SIGNS, WONDERS AND MIRACLES

     We should have an attitude and impression that everything is bound to fall into place if we strive to attain the enrichment of our spiritual life. We would just be surprised and overwhelmed by the various opportunities that come our way that manifest that we are truly blessed as God is equipping us with the necessary things for the growth and strengthening of our faith.    We should be asking ourselves the same question in today's 1st reading. The Holy Spirit is the one who gives us the special strength to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Jesus Christ, in order to confess the name of Christ boldly and never to be ashamed of the cross.    And to put into word and action, the way that we live our faith. Amen. Hallelujah! Acts 19:1-8 ...“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” ...He said, "How were you baptized?" ...And when Paul laid (his) hands on them, the holy Spirit came upon them, and they ...

  There was this sharing in Didache entitled, "In His time" and it just hit me straight in the heart. Just like this lady who wrote it, I was in a period of waiting at that time and significantly enough was on my 7th year. She said in her sharing, "I opted to “wait for further instructions” and accepted a part-time job in a nearby school in the meantime. Three years later, I was invited to serve in the Basic Ecclesial Community of that parish. It turned out to be a much bigger job than any ministry I could have started on my own. I heard the Lord correctly three years earlier but it was only prophetic. It was not yet His time. I’m glad I chose to “remain in the city” — working only in the vicinity and ready to be uprooted anytime. So when He called, I was available." In Oct. 7 2007, I too heard the Lord's message through Habakkuk 2:2-3 “Then the LORD answered me and said: Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily. For the vi...

     I could never forget the time when Bernadeth and I decided to go for a walk and went all the way to  Mt. SAC  which is 5 miles away from our place. I never thought that we would be able to do it and were    still able to make it by walking back. Whew! We used to go for a walk whenever we had the chance but I guess, that was the farthest and longest walk    I’d ever done, it took us almost 3 hours. I was urging Bernadeth to go back from time to time even before we reached  Mt. SAC  but she never seemed to get tired and just couldn't stop. I decided I can give it a try and did my best to catch up with her fast pace. I realized that we need to challenge ourselves from time to time in order for us to improve our performance and I did and it felt good. This principle can also be applied in our personal knowledge and relationship with God. Which is the message impressed in today’s 1st reading since it made me think that the...

      Whenever I go running, there will be times when I feel so light and vibrant unlike some days when I feel so sluggish and lazy. It was like I was ready to run miles and go anywhere without feeling tired. There was a time when I just found myself running in a different direction and did not take the usual route. The reason I did this is because I was intimidated by a warning of this person who said not to let the dogs chase me. I got somehow affected by the comment that I decided to run in the opposite direction. This action was primarily influenced by the fact that I am always almost attacked and bitten by a dog. The thought of something like that happening made me change my route without realizing that I would end up in a much scarier path. This part of the road where I ended up running did not have any lights on and looked abandoned and bushy. I must say it looked even more frightening since it had started to get dark. Sometimes when we give in to fear we end up in...

      There are times when we reach a certain point wherein we are totally unsure of what our next move should be. All we have to do is just pray to God for guidance and light to show us the right thing to do. Although this should not be abused to the point of not assessing the situation we are in anymore or even use it as an excuse for not acting appropriately on something that should be done. Instead, this should make us follow the example in today's 1st reading when the apostles referred to scripture, convened with a group of believers, prayed and came to a decision. No matter how difficult things are right now for each one of us it will always lead us back to the truth that He is God and in control. Today we celebrate the feast of St. Matthias, the Apostle. Shortly after his election he also received the Holy Spirit along with the other apostles. He went about preaching the word of God in Capadocia and in the coasts of the  Caspian Sea  until he died as a ma...

      Paul in today's 1st reading introduces Jesus to the Greeks. He hoped to lead them to Christ as he tried to unfold the powerful mystery of Christian life. He wanted so much for all of us to see God's movement in our lives. We may be living in a material world but we ought to see beyond and grasp the spiritual as well. Life is a mystery that we have to decode it properly. It may sound like we need to borrow the skills of Alfred Hitchcock in order to solve a mystery. In Theology they call it mystagogy which means guidance into the mysteries. According to Dr. Scott Hahn, a speaker in the EWTN program entitled, "Signs of Life" our entire human body is a sacrament of the person. Our eyes, smiles, words and actions tell something about us. God calls us now to something infinitely greater. It may be complex at one level but simple at another. It could be much like the 4 seasons that each represents a distinct and particular circumstance or feature. There is a time for e...