We should all strive to be pleasing before the Lord. No matter how much the world, the flesh and the enemy try to lure us away from our God given destiny we must not give in. The saints did it and we are also invited to live a life headed for that destiny and must not be deceived into believing that we are meant for anything less. As it is written in John 10:10 A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. Let us guard well and not allow ourselves to be robbed of our true identity as the beloved children of God. We may ask ourselves how saints do it? St. Therese had the habit of smiling whenever her work was interrupted by a nun coming whether with or without good reason to ask for help. Most are annoyed and impatient especially when they don’t have a good reason. Just like St. Therese we have to master a willed reaction like a habit of smiling when she is annoyed. She does it quite naturally. At the beginning of a free period which Carmelite nuns do not have a lot of, she prepares herself ahead of time to react in a loving manner. Thus nothing took her by surprise, she is ready to be disturbed, counts on being disturbed, thus she is always happy. That is determination, practicing it and does something about it. It is a process to change from good to better to best. Holiness and sanctity is not an emotion, the thing itself is in the will. Jesus said, he who does the will of my Father is the one who loves me. As St. Thomas said, “will it,” light the fire and do something about it. Fidelity is all we need. Daily conversation with the Lord is crucial. One of the traits of geniuses is that they can say the deepest things in just a few words. We must keep on doing it until we reach perfection. St. Augustine , said “Every Christian should be an Alleluia from head to toe.” The people who live and buy completely the message of the Catholic Church are the saints. They live the Lord’s message and the most beautiful people in the planet.
The saints are the one who really live by the truth, walking in the living form and really work enthusiastically. They are present in the world but not at home in this world. Living the divine message as perfectly as they can and eager to act and yet devoted to contemplation. They say that the only way to criticize fairly any organization is for those who criticize to buy what the organization is about and live it. It is not fair if you just buy it somewhat and do not live it completely. Today’s 1st reading is taken from the letter of Paul to the Thessalonians. He did live and buy the faith of the Church and makes him authentically credible to speak the way he did to fellow believers. Amen. Hallelujah!
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our reception among you was not without effect. Rather, after we had suffered and been insolently treated, as you know, in Philippi ,
we drew courage through our God to speak to you the Gospel of God with much struggle.
Our exhortation was not from delusion or impure motives, nor did it work through deception. But as we were judged worthy by God to be entrusted with the Gospel, that is how we speak, not as trying to please men, but rather God, who judges our hearts. Nor, indeed, did we ever appear with flattering speech, as you know, or with a pretext for greed–God is witness– nor did we seek praise from men, either from you or from others,
although we were able to impose our weight as Apostles of Christ. Rather, we were gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children. With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you not only the Gospel of God, but our very selves as well, so dearly beloved had you become to us.
Technology has become so advanced nowadays that nothing remains unknown for long. With the latest in probes, sensors and the like in just one click of the computer everything is laid before us. Sometimes it just goes too far and out of bounds and we fail to conform and align all these innovations to the Author and Inventor of all these things. Let us not forget, He is the source of everything there was, is and will be. In the midst of all the trouble we're going through it is always a consolation to know that we have a God who knows every single thing that is going on with us and He cares and loves us a lot. For indeed in today's psalm reading is another confirmation that God knows our deepest thoughts and longings. We should always be aware of this undeniable truth that God's Spirit dwells in each one of us. There is no reason to doubt what today's psalm speaks about with regards to our relationship with our Creator. May we not forget and always remember who we are before the eyes of God. We can never allow our flesh, things of this world and the enemy to lure, confuse and deceive us any longer. It helps to always remember what St. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:11-13, "Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day..." We are who we are in the eyes of God and not what the flesh, the world and the destructive enemy wants us to believe. We are special to God, He calls each one of us by name. We should all value the special care and attention that God has given to us as His most valued among all of His creation.
This reminds me of this lady who used to ask me, "How do I look?" I would always reply, "You're beautiful." But she would say in return, "Oh you're full of baloney" and every time I would just laugh back at her. Eventually I got inspired to respond to her differently when I told her that it is not baloney but it's biblical that we are all beautiful. In fact the Tagalog translation in text message that I have received is quite funny, it goes something like this, "Kilabot sa ganda, nanginginig pa" (I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works.) which is stated right here in today's psalm. As man, we have the concupiscence or the natural inclination to the flesh, lust, greed and pride. The perfect formula for self destruction is based on this popular and well subscribed saying that goes like this, "If it feels good just do it." Pope John Paul II in his book, "Splendor of Truth" said that the power to decide what is good and evil is not within the power of man. This is clear in the book of Genesis when He forbid our 1st parents to eat of the fruit from the tree of good and evil. God gave us the free will and the source of conflict came from the inability to acknowledge God as our Creator and that only Him can define morality. Man doesn't make rules of morality, we only discover it. The 10 commandments are an expression of God's love and the means to have true freedom which means the ability to do what we ought to do and not what we want to do. Catholic Morality is under attack as issues on abortion and artificial contraception have become so liberated. We should be firm in our stand not give in or budge an inch as we stand by the teachings of the Church. We should all value the special care and attention that God has given to us as His most valued among all of His creation. Our life is precious this we know is true as stated in today's psalm. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 139:1-3. 4-6
R: You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
1 O LORD, you have probed me and you know me; 2 you know when I sit and when I stand; you understand my thoughts from afar. 3 My journeys and my rest you scrutinize, with all my ways you are familiar. (R) 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know the whole of it. 5 Behind me and before, you hem me in and rest your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; too lofty for me to attain. (R)
Sometimes we are too focused and disturbed about something that we tend to forget the more important or essential thing. The gospel for today is telling us exactly that. We should always put God in the center of everything we do. Or we should always keep in mind that Jesus knows all our motivations and intentions. Whenever we act on it we should be able to confidently say that Jesus is very pleased with it. We should be able to honestly and confidently admit to God that our actions are based on what is truly pleasing to Him. In today's gospel, Jesus tells us to cleanse ourselves of all impurities that stain our souls. As our physical bodies need daily baths to keep us clean, we must not neglect to bath our souls with spiritual soap such as doing what is good in thoughts, words and in action. Stay away from wrongdoings that can stain us and hard to remove we may need to use spiritual bleach instead of just soap. When we launder our clothes we also use fragrant softeners the same way with our spiritual walk with the Lord. Let us always transform our hearts hardened by our sins into hearts of flesh. Amen. Hallelujah!
Matthew 23:23-26
23 Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. But these you should have done, without neglecting the others. 24 Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel! 25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.”
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