My God is transcendent BUT He can be so immanent too. (22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B)

Reflection for the readings of the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B.

This phrase from the 1st reading is so true. "For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him?" (Dt. 4:7).  My God is indeed close to me, He reveal himself in a personal, relational and intimate way. He love me so much that He even sent His only begotten son, Jesus to save us all (Jn. 3:16). Part of my reflection was to change the word 'nation' from the phrase I mentioned above to the word 'religion'. And it certainly did drive home some point.  I am proud to be a Catholic and from the Catholic Church I have known that my God is transcendent (beyond any limits) but this God can be so immanent (among us, within us) too. I do encounter God walking with me especially in times of difficulty and struggle. At times I do not understand His doings in my life and all the more in times of crisis, but I am aware that God is with me. He is Emmanuel. 

Just recently I wrote a reflection on the 'Incarnation' (the Word becoming flesh, God becoming human), click here for a read. 

"For God sent His Son, the eternal Word who enlightens all humankind, to live among them and to tell them about the inner life of God" (DV #4). DV is  Dei Verbum - the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation. This 2nd Vatican Council document further explains that "Jesus revealed that God is with us, to deliver us from the darkness of sin and death, and to raise us up to eternal life." Now how true is the phrase that we saw at beginning from Deuteronomy; is there any other god that has done this? Is there any other god that has come down to us, come close to us and lived among us? I just don't understand how some people can leave the Catholic church just like that? Hmmm maybe their faith is shallow? DV # 5 states that 'the obedience of faith' must be our response to God who reveals. Many of us fail to see God walking with or carrying us in times of crisis. Let us pray then like the disciples, Lord increase our faith! (Lk. 17:5).

I must say that I am no expert in other religions but I know that the Catholic faith do not need any methods, mediums or some kind of difficult task in order for God to reach down to us or hear us. Some might need to go through some sort of 'amazing race' or 'survivor' obstacles in order for them to reach god or even going to a point of hurting themselves through walking on fire or piercing the body or even banging drums so that god will hear. St. Paul in his letter to the Romans (5:12-21) tells us that we are all justified in Christ Jesus and all we need is to be holy before God. It is sad that at times my fellow Christians can be so superstitious and just following practices that has no meaning. Jesus in the Gospel today was angry with the scribes and pharisees for disregarding God's commandment but clinging to human tradition. Now since I have used the word 'religion'  for my reflection in the phrase above to make comparisons of my Catholic Faith and with all other faiths, the second reading today helps me define what my religion should be. In the 2nd letter of St. James he defines that "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans,  widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world." St. James here is reminding us all to our call to holiness with the three 'pillars' of a Christian way of life i.e prayer, fasting and works of mercy. All we need to do is love God and all His people To LOVE is God's commandment. 

Now I welcome all of you to change the word 'nation' for the phrase from Dt. 4:7 to any word that suits you for your reflection such as Community, BEC, Family, etc and reflect how the word  'us' on the second part of the phrase fits.

 "For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him?" (Dt.4:7).

 

Hall of Fame - Let's consider our own calling, brothers and sisters... (Reflections for the 21st Saturday in Ordinary Time - Year 2).

All of us are called by God for a purpose. Period! No argument about that. Click here for today's readings.

Reflecting on today's reading taken from the 1st Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, I feel so grateful that I have been given this privilege and am called to serve the Lord. Though I am not worthy, not of human standards but the Lord has chosen me the weak and slowly molding me as I journey towards the priesthood. I am the Potter's clay. Yes Lord, I am your clay.

Let us look at the 1st reading for today (1Cor 1:26-31)

Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters.
Not many of you were wise by human standards,
not many were powerful,
not many were of noble birth.
Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise,
and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong,
and God chose the lowly and despised of the world,
those who count for nothing,
to reduce to nothing those who are something,
so that no human being might boast before God.
It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus,
who became for us wisdom from God,
as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,
so that, as it is written,
Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.

The text above is not only for seminarians, as I mentioned in the beginning, God's call is for all. This message is for all. God has given each one of us His gifts and talents to continue His work of salvation for all people. So all of us should consider our own calling, be it a husband, wife, teacher, students, politician, doctor, public works, house-maker, laborer, driver, etc. Each of us are responsible according to the 'possessions entrusted' to us by the Lord. (Mt. 25:14-30). The Gospel today reminds us of our responsibilities of the 'talent' be it money or skills and abilities and the consequences if we fail in using all our gifts for God's glory. 

Let us reflect further with the song 'Hall of Fame' by the Irish  alternative rock band The Script featuring the rapper will.i.am. This is one of my many favorite motivational song that fits so well with today's readings.

Be students
Be teachers
Be politicians
Be preachers

Be believers
Be leaders
Be astronauts
Be champions
Be true seekers

We pray that we will all be faithful to our calling and be good stewards to all the possessions that has been entrusted to us by the Lord. And our reward will be hearing our Lord saying this to us; "Well done, my good and faithful servant." 

Reflection for the Memoria of the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist.

I'm sure many of us have some people that we do not like to meet or just have this feeling of...'arghhhh'...when we see them. There are many reasons for not wanting to meet them or the feelings of 'arghhhh' even when we see them. 

Now, let us look at those people in our life.......who are they? Why do we have this reaction when we see them? There is this one reason that I want to look at in today's reflection. We have this certain people in our life that we do not like to meet because they point out all our mistakes and wrong doings. And it hurts, and we feel disgusted to hear the 'truth' told about us. Most times we do not agree with them when they say things about us. Even if we agree, we do not acknowledge it in front of them. And the next time, if possible we try to avoid meeting them. 

Hmmm can they be our conscience? Is that the reason why we do not want to meet them? In today's Memorial of the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist (ref: Mark 6: 17-29), we see that this great Saint has been a 'conscience' to Herod the tetrarch. John the Baptist rebuked Herod for his incestuous and adulterous marriage to Herodias. Herod became murderer because he was afraid to stand for truth and did not want to repent. He is a murderer because he did not listen to his 'conscience'.

We pray today that we would be open to the criticisms, feed-backs and the 'truths' that others give us and we offer it all to the Lord in our prayers and discernment and make the necessary and right changes and improvement for a better living.

The Beheading of John the Baptist - by Rembrandt

Prayer Power Rally against the RH Bill and some fond memories....

Yesterday I proudly attended the Prayer Power Rally against the RH Bill organized by the Episcopal Commision on Family and Life (ECFL) of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) at the famous EDSA Shrine. Yes I am a 'Pro-Life' and I think I made it clear while I was working as a Youth Minister for the Catholic Diocese of Melaka-Johor, Malaysia. We had many 'Pro-Life' events such as No Apologies, Theology of the Body courses and New Sexual Revolution seminars organized by the Diocesan Youth Ministry. I'm glad that I was able to continue to make my stand here in this land of the Philippines joining my brothers and sisters in Christ in their stand to oppose the RH Bill. 

Participating in this rally brought back some memories. First as mentioned above, it brought back the memories of my experiences as a youth minister. Hahaha I wished I brought my  'pro-life' t-shirt. It was so appropriate for the event.

Second memories was the Bersih 3.0 rally I participated in Seremban. Click here for my short post on it. The difference with this 'Oppose RH Bill Rally' is that, this is a religious rally where we had prayers, sermons and lectures and ended with the Holy Eucharist. Though many Filipino participated (The paper today said more than 10 thousand) I did not see any police. It was a peaceful rally unlike Bersih where police shot teargas and beat up protestors and arrested and charged a few people.  

My third event that came to mind when I participated in this rally was the World Youth Day events that I participated. Click here for my post on it. The songs, music and the mass of the 'Oppose RH Bill Rally' reminded me of the World Youth Day 1995 in Manila. The rain reminded me of the recent 2011 World Youth Day in Madrid. That event we had a storm but yesterday we were prepared for the rain.


Here are some pictures of the Prayer Power Rally against the RH Bil:-

My reflection on Matthew 11:28-30 ( Thursday of the 15th Week in OT)

Jesus says; “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Holy Scripture - Matthew 11:28-30)

With all the troubles, difficulties, sicknesses, limitations that we go through in life, it is indeed difficult for us to understand God, the very God who created us, whom we have heard many times that He cares and loves us.  

Through the Gospel text, we hear an invitation of Jesus, He is calling us to Him. Calling us not to just relieve us of our problems, our sicknesses but actually encouraging us to carry those baggage; 'to take upon His yoke and to learn from him.’ If we look closely, the Teacher is actually teaching us means or ways to carry our load. We need to go to Jesus to be able to carry the load.

By going to Jesus, we find rest, we find comfort, we find healing, we find peace. For Jesus is gentle and humble of heart.  We need to entrust all our human conditions, our problems, weaknesses and sicknesses  to Jesus.

Mary, Queen of Prophets.

During class last week the lecturer was referring to Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) as an example in the topic of  the Prophetic Call Narrative. I was disturb and confuse on why Mary was referred to as an example here. I know that at the BVM's litany there is a title for Mary as Queen of Prophets but never did it occur to me as the use of Mary in the example given by my professor. So, I questioned and asked for clarification. My professor felt that it was a good reflection and asked me to reflect further on my question. I had some classmates who gave their thoughts. But I was not satisfied, was still hungry to know more on this topic of Mary, Queen of Prophets. Thank God my professor had the wisdom to make me to go and reflect on it further. So here is what I found that explains so well on this whole topic of Mary, Queen of Prophets.

It is from Rev. Eamon R. Carroll, O. Carm - Our Lady's Digest, March-April 1978.

“Queen of prophets” is one of the titles of our Lady in the Litany of Loreto. For many Catholics calling Mary “queen of prophets” is a reminder that the prophets of the Old Testament looked ahead to the Mother of the Messiah as well as the Messiah himself. In early Christian understanding, however, our Lady was herself also regarded as a prophet. There had been no prophets in Israel for some centuries before Christ, and the revival of prophecy was expected as a sign of the coming of messianic times. The gift of prophecy was given Mary of Nazareth in her role of preparing for the Messiah; that she is a prophet is part of the Gospel portrait of the Virgin Mother of Jesus.

The famous early author, St. Irenaeus, born in Asia Minor (modern Turkey), who became bishop of Lyons in France (died about 202) wrote that in her Magnificat Mary prophesied in the name of the Church. The word St. Irenaeus used for ‘prophesied’ is the same word used in the New Testament for ‘crying out in the power of the Holy Spirit’, as in St. Paul’s letters to the Romans (8,15) and to the Galatians (4, 6: ‘we cry out in the Spirit, Abba, Father’).

Other early writers considered Mary along with the Old Testament prophets; she was the greatest of the prophets because she prophesied the Savior, that is, she proclaimed the mystery of God’s becoming man. A friend of St. Ambrose, St. Gaudentius of Brescia (d. ab. 406) said that at Cana Mary asked for wine in the name of the Church, in the name of all mankind. The abundant wine Jesus provided for the wedding feast at Mary’s request, the best saved till the last, is a sign of the superabundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the young Church, the first Christians, at Pentecost. 

‘Mary, queen of prophets, pray for us.’

Tip on how to make God laugh!

Do you know how to make God laugh???

Just give Him all the details you have for your future plans, and God will "Ha..Ha..Ha....lol"
After laughing God will say; "Dei...I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).

It is ok to plan and work towards our future, but let us not dictate to God or instruct him on how our plans should go. We pray, and tell Him our desires but always have an open heart that God's ways are the best ways!
Now discernment through prayer is an important element for 'future' planing.


Recently a group of scientist had once again made God laugh so hard....This is about the 'God particle' or 'Higgs Boson'. Click here for more info about this.


Joining my professor and classmates, we laughed together with God when we discussed briefly on this subject. Now one crucial question that we ask is; "If as they say that the 'particle' was the source of creation where then did the 'particle' come from? From another 'particle'? Why is it impossible to just admit that God is behind all this, that He is the source and creator of the world? Hmmmm...!!!!