SIGNS, WONDERS AND MIRACLES

   Father Abraham has indeed set a good example of faith for us all to follow. It was evidenced by his willingness to go forth even without knowing where he was to go, remaining faithful in a God who is trustworthy and being rewarded with Isaac as a symbol. When we were young we just follow where our parents lead us. We ought to be like little children with hands clasped by our loving parents trusting that they will not lead us to a place of danger. This should be our attitude towards God knowing that He will not allow us to go through something without seeing us through it. Just like Abraham in today's 1st reading when he went out not knowing where he was to go but by faith he sojourned. This reminds me of Father Benedict’s homily about Isaac. He said that Isaac was very unsuspecting and very trusting. He was already being led by his own father, Abraham to his death but he still asked in the most innocent way in Genesis 22:7-8, Isaac spoke to his father Abraham. “Father!...

    We need to exercise a great deal of perseverance in order to carry out God's will for us. I guess it can be compared to those people who wanted to get fit and lose weight. We've seen a lot of people get thin and get fat. They just continue to fight this battle of the bulge by trying to keep the weight off but back on after a while. I read this article in Reader’s Digest about losing weight and generally, it has a recommendation to eat the fats and exercise less. We just don’t know what to believe anymore. I guess, the hardest part is not in losing weight but in keeping it off. Only a few people managed to keep the weight off for good. Their secret lies in the fact that to maintain a physically fit body means committing to a healthy regimen not for a certain period of time but for life. The same is true with maintaining a healthy relationship with God. Doing the will of God is not like a fair weather thing or something we do when the going is good but when it goes bad we fo...

   We can always rely on the word of people whom we trust. We have this confidence that we can count on them and they will never let us down. As we develop this mutual relationship of trust and love we eventually become very good friends. The same is true also with our relationship with God, in today's 1st reading we are advised to follow it because we have a God who is trustworthy more than any best friend we could ever have. In the  Philippines  we have this expression, “Dinudugo na ako.” In English it can be translated as “I am bleeding.” Although not literal in its meaning when someone says this it is to emphasize the fact that a person is having a very difficult time. I guess the essence of blood or what it stands for in every culture can not be underrated. This is what came to my mind upon reading this in Companion. “Blood is very important in Jewish and Christian theology as it is seen as the life essence of the animal or person and it belongs to God. This is ...