SIGNS, WONDERS AND MIRACLES

    Today is the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. God freely created without constraint as He made us in His image and likeness. He made us all come to this world and be part of a family. The family is the foundation and the fundamental cell of society. God's view of a family is beautiful. We have to live and act this out by giving to each other totally in our family as we express and receive it. We all hope and pray that our families will be blessed by the same love that bonded Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Amen. Hallelujah!   Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14  God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons. 3 Whoever honors his father atones for sins; and preserves himself from them. 4 When he prays, he is heard; he stores up riches who reveres his mother. 5 Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children, and when he prays he is heard. 6 Whoever reveres his father will live a long life; he obeys the LORD who brings ...

     My mother has always been someone who conveys her thoughts through words of wisdom. I grew up always having a regular dose of her favorite sayings. Even if she is already angry she could still manage to think of something wise to say in the form of idioms and popular quotes. There are so many things we wanted to say but we sometimes run out of the proper words to say it. Or it could also be that we sometimes find it difficult to express something in its full context we just have to resort to a more creative means of saying it. I must say that my mother is one of the most creative people I have known. Although my mother passed away quite a long time ago, she has left me with something to always remember her by. She was never lacking in sharing and conveying to us important lessons in life that a mother ought to teach her children. This is why today's 1st reading suddenly reminded me of her because just like John she did what she ought to do in proclaiming God's glory ...

       We are all headed to a great future and a destiny that is especially for a people saved and redeemed by God through his birth, an occasion today that we all happily celebrate. A Savior has been born to us and we have become heirs of God's Kingdom and glory. Amen. Hallelujah! Isaiah 52:7-10 ...all the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God. Is there any other place we would like to be other than in the loving presence of God? This, I'm sure we can and should have a straight answer without delay. No one should ever claim that they haven't heard or known about God since it is our prime duty to spread and make it known throughout the whole world. There is no denying to the truth that all of us are given the chance to know who our God is and it is also our duty and responsibility to take part in this mission of spreading the good news and make known to everyone to the best of our ability the saving power of God. We should consider each day as an opp...

     Life is never easy and fair at times.    If we go through trials and hardships and sometimes lose heart when confronted by our doubting and questioning minds then we should always stand firm in our principles and convictions anchored in Jesus. No matter how difficult it may seem we must not lose sight of what kind of suffering Jesus had to go through    and all our problems will fade in the background. Nothing we do in our entire lifetime will ever seem fit for a God who is perfect in countless ways and will always fall short of His glory. We just have to be thankful that God never gives up on anyone of us for He looks not on our sins but on our faithfulness. We always have a choice to improve, move forward and not lag behind. After all the years and experiences God is continuously at work in us and will always look forward to that day when we will come to be with Him, perfected through Jesus and united with Him in His wonderful kingdom in heaven....

       Hannah reminds me a lot of myself when I was pregnant with my son, Jude. And in the same way, Eli reminds me of St. Jude Thaddeus. Just like Hannah I was weeping and praying before the Lord for the life of my unborn son. I religiously attended the novenas of St Jude in Mendiola near  Malacanang   Palace . And again just like Hannah I also made a promise. I prayed to God that if he will be gracious to me through my child I will name him after St. Jude if he will come out as male, since I have asked him to intercede for me in prayers.  God indeed answered my prayer since I gave birth to a healthy and normal baby boy. What's most interesting is that I went past my due date for several days and his birth fell on a Thursday which is the day of devotion for St. Jude in the  Philippines . There was a foreword in Companion written about today's 1st reading which says: "Hannah places her situation before the Lord and Eli also prays for her. She ulti...