How we live our life in each passing day is a testimony of how we follow the will of God in our lives. There is a need to constantly and regularly connect to God everything that we do. If we make a conscious effort to do this everyday then we'll surely find it easier to obey the things that God wants us to do and be more sensitive in knowing the will of God in our lives. If we will just honestly and sincerely seek God then we will surely find Him. As we do this we will eventually discover a lot of things that we need to know in order to live our faith in accordance to God's will and be able to overcome all trials and difficulties that come our way. It is really important that we know and follow the instructions of God as in today's 1st reading when God rained down bread from heaven and tested whether the Israelites will follow or not. In the same way when we, like the Israelites believe after witnessing in our lives God's Almighty Power to provide for our need but sometimes still fail to follow instructions given to us by God through the Church and insist on our own perverted thoughts and beliefs. It is our duty to know more about our faith and follow what it teaches us through the Catholic Church. Amen. Hallelujah!
Exodus 16:1-5. 9-15
... “I will now rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion; thus will I test them, to see whether they follow my instructions or not...“This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.”
The Lord has already given us everything we need but we still crave for something else. We sometimes doubt and question God's ability to get us through it all. We tend to resort to means that is of our own and not of God. Our rationalizing mind gets the better in us when we exclude in the equation the awesome truth of who really God is and what He is capable of doing in our life. Today’s psalm tells us not to forget the works of the Lord. What better way to do that than to keep our eyes focused on the price that God paid for us on the cross and the eternal benefits it has brought upon us. In order to attain this we need to constantly listen to the teachings of the Church. We have to familiarize ourselves to the words of God in scriptures and the mysteries they hold. We have seen and witnessed so much already to even doubt God's goodness. We hope and pray that we will always remember and never forget. Our minds are limited and can not comprehend beyond what can be explained by reason. God gave up His only begotten Son, Jesus and allowed Him to be sacrificed on the cross. This could never be explained by our logical and rational minds especially if we are parents ourselves and have only one child. Who would give up an only child to die a cruel and humiliating death for the sake of another and sinners at that? But God did that and the only reason is His immeasurable and unfathomable love for all of us. Today's psalm teaches a very important lesson and guideline that we should always live by. If we want to maintain our strength and not be susceptible to captivity in the hands of the enemy then we should always remember and not forget the wonderful things that God has done to us. This makes sense because God's works are holy and perfect we can surely rely on it for everything. When the Israelites decided to follow Moses when they were led out of Egypt to the Promised Land and traveled a long time through the desert they discovered that it was not an easy but a wearying and tedious journey. In the same way when we travel through life we encounter challenges that sometimes drive us to despair. However, we can draw inspiration from the readings today. Just like the Israelites we should always have the hope of a new and better life and be assured of the fact that with God on our side we will never be defeated in battle, nor will we be allowed to starve and be fed with bread from heaven. We easily forget things and become preoccupied with so many other things. This happens to most of us and we tend to neglect what is truly essential. Let us not focus on the lesser things but on what should dominate our consciousness and awareness. We should always be alert and not easily distracted and dissuaded by what is going on around us. Nowadays, we tend to just rely on our own strength and understanding because we are living in a very materialistic and advanced world and forget what's most important is to focus on how God can be fully at work in our lives. We have seen and witnessed so much already to even doubt God's goodness. We hope and pray that we will always remember and never forget the works of the Lord. Amen. Hallelujah!
P S A L M
Psalm 78:18-19. 23-24. 25-26. 27-28
R: The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
18 They tempted God in their hearts by demanding the food they craved. Yes, they spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the desert?” R. Yet he commanded the skies above and the doors of heaven he opened; He rained manna upon them for food
and gave them heavenly bread. R. Man ate the bread of angels, food he sent them in abundance. He stirred up the east wind in the heavens, and by his power brought on the south wind. R. And he rained meat upon them like dust, and, like the sand of the sea, winged fowl, Which fell in the midst of their camp round about their tents. R.
There is a season and a reason. The farmers wait for the proper and optimum time to plant their seeds, cultivate and harvest. Things can not be done in a hurry. As in the following bible passages: Acts 17: 26-27...and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us. Psalm 31:14-15..."You are my God." My times are in your hands;... Hebrews 4:16...So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help... We can learn a lot from these words of God and ponder on them before we make any rush decisions. We have to decide and act on things based on the Word of God and be guided by them at all times. The seed being spoken of in today’s gospel is the word of God. There is also a need to till the soil before we can plant the seed. When I was just a kid I used to pity the farmers who work under the heat of the sun while plowing the fields. It is clearly etched in my mind how they guide the plow being pulled by the carabao while their feet sink into the mud. The same way these farmers prepare the soil for a good harvest we, too must prepare ourselves in order to become the rich soil that bears fruit. Let us not waste the seed God has sown in our hearts. If we need to stay under the scorching heat of the sun and sink our feet into the mushy field of our lives why not, it will always be worth it knowing that the seed that God has planted will surely reap a bountiful harvest, Amen. Hallelujah!
…But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear."
Whoever has ears ought to hear."
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