WORK IN PROGRESS

All the readings for today point to an overwhelming truth that no matter how sinful and broken we are, God is able to do wonders for us. In today’s 1st reading Paul said that he is the least of the Apostles or not even fit to be called an apostle and yet he became what he is, all because of the tremendous grace of God. We should focus on the greatness of God’s power and never underestimate or overlook what He is able to do for us. To all of us who are fellow believers in Jesus Christ, it feels good to read and be reminded of something that we should always hold on to more than our own precious lives, that is the Word of God. We should always have this attitude of always consulting and presenting to God all our plans in prayer for guidance and direction, especially at times when we are confronted with difficult life decisions. If we do this God will surely not refrain from helping us. Everything that we needed to work on would be one by one complied with and fulfilled despite our doubts and inadequacies. The Catholic Church guides the faithful to make decisions that are in line with her teachings. In this time when we are assailed by various anti life choices obviously influenced by the culture of death we need to listen and know well what kind of activities we engage in and be an active advocate of life. NaProTECHNOLOGY (Natural Procreative Technology) is a breakthrough in science that the Catholic Church approves and recommends over artificial contraception and conception.  It utilizes the wonders of the human body and assists it in the natural way.  It is a major breakthrough in monitoring and maintaining a woman's reproductive and gynecological health and a new women's health science that monitors and maintains a woman's reproductive and gynecological health. It provides medical and surgical treatments that cooperate completely with the reproductive system. Thirty years of scientific research in the study of the normal and abnormal states of the menstrual and fertility cycles have unraveled their mysteries. Unlike common suppressive or destructive approaches, it works cooperatively with the procreative and gynecologic systems. When these systems function abnormally, it identifies the problems and cooperates with the menstrual and fertility cycles that correct the condition, maintain the human ecology, and sustain the procreative potential. Women now have an opportunity to know and understand the causes of the symptoms from which they suffer. This is effective and based in science. It does not in any way disrupt the normal and natural functions of the wonderful human body that God has given us. It promotes the profound dignity of a person while being provided with authentic health care.  This is a project of the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction and the National Center for Women's Health in Omaha, Nebraska. For more information on the research and services of Pope Paul VI Institute,  please visit the Pope Paul VI website. When we do not do the divine will a catastrophe happens. We know that somehow we have failed to follow the belief, intention and vocation of God's will. We have to be aware of the fact that we have a responsibility to fulfill in our hands. Amen. Hallelujah!

1 Corinthians 15:1-8

1 I am reminding you, brothers and sisters, of the Gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. 2 Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

It always pays to be watchful and alert at all times. Although we sometimes fail to measure up due to our own shortcomings or could be the doing of another, God assures us in today's psalm that if we fall into the trap of the enemy we can always repent with a deep remorse for our sins and resolve to make the precepts of the Lord the joy of our hearts. In doing so, we find ourselves naturally restrained from sin and maintain our innocence. It is so hard to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord if we do not know exactly how to go about with it. It's just like when we have to comply to certain requirements in school and follow the standard set by it. We need to have a pattern or outline from which we can base our work. Just as it is so in other things, the more we are all in need of God's precepts. The absolute bedrock of spiritual life is to follow the 10 commandments. We are sometimes misled into thinking that when we have a type of prayer then we think that we already have a spiritual life. We’ve got to have the humility to admit that God is smarter than we are and we need to follow and obey what we are told in the 10 commandments. We should be totally and absolutely convinced that He knows best. Satan uses half truths and half lies in his devilish tricks. Satan’s claims seem to come true in one level. Take the example of our 1^st parents after eating of the forbidden fruit their eyes were opened and did become in one sense like God. The fallen angels made their free choice by radically and irrevocably rejecting God so in turn they seduce and mislead Adam & Eve. It was through sin that humanity was afflicted by death. Because of one man’s disobedience many were made sinners. When tempted in the Garden, Adam failed to remain faithful to God and His commands. Jesus, the New Adam, is God’s servant totally obedient to the Divine will. Jesus is the devil’s conqueror and takes back the plunder. What the devil has stolen from us, Jesus has recovered for us. Pope Benedict XVI commented about what the Lord experienced in the desert and said that at the heart of all temptations is the act of pushing God aside because we conceive Him as secondary. It is an act of constructing our world with our own lights and building our own foundation and setting God aside as an allusion. Temptations come in many varied forms but one thing is sure, it does not invite us to directly do evil because it is too blatant and would outright turn us off. It is very subtle and yet an act of pushing God’s commands aside and placing the devil’s temptation as primary. If we want to remain victorious throughout life, we have to keep Him in the center of our life and hold on to His words which are Spirit and life. God’s ever present help can be found in the scriptures. It's just like a soldier going to battle wearing the armor of God. It never fails and always there to defend and protect from the snares of the evil one. So always take up our sword which is the word of God. God's perfect word can refresh the soul. Have you ever wondered really how it feels to be refreshed? Whenever we take a shower or a warm bath and put on clothes that are well fitted and comfortable it refreshes our body. It could also be whenever we go to a place where we can unwind, relax, be away from the tensions, stresses, noise and turmoil of the fast paced lives that we lead and just appreciate the beauty of nature that surrounds us and the peace and quiet it offers to our tired bodies in order to be more in touch with God's voice in us. It is so refreshing it gives our minds and hearts a better view and perspective of how to live our lives. The same thing with our souls, we should always keep it clean, healthy and clothed with maximum security, protection but comfortable enough we don't even know it's there. Like it has become fused in us, there's nothing more right than following and obeying the law of God. Today's psalm reading guides us on how we should go about with our lives by always keeping in mind God's laws. None of us is perfect but through our imperfections we can always run to God for help and guidance. He will never refuse nor forsake us for He can only love and care for us. There are people who have alienated themselves from God and we can’t just force them to go back. God does not do that, it’s not how the Lord works, instead we pray and pray for them. If we wait long enough and adhere to God’s precepts then we will finally obtain joy in our hearts. As water prevails over the rock throughout the course of time so does the Holy Spirit that is continuously flooding or washing over the man’s heart.  The Holy Spirit moves in and continues to work upon us and tenderizes us. The song entitled, "Your Words Are Spirit and Life" by Bernadette Farrell was impressed to me. It is a beautiful song that I have always loved to sing and I just realized that the words of this song are taken from this psalm which made me start singing it. Well, we just have to fully discover what the words of God can make us do. When things get out of hand we have no one to blame but ourselves for God is surely not lacking in everything that He has given us for our own welfare. We've got everything we need because there's nothing more that God could and should do for us that He has not done. All we have to do is completely trust and obey the judgments of the Lord. GOD'S LAW MAKES US LIVE A VIRTUOUS LIFE (CCC 1803 "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.") May we truly recognize the genuine and precious treasures that we should all strive to achieve and work for which is none other than these things spoken of in today's psalm. Amen. Hallelujah!  

Psalm 19:2-3, 4-5

R: Their message goes out through all the earth.

1 [2] The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. 2 [3] Day pours out the word to day, and night to night imparts knowledge. (R) 3 [4] Not a word nor a discourse whose voice is not heard; 4 [5] through all the earth their voice resounds, and to the ends of the world, their message.

The readings for today and the truth it conveys reminds of the many times I almost got bitten by a dog. It happened several times in the past and these experiences made me easily scared of dogs. And this incident that happened while I was jogging almost knocked me out when a very big black dog suddenly appeared before me from behind a parked car. It rushed to my side and saw that its height came to as high as my shoulders. It started sniffing me and sensing my fear started to bully me by barking at me and when I tried to walk away suddenly jumped behind me as if trying to push me around. I couldn’t move and just prayed and that was when its owner came to the rescue. I have been telling myself that I must overcome this fear of dogs. I realized that it is time that I should and reminded myself once again of this bible passage in Genesis 1:26 “...Then God said: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.” It tells us that we are over and above them all. We are on top of everything that God created and have dominion over them. This truth should always give us confidence to be strong and of good courage. It is further emphasized and affirmed in today’s gospel as Jesus said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these…” There is no reason to cower in fear. We have to work our way to progress because we are destined for greatness in Jesus name. Let us follow our God given destiny. Whenever we are under attack and in an off guard situation, it is always good to know that we are just like soldiers who should always be in full battle gear fresh from rigid training, physically and spiritually inspired by the works of our one and only most brilliant mentor, Jesus Christ. If we are just to make sense of everything that goes on around us each and every single day then we can never be far away nor get lost in this reality that Jesus is telling us in today's gospel. It is undeniable what God has done for all of us from the dawn of man to this present age of modern civilization. Let us not continue to be negligent, mindless, thoughtless, careless and apathetic of the truth in the gospel that the Church is teaching us. Until when will we remain deaf and blind to all of these things that have been for a long time being conveyed to us from time immemorial, from the time of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, the Judges, the Kings, the Prophets, in exile until the return and ultimately to the time of Jesus more than 2,000 years ago when God did the unimaginable and stooped down to become man. The bible itself speaks for the long span of time that God has been trying to lure us into an intimate relationship with Him. Are we really that dumb not to see all of these and remain unaffected by this astounding truth? Can we afford to play hard to get with God, who is as irresistible as He is. The time to enter into that relationship is now, not later nor tomorrow. Let us not waste any more of the precious time we still have in our hands. Amen. Hallelujah!

John 14:6-14

… Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”