"Where your treasure is, there your heart is." this can somehow contain the essence of the readings for today. Elisha, the son of Shaphat, a wealthy landowner in Abelmeholah, grew up on the farm until he, though not one of the "sons of the Prophets," was summoned from the plow by Elijah. Thereupon, after kissing his father and mother, and making a sacrificial feast of his oxen for the people, he followed Elijah, his "master" and "father," upon whose hands he poured water as a servant. During that time, farming was their source of income and way of earning a living. Elisha chose to follow Elijah and he chose well. Let us set our hearts on the real treasures that neither insect nor moth can destroy. We may have made decisions that led us not to accept a very tempting offer even if it's very clear that we will benefit from it. God constantly woos, courts and entreats us to win our love and reside in our hearts once we've answered “Yes” to Him. Thus, we must align our decisions with God’s will and should not be based on what's beneficial and convenient alone. We all hope to be just like Elisha who willingly, openly and wholeheartedly turned his back on what he used to hold dear in his life just to say “Yes” to God. Amen. Hallelujah!
1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21
...Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please, let me kiss my father and mother good-bye, and I will follow you.” “Go back!” Elijah answered. “Have I done anything to you?” 21 Elisha left him and, taking the yoke of oxen, slaughtered them; he used the plowing equipment for fuel to boil their flesh, and gave it to his people to eat. Then he left and followed Elijah as his attendant.
I have always been amazed of the fact that the scriptures of the Old Testament has always been spoken of as the foreshadowing of the New Testament which is the fulfillment of everything that was written. The apostles were able to connect Jesus to the scriptures in the Old Testament and became very convinced that He is indeed the Messiah and Savior of the world. The 1st reading and the Psalm reading for today were written almost 500 years apart. This is judging from the timeline of the reign of King David (1000BC) to whom the Psalms were attributed. Despite the time gap we can detect the uniformity of the messages. We live in a dynamic world and it changes so fast. They say that nowadays, whatever we hold true for now may not be the case later. It is a consolation to know that in the midst of this unsure world we still have something that we can hold on to. The words of God can stand the test of time and will remain to be true from generation to generation. There may be some negative speculations and forecasts that are being hurled right in front of us about our present situations most especially with the uncertainty and unpredictability of prevailing conditions. We need to keep this in mind, only God can keep us safe from all harm. A holy man once said this, "If we don't go to the desert we have nothing to bring in the marketplace." If we have no prayer then nothing works. We have to pray. We need to take time to be alone with God because if we don't, then we make ourselves vulnerable to the enemy. The scriptures tell us of stories based on real life experiences of holy men and women who lived at a different time and period than today. It is a consolation to know that the God of yesterday is still God of today and tomorrow. This gives us the confidence to really hold on to Him for He is living and true now and forevermore. The message of the readings tells us to turn our gaze on the inevitable which is sure to come. If we try to look at the facts of life there are very few things that we can permanently hold on to. All these things will come to pass and we will all eventually leave this world no matter how long we may have lived already, it will eventually come to an end. When that final day comes we must be found prepared and ready for the inheritance that God gives us. When we went to Las Vegas I saw that one of the shows we can watch for entertainment is a magician named Angel. I was reminded of the time when he was a guest in Oprah. He wowed the viewers and the crowd by being able to predict 5 days before the show the things that Oprah and 2 random guests from thousands of people from the audience are going to say. He wrote in a piece of paper these three things: delicious, John and Kevin and kept them in a suitcase with a surveillance camera on for 5 days so that no one can see it or even come near it before the show. What’s very interesting was the fact that on the day of the show when Oprah was asked what word comes to her mind she answered, “delicious” and the other 2 who were chosen randomly from almost more than a thousand crowd along Michigan Ave. in Chicago. It was done by throwing a ball and whoever catches it will be the one who will be asked. The man from the crowd who got the ball was asked the name of his first pet and he answered, “John” while the woman who got the other ball was asked who was her first kiss and she answered, “ Kevin”. All of their answers matched the 3 things that he wrote 5 days in advance. It was kind of unbelievable to see something like this and couldn’t quite come up with a good explanation how it came to be. If it was just a trick he did make a good presentation because it appeared very convincing. How can a man predict in advance the things that these people are going to say? If this man who claims to have the power of prediction was able to do it all the more can a powerful God predict our future. But we must keep in mind that it’s choice not chance that determines our destiny. There is only one real failure in life that is possible and that is not to be true to the best one knows. We should always settle for best and make God our choice. For there is nothing more assuring than the fact that we have a loving God and Father who surely has our destiny secure. We must be secured in the knowledge that as children of God our Father we are heirs of His Kingdom and co-owners of this vast creation. May we find the Lord as the only treasure in our lives worth keeping. When God calls us for a task we should always be ready, willing and able to follow Him no matter what the cost. Always follow where the Lord leads us. Nothing else could be worth more than God's inheritance. Sometimes we are confronted with so many allurements that we begin to be influenced by the way the world judges things. Let us always hold fast to God's views and ideals that we may not lose sight of the path to life and our inheritance. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
R: You are my inheritance, O Lord.
1 Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge; 2 I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you. 5 O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup, you it is who hold fast my lot.”… I set the LORD ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed. (R) 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices, my body, too, abides in confidence; 10 because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world, nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption. (R) 11 You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever.
We may have been through tough times and would never even think of reliving them again but we must not forget the valuable experience gained from it and the lessons we have learned. They say experience is the best teacher and it is. The art of being patient and knowing how to wait is something that we don’t acquire overnight. It is a product of our experiences with all the unexpected twists, turns and the agony of the uncertainty of the waiting. It wasn't an easy thing to wait but it will always pay off and worth it if we wait with joyful hope in our hearts knowing that God is Good and Almighty. Nothing is impossible with God. Sometimes we just miss the point and fail to see things in the proper perspective. When we do something and engage ourselves in activities that we consider as our offering to the Lord we immediately think that we have already been made righteous and holy. We can never fool God by masking our wrong doings through these things. If we think that we can deceive God and go along with our show then we are wrong in the same way that Paul puts it in today’s 2nd reading. It is not that God is very difficult to please but more of our hearts, who alone God can see, that has the wrong motives. We have to get rid of all malice, pretense and ill feelings that do not conform to the Holy Spirit of God. The word freedom has certainly been misused, misunderstood and interchanged for free will most of the time. Our free will is unlimited but freedom is limited. The 2nd reading tells us, if we submit to the yoke of slavery due to sin then we certainly lose this freedom. We are free to do anything that we will but we are bound by the consequences of our actions. The more we choose to do good and follow God the more we become free because everything that God stands for leads us to freedom. If we succumb to evil and fall into sin then we become bound to it and lose our freedom. Let us not be confused any longer and continue to be duped by the enemy's false ideals and padded lies. Amen. Hallelujah!
Galatians 5:1, 13-18
1 Brothers and sisters: For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. 13 For you were called for freedom, brothers and sisters. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you go on biting and devouring one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another....live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want. 18 But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
“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 kingdom of God kingdom of God kingdom of God
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 Kingdom of God
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