THE CROSS

The cross is not just a sacrifice but God's expression of His desire for love, relationship and a covenant with His people. Yahwism is a doctrine of repetitious reminder (pesher) to the Jews that Yahweh has only been the savior of the chosen people in their history. The formula of Yahwism:"I am Yahweh who brought you out of Egypt." This evolved into what is later called "Salvation Theology", the covenant. Which could be expressed as God after having created man and fallen into sin asked, "What am I going to do with my creation?  Yahwist tradition is the source and the beginning and God continues to sustain and nourish His people. People of God who were set apart, chosen and privileged. As in this bible saying, "Hear ye O Israel, I am your God and there is no other God than Me." There is a disorder in the kind of worship we are offering to God. If we look at our lives today we can see that we have forsaken Yahweh in both rituals and moral life and did not follow what is expressed in the covenant, the decalogue (10 commandments). There are 3 qualities that are important to observe in our relationship with God.

1. Fidelity is best described as a covenanted union which is best depicted in the image of marriage union: showing Yahweh and Israel as husband and wife. In this regard, infidelity to the covenant is best shown thru the images of sexual perversions and the breaking of the marriage vows. Yahweh's fidelity to the union remains in spite of Israel's unfaithfulness. During that time there was presence of the worship to the pagan gods which contaminated the worship of God's people to Yahweh. This contamination resulted to impure rites of worshipping. Eventually the Jews no longer became a pure race and was even evident in the presence of several other races, the Samaritan as one. But more than the impurity of the race is the unfaithfulness manifested in the empty rituals and sexual perversion shown in adulterous and unfaithful relationships.

2. Loving Compassion- "I desire loving compassion and not sacrifice..."(Hos 6:6) Hesed is Hebrew for loving kindness. Hesed is the center of this love. Hesed is not quid pro quo. It is true devotion (both mind and heart) to the covenant partner. A sign of faithful love to His own people. True covenant partner has pity (rhm) Rhm true meaning is lost in English translation. Rhm is not just a sorrowful compassion but more of the attitude a mother has to her child. Like rehem or womb. The covenant is characteristic in all the prophets. In Isaiah it has mentioned, "Can a mother forget her child and even if she forgets, God will never forget." The cross before the time of Jesus used to stand for death. It is abhored and detested by people. When God became man, He embraced victimhood when he willingly died on the cross. During the ancient times or even in the book of Revelation in the bible the dragon stands for evil and is even symbolic of the serpent in Genesis. When Jesus came He did not slay the dragon but instead allowed the dragon to slay Him by dying on the cross which is rehem and Hesed. Of course Jesus rose from the dead with power on the 3rd day.  The Latin word sacrificere means to make sacred or holy. It is God's business to make man holy which is symbolized by the cross. There are actually 8 days of creation. The 7 days as recorded in the bible and each day of our life as 8th day. God continues to create but with man as co-creator. Since it was man who made the mess in creation by giving in to sin, each day is an invitation to us to cooperate with God in making this world a better place.

3. Knowledge of God- the most important among 3 qualities. Personal knowledge/relationship of God and His attributes. (Hos 5:4) There is no true "Hesed" without knowledge which is wisdom or true intelligence as not only the world sees and knows of but is interwoven with life experiences. Knowledge here is more of deep spousal knowledge akin to marital union of 2 individuals becoming one. True union of no secrets, shared joy and sorrows as well as oneness of both bodies and souls. Love making (not sex) is a good example of this. (Gen 2:24 "That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.") Even Jesus in Mk 2:19-20 compared Himself to a bridegroom. In Ephesians 5: 23-24 Jesus compares His eternal love for the Church as the love of a husband for his wife. See also Lk 1:34 when Mary said,"I have no knowledge of a man." and Jer.1:5 "...before I formed you in the womb, I knew you." This knowledge is encompassing and strives to reach the height and depth of God's unfathomable love. Abraham is the 1st recipient of God's revelation of Himself to mankind. He is considered as one of the Patriarchs to whom God chose to establish his covenant. Salvation history tells us of God's faithful love and continues to restore and bring back the broken relationship of God and man. It was through Abraham's total surrender to God's will to offer his son Isaac  that he foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus  as the Lamb of God. It is true that God started to reveal Himself to us through Abraham and the ultimate revelation was in Jesus His only begotten Son. The victimhood of Jesus to conquer evil not by slaying evil but by allowing Himself to be killed is the height of God's love. It should always be a treasure embedded in our hearts. Amen. Hallelujah!

Book of Exodus 34,4-6.8-9.

..."The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity...

We should never ran out of reasons to always praise and thank God for He never leaves us empty handed since everything is linked and works wonderfully well for those who stay connected most especially when the going gets really tough and the rough gets on going for we have a dependable God who comes up with more and more blessings and angels sent to us for our welfare. The same God who saved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego is the same God who continues to lift us up from our miseries for He is a God for all ages. There is a need for us let go and avoid too much attachment to the things that the world offers and learn the art of fasting and abstinence which not only in the form of food and could be in any other things. A little sacrifice goes a long way with God and can truly rid ourselves of the hindrances and obstacles that keep us from truly giving glory and praise to God. Amen. Hallelujah!

P S A L M

Daniel 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56

R: Glory and praise for ever!

29 [Dan 3:52] “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever; and blessed is your holy and glorious name, praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages...“Blessed are you who look into the depths from your throne upon the cherubim, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.”...

I remember the time when thousands of people came to the LA Sports Arena to be healed by the Lord through Father Fernando Suarez. We witnessed a lot of miracles right before our very eyes. Father Fernando made it possible for the presence of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be felt. It felt like the arena shook due to the intense praise and worship songs sang by everybody together with God's choir of angels and saints. Everyone was full of joy and gladness. God's love is so evident during the healing. The following gifts that Father Fernando taught us with the acronym HEALS wherein H stands for hope, E = experience God's love and express to others, A= adore God, L= love, and S= sacrifice is with all of us. Amen. Hallelujah!

Second Letter to the Corinthians 13,11-13.

Finally, brothers, rejoice. Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.

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 as stated in today’s gospel. We may be a skeptic at one time  but what matters most is that eventually we become a firm believer.  The most famous words of Jesus is found 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.”  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 3:16-18

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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.