is doing and can do for us. We have to persevere in our prayers and never get tired nor stop in calling out to God for help. Amen. Hallelujah! 

Psalm 88: 10bc-11, 12-13, 14-15

R: Let my prayer come before you, Lord.

9 [10] Daily I call upon you, O LORD; to you I stretch out my hands...13 [14] But I, O LORD, cry out to you; with my morning prayer I wait upon you. 14 [15] Why, O LORD, do you reject me; why hide from me your face?

“I have decided to follow Jesus no turning back. Though no one follows, still I will follow.” This is part of the lyrics of a song that contains the message of what God wants to convey in today's gospel. We may want to ask ourselves, who is fit for the kingdom of God? Do you know how many times the word heaven or the kingdom of God is mentioned in the bible? 832 times. That's how many it is. There are so many images and symbols used to describe heaven. God obviously wants us to know about it so that we can be with Him there. God the Father, Jesus, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Most Blessed Trinity is in heaven. Jesus the 2nd Person in the Trinity has gone before us to prepare a place for us. He said that He will come back again so that where He is we can also be. Jesus teaches about heaven in so many ways. Sometimes it is easier to picture something in stories and words. When Jesus taught, He liked to take examples of everyday life of the people and teach us about the kingdom of heaven a place of joy and happiness beyond our imagination. There are many images of heaven that are presented to us by Jesus in the bible. Everything that we suffered for the kingdom of God will be rewarded a hundredfold in heaven. God invites us to join Him and enjoy heaven that was prepared for us before the foundation of the world. It is not easy to always do the right thing. Sometimes we fail to respond in the best manner possible. Today's gospel gives a tip on how to do it according to the way of Jesus. Life of detachment, this is the pathway to a simple life. There is a Jewish expression found in the gospel "Let the dead bury the dead!" which can be interpreted in English as the dead being the "slow pokes and half hearted people"  in Filipino are the so called " mga papatay-patay" This can also be related to God's call to us in in the Book of Revelation 3:14-19 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea, write this: " ...I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth..." This is a picture of hypocrisy and duplicity which the Lord rejects. Also in Luke 12:32-34- store treasures in heaven, let go of possessions in Luke 14:25-35 and Luke 16:13 which is about God and mammon. Money is not evil in itself but the love of money. Resources not shared is greed and talents not shared is lust.

We should always do things for the greater glory of God without any hesitation or doubt. Every single day we are always confronted with a lot of decisions that demonstrate where our loyalty lies. We may have decided on something but as we go along the way we find things that do not suit our comfort and expectations. This may cause us to have 2nd thoughts and doubts whether we really made the right decision or worse whether we still maintain the same conviction that we have before encountering a discouraging situation. For as long as we honestly and sincerely know in our hearts and minds that we intended to follow Jesus and acted on it then we should make a decision to really stick to it and never back out for to be fit for the kingdom of God is all worth it. Amen. Hallelujah! 

Luke 9: 57-62

As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”