Joy

The gospel today encourages us to continue serving God even if it hurts, because we know that we would eventually find great joy in him!

When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived;
but when she has given birth to a child,
she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy

As a guy, I could just imagine how painful, not to mention dangerous, it is for a woman to give birth. Add the fact that before giving birth, she would carry the child for a full 9 months! Yes, it must be very challenging, but after giving birth, as Jesus says, she no longer remembers the pain because of that great joy!

What about us? What does it mean for us? Can we relate to it?

Being Christ’s disciples is not easy. You will have to give up things in this life to be able to serve him. You probably won’t experience the joys and pleasures this world has to offer, because you will not be of the world. You will face problems and persecution for the faith, just like Christ did. However, we are exhorted to keep the faith and wait for the time when we will have joy.

What am I carrying right now? What am I experiencing that causes me pain? What hardships in life do I have? Do I look forward and look past these current challenges? Do I have faith that God has a plan for me? Do I have faith that when God’s plan is fulfilled, I will have joy that no one can take away?

May we live faithfully serving God, even if it is not easy, as we look forward to the time we will have joy no one could take away.

Dear God,

Thank you for your word. Thank you for your promises. Thank you for reminding us that as you were with St Paul in the first reading, you are with us in our lives, especially during times of trouble. Lord, help me have that faith in you as I keep true to my faith in you. Help be stay strong and serve you especially when it is not easy to. Strengthen my faith in you and your plans for me, and may I always look forward to the time when we will be with you in paradise and have the joy that no one can take away from us…then we can say that this is all worth it. Amen.

Stay blessed!

In Christ,

-g-

The Big Picture

The gospel today reminds me of a story I read a long time ago.. here it is..

A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong, she’s failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.

Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, “Absolutely Mom, I love your cake.”

Here, have some cooking oil,” her Mother offers. “Yuck” says her daughter.

“How about a couple raw eggs?” “Gross, Mom!”

“Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?” “Mom, those are all yucky!”

To which the mother replies: “Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!”

That is what Jesus is telling his disciples. “You will grieve, but your grief will become joy.” You see, God sees the big picture. God sees the entire plan.

Why? How?

Because he made it!

He knows that will happen! He knows it will be good!  Like the mother, he knows what the outcome will be, if we just allow him to, if we just submit ourselves to him. “I know the plans I have for you.. plans to prosper you..to give you a future full of hope (Jeremiah 29:11)” Even though not all the phases leading up to the grand plan will be easy, will be happy, we should have faith that everything will turn out good.

Do you feel this way right now? Do you question God, bakit ako? Bakit malungkot ako? Nagtatampo ka ba kay God? Why am I not getting those things? Why am I suffering? Bakit ang hirap?

Have faith. He sees the bigger picture. He has great plans for you – but in order to achieve it, you have to cooperate with him. You have to obey… in everything, including challenges and hard times.

May we have faith that God sees the big picture in our life. Let us have faith that he has the best in store for us – we just need to let Him be God and cooperate with his plan.

Have a blessed day!

In Christ,

-g-

Who’s our God?

The first reading today probes us. It asks us who our God is, who we are worshipping in this life.

You Athenians, I see that in every respect
you are very religious.
For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines,
I even discovered an altar inscribed, 'To an Unknown God.'
What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.
The God who made the world and all that is in it,
the Lord of heaven and earth,
does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands,
nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything

We may not be like the Athenians worshipping an unknown God, but probably we can ask ourselves, who is my God? Who am I worshipping? Yes, I know that he created everything, that he loves us so much, that he sent his son Jesus to die for us… people tell us that. Doctrine tells us that. We can read that in catholic literature, or probably knew that ever since grade school. However, we are asked personally… sino ba si God para sa iyo? Sino ba si God sa buhay mo? Sino ba ang Diyos mo? Do I really know that he loves me so much? That he is merciful? That he is faithful? That he is mighty?

Sometimes, we say we worship God without really having a deep and personal relationship with Him. Minsan, nagsisimba lang tayo kasi ganun tayo lumaki. Minsan, nagdadasal ka lang kasi sabi nila dapat magdasal. Minsan, nag p prayer meeting ka lang kasi nandun mga kaibigan mo. We can only worship if we personally know who God is in our lives. We can only worship with abandon if we really experience Him in our lives.

How do we know him? He reveals himself to us through a lot of ways. Bible. Songs. Friends. People around us. Prayer. We just have to be sensitive. We just have to seek him, and have faith in his word. Sabi nya, “You will seek me and find me, if you seek me with all of your heart…(Jeremiah 29:13)” Let us pray to have that heart that seeks God, and that faith to believe.

In the reading, he also says that he would forgive our ignorance, but should start acting now.

God has overlooked the times of ignorance,
but now he demands that all people everywhere repent
because he has established a day on which he will 'judge the world
with justice' through a man he has appointed,
and he has provided confirmation for all
by raising him from the dead."

It’s okay if we’ll start just now. It is okay if we’ll seek him just now. It is okay if we have other gods in our life, money, fame, power, as long as we seek him now. We need to be consistent in seeking Him and in following his path. He has revealed himself to us, we just need to make the decision to follow him, to let him be God in our lives, and to pray for God’s guidance in helping us stick to that decision.

Have a blessed day!

In Christ,

-g-

Came to my rescue

The first reading today reminds us that Jesus comes to rescue us!

After being beaten for their faith, Paul and Silas was thrown to the innermost cell and had their feet tied. Future did not look good for them. However, that did not dampen their spirits. They continued praying and singing in praise and honor of God. Then, God surprised them. He gave them an opportunity to be physically free through an earthquake that opened the doors and broke the chains. However, something greater happened. They did not just escape prison, but they saved the household of the jailer as well.

Ang galing ni God. Never fails. Let us look back in our lives and remember the times God saved us, when God surprised us. It may be as simple as finding an umbrella you forgot you have in your bag when you need it, or as big as saving you from an accident by disrupting your schedule. God saves us each and every day, although we often do not see or realize it. He sends us little miracles everyday to make our life comfortable, to make our live normal in our standards.

Do I have faith in God? Do I know that he will save me? When faced with problems and challenges, do I have faith to say what the psalmist says, “Your right hand saves me, O Lord”, or do I worry too much, think of things too much, and end up doing things by myself?  Am I constantly praising and worshipping God, thus having faith that he would certainly come to my rescue? 

Today, let us be extra sensitive and see how God will come to rescue us – and be grateful for that.

Have a blessed day!

In Christ,

-g-

Go and bear fruit!

Today, we celebrate the feast of St Mathias. As we can see in today’s readings, he was chosen to be the replacement for Judas. He was the last addition to the apostles. How cool =)

It is fitting what God tells us in the gospel. Yes, it’s still about love (see related reflections below), about God’s love and sharing that love to others. However, Jesus tells us something else:

It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,

God wants us to bear fruit! It is not enough to know and feel God’s love. It is not enough to love others. We should also bear fruit… and bearing fruit does not come easy.

A seed has to die first before it can become a tree. A tree, out of the nourishment and nutrition it has, needs to give of itself to bear fruit. Tayo din. First step is to die of ourselves. We need to die and surrender to God. Let go and let God. We need to die of ourselves, our desires, and allow God to live in and through us. We need to allow God to use us and fill us with his love. That’s just step one.

After surrendering ourselves to God, we need to continually seek nourishment. We need to feed our souls. We need to seek him. That’s why prayer and the sacraments are important. IT helps us build an intimate relationship with God. It strengthens our faith. It readies us to bear fruit. When the time is right, when God sees we’re ready, we will bear fruit out of God’s goodness and greatness, and out of willingness and humility to allow God to use us!

Do you believe that God specifically called you to bear fruit? Am I willing to die of myself and allow God to use me? Am I bearing fruit? What stage am I in? What else do I need to do to bear fruit?

God is calling you today. Take it as a challenge as we start the day, as we start the work week. How can I, in my own little way, bear fruit for God?

Have a blessed week!

In Christ,

-g-

ps

See related reflections on love and loving

http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2012/05/gods-love-through-our-mother.html

http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2012/05/give-love.html

http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2012/05/god-loves-you.html

http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2012/02/faith-without-works-is-dead.html

God's Love through our mother

For the past week, most of the gospel readings talk about Love – God’s love for us and his commandment for us to love other people. Today’s gospel still reminds us of that.

The second reading and the gospel this Sunday talks about love (see readings here http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/051312.cfm) .

Yes, God loves us so much that he sent his only Son to die on the cross to save us. If we really know God and his love, we would experience his love, and would bring that love to other people as well.

During conversations, one of the more popular topics is love. Everyone seems to have something to say about love, or lack of it. Lahat nakaka relate. Lahat may kilig moments. Lahat may sad moments. Lahat may sana moments. However, we know that God’s love is much much much more than this.

One of the people on earth who loved Jesus genuinely is his earthly mother. From the time she said “yes”, from the time she gave her Fiat, Mama Mary loved Jesus. She was there through everything – happy moments, first miracle and during the dark moments of the life of Jesus. She loved him genuinely, especially even when it was hard to, when it was painful to. Yes, mama Mary was used mightily by God to make Jesus feel the love of God on earth.

As we celebrate mother’s day today, let us remember the love of our earthly mother. Yes, a lot of times we may have misunderstandings, but we know that she loves us so much, that she loves genuinely. She does things out of love for us. God really uses our mothers to bless us, to make us feel His love for us. The day is not yet over. We do not need to give our mother fancy things. As my uncle said, today, if you still can, just do two things: 1) greet your mother and say I love you and 2) thank God you still have your mother.

May we always remember how much God loves us and strive to give that love to other people... and  make sure our mother knows how much we appreciate and love them.

Happy Mother’s Day! God bless!

In Christ,

-g-

Ps see related reflections on God’s love:

http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2012/05/give-love.html

http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2012/05/god-loves-you.html

The world hates

Have you ever felt that the world hates you? As a follower of Christ, do you question why the world seems to be cruel? The gospel today tells us why.

Jesus said to his disciples:
"If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
and I have chosen you out of the world,
the world hates you.

Such strong words.  Call it warning. Call it reality.

We should not be of the world. The world is governed by the enemy (see ). The world gives emphasis on worldly things and worldly rewards – nice cars, mansions, designer stuff, money, fame, and power. People living OF the world tend to focus on these things, and will do whatever it takes to get these. The gospel values take a back seat for people striving and focusing on worldly things. They are of the world, so the world loves them, and gives them things that are of the world.

However, as Christians, we know better. We know that we are merely passing by in this world, and are just using our live on this world to prepare for eternity. We focus on serving God by serving others, not by being served. We focus on doing good and loving God, not collecting worldly things. We don’t compromise our values to conform to the world. We know that there is life after this world, so the world hates us. Well, it hated Christ first.

When we ask why we are having a hard time in this life, even if we are following Christ, remember that Christ himself was persecuted by this world. He said that he is not of this world, and his kingdom is not of this world. We should take joy in knowing that we are experiencing the same challenges that Christ did, simply because we are following and imitating him. Yes it’s true what they say that working for Christ doesn’t pay much, but its retirement pay is out of this world!

Have a blessed day!

In Christ,

-g-

Ps see related reflections:

http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2012/02/it-aint-easy.html

http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2012/04/it-is-not-easy.html

http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2011/11/looking-forward-to-retirement.html