SIGNS, WONDERS AND MIRACLES

  All the readings for today points to only one thing, eternal life. In today’s 1st reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes we are asked to reflect on our life here on earth and where it is headed. We need to understand what’s most essential with regards to our existence. We all know that everything we have worked for in this life would have to be left behind and none of those we can bring with us when we die. The only way to surely profit from all our hard work is the reality that behind all of it is our motivation and desire to serve, praise and love God above all.    Amen. Hallelujah! Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23 … Here is a man who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, and to another, who has not labored over it, he must leave his property. This also is vanity and a great misfortune. 22 For what profit comes to a man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under the sun?... We are destined for much greater things that we can see right no...

  Today’s 1st reading is a very brave demonstration of faith in God. Jeremiah totally surrendered his fate to the hands of those people who are out to get him even to the point of death so that he could speak out the words that God asked him to proclaim. What courage and strength that he was willing to go through it all for the sake of the word of God. We are better off than Jeremiah knowing that witnessing to the word of God every day of our life does not put us in a life threatening situation like in his time.    This should inspire us to really be of service to the word of God in our own way as we live our life each day.  God is always there for us. He has been warning and instructing us to change our ways for the better because He knows exactly what await those who refuse to follow His path. When we encounter some obstacles or problems in life we must take them as warning signs from the Lord that life’s road ahead is not passable or will be a difficult one to tak...

  The Lord is constantly calling us back to Him since the time of Adam & Eve when our 1 st  parents committed original sin. No matter how much God tries to win us back to Him and how much we try to return, ultimately original sin means we are going to sin seriously and mess up. We need God’s grace and the 4 great virtues (Prudence or wisdom, justice, temperance and courage or fortitude) to be perfected in order to combat the effects of sin. Faith, hope and charity are supernatural. These are things that human beings would never know that they need or could have without God giving them supernaturally that’s why they are called the theological virtues. We only know about them through divine revelation and we couldn’t know about them by reason. We can only have them through God’s grace. The theological virtues, faith, hope and charity are the crown of the first 4 cardinal virtues that transform and make them possible. God doesn’t want us just to be whole human beings and rest...

    I saw on TV that used cooking oil which is already considered as waste can be used as an alternative source of fuel. Isn't it great that people nowadays come up with novel ideas from out of scratch. Men have great and brilliant minds proven by the latest trends, innovations and technological advancements being seen nowadays. But we are just a speck as compared to the greatness and brilliance of the mind of the one who created us. All the more that we should never get tired of believing that God can come up with something great even from something like garbage. We may have committed numerous blunders and errors in our lives but God can turn our biggest mistakes into blessings. He can always bring out the best in us no matter what we've been through if we only liken ourselves to the clay held by the potter in today's 1st reading and decide right now to place everything in God's hands. Amen. Hallelujah!   Jeremiah 18: 1-61 Whenever the object of clay which he was makin...

    We've seen several box office hit movies and most of them are in the likes of Superman, Spiderman , Fantastic Four, The Avengers, The Dark Knight etc. People are fascinated with this kind of stories because there is an element of awe, wonder and amazement of how these super heroes can rescue people in distress and danger. But wait, isn't it more exciting if we watch ourselves being rescued by a true and existent hero in our lives. Today’s 1 st  reading makes it a reality for us since we have indeed a God who is able to do so. Amen. Hallelujah! Jeremiah 15: 10, 16-21 ...Though they fight against you, they shall not prevail, for I am with you, to deliver and rescue you, says the LORD. 21 I will free you from the hand of the wicked, and rescue you from the grasp of the violent... Who is our true hero and savior? No other than the Lord our God. He is real and Emmanuel “God with us”. Amen. Hallelujah! Psalm 59: 2-3 , 4, 10-11 , 17, 18R: God is my refuge on the day of distr...

 As human beings we go through different stages in life as we grow old and should strive to become a better person in the process. It would always help to assess how we are doing with our life. This reminds me of an episode of Grey's Anatomy entitled, "I saw what I saw" The doctor was examining a conscious, up and about patient in the ER who had minor burns due to a fire that broke out in the hotel where they were staying. Her vital signs were normal, in fact she was completely aware of what was going on around her. She was in the process of being examined further when she suddenly screamed because she saw another patient who just got admitted in the ER, with a big ax planted and poking out of his chest. He is a firefighter who tripped and accidentally axed his own chest. It was quite a scene that the doctor who was examining her got distracted and totally forgot about what she was about to do to her. Unfortunately, what was bypassed in her assessment is the most importan...

  Fr. Adrian Delima was a priest from Rome who used to visit St. Martha’s Church regularly. He is involved in some kind of research work that tries to explain the mysteries or rather manifestations that go with the miracles of God. He was particularly involved in cases who received healing through Padre Pio and in Lourdes, France. He said that there is really no doubt that miracles really took place and continues to believe that it is still taking place in each and every moment of our life for that matter. He said that there is no discrepancy between Science and God. For God is the Creator of everything. Aside from the scientific explanations and laboratory values that these group of experts are looking for in these miracles, this bible passage in the 1st reading today should inspire us because it where we can find the gold standard of the ultimate test that needs to be done. If we are experiencing the same things being said here then we need not undergo specifi...

  This story of  Sodom  &  Gomorrah  in today's 1st reading tells us that we have a merciful but just God. Since this is the case, it is very easy to explain why bad things happen to bad people but for good people it's another story. Nobody could really give the perfect explanation for this. We should just hold on and believe that even if bad things happen to good people, God can always make things turn out not just for good but for the best. God is always just in all His ways and will never will for anything bad to happen to us. We are still part of this sinful and imperfect world and could fall prey to the manipulation, lies and deceit it offers. It is always a consolation to know that God is up and about in looking after our welfare. Whatever happens, He can always turn it around for the sake of the righteous. This is because God just doesn't look on and does nothing. God surely finds out and makes a way. Amen. Hallelujah! Genesis 18:20-32 In those days, ...