SIGNS, WONDERS AND MIRACLES

   We must keep in mind that every time we go to Church it is a day that is made holy not only because of certain events that we celebrate and observe but especially because of the people who are parts of the church. Sometimes we don't really need an occasion to make each day holy, it is made possible if we will just respond to God's call of holiness. Nonetheless it is worth mentioning that today is the  Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr. My mother's name is Cecilia and so is my first granddaughter. When she was still in her mother's womb I felt the love, blessing and grace of God enveloping her even though she was still hidden from us but definitely felt and most welcome.   Whatever location we are in right now is a call to holiness. No one is exempted from it no matter what our situation in life may be. Whatever it is that we do at the present time whether we think of it as something big or small, something that we enjoy doing or not or something we...

Today we celebrate the  Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary by her parents St. Anne and St. Joachim. My name is Anna taken from St. Anne the mother of Mary who presented her in the temple when she was still a young child. I have always  felt the love, blessing and grace of God enveloping me with the name I was baptized with. And  also in relation to the 1st reading today I am once more reminded of this story I shared a long time ago about my laptop that was made unserviceable by some viruses got fixed through Hendrie’s help. I could never forget it because it gave me that feeling of relief then since the problem was a lot worse than before and could have caused irreversible damage. Hendrie did not even charge me anything for fixing it and even went to the trouble of delivering it to me. I can not thank him enough for his goodness and offered to pay for his services but he declined. He even told me just to buy an antivirus software for my computer inste...

   In the daily readings these past few days there seems to be violence and merciless killing of those people who are faithful to God and His commands. In today's 1st reading there is a sudden shift in this trend when all of a sudden Matatthias a person with great faith in God was the one on the offensive. He took arms and even killed somebody in defense of His faith. If there's one thing impressed on my mind based on this reading that is the need to take action and be full of courage. If we are confident in God whose All Powerful and Almighty then we should reflect that in ourselves and remove all traces of fear. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves if we are unable to follow what the Lord commands us in His laws given to us through the church. If Mattathias fought hard for his faith during that severe time of trial and hardship for the people of God, all the more should we be able to stand firm in our faith at this present time when we are free to exercise our faith in God ...

      There are times in our life when we are confronted with very critical decisions and sometimes forced to abandon our comfort zones to make way for something we need to do or being called for at the present moment and this could be to the disgust/dismay or admiration of some who think the same or otherwise. Some people would never understand nor can relate with what we're going through or have to go through but all these are worth it if we have the same conviction as Eleazar in today's 1st reading to offer to God our motives and intentions for such decisions. He could have escaped death but he chose to maintain his dignity as a believer before God and man. There are times when we have to really go out of our way to the point of discomfort, inconvenience and embarrassment just to prove to God and everybody that we are for Him. Leaving behind a good example of virtue for the present and coming generation and be able to stand before God without shame and doubt. Amen. Hal...

    With the Lord there is no such thing as coincidence only divine intervention. At first, I thought it was just a coincidence when a message was impressed in my heart but it happened repeatedly and so I acted on it. I was perfectly aware of the repercussions of my sudden decision which reminds of the plight of the Israelites in today's 1st reading. Although my situation was a lot less difficult than theirs I felt the same determination and firmness in my heart to stick to my part of the covenant with God. It was not easy but all worth it. At the end of the day we know that things always work for good for those who love and serve God. Amen. Hallelujah! 1 Maccabees 1:10-15. 41-43. 54-57. 62-63 ...They covered over the mark of their circumcision and abandoned the holy covenant; they allied themselves with the Gentiles and sold themselves to wrongdoing... and many Israelites were in favour of his religion; they sacrificed to idols and profaned the sabbath...Whoever was foun...

  Hell could be defined as the place or state of punishment of the wicked after death; the abode of evil and condemned spirits; Gehenna or Tartarus. It is any place or state of torment or misery. It is surely a very frightening place just like what is being described here in today's 1st reading. It is definitely somewhere that we all don't want to end up in. No one in his or her right mind would like to be in that kind of place. We all fear to be thrown into hell and it would be best that we develop the holy fear of the Lord if we want to be spared from it. Many people misunderstand the fear of the Lord. Recalling the verse in Proverbs 1:7 and Proverbs 9:10, the fear of the Lord is called the beginning or foundation of wisdom. In Proverbs 15:33, the fear of the Lord is described as the "discipline" or "instruction" of wisdom. They think that the fear of the Lord is something that is good to have when you first start out as a Christian, but that you should gr...