Yes, Lord!

Today’s  gospel http://usccb.org/bible/readings/113011.cfm is a reminder to respond with a “yes” to God’s call.

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,
Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew,
casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.
He said to them,"Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."
At once they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along from there and saw two other brothers,
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets.He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father
and followed him.

Peter, Andrew, James and John – the first four apostles, and Jesus’ closest ones, said yes to him when he called them. No questions asked. It might be hard to imagine this. They were fishermen, what do they know about being fishers of men? But when Jesus called them, they immediately left everything to follow Him. Yes, siguro iba talaga pag si Jesus physically, personally, ang tumawag sayo. Siguro hindi rin alam ng apostles bakit sila nag yes agad. But they did, and it changed their lives forever.

Jesus may not be with us physically right now, but he never ceases to call us. He always gives us a chance to serve Him, to follow Him. It’s just up to us how we would respond. There are so many reasons preventing us from giving God our Yes. Like a lady having qualifications or characteristics waiting to be met before giving her yes to a suitor, minsan ganun din tayo. We are sometimes waiting for the perfect time to serve or give our yes to God. Pag mas madami na akong time. Pag mas may pera na ako. Pag may na accomplish na ako sa career ko. Kapag mas magaling na ako… Unfortunately, these can easily trap us. It’s not easy to be contented, so sometimes we have the tendency not to realize that we have more than enough already. More importantly, Jesus doesn’t need these things. These self-imposed things are sometimes just our excuse for not serving Him. Jesus just wants our Yes to him. Again, Jesus just needs our availability, he will provide the ability.

IT would be easier to say Yes when we have great faith in God. How do we improve ours? The first reading tells us how. Thus faith comes from what is heard,
and what is heard comes through the word of Christ. May we continuously make an effort to build our faith by praying, by taking about Him, by getting to know Him more. Then it would definitely be a lot easier to say yes to Him.

Have a blessed day!

Peace

The readings today http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112911.cfm gives us a glimpse of how it will be in God's time...

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,

and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;

The calf and the young lion shall browse together,

with a little child to guide them.

The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,

together their young shall rest;

the lion shall eat hay like the ox.

The baby shall play by the cobra's den,

and the child lay his hand on the adder's lair.

There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;

for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,

as water covers the sea.

What a peaceful world it will be.  All will live in harmony despite the differences. But we will not look forward to this, we will not believe it, if we are full of ourselves. If we are focused and too much engrossed on today, on the here and now. In the gospel, Jesus says the childlike will benefit from God. The childlike, which puts all his faith in God the father, fully relying on Him, will attain the fullness of life.

When things are gloomy, when life gets so stressful, let us take comfort in God’s word. His time will come. Peace will  come. Let’s have a childlike attitude and depend on Him fully.

God bless!

Only say the word, and I shall be healed..

Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully."
He said to him, "I will come and cure him."
The centurion said in reply,"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112811.cfm

How inspiring! The centurion in today’s gospel is a role model. First, he cares about his servant. During those times, servants are treated as slaves. People don’t usually give much attention to them, much less care for them. They are sold, and given one of the lowest position in society. This is why the centurion is very inspiring. He comes to Jesus asking for healing for his servant – not for himself or his family. Cool.

The other thing, and most important thing for me, is this centurion’s faith. The centurion, though a roman, had great faith in Jesus. He knows that in his position of earthly power, words are powerful. How much more Jesus’ power. He knows that only a word from Jesus is enough to cure his servant. How powerful Jesus’ word is! How powerful that faith is. We echo this during the mass, when we say that “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word, and I shall be healed”

May we always be reminded of that centurion’s great faith in Jesus and His word. And may we work on improving our faith, hoping that one day, Jesus will say to us what he said to the centurion Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith”

i will serve you while im waiting...

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112711.cfm

The gospels have constantly been about being prepared, about readying ourselves for Christ's second coming. Yes,we have to be prepared and ready. Being awake, not physically, but spiritually. And being spiritually awake, being spiritually prepared is unfortunately one of the the things we often forget. Christmas is a time to remember God's great love for us, but unfortunately, we tend to forget that. We prepare gifts, we decorate our homes, we sing carols... But we dont always prepare spiritually to receive Him in our lives.

As we wait, as i wait, for His second coming, for his coming into my life everyday, for his great and perfect plan to come to fulfilment in my life, i am reminded of a long from john waller. I am reminded to wait patiently, to wait joyfully, and serve Him as i wait in faith.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH9LhNrXhFo


Reflection questions
how can i prepare spiritually for his second coming? If Jesus is to come in my life today, what will he see? am i waiting patiently? Am i excited to see him, or am i afraid?

Focused and Strong till the End

How easy it is to be tangled up with the demands and troubles of our daily lives. It's easy to be distracted from the things that really matter. We give up a lot of things for work, business, or things needed to make a living. We sacrifice our time with family, friends, and even time to rest for ourselves. Sadly, we may also tend to sacrifice time for God. We should make a living so we can live our lives, not live our lives to make a living.

Jesus warns us about this in the gospel. We should always be ready and prepared for his second coming. We should not allow the enemy to distract us from doing what we should, to distract us from serving our one true God. Our focus should remain on God, not on things of the world. These things, no matter how innocent and harmless they seem, should not prevent us from serving God, from working for God.

Given this, it will not be always easy. When you are working for God, you are not of the world, and the world will hate you like it did Jesus. As we see in the first reading, there were kingdoms, powerful yes, and they made war against the holy ones, the ones working for God. They were victorious only until the Ancient One arrived. Until we meet Christ again, life will not always be easy. However, we should have faith in Christ, and follow what Jesus said:

Be vigilant at all times

and pray that you have the strength

to escape the tribulations that are imminent

and to stand before the Son of Man

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112611.cfm

Our God is Greater

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112511.cfm

I watched, then, from the first of the arrogant words
which the horn spoke, until the beast was slain
and its body thrown into the fire to be burnt up.
The other beasts, which also lost their dominion,
were granted a prolongation of life for a time and a season.

One like a son of man coming,
on the clouds of heaven;
When he reached the Ancient One
and was presented before him,
He received dominion, glory, and kingship;
nations and peoples of every language serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not be taken away,
his kingship shall not be destroyed

The first reading shows us that no matter how scary or powerful the enemy is, they are no match to God's power. Unlike the power and dominion of the beasts which ended, Jesus' dominion is everlasting, his kingship shall not be destroyed. Let us not get distracted by the seemingly strong and undefeatable scary enemy, and trust that our God is greater, our God is stronger. Thus, he deserves only the best from us, let us give him glory and praise forever.

Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.

May the gospel today remind us what is eternal. May we always put our focus on God and his word, knowing that everything else is temporary. May we get strength from his promises to be able to go through life's challenges, no matter how seemingly impossible they are.

Stronger than a Lion

Daniel answered the king: "O king, live forever!

My God has sent his angel and closed the lions' mouths

so that they have not hurt me.

For I have been found innocent before him;

neither to you have I done any harm, O king!"

The readings today http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112411-weekday-mass.cfm

inspire me. God is really faithful. He's really got our back. Daniel continued to worship God even if it's against the decree of the king. When some envious people forced the king to have Daniel thrown in the lions' den, Daniel stood his ground. He did not ask for forgiveness, or ask the king to exempt him from the decree. He just had faith in God. OF course, God rescued him and sent angels to close the lions' mouth. How cool is that!

God's great plan cannot be destroyed by the enemy. What the enemy intended for evil, God can turn into something good. In the reading, the people intended evil for Daniel, but God turned it into something great - an event which saved Daniel and gave glory to God. Because of that event, people were converted because the king himself witnessed first-hand God's power.

This shows that when we really trust in God and do our part in praying and getting closer to Him. Daniel continued to pray and had great faith in God in the midst of facing death. Parang sa gospel, when we are prepared, we should stand erect because redemption is at hand. As Daniel was redeemed, we too will be redeemed when the time comes.

He’s got your back

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112311.cfm

Jesus said to the crowd:

"They will seize and persecute you,

they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons,

and they will have you led before kings and governors

because of my name.

It will lead to your giving testimony.

Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand,

for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking

that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.

The gospel today is very encouraging. I feel Jesus' assurance, I feel that "He's got my back" as long as I’m working for him. Another incentive for working for Him. Astig. =)

Jesus reminds us that human efforts are not enough. Yes, he warns us that when we work for him, things will not always be smooth sailing. Not preparing beforehand means not to just be idle and depend on him, but it's more of an attitude we need to have, to just be still, trust in Him, and spend time in prayer instead of "working" on our defense. It's more important to continuously get to know Him than prepare in a worldly sense.. As we spend time with Him, we He will build our faith and we get stronger spiritually. Then we can have that expectant faith that when the time comes, he will fulfil his promise and will take care of us.

May we be conscious not to be like King Belshazzar in the first reading, who lost focus on God and worshipped other gods. May we be one with the psalmist and give glory and eternal praise to our one true God in everything we do, all the time.

God bless!

Looking forward to retirement...

The readings today http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112211.cfm remind me again that all things of this world will pass. It does not matter how beautiful, like the people admiring the beautiful structure of the temple in the gospel, or how powerful the reign is, like the kingdom of kings as mentioned in the first reading. All of these are temporary. You will not be in power forever, no matter how strong you are in terms of the world. The beautiful structures, buildings, cars... no matter how beautiful or expensive they are, they will not last forever. They naturally depreciate. That is why it is foolish to put our focus on these material and worldly things.

Sometimes we may not feel or realize God's kingdom. When we see corrupt public officials in power, when we see them prosper, having huge properties, nice cars, we may think, where is God? Am I doing the right thing? Why do these people prosper, while someone like me who decently work to make a living just has enough? We may not see it now, but God will bring justice when he comes. We may not have much in this life, but we have enough things that we need to serve God, to work for him. It is said that working for God does not pay much, but the retirement package is out of this world. So we just have to continue doing what we do, work and serve Him, and trust that our retirement package will definitely be worth everything. This is why instead of being afraid, we should look forward to Christ's second coming, so we can get our retirement package.

God bless!

The Stand

The first reading http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112111.cfm is so inspiring! It shows how Daniel values his faith and how deep his relationship with God is!

Daniel was chosen to be one of the people to be trained to serve the king. It was a privilege that time, since there are people who were killed when the king Nebuchadnezzar took over Jerusalem. He was given education and was allotted food from the king's table. This was an issue with Daniel. They usually sacrifice these food to gods during that time, and were unclean for Daniel. He knew he could get in trouble but he had that great relationship with God, giving more importance on his faith rather than worldly position, so he refused the food and challenged the guards that they could remain healthy even without eating the food from the king. Of course, God rewarded Daniel's faith and faithfulness.

Then the gospel shows how we should give. Give till it hurts. It may not necessarily be a big amount according to the worldly standards, but God's standards is not the same as the world. The heart of a giver is more important than the amount given. Giving blesses us because it changes us, it transforms us... to die of ourselves and be more like Christ who gave his all. Like daniel, the widow made a stand: To give for God everything she has... and God will reward her for that.

Reflection Questions:

What things am I compromising for worldly gains? Am i willing to risk losing my wealth or fame for God? Do I trust him enough to know that He will take care of me? Do I love him enough to not do anything to hurt him? Am i happy to give? What holds me back from giving till it hurts?

My King and my Shepherd

Today's readings http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112011.cfm reminds me the role Jesus plays in my life.

In the first reading, he is my shepherd. A shepherd knows his flock well. He knows each and every sheep in the flock, and he knows hoe to handle each and every one of them - just like a how parents know how to handle their children. The reading reminds me of how caring and loving Jesus is as my shepherd, how he will do things for me. However, it also reminds me how he will discipline me. It is said that shepherds break the leg of the sheep if they don’t listen. They do it so that the sheep will not wander away from the flock and be exposed to danger. Ganun din si God. Tough love. He will do whatever it takes to correct and discipline me. And when there's pain, i just have to trust in him, and remember that it's for my own good that he's doing it.

As we celebrate Christ the King, we should also remember that he is not a typical king. He was not the typical Messiah the Jews were expecting - no fancy clothes, no huge kingdom, no strong army. Likewise, he is not the typical king. He doesn’t want us to just serve him. He wants us to serve him by serving others. As they say, with great power comes great responsibility, and so Christ, our King, came to serve us. May we take that example and serve others so we can serve him in this world. May all we want is to love and serve Him through others. Then we can be one with the psalmist in saying that The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Reflection questions:

IS Christ the King in my life? In what ways am i serving Christ through others? What do i do with the "earthly power" given me? Do I use it to serve others, or am I corrupted by it and demand that I be served by others?

Para kanino ka nabubuhay?

The readings today http://usccb.org/bible/readings/111911.cfm remind me to always have my focus checked.

I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart;

I will declare all your wondrous deeds.

I will be glad and exult in you;

I will sing praise to your name, Most High.

We are encouraged to live for God all the time. We are encouraged to glorify God at all times. This is something very hard to do. Personally, i dont always give glory to God by the way I live my life, by the way I think or I act... But I guess what's more important than realizations are the actions that come with it. Hindi pwedeng puro realizations nalang. We should not be stuck with thinking. We should also start doing.

The king in the first reading probably was like that. He knew he did some nasty stuff in his life, but it did not say if he did something to correct it. Like the king, our lives will end, and Christ will come eventually - so we should be prepared.

May the gospel give us something to look forward to.. that those who are worthy, will be like angels. What a great feeling that will be.

Let's live for Christ today!

God bless!

God and an Airplane Ride

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/111811.cfm

Yours, O LORD, are grandeur and power,

majesty, splendor, and glory.

For all in heaven and on earth is yours."

R. We praise your glorious name, O mighty God.

"Yours, O LORD, is the sovereignty;

you are exalted as head over all.

Riches and honor are from you."

R. We praise your glorious name, O mighty God.

"You have dominion over all,

In your hand are power and might;

it is yours to give grandeur and strength to all."

R. We praise your glorious name, O mighty God.

God is really everywhere, and today, I'm reminded of God through an airplane ride.

Our life is like an airplane ride. Sometimes we spend a lot of time not knowing where we are exactly. In life, We know where we're heading, or at least where we want to be heading.. but the journey is not always clear. When you are in the sky, you don’t exactly know where you are. Madilim. Puro ulap lang nakikita mo. But you know where you are going, and you just trust the pilot to take you where you want to go (well, as if may choice ka. hehe)

Then out of the blue you will see a beautiful sight. This morning I saw a beautiful sunrise. It was so beautiful that no words can describe it, and no single photograph can capture its beauty. It just reminded me of how great my God is. Like the psalm,

Yours, O LORD, are grandeur and power,

majesty, splendor, and glory.

For all in heaven and on earth is yours."

So there, after being in dark for quite a while, there will be something beautiful, something of God that will remind you that he's there. That he's watching over you. Parang sa Corinthians.. "with each trial he would provide a way out, so that you will be able to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

However, it may not necessarily be the end of you being in the dark. Minsan bigla nalang matatakpan ng ulap yung sunrise. And you will again feel in the dark. Tapos minsan, parang sa eroplano, may mga tunog kang maririnig na di mo alam ano ibig sabihin.. babagsak na ba? may nasira ba? pwedeng ma praning ka.. but again, you just have to trust in God, the pilot, to take you where you are heading.. Then before you know it, you will hear his voice.. "We have just landed..." Then you will be at peace..

It may take sometime before we hear God's voice telling us "Well done, my faithful child...". So until then, let's continue to have faith and hold on to his signs that remind us he is always there, that he is in control... especially when we feel in the dark.

God bless!

Sensitive ka ba?

There's a story of a person who trusted much in God. Then disaster struck the village he was living in... When an evacuation warning was sent out, he did not leave his house, trusting that God will take care of him.. Then there came flood, and rubber boats were sent to evacuate people still in the village. He still refused, saying that God will save him.. Then the flood rose to the point he was staying in the roof of his house, and a helicopter came to take him away. Still he did not leave and told them that God will make a way. Then he died and went to heaven (buti nalang!)

In heaven, he asked God, why He did not save him. God told him: Did i not send you a warning about the flood? Did i not send you a rubber boat, even a helicopter to save you?

Sometimes, we are not sensitive enough to God's calling, to God's instructions and messages. Sometimes we are looking for great and majestic signs from Him, believing that signs from God should be obvious and mighty. Well, God's ways are  certainly not our ways.

In the gospel http://usccb.org/bible/readings/111711.cfm , Jesus lamented over Jerusalem because destruction is coming to them. Not because God wants it to, but because they chose to. They chose not to turn away from their worldly way of living. They chose to ignore Jesus' message. They were not sensitive enough to know and recognize the time of their visitation (Luke 19:44)

The first reading tells us how we should respond. We don’t necessarily have to be violent, but we should be firm in our response. Like Mattathias, we should be sensitive to God's voice, even if faced with an easy and "rewarding" alternative.

May the psalm give us strength and encouragement...

"Offer to God praise as your sacrifice

and fulfill your vows to the Most High;

Then call upon me in time of distress;

I will rescue you, and you shall glorify me."

R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

Have a blessed day!

Let Go...

There's a saying that goes.. IF you love someone, set them free. if they come back, you are meant to be together. if they dont, they were never yours... or something like that.

The first reading today http://usccb.org/bible/readings/111611.cfm concretely demonstrates that love. Mothers are usually very close to their children. They would do anything to protect their children from harm. Some would do anything to hold on to their children. That is why the mother in the first reading is not the typical mother. She let go of her children. She trusted in God to take care of her children. The same God that brought her children to life, is the same God that will lead them to eternal life. She exhorted them, because she knows our God will take care of them. What great faith and love the mother shows us. Must be difficult to see your seven sons die in one day, but she bore it with much faith in God. Astig!

In the gospel, although similar to last sunday's, I see another aspect. Like the mother who let go, the disciples who invested and did what the master commanded showed trust and faith in the master. They may have been scared of losing the investment. They may have been discouraged by people wanting the master dead. They may have been tempted to just waste the master's money, thinking the master will not come back soon, or that he may be killed in his journey. But they did what was asked of them, and were greatly rewarded when the master came back as king.

It is hard to let go - of the things you love.. things meaningful to you.. things that give you happiness and security. But we must let go if God asks us to. We must have that faith in things unseen, and trust that God can see everything. Let Go and Let God, as they say..

Reflection questions:

What things am I holding on to? Why? what is it that those things / persons are giving me that i am holding on? What is God asking me to let go? What is preventing me from letting go and letting God?

What would you do for Jesus?

The readings today http://usccb.org/bible/readings/111511.cfm got me thinking. What would I do for Jesus? Eleazar in the first reading was willing to die for his faith. Even if there was something he can do to get out of the situation, he chose to die living for his faith.

In the gospel, Zacchaeus, a small but wealthy man, climed a tree to get a glimpse of Jesus. Maliit sya kaya di nya makita ng madali si Jesus. But it's noteworthy that even if he was rich, he climed the tree. Di sya nagpa sosyal or dinaan sa pera para makita nya si Jesus. He did what normal people would do. This shows that he was really looking for him..

These two people did different things for Jesus. Eleazar, a well respected elder, died for his faith. Zacchaeus, a tax collector, climbed a tree and changed his ways for Jesus..

No matter what we do... if we need to continue to do something good for Jesus, or if we need to change our ways for Jesus, we constantly need to do something for Jesus. We constantly need to remember to live for Him.. and have faith that when we finally meet him, he will say to us.. Well done, my faithful servant! Come, share your master's joy!

God bless!

Bulilit na Makulit

The gospel today http://usccb.org/bible/readings/111411.cfm  is very inspiring for me. In a short and simple story, God teaches me valuable lessons...

Perseverance. Pagiging makulit. In a gospel last saturday, Jesus reminded us to be persevering in prayer, through the widow who did not stop bugging the judge to get justice. In here, we see a concrete of that perseverance, of that zeal. The blind man, after being discouraged by people, kept on calling on to Jesus. Nilakasan pa nya ang pagtawag. Being blind, he was considered one of the little ones of society during that time. Kaya nga nakaupo lang sya sa kalye at namamalimos. But his being an outcast, his being little, did not stop him from calling on to God consistently, even if people were discouraging him. He did not think na "sino ba naman ako, isang bulag at namamalimos, bakit naman ako papansinin ni Jesus?" Rather, he was persistent, and his faith in Christ overcame his insecurities.

Faith. Ayan nanaman. I believe faith is such an important aspect of our lives, of our service, that's why Jesus always reminds us of how important and powerful it is. The man was healed because of his faith. Faith heals. Faith moves mountains. There really is nothing impossible to the one who has faith.

Jesus asked the man what he wanted, and the man knew what he wanted. He wanted to see. And he was humble in his asking Jesus for it. OF course, Jesus healed him. He made him see. But i believe this not only pertains to the physical blindness, but more so with the spiritual blindness of the man. That is why after he was healed, he gave glory to God, and others saw this and gave praise to God as well.

May we be like the man in the gospel. May we be persistent in prayer even when the world is discouraging us. May we have that humility in asking in prayer, and may we have that faith. May we pray for that faith. The faith that can move mountains, the faith that heals, that faith that God needs for him to work mightily in our lives. And after receiving our petitions, may we not forget to thank God, give glory to him, and lead others to Him.

On Giving...

The more you give, the more you receive. In the gospel http://usccb.org/bible/readings/111311.cfm , the servant who made use of more talents, received more. The one who risked more, who invested more, got more, and he made the master happy.

God blessed you so you can bless other people. Like the talents given to us, God wants us to use them, to share them with others, no matter how little we may think it is. God does not want us to just keep it to ourselves.

God is pleased with the servants who use their talents. What is important for Him is that we use it, we share it. God will use you and your talents in a mighty way, no matter how small you think they are.

As i say to my friends, pag tinawag ka ni God, yes lang ng yes. No matter how insecure you are, or what concerns you may have. Today, the priest told us another variation.. God just needs your availability, He will provide your ability.

God bless!

Pray always

Praying is really important. This is why in today's gospel http://usccb.org/bible/readings/111211.cfm , Jesus told the disciples a parable to remind and emphasize the need for constant prayer.

Prayer brings us closer to God. Prayer changes us. As we grow closer to God, we are changed to be more and more like him. That is why praying is so important.

When we pray, God does not always answer in ways we want him to, or expect him to. They say that He answers in three ways. Go and gives you what you want, No and he gives you something better, Slow and he gives you the best. May we be humble enough to accept God's ways are not our ways and that God does not always answer the way we want him to.

Prayer comes hand in hand with Faith. We should have faith when we're praying, especially when God does not seem to answer the way we want Him to. We should not stop praying when God does not seem to answer, like the widow in the gospel.

May we ask for faith and continue to pray unceassingly, especially when things does not go according to what we would have wanted.

Reflection questions:
How often do i pray? What do i pray ? How do i react when God does not answer me the way i expect him to? What can i do to increase my faith?

The end will come

The end will come. This God's reminder for me in today's readings http://usccb.org/bible/readings/111111.cfm . It might be scary to think about it, but if we dig deeper, we will realize that we should really be happy and excited, because although it is the end of our life on earth, it will be the start of our eternity in heaven with God, our Father.

We would not be worried if we are prepared to meet Him when he comes. When we procrastinate preparing, then we will be worried when he comes..

Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it.

IF we seek to preserve this life on earth, this temporary life, by being focued on worldly things, then we will lose the life God intended for us. If we lose this life on earth by dying of ourselves and our worldy desires, and follow God's commands, then we will save what God intended for us, we will experience everlasting life with God in heaven.

However busy our lives may be, may we be conscious that the end will come. May we never be to busy or distracted to prepare for eternity, to prepare for the time we will meet Him again.

God bless!

Keep Working

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/111011.cfm

For just as lightning flashes
and lights up the sky from one side to the other,
so will the Son of Man be in his day.
But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.

The gospel describes how great it will be when Christ comes again. Everyone will know it is him. All attention will be on Him. But it will happen after he suffers greatly... after people reject him..

It inspires me and encourages me to keep pressing forward. It is easy to be discouraged when you're suffering and being rejected, especially if you know you're doing God's work. Bakit ganito, I'm doing His work pero ang hirap, frustrating... mali ba yung ginagawa ko? should i stop?

Working for God is not easy. You will experience challenges, hardships...but why should you not? The saints experienced this. Jesus himself experienced this. We are no exception to it.

May we be comforted by the thought that even Jesus suffered, and be happy that because we are suffering, we know that we are one with Him in his mission. Let's have faith and continue, knowing our reward in heaven is great.

God bless.

Wait in Faith

Jesus answered and said to them,
"Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up."
The Jews said,
"This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,
and you will raise it up in three days?"
But he was speaking about the temple of his Body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this,
and they came to believe the Scripture
and the word Jesus had spoken.


The gospel today http://usccb.org/bible/readings/110911.cfm reminds me to be patient when i dont understand what is happening around me. It happened a lot of times to the disciples before, that they dont know or understand what Jesus was talking about. Sila nga na personal nang nakasama si Jesus, di ma gets lahat, e ako pa kaya? But that did not keep them from following Christ, from continuously learning from Him, from strengthening their love and faith in Him. Astig.

May we be like the disciples and continue to trust in Him, even if we dont understand whats happening. Let's have faith that like what happened to the disciples, in God's perfect time, we will remember and understand God's purpose - all for his greater glory.

Have a blessed day!

What's inside your heart?

The gospel today http://usccb.org/bible/readings/110811.cfm may seem harsh at first glance. And strict naman ng master na yan. Ganyan ba si Jesus? Di man lang ba sya mag thank you sa akin... Ang daming pasaway na tao, tapos ako na gumawa ng mabuti, yung sumunod sa kanya, di man lang nya papasalamatan o i gu-good job?

This certainly is not what Jesus is like. He is much more generous than we could imagine. The first reading says he made us into his own image, and he takes care of us. God sent his one and only son to die for us, to save us from our sins, however unworthy we are. So what is the gospel speaking about? Maybe it reminds us what our disposition should be. That we are no less than servants whom our master loves so much. We cannot accomplish anything by ourselves, so there's no reason to be proud. Whatever happens in our lives, whatever we accomplish and whatever good things we have done - is not something we should be proud of. This is something we're doing out of our love for God, our of our gratitude to Him. Let us remember that no one gives God better service than God deserves.

May we be inspired by the psalms. May we live our lives in praise and honor of Him. May we give him glory at all times.

God bless!

Increase our faith!

The readings from today http://usccb.org/bible/readings/110711.cfm remind me of how well God really knows us. Well, he created us, so he knows us more than we know ourselves. The first reading and the psalm remind and affirm how much God knows us, and how present he is in everything.

Because God is the witness of his inmost self
and the sure observer of his heart
and the listener to his tongue.
For the Spirit of the Lord fills the world,
is all-embracing, and knows what man says

In the gospel, because he knows us so well, he teaches the disciples things that he knows they need to learn and be reminded of.  First thing he taught was on causing sin. In other translations, it was referred to as scandals. It was a stern warning to not cause sin, or lead others to sin, especially those who are weak, the little ones who are so close to Jesus’ heart. It is a stern reminder not to abuse the little ones, be it the ones still weak in faith, those under our authority, or people we influence. God blessed us to be a blessing to others, to serve others, and not to abuse or exploit other people.

Second thing was about forgiveness and correction. If he sins, rebuke him. We should not tolerate sin, and we should not turn a blind eye on someone who sins just because it doesn’t concern us directly or just so to avoid “conflicts” that might arise in rebuking others. With rebuking comes forgiveness if he repents. We should always be ready to forgive. We ourselves are sinners and should always be ready to forgive others as Christ forgives us.

After these teachings, it’s interesting to note how the disciples react. They did not say, “and hirap naman nyan, Jesus” or “ok” just for the sake of saying it. They asked for something they need to be able to do it. They asked for faith. They were humble enough to accept that they need faith, a lot of it, to be able to do Christ’s teachings. They were also wise enough to ask for it, to know that they need that. And Jesus replies by affirming them and saying how powerful faith in God is… that even a small portion of it is enough to do great things. Nakaka inspire. God will use mightily whatever small thing you have or you can offer to build his kingdom and serve him. What a God!

May we all have that faith needed to move mountains, and continue to seek and pray for more of it.

Be Pepared

The readings from this Sunday are taken from http://usccb.org/bible/readings/110611.cfm 

The readings remind me to be prepared. Just as the wise virgins were prepared, so should we be prepared as well. For what? for death, and for Christ's second coming.

They say death comes like a thief in the night. The bible says that Christ will come in an hour we do not know, He will come when we least expect him. That's why we should always be prepared to meet him.

It's interesting to note that Christ does not expect us to be awake all the time. In the gospel, the virgins fell asleep, both the wise and foolish. However, only the wise were able to enter the banquet. In our lives, we may do a lot of things. Study. Work. Take care of the family. Serve. But what's more important is how prepared we are to meet Him, how ready our heart is. What's inside is just as important, if not more important, than the things we are doing. The state of our heart, the spiritual preparedness, are things we just cannot share with others. Each of us can only do so much. With God's grace, we should strive for it ourselves, we should work for it.

How should we wait? The psalm and second reading remind us. That we should thirst for God while we wait and prepare ourselves. And while preparing, we should be hopeful, having faith in God... his power and his love for us.

We are also reminded by the first reading to pray for wisdom as we wait. So we will know what we should do, how we should serve, how we should wait and prepare.

As we prepare and wait for God's plan for us, and our face to face meeting with him, I am reminded of this song. May we wait on him in faith, serving him faithfully. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH9LhNrXhFo

God bless!

Note

Thanks for visiting this site. I just want to clarify that I am in no way an expert in doctrine and the bible. What im writing are my personal reflections. My apologies if you find anything offensive in my writing.

God bless!