POWER OF THE CROSS

If we take time to study about the bible and our faith then we will discover things we never knew existed before. We will come to a deep and profound understanding of it which will bring us to greater heights in terms of our knowledge of God. This will lead us to love and service in a very meaningful way. Do you know that there is a commandment before the Decalogue or 10 commandments of God? Yes, there is and it is called Pre-Sinai. It is noteworthy that today's 1st reading points to the reason behind this. I learned this from a Lenten Retreat. When the people of Israel complained to God, He sent them quail and manna as their food in the desert. Every morning they gathered food from the ground and whenever they get more than they could eat for a day they discovered the following morning that the excess got spoiled or rotten. The moral lesson of this commandment is social justice. We should remove greed in our midst and learn to care for others. We should also live within our means and not desire something that is beyond our reach. The Israelites were so discontented despite of the presence of manna in their midst. They did not appreciate and were not grateful that God has provided them food. They sinned against the Lord and directly rejected God's grace. Thus placing themselves outside the protection of God and being predisposed to danger and calamity which was exactly what happened to them when bitten by serpents in the desert. In their journey to the Promised land, Canaan, the 5th gospel which is now known as Palestine, the Israelites strayed away from God's path and went their own way. We should learn the lesson of their story and choose to always stay within the protective grace of God so as to attain the 5th gospel and Promised Land of God in our own lives. The bible covers a span of more or less, 2000 years. Basing it on the outline of the salvation history or covenant history which goes back to the time of Adam & Eve and Noah and dates way back to 1800 BC during the time of Abraham, Moses (1200), David (means the favored one,1000), Exodus (600) to the birth of our Lord Jesus. We can see from this time line significant events that happened from the time of Creation when God created man who fell into sin and became unfaithful and how God continuously called us back to Him by showing us who He really is throughout the length of time. It is so amazing how events which are more than a thousand years apart can be connected and how God was able to make things fall into perfect place like signs, wonders and miracles made by His mighty hand throughout the length of time. Today's 1st reading is one of the many discoveries I had or should I say made me look at things with a new perspective.  It is a foreshadowing of Jesus crucified on the Cross and its power which became a source of healing and salvation for us all. Ever since I have joined a bible study group, Apologetics class and the like I have been discovering the wealth and treasure of our Catholic faith. Thank and praise God for activities like these that continue to shed light on our faith. I have always heard bible teachers say that in order to have a better understanding of the scriptures we have to read the bible starting from the New Testament before proceeding to the Old Testament. It is true that the Old Testament is a foreshadowing of the New Testament which is the full revelation of God's great love for us. Just like in today's 1st reading we can establish a relationship between Jesus Christ dying on the cross up on Mt.Calvary to save us from death due to our sins with the healing brought about by the bronze serpent mounted on a pole. It is good to have a realization of this great love of God for us first and foremost so that when we encounter somehow disturbing and difficult to understand scenarios in the Old Testament we can always try to zero in on the truth that behind all these things that took place is a God who has a love for us greater than any other known in this world. God wants all people to be saved but we have to believe. We need to come to the core of the revelation. God wants to rescue His people and save them. He sets us free from this dominion of sin but we fail to trust Him. Just as we see in today's 1st reading  "...But with their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses." We too are guilty of the same attitude at times. Sometimes we complain too much without realizing that Jesus, who is God the Son obediently followed without a word of protest when He died brutally on the Cross. And to think that we complain right away about trivial and petty things. There is really a need to always look back and recall what God did for us rather than focus on just the here and now. Instead of falling into the trap of dissatisfaction and despair we should look at Jesus crucified on the cross to always be reminded of what He had to go through just to prove His great love for us. It would be nice if at once we received Jesus then we will be ushered into the perfect freedom, inability to sin anymore and the resurrection from death. Nevertheless, we still have this journey to make, have to battle, and fight even when they came in the promised land. We're all in a journey. Looking back at these very people in Deuteronomy 1. It took them 40 yrs to travel in the desert when all it takes is just 2 weeks. They wandered because of their lack of trust. They initially went to scout the land and came back with a report. The majority said that they can't do it because there are giants in the promised land and would just be like grasshoppers. They're stupid and forgot one basic fact, God is giving them the land. They forgot who was talking to them. When we are in doubt, the great exile should come to mind, when they were freed from Egypt and should speak confidence. In our present time we should believe that we can overcome, social injustice, sin and the culture of death. We have to believe in that because it is Almighty God telling them to come. We don't fault them for seeing those realities, the giants and scary things in the promised land but we fault them for not trusting. When they complained against God, it is an insult to God for 2 reasons, first they forgot that God provides and God did provide the manna all the time and also of water from the rock through God's power. In fact in 1 Cor. St Paul speaks of this water from the rock that followed them as they journeyed and the rock was Christ, "I AM" Jesus was with them in the desert. He is the same God as yesterday. We must trust God at all times. These people in the desert lost their patience however, was worn out and complained. We do an examination of conscience, do we grumble like this? Sometimes we doubt if Jesus is really with us in this journey. When we are trying to live the faith, being ridiculed, made fun of while others are having all the fun. Whenever we are fasting and resisting temptation we also may come to a point when like these people would rather go back to Egypt and slavery. When we embark the journey of the Christian faith and indeed try to live up to all the teachings of the church, time will come when it is easier to say to say “Let's go back to our own Egypt.” But Jesus said, my yoke is easy and burden light. Let us not be fooled for the sins are the heavier burden. We have to embrace Jesus, the one who comes to save and have more confidence than ever in “I AM” that sets us free and truly believe we have eternal life. Amen. Hallelujah!

Numbers 21:4b-9

...LORD said to Moses, “Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover.” 9 Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

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!

Psalm 78:1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38

R: Do not forget the works of the Lord!

1 Hearken, my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter mysteries from of old. R. While he slew them they sought him and inquired after God again, Remembering that God was their rock and the Most High God, their redeemer. R. But they flattered him with their mouths

and lied to him with their tongues, Though their hearts were not steadfast toward him, nor were they faithful to his covenant. R. But he, being merciful, forgave their sin and destroyed them not; Often he turned back his anger and let none of his wrath be roused.

R.  

What hold our attention and interest range from a variety of people, places and things and we express them by engaging in various ways and means. Some are hooked in business, sports, entertainment, romance, travel, food, fashion, current events, issues with nature, outer space and all other things we can think about that we can consider profitable, enjoyable, fun and worthwhile to do. We had our moments and stages wherein we’ve been there and done that. Coming from this point of view, we eventually realize whether now, soon or later that ultimately we must acknowledge the fact that if there’s one thing that should hold not just  our attention and interest but our constant admiration is the truth that is stated in today’s 2nd reading because it has definitely got it all. It is reminding us of the things God has to go through just to show His great love. It sounds impossible when we hear about this kind of love that God is sharing to each one of us. This should give us the confidence and courage to carry on. Jesus is God, King of Heaven and earth and the Master of all creation but took the form of a slave and obeyed to the point of death. If we are to look at ourselves and try to figure out who we really are as compared to God's greatness then we should not even think of boasting anything about ourselves but rather we should always be compelled to follow His example in our own little way. No matter how inadequate and insufficient we are as a people we still try our very best to bridge our gaps in the best human way we can. This should make us realize how much more can the Lord do for us in His Godly power, resources and love. Christ divested Himself of His dazzling glory and majesty. He was lost in the crowd, lived in obscurity for the majority of His life and was thought to be Mary’s boy and Joseph’s son since it was only in the last 3 years of His life that He went public. When we are on top of everything there is greater danger of turning away from God knowing that we have lesser need for God. Humanity has become so full of itself. There is a need to be empty and sometimes the only way we can fill up ourselves with God's grace and breathe life into us is through a painful and difficult process. We are asked to empty ourselves of all that is false, ignoble, and unreal so that we may become filled with Christ. Because nature abhors a vacuum and so does grace. We must be filled with something. Tragically we are filled with all kinds of desire, we want to be applauded, be promoted, be consulted, be loved and be preferred to others. John the Baptist gave us our ideal, I must decrease and He must increase (John 3:30) . All the foolishness, unreality, intolerance, selfishness and the sin that is in us must decrease so that we must fill the vacuum with our Lord who wants to share our life. Whatever happens to us happens to Him and He wants us to let Him share because only then will we find the rest that we pray for. A long time ago St. Francis cried out loud, “He comes to His own today and receives Him not.” And so we live lives that are restless, confused, frustrated and unfulfilled because we do not share our lonely life with Him. So the prayer we learn as children and the prayer that is said all over the world among Christians should be our prayer now, Make our hearts like the meek and humble heart of Jesus. The Holy Father, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI points out this route through Jesus as the way to ascend to God. The orientation of the believer changed when Jesus came. When Jesus offered Himself as the Lamb of sacrifice, He forever reconciled man to God. Jesus goes out to Jerusalem as a lamb without blemish to be sacrificed in the eyes of Israel. He goes beyond to a New Jerusalem which opened for us the frontier from earth to heaven. In view of all these we can always have confidence in all our actions and decisions if we have consulted every plan we have to God in prayer.  We experience peace and serenity that no amount of wealth, fame and power can offer. The joy in our heart comes from knowing that every single step of the way God is guiding and directing us. Most of all, we have to learn the lesson that goes with everything that we've been through and realize that there is nothing else we can do best but to totally surrender our will to Him by being obedient to God at all cost. For we are the dear children of God and everything become beautiful in His time. Amen. Hallelujah!

Philippians 2:6-11

Brothers and sisters: Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Today's gospel is an evidence of the concrete relationship of the scriptures in the Old Testament with the New Testament. They are interconnected in a very amazing way. If there's one thing that amazes me even more, it is the thousands of years apart in terms of BC (Before the time of Christ) and AD (Anno Domini/During and after Christ) that separates these events and the tremendous power of God that defies the length of time by connecting them and allowing every single thing in the entire history of mankind to fall into its perfect place and pattern. We are just set to discover wonderful and marvelous things that are beyond our imagination if we let God just like Nicodemus in today’s gospel. He was a skeptic before but eventually became a firm believer.  It also contains the most famous words of Jesus in the Gospel of John, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” The purpose of the Gospel is stated in Jn. 20:31: “These things have been written so that you may go on believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that believing you may have life in His name.” 

"One cannot speak of the tragedy of Calvary because there can be no tragedy in relation to Jesus or Mary. The fulfillment of God's will can never be tragic." -Federico Suarez For Reflection: What great insight! How does this impact your perspective of your own cross? Remember, God's will is expressed through His perfect will as well as His permissive will. Since nothing happens to us without God's knowledge, our sorrows are permitted for a greater good to be manifested. What greater good have you seen come from past sorrows? What greater good might God be working through your current dolor of the heart?

Everything comes through God’s grace in the form of the scriptures as it is written from of old and revealed right before our very eyes and within our hearing. Amen. Hallelujah!

John 3:13-17

13 Jesus said to Nicodemus: “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.