BLOOD OF THE LAMB

When I was just new in the charismatic I always hear people pray for the blood of Jesus to cover and protect us. Today's 1st reading is a foreshadowing of the sacrificial blood of Jesus poured in Mt. Calvary for the redemption of our sins. It reminds us of the power of the blood of the lamb that shielded the Israelites from any destructive blow. Let us cloth ourselves with the blood of Jesus, let us not forget what Jesus did for us so that God's mercy will always be upon us. The blood that marked the houses of the Jews during the Passover spared them from death. We, as true believers and followers of Christ had been marked with the Most Efficacious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is really good that without us making a way, He was the One who made the way. We should rejoice  that more than just the blood of the lamb  we have the greatest power of the blood of Jesus made available to us when He obeyed the will of His Father to give up His life on the cross for our salvation. Amen. Hallelujah!

 

Exodus 11:10–12:14

...The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then, with the whole assembly of Israel present, it shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight. They shall take some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel of every house in which they partake of the lamb. That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.. But the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you...

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, let us not forget what Jesus did for us so that God's mercy will always be upon us. We have to endure to the end and be found deserving of a great blessing that awaits us. The ignorance of our faith is ignorance about Jesus. We may sometimes think that evangelization is just work for the priests and the religious. It is not limited to them but anyone who is baptized should take on this responsibility. JFK once said, "Here on earth, God's work must truly be our own." Nothing should ever stop us from being part of the work of God. God made man in His own image and likeness. (Gen 1:26) In this context we need to define personhood well and know the perils of limited definition. It could be classified into 2 definitions, nominal and real. Nominal definition of personhood is decided by man. It is approaching something that we don't know but we already have the answer. We make decisions and play God. The dangers of this definition of a person are:

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 Providence for the realization of things that are unseen and hoped for. God may not fully reveal and present us with a surprise but we maintain full confidence in a God who brought us to wherever we are right now. In deciding, our approach is a lot different since we already have an answer for something that we don't know yet. It boils down to the fact that we think we know too much but we don't. We end up playing God. We need to remain as man and allow God to be God of our life. When man becomes god, we lose everything because we are not God. We have to realize the impact in our life of discovery versus deciding.

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. No amount of thank you will ever suffice to what God has done for all of us. This and only this should we always have in mind, the least we could do is to always put God first in everything we do. Let Him become our motivation and inspiration knowing that He shed His blood for our sake. We may look different, strange and queer for some because of our intense desire to please God in return for all the good that He has done for us. It may still be imperfect or could be unbecoming if based on the standards of some but we must continuously strive to do our best to pay reverence, homage and loyalty to the one and only Supreme Lord of all in the presence of all his people at all cost in the best way we can. We have to feel the abounding joy and peace in our heart as we remind ourselves of the many promises of God that we have been patiently waiting for to be fulfilled. God is going to fulfill all His promises. It should give us renewed strength and courage to confidently stand up and remain steadfast in His love against all odds. We can be a people radiating with goodness that others can see the contrast. We can choose modesty, chastity and purity over the values that the world tries to influence us with. We should be able to know our definition of happiness and love and be the person God has made us to be before the world defines it for us. In doing so we can face God on that day with faith and enter the ark of salvation into His heavenly kingdom. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 116:12-13. 15 and 16bc. 17-18

R: I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

12 How shall I make a return to the LORD for all the good he has done for me?... 15 Precious in the eyes of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones. 16 O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your handmaid; you have loosed my bonds. (R) 17 To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name of the LORD. 18 My vows to the LORD I will pay in the presence of all his people.

In our bible study in San Lorenzo we learned from Fr. Tony that the book of Jonah was written in the post exilic period and was greatly influenced by the prophets Ezra and Nehemiah right after the period of Exile which are almost considered historical books. He elaborated on the role of the prophets not merely to foretell rather to forth tell and to witness as called for by the present and prevailing situation. During that time, prophets before the period of exile were giving the people a warning. The people are being called to change and mend their evil ways but they refused to listen until they were eventually brought into the period of exile. Father Tony emphasized that the period of exile is a time marked with great despair and hardship and the prophets during this period of exile speaks of hope and proclaims that God has not abandoned. It was followed by the period of the prophets Ezra and Nehemiah, they are the ministers after the exile who proclaimed a time of purification and a strict form of nationalistic tendency. They said that there was a need to learn from the lessons of being in exile since they did not follow and obey God. It was mandated that there should be no intermarriages and no mixture with other people. They concluded that every time they mix with other people they become an adulterous nation. This thinking had greatly influenced Jonah since he came into this time right after the period of Ezra and Nehemiah. When he was called by God to prophesy to the people of Nineveh he did not obey because he believed that they are a people who do not belong to their race. He ran away and as most of us know, he was swallowed by a big fish and eventually followed God. The lesson of Jonah is about the universal love of God even for Gentiles. It shows the control of God over all of nature and peoples as evidenced when Jonah tried to ran away and went on board a ship and a big storm came and he was thrown out to the sea which calmed the storm (Jonah 1:8-16). It ridicules narrow nationalism in Judah just like the prophets Ezra and Nehemiah. Salvation is for all and it does not restrict anybody from taking part in it. It shows that God is not merely just but also merciful. Repentance as well as salvation is not a monopoly. God acts sometimes in strange and humorous ways. We can not figure God out in our desires. We can not put God in a box. The importance of the book of Jonah is mainly about God's great mercy and man's repentance. The bible verses in the books in the bible citing Jonah are in 2 Kings 14:25, Mt. 12:38-42, Mt. 16:4, Lk 11:29-32 for several times also in the passages it read that "there is something greater than Jonah here..." Jonah ushers the love of God in the New Testament as in last verse in the book of Jonah which foreshadows the 2 thieves in the left and right of Jesus crucified in Mt. Calvary and His immeasurable mercy when He said, "Forgive them for they know not what they do." We can respond to God's mercy in the manner that we choose. Another significant thing that was mentioned was in Jonah 3:5 which refers to the 40 days before destruction of Nineveh and can be consistently associated with how the  # 40 is related to preparation. It is associated with life and death, in the practices and beliefs of the people nowadays. How they refer to life beginning at 40 and the 40 days prayer for the dead. For the Israelites, when they were in exile for 40 years. We also know that Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert and also His ascension to heaven.   Mercy is freely bestowed to anyone and was generously given to the Ninevites because God relented in His punishment and continues to relent and convey His mercy for He is a loving God. After the exile for 40 years, the Israelites got preoccupied with restoration of the temple. In the same way, our life needs restoration and constant connection with the Lord but we should go beyond the dictates of tradition and practices and focus more on the Spirit of God of mercy which is the ultimate lesson in Jonah and is the same message in today's gospel. There is always a commitment to any relationship and what God desires of us most of all, is our genuine love and concern above anything else. It goes beyond what is seen and spoken from the heart. We are the present day Jonah and as such we must believe that being merciful and offering a sacrifice goes hand in hand, it is very important that we renew ourselves constantly as we grow in virtue. It comes in stages, and we'll just have to work on it one day at a time. We have to be conscious of our motives and intentions. The bottom line is always think that whatever we do, imagine God watching and honestly feel in your heart if it can elicit a smile on His face. Today's gospel has always been a very controversial issue for most people of all kinds of religion. A lot of people makes a big deal out of the Sabbath Day and sometimes fail to see what's most essential. We sometimes become very legalistic and scrupulous of a lot of things with regards to the faith that we end up defeating the purpose for what it is really meant for. Jesus tells us in today's gospel that although David and their companions violated the Sabbath they were justified. He emphasize that more than anything else it is mercy that pleases God more than sacrifice. We may be fulfilling all the dictates of the Sabbath but if we forget to have compassion and mercy to our fellowmen then we are not at all justified before God. The Sabbath is considered the rest day and is obviously made to serve its purpose which is for man's welfare. We need to fulfill the Sabbath, there is no doubt but we must not forget that the Sabbath is made for man and not the other way around. Amen. Hallelujah!

Matthew 12:1-8

...“Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, 4 how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? 6 I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you knew what this meant, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned these innocent men. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”