THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD II

Trials, hardships and tribulations are all part of a Christian's life. As gold is tested through fire and so must we if we are indeed true followers of Christ. We may be at a time of difficulty in life when one failure and one disappointment come after another like an endless stream of misfortunes as a person of this world may view it. There are times when we resort to ungodly practices and get carried away by the lure of the extraordinary that arouses our curiosity and wonder. Sometimes we justify our acts by saying that it's just for the fun of it. We do not realize that we are exposing ourselves to danger and allowing the power of the dark side to get a hold on us. We simply take these things for granted and it's a pity that we fail to grasp more than anything else the wonderful and awesome truth of a God who became man for His great love for us. There is nothing more exciting, fun filled and awesome than the truth in this song that says that we have a God who is mindful of us, hears us when we call, thinks of us and considers us His friend. The gift of life freely given to us is too costly, this truth alone should awaken all our senses to endlessly search for its deeper meaning, strive to live it to the full as a way of valuing the friendship of God. God is definitely with us every single step of the way. He will lead us exactly where we are supposed to be headed. We need not ask God for a sign for His signs and wonders are written and displayed all over the world, all we have to do is look with the eyes of our faith. The best sign is being celebrated within us, Emmanuel. An article from Tidings written by Bill Peatman entitled, "Embrace God's presence, always" said, "...We don't need to look for God. God, as we've been told since childhood, is everywhere. We are, as it were, swimming in God's presence. If this is the case, then why is that we are so often searching for God? Why do we assume that God is somewhere else - somewhere far from wherever we are?... Why do we look for God elsewhere - and for the love and acceptance and peace of mind that God offers? I'm not sure, but if I look at my own life I know that I don't assume that God is with me, in me and around me. I assume that I am somehow distant from or unworthy of God's presence, and must somehow achieve it by effort or by good behavior...God is the fabric of our existence. The light of the world illuminates all that we think, say, feel and do. We are invited to embrace and enjoy God's presence, always. If we are feeling far from God, it is likely not because God has moved. Our challenge is to open our eyes, ears and hearts to see, hear and feel the goodness and righteousness and truth that surround us." This article and gathering from the turn of events in our life further confirm the truth that God is definitely with us every single step of the way. He will lead us exactly where we are supposed to be headed. In today's 1st reading it was foretold hundreds of years before, by the prophet Isaiah that the Blessed Mother would bear a son and shall be named Emmanuel meaning "God is with us." This is one of the central teachings of the Catholic Church. It is very important that we need to know more about our Catholic faith and be able to explain and defend when the situation calls for it. These past few days we may have noticed that the readings, from the 1st, psalm and gospel are being repeated consecutively. It's message has been giving emphasis to the birth of Jesus our God by the Blessed Virgin Mary. When we think of a virgin giving birth to a son we come to this undeniable truth that God acted totally on His own initiative to bring about His saving action on mankind. This is to really demonstrate that God is Emmanuel, indeed with us and has loved us first. God is constantly inviting man to be in communion with Himself. According to Pope Benedict XVI Jesus is the incarnate love of God. He gives flesh and blood to the word of God not just in concept but really goes out in search of the stray. God is not totally invisible because He has become visible in Jesus. Sometimes we look for specific signs without realizing that there are already too many signs being given to us every moment that we live. We are just too narrow minded in thinking that the only acceptable signs are the ones we have preconceived in our minds. If it does not fall into that category then we dismiss it as nothing. This is what preachers used to say “putting God in a box” We have a mindset of who God is and what He is going to do. We have to be open to the surprises of God and just trust that He knows best as He has shown throughout the length of time or even before time came to be. Amen. Hallelujah!

Isaiah 7:10-14

...“Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God... “I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!”...the Lord himself will give you this sign the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel

We can't claim to be this kind of person, a Christian but conduct ourselves in a very unlikely way. Let us no longer be deceived by the false and misleading truths and principles that this world presents to us every single day. We have to be grounded at all times on this truth that today's psalm is telling us. There was a time when Tita Neds complained that something is wrong with the television. She said that somebody fixed it already but it didn't stay fixed for long. It wasn't the manufacturer who repaired it that was why. If it was brought to its manufacturer they would definitely know what to do with it. We've got to be conscious of this reality and apply it to ourselves. When something goes wrong we should know where to go, to whom we really belong, the Lord. This is the covenant: we belong to the Lord and He belongs to us for we are His people and He is our God. If we look at what's happening in the world today most especially the economic crisis wherein even the leading nations are being challenged by the present situation then we are really bound to anticipate the worst. Not even those people who used to be very confident of their present jobs in their respective stable companies can be too sure of what's going to happen next. There have been so much speculations of what will be the outcome of this worldwide problem of the economy and most of them are not good. With all these rubble, there is just really one thing we need to focus on and that is God. It is not easy to live life in this world but we can rejoice and be glad, we have an army, a battalion, a full house of saints with all the angels constantly and endlessly praying and singing in heaven, the so called triumphant Church/army of God, who intercede in our behalf and is joyously inviting us to be one of them. We are being reminded by the readings today to always keep ourselves blameless before the Lord no matter how tough things are. God wants to be with us, there is no doubt about that. But just like water and oil which can not be put together and mixed so is God and man if we are in sin or harbor anything that can not be attributed to the holiness of God. We can not force two different things to go together. Water is a polar molecule and oil is non polar. They do not mix because they are two different substances as in the adage, "Like dissolves like." God can not change. He is already who He is, Holy in all His ways. We can change. We can be like God in His holiness and goodness if we want to be with Him forever. Let us not lose sight of what a mighty God we serve who made the heavens and the earth. We pray to God to open our eyes that we may see the wonders of His love. We should think profoundly of our daily walk with the Lord which consists of not only a leisure stroll in the plains and valleys of life but a steep climb up to the top of the mountain. We must avail of the sacrament of reconciliation. It gives us renewed strength and hope. Our life consists of steep and dangerous climbs but we must not forget that God is always at our side. If we are to carefully assess our life we would find that it feels good whenever we are able to overcome most of our pitfalls though there are some that still needs improvement. We must praise and thank God that every time we experience a fall back and backslide we can immediately go back to Him through the sacrament of confession which restores us to our original path and right track. It is God's desire that we will someday come face to face with Him. There is a need for us to prepare for that day. We are sometimes guilty of not focusing on God's countenance alone, there are times when we get distracted by other things and today's psalm reading serves as the reminder. I heard a story about God's radiating and blinding light that when we stand before Him nothing is hidden from Him, He will never turn away from us but if we ourselves are tainted with the guilt of our sins then we can not withstand His presence and will definitely hide and ran away from Him, far from His ever blinding Light that penetrates us. Let us all hope that when that day comes we can stand in His Holy Presence and claim with confidence our rightful place in His Kingdom. For our information, all of us are eligible to be in heaven with God. There is no doubt about this since we have been made and washed clean by the Blood of the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. A virgin is with child. The Old Testament scriptures have foretold of this and point to the coming of Christ. The prophets preannounced and prefigured His coming and pointed to the fulfillment in Jesus in the New Testament. He has loved us first and continues to do so. He encounters us ever anew in the sacraments especially in the Eucharist. The Church helps us to respond to God’s initiative through word and teaching and the gathering of believers who respond faithfully. We have to be firm, resilient and faithful people of God. We’ve got to really focus on what is truly important and essential. We live in a world where there are so many distractions that we tend to lose sight of what should be our greatest and most important concern. After all has been said and done we will find in the end that what truly matters is not what will last only in this lifetime but for all eternity, a reward from God our Savior. When somebody invites us for a party we just don't go there without preparing ourselves for it. Much more gatecrash and just go to a party without an invitation. We are blessed that God has invited us. The best we could do being privileged, honored and counted to come to His banquet in heaven is to make preparations and always be ready to take part in it, really belong and not end up an outcast. We should not lose sight of this standing invitation that God gives us in our daily life. There is indeed a need to always be prepared so that when the final moment comes we can reside in the heavenly abode of God. In every game there is a rule to follow and only those who play it fair and square can finish to the end and win their prize. Today’s psalm gives us a guideline to follow in order to make it through. We should always long to see the face of God at all times in every person, event and circumstance in our lives. Let us always hold on to this image so that someday when we finally come face to face with God we will receive a blessing and reward for He will surely bring about what He said He would do. In the course of the time and in the history of mankind we hear of people like Abraham chosen by God. The chosen people were given laws and ordinances to follow. The remnants of the chosen people or those who were faithful to God in keeping these commandments like Simeon and Anna, Joachim and Anne are those who belong to the Hebrew generation, kept the Jewish tradition and prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah. This initiation of God in loving us first should bring us to act and make love blossom as a response on our part. We've got to be consistent to the kind of people who longs to see God's face. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6

R: Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.

...For he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. (R) 3 Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD? Or who may stand in his holy place? 4 He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain. (R) 5 He shall receive a blessing from the LORD, a reward from God his savior...Such are the people that love the LORD, that seek the face of the God of Jacob."

Today’s 2^nd reading should always remind us to always stand firm in our faith in God and never doubt or waver. No matter how dim our prospects are because of the negative feedbacks we are getting with regards to our situation we must not lose hope. We may be hearing warnings not to put our hopes up too much so as not to be disappointed in the end but we must never give in and hold on to God’s power to prevail in the midst of all doubts and discouragements. Amen. Hallelujah! 

Romans 1:1-7

...Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, 6 among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ;... 

Today’s gospel speaks of the Annunciation scene of Joseph when the angel said to him not to be afraid to take Mary into his home. He woke and did so as the angel had commanded him. God’s beauty and Mary are one in the heart of Joseph. Pope John Paul II said in his book that Joseph did not suspect Mary but was afraid and held back since did not want to interfere in this great mystery of God’s plan. He has great respect for her holiness and felt unworthy but the angel assured him and he obeyed. We can see the inner drama of Joseph and the test of faith that we sometimes think holy people do not encounter. We have this notion that when we’re holy we don’t have to walk in the darkness of faith. Even Mary had her dark night of faith in Calvary. We are invited to emulate her faith and Joseph’s too. We can see Joseph’s radical humility at his disposal to God’s will and his quiet and firm determination to obey God and be at the service of God’s plan. He shares in the very faith of Mary. They have a union of hearts and souls through marriage since he is the husband of Mary and so is considered the father of Jesus although not biological. In this union, we see the humble service of Joseph. He does not speak any words and yet achieves his great holiness through his loving service to love the Church and Jesus and takes Mary into his home. The word of God comes to us through the Church and calls us like Joseph to bring out the fullness of Christ in whatever situation. Joseph is there at the birth, the presentation, the circumcision, the flight to Egypt and all other mysteries of the life of Jesus. Jesus comes to us in the beautiful institution of the sacraments we should radiate His presence to the world. This is the challenge being posed on us today as we celebrate the season of Advent. Joseph is an icon of faith and obedience to God. He followed well the example of his ancestors, Abraham and King David. We can see how the hand of God made all things possible throughout all generations what He said would be. We should never have any doubt in our minds that God has a great plan for all of us and He is able to carry them out for our welfare. We find out from the gospel that Joseph had other plans and intentions in mind but God’s plan and will prevailed over him. This is how we should follow his example. We may have other things in mind and think that it is for the best but we must not lose sight of what God has in mind for us. We may be encountering some disappointments and struggles at the moment as most people do but our faith, hope and love should always rest firm in the Lord who is able to make us stand firm forever. God will not allow us to go through something without seeing us through it. There are so many parallels in today’s readings pointing to St. Joseph and the angel in our very own lives if we come think of it and look at it very closely.  When things happen to us in an entirely different manner that we imagined and planned it to be let us always remember that God is faithful and would surely send us angels along the way who would guide us to the right path. It has always been divine intervention rather than what people commonly say as coincidence, since with God there is no such thing. We may never have thought things to happen and be the way it turned out but we must always yield to the will of God. It is through obedience that we can show our unwavering faith in God. St. Joseph's example reminded us of this virtue that in spite the uncertainties of events he continued to trust in God's goodness and followed what he was told to do. We should remain faithful and obedient to the Lord and let go of our plan in exchange of God's plan. St. Joseph inspires us to always do what the Lord is leading us to do. We may think that if we will just go by what is fair then we are already justified. Sometimes we encounter circumstances that require us to do more than what is fair. We are challenged by God to always deepen our faith with one step more. Joseph in today's gospel did not go with what is fair for him during his time but did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him. With that I quote what Companion says of this:, "Jesus’ birth is no sure thing given that He is a child out of wedlock in a world where Mary could have been stoned for this! Following the will of God will always have its challenges and difficulties but they should not daunt us to the point that we give up. This would be giving in to the sin of despair, a response unbefitting a disciple of Jesus. Let us resolve that no matter what the future holds for us we will persevere in doing God’s will to the end."  St. Joseph is an ever faithful father and protector to Jesus and he could be one to us too. There were several circumstances that I could attribute to the intercession of St. Joseph. I can still remember when I had to make a major decision way back in Oct 2007 and at that same time was gifted with a rare and miraculous sign of being able to get a rose petal with an angel imprinted on it in a healing service I attended. This gave me the courage and conviction to keep on going and not be afraid. I should say that it helped me a lot during that time in building up my confidence and faith in God who never abandon nor forsake. There are times when we have doubts about a certain decision and the Lord sends us his message through an angel it could be disguised in a dream or in any other manifestations but what's most important is to listen to God's message and act on it like what Joseph did.  We all have our plans in life and these are all good plans, I suppose. We should know by now that whatever it is that we plan to achieve, God is with us all the way. But sometimes our plans are just good but not the best. Joseph being a righteous man remained calm and quiet in the midst of all these unexpected developments in his life. Thus he was sensitive and receptive to the angel's instruction to him. He did as he was told with all obedience. We can learn a great deal from Joseph's trusting attitude in God's plan over his personal plans. Sometimes we get disappointed at how things turn out in our lives but we just have to believe and have faith that there can never be something better than what God has planned for us. I like this sharing from Didache by Joy Sosoban because it should make us think of our own lives in parallel with Mary. This is because we are confronted daily by many distractions that we start to think that they are just what they are, merely distractions. We may want to consider what she said in this sharing and apply it in our own lives. Here it is, entitled, “BLESSED DISTRACTION”.

When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. – Matthew 1:18

Are you running at 120 kilometers per hour in a mad dash to finish your Christmas shopping, gather ingredients for your family’s Noche Buena meal, and still have time to attend all the parties you’re invited to?

Let’s just say, if you’re in this kind of situation, part of you is probably thinking, “Out of my way, out of my way! I’m in a hurry!”

In our Gospel today, someone was also looking forward to a busy and exciting season — marriage! That was Mary. But what’s this news that she hears? An out-of-wedlock pregnancy by some other man apart from Joseph? I can just imagine wringing my hands and losing sleep if I were in her shoes.

Mary’s situation reminds us today that not all delays, distractions and unexpected events are bad. In fact, they might even be moments crafted by God for our eternal glory. A blessed distraction, so to speak.

So when the going gets tough and you want to grumble or start a fight, just laugh at all the delays and follow Mary’s response. After all, you never know what great surprise awaits you along the way. Joy Sosoban (jsosoban@gmail.com)

REFLECTION:

“It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.“ (W.T. Ellis)

Dear Jesus, You came at an unexpected moment in Mary’s life. Like her, I want to be open to Your coming in the midst of all that’s going on in my life. You’re welcome, dear Lord! -end of sharing-

Matthew 1:18-24

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.