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FORGIVENESS

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    We have some fairly easy questions in life that we can answer right away but the committing part is the one thing we all have difficulty in doing. In this regard we can start by heeding the warning in today's 1st reading. We have to abandon all our hurts and injuries to the Lord, be turned to compassion for those who have caused us so much pain and forgive. God who is full of mercy and love is the one who did it first for us and we ought to follow. We must surrender and abandon everything to the Lord especially when we go through suffering and trials. We will do well to learn the basic thrust of this reading and apply it in our lives. Amen. Hallelujah! Sirach 27:30-28:7 30 Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. 28: 1 The vengeful will suffer the LORD’s vengeance, for he remembers their sins in detail. 2 Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven. 3 Could anyone nourish anger against his fellows and exp...
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SIN & SORROW

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 What a strong statement from Paul in today's 1st reading. He reminds us not to become 2 face or in tagalog "doble kara" We've got to make a stand on which side we really are. Sometimes we have this notion that we can continue doing what we do even if there is something wrong with it and just compensate by offsetting it with something good. Eventually things will toll up on us and would have to make a stand so that we don't end up losing everything. We must consider everything that we do as an offering to God just like bread and wine. We offer to the Lord the work of our hands and consider it a communion and participation in the Body & Blood of Christ. We go through life without realizing this truth in today's 1st reading. We end up missing the whole point and not reaping the benefits that we are supposed to get from it. The Holy Eucharist is at the root of all holiness. How many saints have advanced to holiness through the Eucharist? Holiness has always f...
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A MOTHER'S LOVE

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  An experience I just couldn't forget is looking at the birds in an aviary. It was very fascinating to watch this mother bird that never leaves her nest not even for a single moment. I find it very interesting that in the several times I had been watching it, I never saw it anywhere else but perched in the nest. This was why I can hardly see her young just its little head when it peeked out of the nest. During that time I looked intently at the mother bird and told her as if it would understand me, to show me her baby bird. To my disbelief the mother bird as if it understood me flew a small distance away from the nest and exposed her young. It was not just one but 2 baby birds. This incident made me remember this article I read in the August 2010 issue of Reader's Digest entitled, "Amazing Pets" It was about the different kinds of pets that people have, showcasing their extraordinary abilities and most especially the bond and relationship they have developed with the...
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IN A ROW

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     Paul in his letter to the Corinthians from today's 1st reading reminds us to set our goals and priorities right. We may be living our lives without knowing what we are primarily created for. The purpose of man's existence is very clear in the Baltimore Catechism. There are 3 things we ought to do as we answer this question. Why did God make you?    Number 1, God made me to know Him, 2 to love Him, and 3 to serve Him in this world, so we could be happy with Him for ever in heaven.    "In him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28) We are all aware of the wonderful feeling of being chosen and qualified and the other way around.    Let us get these 3 things, straight in our minds so as to be happy and not find ourselves disqualified in our final day here on earth. Sometimes questions cross our mind and our thoughts wonder why people need to succumb to feelings of loneliness. We fail to grasp the meaning of why people have to be a...
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THE PRIZE

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    Nobody knows the exact time or hour of our departure here in this world. One thing is sure it will come. No one is assured of tomorrow. Life is never easy most especially if we commit to a life dedicated to follow the example of Jesus Christ. It is always easier said than done but we can always focus on the reward that awaits us just like any victorious battle the champion emerges with the trophy and prize. It challenges us to always dwell on these promises that can never be broken. If a trustworthy and honest person gave his word we are confident that he/she will honor it. All the more should we be confident of God’s word. If God spoke and promised then He will surely grant it. We can never find lasting peace and happiness in this world. It is only in the Lord that we can be assured of something permanent and lasting which we could definitely not find in this world. If we think that we can always procrastinate and still be given a second time then wait and think very seri...
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANAY MARY

      Micah is considered as a young contemporary of Isaiah and well known as the prophet of authentic worship/service to God and social justice. Today's 1st reading is taken from the Book of Micah which speaks of the coming Messiah, the future perfect King of Israel which was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. Whenever I hear about people who are able to tell the future I have always been skeptical and never really believed them to be true. But in the case of the prophets like Micah, we can never be in doubt for their prophecies are all confirmed and supported by other prophets in the Old Testament even those who have not lived in the same era. This is what fascinates me most when I started to join the bible study in San Lorenzo especially when presented with the timeline of the bible from the time of Adam and Eve (2000BC), the Patriarchs (1900-1700BC,Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph), Moses (1300-1200BC), the time of the Judges (1100BC), Saul, David and Solomon (1000BC), ...
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BODY & SOUL

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   Given the several times Jesus has manifested His divinity to the disciples and after witnessing His power through all the signs, wonders and miracles He did right before their very eyes they should have understood well enough. But the case is not so and this happens when hearts have hardened and have eyes and not see, ears and not hear as in Mark 8:17-18. We can not deny the fact that we too, are like that when we fail to see, hear and understand in the way God wanted us to. Today's 1 st reading speaks of the yeast. It is written in Mark 8:15, "Be on your guard for the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod." Also in Gal 5:8-10 it is said, "That enticement does not come from the one who called you. A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough. I am confident of you in the Lord that you will not take a different view, and that the one who is troubling you will bear the condemnation, whoever he may be." The baker breaks up a solid block of yeast and spreads it ov...
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