SIGNS, WONDERS AND MIRACLES

  It will soon be goodbye to the year 2021 and hello 2022. Today's 1st reading made me think about predestiny. We may have heard about this from people of our faith but it remains a mystery for us. Since I have encountered an argument about this saying that if we have been predestined to be saved then what's the use of striving to do what's good since we are already saved so nothing that we do can change that. We can come up with a lot of debatable issues regarding predestiny and even twist it in accordance to our own personal convictions, beliefs and sad to say for our own conveniences and justification. I believe that what matters most is what truly lies in the unseen and deepest recesses of our hearts where only God can see. Mother Angelica in her EWTN program said to a lady who called that no one has the right to stop her from her devotion like kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament. For it is written in Rom. 14:11, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend b

   We have to be aware of the fact that we are engaged in a battle every single day of our lives. There is a competition going on whether we admit it or not. It is like a campaign period when everybody is soliciting for our votes. The world continues to lure us with its major attractions that sometimes get a hold of us. One crucial thing that we have to keep in mind is that the battle has already been won but it is up to us to claim the victory for ourselves or be deceived by the false propaganda that this world is continuously campaigning for. Do we truly vote for God or not?    The battle is actually more within ourselves, to follow the ways of God or the world because we have already been assured that whoever does the will of God remains forever. Every now and then we are being confronted with choices and decisions that we have to make. We can not deny the fact that we are still in this world and we exist sometimes in accordance to its demands. Although these things are not outright

    The recurring words in today's readings speak of light. We may have encountered people who have experienced the saints and heaven and they always have one thing in common to say, they describe the presence of a brilliant light and likewise when people speak of an encounter with evil it is associated with darkness. When we encounter light we develop a sense of joy in us. When we speak of the Lord and proclaimed the Lord it should not just be for the sake of good feelings but most importantly to make us better men and women. Pope Benedict XVI once said in one of the books he has written that what made him believe in what he believes in is the presence of the luminous trail of saints and lives of people who lived as Jesus lived. They served as a light that pierced the darkness in this world. Today (12/29) we also celebrate the feast of St. Thomas Becket, pray for us. No matter how dark it may seem for as long as we commit to doing what is right and love one another then there is a

   It is very disheartening at times when we are confronted with the harsh realities of life. It is undeniable that the power of darkness and death is at work and tries to snuff out the light and take out life.    We encounter people who try to inflict guilt and torture upon the other person who try to be close to the Lord. It is ever present when we see love being extended and the response is hatred. We see this everyday and we ask ourselves why? People who respond in this way are in truth afraid and being threatened by something they don't really understand. They choose to respond and allow what is opposite to the light to prevail. The real tragedy of this life is when we do not let the light of our lives shine. We need to be in touch with this passage from today's 1st reading and respond and live it with its full meaning. There is a need for us to do the right thing not just know and say it. Although what is written below is a very simple guideline that is easy to understand

  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 to all th

     The Sacrament of Matrimony reflects God's desire to be in a relationship with man. This is how we should look at marriage instead of just a union between man and woman, God should be at the center. It is very sacred so when people petition for marriage annulment cases several things are investigated, 1. whether it’s defective consent there was defective diriment impediment or a defective form. In a formal marriage annulment case usually it’s a defective consent. In such case the direction of the tribunal would like to know whether the spouse has an intention against children.  There are 4 goods of marriage and one of those goods is to have children. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1643 "Conjugal love involves a totality, in which all the elements of the person enter - appeal of the body and instinct, power of feeling and affectivity, aspiration of the spirit and of will. It aims at a deeply personal unity, a unity that, beyond union in one flesh, leads t