SIGNS, WONDERS AND MIRACLES

  We should value our friends with all our hearts. They are God's gifts to us. It is through them that we feel the love of God for us. A true and faithful friend is the manifestation of God's friendship for us. Praise and thank God for such friends that He brings to our life. Amen. Hallelujah! Sirach 6:5-17 ...A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure. 15 A faithful friend is beyond price, no sum can balance his worth. 16 A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy, such as he who fears God finds; 17 for he who fears God behaves accordingly, and his friend will be like himself. “ Don't trust too much, don't love too much, don't care too much because that "too much" wiil hurt you so much...” This is a quotation I came across on Facebook. It somehow  answers the part where we have to hurt so much. We use our mind to sort out what is true. God has given us the intellect, will, passions and emotions. Sometimes our emotions lead and...

Today's readings are a truckload of advice and information that we can all benefit from as Christians. God never falls short of reminding us and teaching us of the things we need to know and do. This reminds me of the 10 th  commandment which forbids covetousness and the motivation is greed. It is the desire for too much like greed for money, power and things. Envy or desire for what belongs to others is the only kind of sin that does not give any pleasure. We need to develop an attitude to rejoice in the success of others knowing that God will provide for all our needs. But we have to make a distinction between our needs and wants. The truth is we can never say that God failed to do His part. His ways are all perfect, it is in our part that we have to work on and make perfect through His grace. Amen. Hallelujah! Sirach 5:1-8 1 Rely not on your wealth; say not: “I have the power.” 2 Rely not on your strength in following the desires of your heart. 3 Say not: “Who can prevail agains...

  We should pursue God’s wisdom rather than this world’s. If we are not careful in making this choice then we would have to suffer the consequences of our actions. On the other hand we can be assured of the wonderful things in today’s 1st reading if we are to make the right choice. Amen. Hallelujah! Sirach 4:11-19 Wisdom breathes life into her children and admonishes those who seek her. 12 He who loves her loves life; those who seek her out win her favor. 13 He who holds her fast inherits glory; wherever he dwells, the LORD bestows blessings. 14 Those who serve her serve the Holy One; those who love her the LORD loves. 15 He who obeys her judges nations; he who hearkens to her dwells in her inmost chambers. 16 If one trusts her, he will possess her; his descendants too will inherit her. 17 She walks with him as a stranger, and at first she puts him to the test; fear and dread she brings upon him and tries him with her discipline; with her precepts she puts him to the proof, until h...

  We encounter times when we may say that those are not one of our best days. When we are feeling down, especially because of something that brought loneliness to our hearts causing us to feel emotional. Sometimes we really succumb to grief and anxiety and start to cry buckets of tears as if it would not end and just could not stop.    We may even have experienced something like it to the point of thinking that we would never get over it but God is good. He has given us the gift of prayer and we must not underestimate its tremendous potential. It could rejuvenate us and give us a fresh new feeling and hope as today's 1st reading tells us so. Amen. Hallelujah! Book of Sirach 2,1-11. My son, when you come to serve the LORD, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in time of adversity. Cling to him, forsake him not; thus will your future be great. Accept whatever befalls you, in crushing misfortune be patient; For in fire gold is tested, a...

  Today we are beginning with the Book of Sirach and can expect to hear from it over the course of the next 2 weeks. We are blessed to have this book in the bible from which we can get advice and lessons about God, sincerity, modesty, choice of friends, use of wisdom, sins of flesh and about lies. It is also where we can find idiomatic expressions such as Virtue is its own reward and birds of the same feather flock together. God speaks and responds to our questions through the scriptures. We have to commit to reading it with awe and reverence to the Word of God. He does speak to us lovingly as God our Father. A lot of things in this world remain a mystery. No matter how hard we try to comprehend the things that are happening to us, especially those we can't make a good explanation in our minds, we always fall short of totally understanding it. We may not come to a point in this present life of ours when we can fully understand it since we are still bound to our earthly bodies....

   Today we celebrate the "Feast of the Chair of St. Peter.” Since this is the case, we might as well think of what kind of chair we are sitting at. All of us have been given a certain post in life by the Lord. We can call it a mission or a purpose in life. We have to give it our best shot and be the person God has meant us to be as we aim to fulfill our God given destiny. Whatever that is to us, it should bring about what we should all look forward to receive on that final day when we bid goodbye to our present life here on earth, our reward in heaven and the unfading crown of glory. The feast today reminded me of Sis Mila Perez with regards to some pointers for review while serving as communion minister. She told me that in order to serve during Sundays, I should come at 12 noon when our group is scheduled to serve. I could never forget that time when I was getting ready for Church and a thought suddenly came to me and felt the need to dress up differently for the Mass....