Test Of Faith

Suffering the loss of his family, wealth and health, Job curses his misery and wishes for death. He cannot understand why he suffers when he was very faithful to God.

Saint Job The Faithful Servant Of GOD

In the Gospel, is the most faithful man of all time, the sinless son of God. Jesus is marching to Jerusalem where He knows He would suffer crucifixion in spit of His faithfulness. But nothing would stop Him for He knows the purpose- to pay for our sins. 

Sin is never private. Even those we commit to our own body increases our selfishness and weakens our willingness to serve others (failure to love is a sin). Sin causes an imbalance in God's Kingdom of Love and someone must set it right. Suffering that's not of our causing is an invitation from Jesus to those He has saved to join the fullness of His life and help Him carry the cross (4Col 1:2). 

Let us offer our suffering to Jesus.

Like Sheep Without A Shepherd

"When Jesus saw the crowds, He had pity on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." ( Matthew 9:36 )

So Jesus gave authority to feed and take care of His sheep to Peter ( John 21:17-17), the Rock on whom He built His Church ( Matthew 16:18-19 ).

For one thousand five hundred years, there was only one Church shepherding the flock. But then came men who protested and "made kings without God's authority." ( Hosea 8:4 )

They claimed that Christ built His Church not on the Rock but on the Bible alone - then quickly made themselves kings with authority to interpret the Bible. So five hundred years later, there are now thirty thousand churches worldwide each interpreting the Bible in their own way. 

Once more we are scattered and confused flocks of sheep with no single voice on moral issues such as abortion and homosexual marriage, a ripe harvest for the devil. We have to pray for the Christian unity.

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Love One Another

"Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of GOD, and he who loves is born of GOD and knows GOD. He who does not love does not know GOD; for GOD is love." ( 1 John 4:7-8 )

Today is the great Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Heart of Jesus is the symbol of the greatest Love the world has ever known and will ever know. His Heart beats forever for you and me, crying when we cry, laughing when we laugh. 

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is GOD's love song to us, forever courting and serenading, "Come to me, all of you are tired of carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." ( Matthew 11:28 )

Feast Days: The Sacred Heart Of Jesus

Jesus promises that whoever comes to Him will find rest. This promise becomes very real, physical and joyful when we say Yes to Jesus and be His heart and arms to those who seek Him.

Let us reunite with our lover at Holy Mass today and assure Him that we love Him too.

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Fearfully And Wonderfully Made

"You have formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb. I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made." (Psalm 139:13-14)

The Bible tells us that each child is specially made by GOD and He has a plan for each one. Only GOD can create a soul and no one can force Him to do it. No child is ever an accident. Today we celebrate the birthday of Saint John the Baptist who is a prophet and the cousin of Jesus. His special mission was to prepare the world for the arrival of Jesus Christ.

Each of us is a saint in the making, created to be so like Saint John even in our mother's womb, each meant to speak and live lives that pave a way for Jesus Christ into the hearts of others.

Let us form our young ones not to be influenced by materialism, immorality and less value driven beings but to be holy children, not to be wealthy but happy, not to be senators but saints intended to be jewels that adorn GOD's crown of infinite beauty.

Do Not Judge Others

Jesus says, "Do not judge others." Judging others behind their backs stunts our spiritual growth since we see only the faults of others while we become blind to ours. It stops the flow of GOD's blessings into His Kingdom for it makes us proud judges of who are and who are not "worthy" of our help. And we end up judging GOD Himself and which of His commands are valid or not. On the other hand, Jesus is not telling us to ignore those who are living in sin.

Fraternal correction is also a command of Jesus (Matthew 18:15-17). In the First Reading, the Father sends many servants to warn His people of their sins (2Kings 17:13). Admonishing sinners is one of the Spiritual Works of Mercy. Backbiting, even if true, seeks to strip away human dignity. Fraternal correction seeks to show a brother or sister the path to heaven.

Let us pray to the Holy Spirit, to give us the wisdom to judge, not others but the things and choices in our life accordingly - not to destroy but to build.

Seek First To Promote God's Righteousness

"Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more important than they?" (Matthew 6:28-30)

Look at how we treat GOD and worldly affairs separately. We have a separate time for Him and another for the "reality" of our daily concerns. Trying to serve two masters does not work. Look at how insecure we are. It's a sign that we consider barns of material security more real than GOD. But if we hold Jesus as THE treasure in our heart, we begin to look with His eyes. We begin sowing GOD's values into our corner of GOD's kingdom.

Seeking first to promote His righteousness over what we think we need, we learn to cut back and give back, to live simply so that others may simply live. Then shall we see GOD's amazing wisdom and power, arrange everything in place for us to reap our share of His bounty.

Store Up Your Treasures In Heaven

"Store up your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." 

 Properties, power or popularity - these treasures can be gone in a flash. Calamities, thieves and rivals can wipe them out, and along with them our heart. But neither are we to do good works simply to earn credits for deposit in a spiritual bank. That would save us our own savior, not Jesus. It is less a matter of doing and more of becoming.

 It is about becoming grafted to the mindset and heartbeat of Jesus as shown in His Gospel. Then what we become is what we will do. Let us invest more time and effort in learning and loving Jesus - in the bible study, prayer meetings and Holy Mass. Love for Jesus overflows into love for neighbor and enemy. This investment starts paying off on earth and perpetually in heaven.