No Looking Back

The WORD today (see http://usccb.org/bible/readings/100417.cfm) reminds me that God does not want us to look back to our sinful life as we serve him. 

We have a saying that goes “Ang hindi marunong tumingin sa pinanggalingan, hindi makararating sa paroroonan.” This shows that in our journey in life, it is important to know and remember where we came from, where we started, and not to forget our beginnings. However, in God’s kingdom, it may not always be best to look back as we move forward to serve him.

Everyone in Christ is a new creation. 

As we follow God, we are made new. The old self, with the sins, are left behind. This is why in gospel today, we see how God wants us not to look back as we follow Him. we should not look back to our old self and our sins, and just focus on Him, our new life, our new self, as we serve Him. It is said that we can’t serve two masters, so we should choose him and not our old self.

Once you decide to choose God, to follow Him, then it should be permanent. 

No need to reminisce of your old life, or old decisions or sins. That will just open the doors to temptation and relapse. As we choose God, as we allow ourselves to be transformed, we should just let God use and mold us, and not look back to what we are before.

As we live our new life in Christ, as we allow Him to mold and use us, may we not be tempted to look back at our old lives and just focus on what lies ahead. Let us keep moving forward towards him. 

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for always reminding me. Thank you for the opportunities you constantly give me to serve you and to choose you. Thank you for reaching out to me. Sorry for the times I am not that serious in changing and shaping up for you. Sorry for half hearted decisions to do good and serve you. Lord, I pray that as I live, I may constantly choose you. May I never look back to my old self and accept the new person you are making me. As I serve you, may I choose to keep moving forward and focus on you as I follow you. Amen. 

Blessed day!

In Christ,

-g-

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October 4, 2017
Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi
Lectionary: 457

Reading 1NEH 2:1-8

In the month Nisan of the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,
when the wine was in my charge,
I took some and offered it to the king.
As I had never before been sad in his presence,
the king asked me, "Why do you look sad?
If you are not sick, you must be sad at heart."
Though I was seized with great fear, I answered the king:
"May the king live forever!
How could I not look sad
when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins,
and its gates have been eaten out by fire?"
The king asked me, "What is it, then, that you wish?"
I prayed to the God of heaven and then answered the king:
"If it please the king,
and if your servant is deserving of your favor,
send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors' graves,
to rebuild it."
Then the king, and the queen seated beside him,
asked me how long my journey would take
and when I would return.
I set a date that was acceptable to him,
and the king agreed that I might go.

I asked the king further: "If it please the king,
let letters be given to me for the governors
of West-of-Euphrates,
that they may afford me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah;
also a letter for Asaph, the keeper of the royal park,
that he may give me wood for timbering the gates
of the temple-citadel and for the city wall
and the house that I shall occupy."
The king granted my requests,
for the favoring hand of my God was upon me.

Responsorial PsalmPS 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6

R. (6ab) Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!
By the streams of Babylon
we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
On the aspens of that land
we hung up our harps.
R. Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!
Though there our captors asked of us
the lyrics of our songs,
And our despoilers urged us to be joyous:
"Sing for us the songs of Zion!"
R. Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!
How could we sing a song of the LORD
in a foreign land?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand be forgotten! 
R. Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!
May my tongue cleave to my palate
if I remember you not,
If I place not Jerusalem
ahead of my joy.
R. Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!

AlleluiaPHIL 3:8-9

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I consider all things so much rubbish
that I may gain Christ and be found in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelLK 9:57-62

As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding
on their journey, someone said to him,
"I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus answered him,
"Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."
And to another he said, "Follow me."
But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."
And another said, "I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home."
Jesus answered him, "No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God."