Men and women are always trying to unravel the secrets of how to look young and stay healthy. Scientists are working doubly hard to discover something that will reverse or arrest the aging process or find cure for certain illnesses and diseases. If the question is how to stay fresh amidst the harsh conditions we are in and still bear fruit, look no further for the answer is in today's 1st reading although it also contains a very unpopular part of Jeremiah’s prophecy. Everything we need has always been provided for by the Lord and all we have to do is follow His instructions to us. It is just right and proper that we constantly consult the word of God in order for us to not be led astray. The battle between good and evil is on and does not rest so we all need to always be vigilant and mindful of our every action. It will always depend on our choices, the enemy can only suggest but we are the ones who will ultimately decide and we always have a choice. It's up to us which ones we choose so we should choose the best part. In today’s 1st reading Jeremiah deals with the situation of the people of Jerusalem being divided into different camps. The cursed trust in human beings because they trust in the King of Egypt to save them from the king of Babylon. Jeremiah warns them to obey the law and stay out of any alliances with the King of Egypt but they don’t want to listen. They switched alliances on a regular basis. He told them that to trust in humans is their own doom but blessed is the man whose trust is in the Lord. This trust and hope can give life in the presence of difficulties. At that time Israel is in a real threat in the presence of Babylon but it is trust in the Lord that gives life. This applies not only in the time of Jeremiah but also to us. If we trust in human enterprises in the midst of the problems in our modern world despite the comforts and ease we enjoy today then we are doomed. We still have problems no matter how well developed a country can be there is the problem of nature. It affects their enterprises and can’t control nature like earthquakes and tornadoes. They need to do the best just as we too need to do the best we can with the gifts of the modern world but most of all is to trust in the Lord. We don’t accommodate ourselves to the culture instead we should be putting our trust in what God has revealed. The curse is on us if we keep on putting our trust in human beings instead of what God has revealed in what’s right and wrong. God alone can probe the mind and test the heart. We should not look at the exterior. Even Jesus warned us not to judge one another. But we should never be afraid to call sin for what it is, that’s part of the good sense. God makes it clear what a person deserves. All we can do is see the outside behavior and know that what is bad is bad. We should never be afraid to say that those are wicked things but we’re not supposed to say that the person is going to hell. What we should worry about is if we’re going to hell or heaven since it is difficult enough to probe our own hearts let alone probe others. God probes our hearts but He gives us guidelines as Jeremiah tells us today. We sometimes encounter different scenarios in life that we thought we are totally unfamiliar of and had no idea what to do. We succumb to the difficulty of the situation and feel helpless without realizing that God has been showing us a very familiar scenario in our life like a door that has always been there and open for us to always enter. We thought that each situation is different but it's not. And as the 1st reading tells us, even though the heat comes as in the year of drought we need not be distressed. When we are confronted with what seems to be dauntingly unfamiliar then we are totally wrong because each and every situation in our life rings a bell. We should be aware of the truth that we may not remember always but that doesn't change the fact that we've been on that path before. A path no matter how unfamiliar it may seem, is paved by God for us. Our passion for God disappears when we doubt that God loves us. We have to make an effort to really believe that we receive His love daily. Loneliness hinders us from receiving God’s love. We sometimes become too secretive due to our fear of rejection. We make it a point to choose our friends and avoid focusing too much on criticism. It is not being proud if we parade our harvest in order to remind ourselves that our work is not in vain. We have to be positive that God is using some problems in order for us to see His glory. The following things are also fire extinguishers of our relationship with God. Long standing conflicts and tough love sometimes it is better to err in the side of mercy than err in the side of justice. In Psalm 145:8 it is written, The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. We have to simplify our life and make Jesus the center. We have to know what is God’s direction in our life. Fear of the unfamiliar and the uncomfortable tends to limit what God can do in our lives. We need to expand everyday. It is important to strive daily to commune with the Lord, pray, read scriptures and go to mass. Someday we will be tempted to give up our relationship with God. What are we going to do when we fall? We should go to confession, be reconciled to God and repent. Sin sucks out the joy in our relationship with God. Here are some guide questions to keep ourselves on fire for the Lord. Identify our top 3 fire extinguishers that are affecting our relationship and passion for God and why? How would we overcome this and grow deeper in our relationship with God? A disciple transforms his/her past for God’s purposes. God uses all our past experiences for us to attain the kingdom of God. We should obey God and be willing to live in the edge and take risks. This makes all the difference. If we look into the premise that God is constant then all other variables depend solely on God whom we can always count on. Amen. Hallelujah!
Jeremiah 17:5-10
Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a barren bush in the desert that enjoys no change of season, But stands in a lava waste, a salt and empty earth...Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream. It fears not the heat when it comes, its leaves stay green; in the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit. More tortuous than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it? I, the LORD, alone probe the mind and test the heart, to reward everyone according to his ways, according to the merit of his deeds.
Today’s psalm brought back memories of what I witnessed on television in 2010 when miners in Chile had to be rescued in a mine. Nobody would ever want to be trapped in a dark mine that is 2000 feet below. What caught my attention was the fact that although some of them had been rescued and brought up to the light they were still prevented from exposing their eyes to the light and were given dark shades to wear to protect them. This is what happens when we dare to step into the darkness and stay there too long we adapt to it and wanting to go back to the light instantly could be harmful. Let us not be led into the dark and imbibe it for too long that we find it difficult to adapt to light. Until now, we have no idea who we are and still in a conflict. Look at the things we do and engage in. This is because we don’t understand who we are. We will be judged by God according to our behavior. We should have God in the core of our identity. What builds our confidence? Think about it. This same reason should apply in our relationship with God. If we know and are aware of how we look right before God, then we should have the confidence of a beloved child of the God most high. How can we not be, knowing that we are covered by the most precious blood of His Son Jesus who took all our sins and died on the cross for our sake then we should be the most confident person of all. Remember, we have the composure of a child of God. Nothing should stop us from behaving in the way He has meant us to be, lifted up on a pedestal as His very dear children. Today's psalm tells us that if we follow the Lord we will not be in darkness and will have the light of life. God is true to His word and we can always hold on to it more than we can hold to our life. Just like any person striving to maintain a good standing in any aspect of life there are some rules to be followed. People nowadays have become increasingly divided, there are the poor and the wealthy and sometimes we see the not so good, arrogant, bad people cheat in order to get money and get away with it. We must always have this hope in God and not be tempted by the evildoers of their taunting that despite the goodness we do we are not getting anything out of our sacrifices. God knows the private conversations and thoughts and He exposes them and records everything. The idea that we can get away with anything we do is not a good idea. God knows our words, thoughts and deeds. Fear of the Lord in a positive way is one of the greatest virtues as in the book of Wisdom. It is stated that it is the beginning of wisdom if it is paralleled with trust that we will not be put to shame. Those wicked people who think that they have a lot of money, power, disobey God and don't use their resources in accordance to God's will can be compared to chaff that can easily be burned. If we have the right relationship with God then we too can be exposed to the heat of God's love like the sun that can make things go on fire but instead of burning becomes a source of healing like the rays of light shown in a monstrance which symbolizes being in God's presence. We should never lose hope nor fall into despair. Whenever we sin, we must not just acknowledge it. The lesson we always have to remember is to have humility to approach Christ as we acknowledge our sins. This should remind us of Peter and Judas, they both sinned and acknowledged it. Peter wept bitterly after denying Jesus 3x while Judas threw away the silver coins that were paid to him. The difference lies in the fact that Peter as the scriptures say, when he wept, looked at Jesus with a heart, humble and contrite, which God would not despise and ran to Mary. While Judas, fell into despair and hanged himself. Thus we remember these things and always run to God with humility and also to Mary, the mother of Christ who will obtain for us true contrition. There is really a need for God's people to always be connected to Him in order to survive whatever is going on at present and what is to come. We've got to always keep ourselves motivated to do all in our power for the glory of God. All other things fade in the background and should not get our attentions any more than we ought to believe that God is our only hope. We may have started at the peak but as time goes by we may have started to lag or worse go on a downward path. Or could have started off but never worked our way up then it's time we get things straight and be focused so as not to lose sight of the unsurpassed and unfading trophy and blessing that await those who are victorious in the Lord. Today’s psalm continues to give us the guidelines we need to live by to truly prosper in the Lord. God assures us that even though life may bring us so many heartaches and pains we can still stand firm and hope that we will have the light of life if we will persevere, not waver nor falter in following the Lord. Let us choose to live in the light rather than stay in the dark. God gave us the freedom to choose let us hope and pray that we are always inclined to do the will of God in our lives to carry out His plan of prosperity in our life. It has been impressed to me that God has already given us the gift, all we have to do is open it and use it as intended to serve its purpose. Sometimes we remain stubborn in our old ways we don't realize that everything is just within our reach, it's just a matter of committing and deciding what is right before God. We all know that life becomes difficult when it comes to commitments and making decisions but it will always be worth it after all the hard work as implied in the psalm reading. It doesn't matter who or what we are, whether young or grown up, God will always find a way to bless us in various ways. We just have to open ourselves to Him and always draw near to Him and never stray away from His side. The scriptures say it all. We need not hesitate, stall, delay nor look for anything else further but just follow what the scriptures tell us to do. In fact the bible has an acronym which stands for (B) Basic (I) Instructions (B) Before (L) Leaving (E) Earth. Another thing I am reminded of is my son Jude when he was just a little boy aged 6. When my mother was hospitalized I was the one taking care of her during the day and my brother who is the eldest is the one who slept in the hospital at night and stayed by her bedside. When she died we were both not by her side or no one for that matter because she was brought to a different room for removal of water in her lungs and also the time when my brother and I had changed shift. I just arrived home coming from the hospital and had no thought whatsoever that my mother already passed away. I was in complete denial of the fact that she would be leaving us soon during that time, I had always hoped for a miracle and extension of her life although my mother kept on telling us back then that she is ready to go anytime. I could never forget when I was just entering the house, my son Jude suddenly came up to me while holding a bible in his hand and opened a page in front of me with a picture of a tree beside a river and animals grazing on the land. What my son told me was this, "Nanay (Mother) let’s do a bible study." Since I was so tired, I got the bible from him closed it and told him that we'll do it later. But he was persistent he opened the bible again and lo and behold saw the same picture and page that he showed me a few seconds ago. He did it again for the 3rd time and the same page in the bible was showing up. Because of that I was prompted to finally give in to his persistence and read the bible passage underneath the picture. It was exactly the same message in today's psalm reading. After reading it something in me prompted me to say to him that her grandmother is already healed and will soon be coming home to us from the hospital. This is without knowing yet that it was the same time too when she passed away. Later on I realized that it was God's way of telling us that indeed my mother is healed and has gone home although not to our earthly house but to a place of eternal rest and perpetual light, in paradise. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalms 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6
R: Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
1 Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, 2 but delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night. (R) 3 He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers. (R) 4 Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away. 6 For the LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes.
If we truly believe in one thing then it has to mean something and has to stand up for that one thing. In today's 1st reading, Paul emphasizes the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead. If this is so then we should believe that the same thing happened for those who truly believe in Him and also for all of us who are yet to cross over to the next life after this. Paul said that the most pitiable people of all are those who have hoped in Jesus for this life alone. Our present life here on earth is nothing compared to our life in the next. We can only set our hopes in this life for a maximum of 100 years if we will be blessed by God to live that long. We are just passing by and we are headed for a much better place where God has intended for all of us to be. In this journey, our hope and faith should rest on the truth that is proclaimed by Paul in the 1st reading. We don't settle for the minimum but go for the maximum which is eternal life of bliss and happiness with God. Amen. Hallelujah!
1 Corinthians 15:12-20
...For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
The Sermon on the Plain in the gospel of Luke speaks of the conditions of the heart. In fact when analyzed it was counted as 6/9 since 6 of them is about humility of the heart. Luke is a very good writer and devoted himself to the study of the scriptures. To understand Luke and his writings, one must understand Eastern and Ancient philosophy about the mind and the heart. The purity of desire, cleanliness of intentions and nobility of character all dwell in the heart of man. Eastern culture especially Near East thinks with its heart. God does not look on appearance but into one's heart. The Eastern definition of humility which comes from the word humus or soil are: 1. thinking of others before yourself, using the "we language rather than "I" 2. Knowing our place in the grand scheme of things. We must remember that "We are not the Messiah" and must be free of any "Messianic complex" by excluding arrogance which connotes violence, deceit, jealousy, conniving and manipulative. God prefers it that Jesus is the Messiah because we mess things up. We must know where we are supposed to stand. St. Thomas said that in order to see the perfect exemplification of the beatitudes, we have to look to Christ. Jesus is a happy man, a picture of freedom and joy. He loved doing the will of His Father. We have to look to our Lord on the cross and despise what He despised on the cross. They are the 4 things which we physically seek in this life, wealth, pleasure, power and honor. Wealth, he has none he was stripped naked even of His clothes. Pleasure he was at the limit of physical and psychological suffering. Power, he was nailed on the cross. Honor, he was mocked as he was publicly displayed and crucified. The main point here is detachment. Jesus is detached from the things which we typically seek. On the cross, he is the ultimate peace maker and the bringer of divine mercy, if Aquinas is right then Jesus on the cross is a picture of a happy man. I am reminded of my mother (nanay). She has totally surrendered her life to the Lord during the time of her sickness despite the opposition and difficulty I have imposed upon her brought about by my narrow and selfish thinking. We often argued whenever I hear her say words like I am ready anytime God calls me to be with Him. I was only open to the possibility of her physical healing but never entertained in my mind that she would die soon. It must have been very painful at that time to be afflicted with terminal cancer and at the same time see her children still clinging to her and praying for an extension to her life. Now I know how my mother must have felt back then while fighting her illness at that time with an only daughter clinging tightly to her and not yet open to the possibility of being left behind. Looking back, now I understand why God allowed here to die alone without anyone of us, her loved ones by her side. Even my eldest brother who was there in the hospital was not by her side. She was just brought to the operating room for removal of water in her lungs and she never came back. If there's one person whom I know who was able to face death with so much courage and hope that is none other than my nanay (mother). Blessed are you indeed, nanay for the kingdom of God is yours. At that time it was hard to see things the way she wanted us to see it but at this point where she already left us and in hind sight it has taught me a lot of lessons. There is only one thing that can make us truly happy, to get to heaven. Human beings are sad because they depend on material things for happiness. Fame, power, prestige, exotic entertainment or travel to wonderful places, if we win the lottery once, move to another place, or have another job. When our Lord saw the sadness of human beings he gave the formula in the beatitudes. Not once does He mentioned, money, fame, houses, entertainment and exotic cruises. The formula for happiness lies in the truth that our heart is at rest. As St. Augustine wrote, our hearts are restless until it rests on God. According to Oscar Wilde there are 2 terrible tragedies in life, not to get what our heart sets upon or to get it. Some of us get this truth the hard way. Poverty in spirit means that we are empty. By nature of course we are like a vacuum because we have to be filled with something. But we are usually filled with things, persons, places and tragically we do not own them they own us. When we finally get what we long for, that is when we realize that we can not have them nor could we own them forever. The only way to attain true happiness is to be possessed by the Lord. It’s a struggle everyday to break ourselves free so that the Lord can possess us. We have to learn to let go of yesterday, happiness in the past or the future, we must enjoy God’s gift to us today. That’s why it’s called the present. We must learn to find our strengths and staying power in the Lord. We must learn to face all these challenges with our Lord and be empty of everything except Him. The beatitudes will serve as our map in our quest to heaven. Beatitudes are like eyeglasses that help us to see what is important so as not to lose sight of what is right. Whenever we are to decide and act on something we might as well ask ourselves, “Is this choice going to bring me closer to heaven?” The more we get our vision corrected the more we get closer to heaven. What is going to bring us closer to heaven? St. Francis of Assisi is a pilgrim in search of the glory of God. He renounced his riches and served God. These are the kinds of choices that pilgrims make to get closer to heaven. We spend our whole lives to get closer to God. We are in contact with God and making choices to be closer to God. If we live our lives as pilgrims in a journey to heaven then we will be happy. We will be recognized for our love and joy. We are not expected to take this journey alone and walk in a lonely path. The Church is with us to help us in this journey and help us to stay in the right path. The sacraments, mass, baptism and penance are the tools to reach our heavenly destiny. God never wants us to be discouraged. We can bring all our sins to Him in confession. The Eucharist the guiding light of our journey is the earthly physical presence of Christ on earth. It guides, feeds and reminds us of the manna in heaven. We also have the Blessed Mother when Jesus gave us His own mother at the cross. She loves us as her children. The final destination of our pilgrimage and journey is heaven.
Luke 6:20-26
20 Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. 21 Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. 22 Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way. 24 But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. 26 Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”
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