Real Help

The WORD today reminds me how God wants me to help others. 

There is a sad reality in the world – that there are very few people who really help for the sake of helping. We see a lot of people, politicians and the like, helping others on national television. However, many of these are not genuine. They want something in return. They want media exposure, they want marginalized votes on election, or they want others to owe them something so they can collect favors when the time comes. This is what Jesus wants us to avoid in the gospel:

“When you hold a lunch or a dinner,

do not invite your friends or your brothers or sister

or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,

in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.

Rather, when you hold a banquet,

invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;

blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.

For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

This is real helping - Not expecting anything in return from the people you help. A man I look up to once said that you help simply because you want to help. You help because you can help, because you have blessings you can share with others.There should be no expectations that the person will be good to you after you help, and even a simple thank you from the person should not be necessary. You help because you want to help. You help out of the goodness and graces of God in your life.

Real helping is not an earthly investment. You help because you want to. But as you help others,

God will be the one to repay you.

God is a fair God. He rewards us for what we do – be it good or bad. And as we help others, we will also be rewarded for it. God sees the intention of our hearts. If we want worldly rewards from those who help us, we will get that. We will be acknowledged, we will get favors, and that’s it. However, if God sees that we really like to help others and do not expect anything in return,  God will be the one to repay us and bless us, not just because we help others, but because He wants us to continue to help others with his blessings. 

Right now is a perfect time for this. We just experienced a very strong typhoon this weekend. Now is a perfect time to help others without expecting anything in return. Now is a good time to live our faith and make God more real and more alive in this world. 

Do I help others? In what way? What is my perspective on helping? Do I realize how God wants me to help? Is God pleased with the way I help others and my intentions for doing so? How can I concretely help the victims of Typhoon Paeng? 

May we always remember how God wants us to help, and do it to others. 

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you foe the long weekend and for another day without work. Thank you for another week. Thank you for another chance to love and experience your love and blessings. Lord, I thank you for all my blessings. Sorry for the times I am not willing to share them with others. Sorry for being selfish and having ulterior motives for helping. Give me a pure heart. Purify me. I want to help others with my blessings. May I always be ready and willing to share your blessings with others, and as I do so, may I expect nothing in return, for I am only sharing what I got from you. Let your blessings flow through me. May I learn how to genuinely help others especially after this Typhoon Paeng. Bless those affected, may they not forget you and may you continue to bless and protect them. Amen.

Blessed Week!

In Christ,

-g-

Ps 

See related reflection:

https://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2016/10/heavenly-investment.html

Daily Readings

• OCTOBER 30, 2022
• October 31, 2022
• NOVEMBER 1, 2022

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Monday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 485

Reading 1 

Phil 2:1-4

Brothers and sisters:
If there is any encouragement in Christ,
any solace in love,
any participation in the Spirit,
any compassion and mercy,
complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love,
united in heart, thinking one thing.
Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory;
rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves,
each looking out not for his own interests, 
but also everyone for those of others.

Responsorial Psalm 

Ps 131:1bcde, 2, 3

R. In you, O Lord, I have found my peace.
O LORD, my heart is not proud,
nor are my eyes haughty;
I busy not myself with great things,
nor with things too sublime for me.
R. In you, O Lord, I have found my peace.
Nay rather, I have stilled and quieted
my soul like a weaned child.
Like a weaned child on its mother's lap,
so is my soul within me.
R. In you, O Lord, I have found my peace.
O Israel, hope in the LORD,
both now and forever.
R. In you, O Lord, I have found my peace.

Alleluia 

Jn 8:31b-32

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel 

Lk 14:12-14

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees.
He said to the host who invited him,
"When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Rather, when you hold a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; 
blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Effort

The WORD today reminds me that God rewards our effort to know Him more. 

Back in high school, we usually joke our teachers in the hopes of getting effort points, especially in math and essays. Even if the final answer is wrong, we ask for a point or so for effort in trying to come up with a solution. On essay questions, even if the answer or thought is incorrect, we also ask for a point for the paragraph/s written to answer the question. Some teachers give in and award effort points, but some do not. In today’s gospel, we see Jesus awarding in a big way the effort done for Him.

Now a man there named Zacchaeus,

who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man

was seeking to see who Jesus was;but he could not see him because of the crowd,

for he was short in stature. 

So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,

who was about to pass that way.

When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly,

for today I must stay at your house

Minsan, kailangan mo lang mag effort sa pananampalataya. 

Zacchaeus was probably just curious of Jesus, what he looked like and what he really does, so he made the effort to just see him. And Jesus rewarded him when he not only acknowledged Zacchaeus, but also ate in his house. Zacchaeus not only saw Jesus, he experienced Jesus. Good thing he did. 

No one leaves the presence of God unchanged. 

Zacchaeus experienced Jesus, and he was changed for good. But he had to do something on his part. Jesus’ mere presence cannot change him if he did not allow Jesus to. Zacchaeus also had to do his part. He allowed Jesus to move him into action. He allowed Jesus to save him. 

We cannot expect to just sit and allow Jesus to change us, we also have to do our part

Everyday, Jesus reaches out to us in different ways. Through circumstances around us. Through the news. Through people in our lives. But realizations are not enough. Experiencing him is not enough. We have to act, and do our part, so we can be changed, so we can be saved. Now is a perfect time, as a lot have been affected and are still being affected by Paeng. We should act. 

How is Jesus calling me? In what ways does he reach out to me? Am I sensitive to his ways? How do I respond to his call, especially with a lot of victims of Paeng? 

May we be willing to act and exert effort not just in seeing Jesus, but in changing for Jesus.

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for another Sunday. Thank you for all the opportunities you give me to experience you. Thank you also for rewarding my effort for you. Sorry for the times I do not make the effort to see you, to get to know you. Sorry for not doing my part in being a better person. Help me be like Zacchaeus, Lord. May I be ready and willing to step out of my comfort zone, to take the extra step, extra effort for you. As I do, I know you will change me, save me, and transform me to become more like you. In a special way I lift up the Philippines, especially those who were greatly affected by the Typhoon Paeng. Continue to bless and protect them. And open our hearts that we may generously help others and remind them that you are alive and are in our midst. Amen. 

Blessed Sunday!

In Christ,

-g-

Daily Readings

• OCTOBER 29, 2022
• October 30, 2022
• OCTOBER 31, 2022

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Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 153

Reading 1 

Wis 11:22-12:2

Before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from a balance
 or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.
 But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things;
 and you overlook people's sins that they may repent.
 For you love all things that are
 and loathe nothing that you have made;
 for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.
 And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it;
 or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you?
 But you spare all things, because they are yours,
 O LORD and lover of souls,
 for your imperishable spirit is in all things!
 Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little,
 warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing,
 that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O LORD!

Responsorial Psalm 

Ps 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13, 14

R. (cf. 1)  I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
I will extol you, O my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
The LORD is faithful in all his words
and holy in all his works.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.

Reading 2 

2 Thes 1:11-2:2

Brothers and sisters:
We always pray for you,
that our God may make you worthy of his calling
and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose
and every effort of faith,
that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,
and you in him,
in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ. 

We ask you, brothers and sisters,
with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our assembling with him,
not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed
either by a "spirit," or by an oral statement,
or by a letter allegedly from us
to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.

Alleluia 

Jn 3:16

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel 

Lk 19:1-10

At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. 
Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
but he could not see him because of the crowd,
for he was short in stature. 
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that way.
When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
"Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house." 
And he came down quickly and received him with joy. 
When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying,
"He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner." 
But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
"Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times over."
And Jesus said to him,
"Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. 
For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost."