SIGNS, WONDERS AND MIRACLES

  What further proof do we still need in order to truly believe that Jesus is Lord and Savior? We must come to this point where we achieve the peak of our faith and be truly confident of the deep meaning of what Easter celebration is all about. Bottom line, it's about love, care and understanding no matter what activities we engage in and people we spend time with, as long as it's all done with these 3 things then Easter is always a reality in our lives.  What a privilege to be one of God's chosen witnesses. Everyday of our lives should be directed toward this goal that we may someday come face to face with God and be able to stand in His presence. Today’s 1 st  reading also reminds me of my reflection several years ago about my visit to the Getty museum. As a Christian we must believe that there is no such thing as coincidence only divine providence. I could still remember when we (Sisters Bernadeth, Lucy, Marcy, and Rose) spent the entire day at the J. Paul Getty Museum.

  We should never ever reduce our dignity as human beings to anything less than what God made us to be. In today’s 1 st  reading we find the reason why we must submit to God's will. We are created in his "image and likeness" (Gen.1:26-27) and our ultimate end is to be with God. We are in this world but we are not of this world. We came from God and we all go back to Him. That is what our life is really all about since all of us will die someday and each day that passes should be thought of as a day closer to God. Since our end is God we should all know how to relate with God. In the beginning God created everything to be in harmony, man, the land and all creatures. But man sinned leading to a rupture with God, one’s self and others. We have to go back to where God had intended it to be. If everything happened by chance there is a tendency for us to wane in our resolution and our responsibility is deemphasized. The understanding that a Creator made the world leads to a fun

  I have always been fascinated by the dramatization of this particular bible passage in Exodus of the Passover. I bought a VCD of the Prince of Egypt and my 2 sons and I used to repeatedly watch it. I can still remember the look on the child's face, wide eyed and scared, in that particular scene of the movie during the Passover when the Israelites were instructed to mark their homes with the blood of the lamb and all homes bearing the blood were spared.  When I was just new in the Catholic Renewal I used to hear my brothers and sisters always say this prayer, "Jesus, cover us with your Most Precious Blood". As days and years go by in the renewal my understanding of this became broader and deeper. Baby christians whine and cry often about their situations not realizing that the blood of Jesus have them covered. As a child christian, maybe it has improved to that same wide eyed and scary look on the face of that child in the movie but no more of the whining and crying. Adu

  There is power in the familiarity of the cross. These are the words of a priest in his talk about pain and suffering. He said that there are no shortcuts although what he went through he wouldn't wish on anybody and what he is doing right now he won't be able to do if he hadn't been through what he went through. God permits evil for a greater good. He said that on the day after the wake of the 9/11 tragedy there were no records of any abortion in  New York  at that time. The pain of the cross is essential and can't get away or escape from it. When we look at the Son of God crucified on the cross we see evil and cruelty but through it we were all saved. The gate of heaven was closed when our 1st parents (Adam & Eve) fell into sin. In Gen 3:23-24 "The LORD God therefore banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he had been taken. When he expelled the man, he settled him east of the garden of Eden; and he stationed the cherubim and the

  Our God is incomparable for He loves us with a love greater than any other. From the moment we were conceived in our mother's womb, even before we were born, God already knows each one of us by name.    Let us always align our will, intentions, motives and actions with God. It is always good to check ourselves constantly and regularly at every given opportunity. Nothing is ever wasted nor considered useless for as long as we offer it to God. We have all been called by God for a purpose. He already had a plan laid out for us even before we were born. We are that special to God. Let us not forget our holy calling from God. Let us become the man or woman God has meant us to be and live each day of our lives in answer to this call. The readings for today continue to reflect on the Holy Servant Songs of Jesus. The mention of being called even from a mother’s womb, the 2 edged sword and polished arrow are symbols of God’s words. The Word that reaches to the ends of the earth, penetrate