SIGNS, WONDERS AND MIRACLES

     I remember a time when I was talking to a friend and we were discussing some matters about the faith which led me to tell her these words from today’s 1 st  reading. God never ceases to amaze us in many wonderful ways. He conveys to us His messages through the scriptures and confirms them through special events and circumstances that are undeniably the working of a great God who loves us individually and personally. There is no doubt to the truth that God wanted to be up close and personal for us to really feel it. Whenever we recall all those times we’ve crossed paths with different kinds of people and touched our lives we can’t help but associate a particular experience we’ve had with them. These experiences whether good or bad should always be taken as something that adds detail and meaning to our lives and in effect would always be for the good. Even if those experiences didn’t really turn out for good and has caused us so much pain and trouble it would help...

       An All Powerful God becoming a dependent human baby on the eve of Christmas day is very overwhelming. It points to the truth that the meaning of Christmas is shocking but it is because of love.  St. John  of the Cross, a Carmelite said, "At the evening of this life we will be judged by love." Even Pope John Paul II in his book about the role of Christian family said that the human person's fundamental and innate vocation is to love. No other love is greater than the love that God has for each one of us. If only we are fully aware of this then we will all be compelled to share this great love. Let us always be reminded of this so that our thought, word and action resounds this truth. This reminded me of a friend who asked me how I see myself in the next five years. Instead of answering his question I returned the question to him. He said that the last 5 years of his life just passed him by without anything remarkable happening to him and his family. H...

    Today’s 1 st  reading reminded me of this sickly old man who told me that he has seen Jesus. He said that he had been through tough periods in his life and those were the times that he believed he had seen Him. At that time I never thought that I could hear something like that from him since he said that he was raised as a kid not to believe in God but since he was nearing the end stage of his earthly life it was very consoling to know that he started to have thoughts about Jesus. What made this occurrence even more special was the fact that today's 1st reading was the same message I imparted to him. Another thing I am reminded of is the EWTN show entitled “The Journey Home” They featured former Protestant ministers (Anglican, Presbyterian and Lutheran) who converted and became Catholic priests.  It was indeed a privilege to hear them talking about the Catholic faith. Fr. Ray Ryland said that just a few days after he was ordained as a Catholic priest he shouted o...

   There are so many things that affect our decisions and actions in life. It is sometimes so difficult to reconcile these things that we ought to do with the things we are actually doing. There is a need for us to make a conscious and determined effort to always remain in the Lord. The 1 st  reading for today sounds so simple and easy to understand and yet we still end up at times unable to keep the Lord’s commandments. We have to utilize all means in order to carry out the task and mission of one who truly belongs to God. I could never forget when Sister Ester entrusted to me 2 envelopes containing money and checks for donation to the Immaculate Mary Queen of Heaven Missionaries (IMQHM) It so happened that I was in a hurry that I did not notice these envelopes fell from my bag. We already went home,    took a bath, got ready to go to church and were on our way to Sister Marcy's place to hand her over these envelopes when I found out that the envelopes were gon...

      We sometimes make certain decisions that we are not totally sure of and would just have to constantly pray to God for things to turn out for the good. When we have decided to do something that somehow contradicted what we have earlier planned and our decisions bring us to where we are right now and could not help but think that we could have decided otherwise and could have done exactly what we have planned to do but there are some things and issues in our life that we have to confront, live and deal with that make all the difference. Although things did not turn out the way it should have been, we find that it wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be. We always have to be grateful that we had the chance of being where we are standing right now. We just got to have the faith of Paul in his letter to the Romans that everything works for good for those who love and serve God.    This reminds me of a lady whom I met years ago. If not for this opportunity, I wo...