GOD OF ORDER

There is a time for everything. Our God is a God of order and He places everything according to His perfect scheme and plan. All we have to do is completely trust Him that He will do what He has promised and set to do in accordance to His goodness, mercy, peace and love. As in today's 1st reading He assures us that He is our Creator, the King of the entire universe and the one and only Supreme God who can make all things happen for good. Amen. Hallelujah! 

Haggai 2:1-9

For thus says the LORD of hosts: One moment yet, a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. Mine is the silver and mine the gold, says the LORD of hosts. Greater will be the future glory of this house than the former, says the LORD of hosts; and in this place I will give you peace, says the LORD of hosts! 

I have already developed this habit of running on my way to Church as a form of exercise. I could never forget that day when I suddenly felt like not running at all considering that it was almost time. I just realized that I was spared from a dog bite when I turned to look back, I saw the big black police dog of our neighbor behind me, unleashed and out of their perimeter fence and if I was running I'm sure it could have ran after me and bit me. My heart was racing as I slowly walked away from it while praying fervently that it would not chase or come after me. Praise God! I was able to arrive at the Church safely without a scratch. It is indeed wise to always put our faith and confidence in God alone who secures us at all times even in our unguarded moments and fights all our battles. We should never lose hope in God Almighty. Amen. Hallelujah! 

P S A L M Psalm 43:1. 2. 3. 4

R: Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.

1 Do me justice, O God, and fight my fight against a faithless people; from the deceitful and impious man rescue me. (R) 2 For you, O God, are my strength...

There are times when our judgment gets clouded with the trials and difficulties we encounter in life. We always expect things to happen the way we expected and planned it to be. We sometimes overlook things because we are so preoccupied with other things. There are times when we fall into the trap of irritability and anger whenever our situation does not look good. Instead of succumbing to it, we should just thank God in whatever circumstance we are in and count our blessings instead. We have to remain calm. It is all worth it, because we are able to practice patience. These experiences, no matter how little, insignificant or not noteworthy they are, we can still learn some lessons from them which can make us better every little step of the way. Just like Peter in today's gospel, his constant following, closeness and interaction with Jesus eventually brought him to his present place and standing in our Church. But we all know how this relationship of Peter with Jesus did not start good and was tried several times especially with Peter's denials. Even then we can always hope and aspire that as we go along life and grab or take advantage of opportunities that God sends our way or allows to happen, we can develop a better understanding of who really God is in our life and what He is doing with our life which will eventually turn out for the best. Just as His suffering and death on the cross paved the way for His resurrection and our salvation we should always believe that God has the best reason for everything. Our life is full of choices. We need to make the right choice. We need to make a good judgment with regards to the choices we make. It is not wise to go by the prevailing standard that is being offered by the world. We may find ourselves secured now but not later; happy and contented for the time being but not meant to last; and at peace with the world but is shallow and easily disturbed. Sometimes when we have solicited the support of the majority or won the people’s approval, we have a tendency to cloud our judgments especially when our egos become inflated with pride. Rather than focus on what is right and proper before the Lord we go by popularity.  We should always keep in mind that the saying, “Majority wins” is not always what is right before the Lord. Nor should we be bothered by the opposition of other people if we do not go with the flow. In today’s gospel it is very clearly illustrated that the crowds are greatly misled and only Peter got it right. It doesn't matter what others may say or if some or most people disagree or are not pleased with our decisions what matters most is that we are right and at peace before God.  The top choice should always be Jesus if we truly wish to be saved. God is the ultimate and perfect lover whom we can not compare to the fleeting and passing love of this world. And as sure as the dawning of this new day, is the precise message of the intense, sacred, deep and indescribable love that is reserved and attributed to God alone. Our conviction and stand on certain things should always be dependent on what Jesus tells us for He is the way, the truth and the light. Amen. Hallelujah!

Luke 9:18-22

...Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Messiah of God.” 21 He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone. 22 He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”