How we live our life in each passing day is a testimony of how we follow the will of God in our lives. There is a need to constantly and regularly connect to God everything that we do. If we make a conscious effort to do this everyday then we'll surely find it easier to obey the things that God wants us to do and be more sensitive in knowing the will of God in our lives. If we will just honestly and sincerely seek God then we will surely find Him. As we do this we will eventually discover a lot of things that we need to know in order to live our faith in accordance to God's will and be able to overcome all trials and difficulties that come our way. It is really important that we know and follow the instructions of God as in today's 1st reading when God rained down bread from heaven and tested whether the Israelites will follow or not. In the same way when we, like the Israelites believe after witnessing in our lives God's Almighty Power to provide for our need but sometimes still fail to follow instructions given to us by God through the Church and insist on our own perverted thoughts and beliefs. It is our duty to know more about our faith and follow what it teaches us through the Catholic Church. Amen. Hallelujah!
Exodus 19:2-6
Moses went up the mountain to God.
Then the LORD called to him and said,
“Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob;
tell the Israelites:
You have seen for yourselves how I treated the Egyptians
and how I bore you up on eagle wings
and brought you here to myself.
Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant,
you shall be my special possession,
dearer to me than all other people,
though all the earth is mine.
You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.”
The Jews knew of the prophecy that from King David’s lineage would come forth a King, the foretold Messiah of Israel. During the reign of King Ahaz and all other kings of Israel who did evil things the royalty was cut off. During the Babylonian captivity and in exile, those born of the line of David, of royal blood went in hiding for fear of being killed. Even though the divinic dynasty was cut off, from the tree of Jesse, the father of King David, came forth the shoot that brought forth the King. We remember that it was prophesied in Isaiah 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” The genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1 tells of this family tree. We would find at the end of this lineage, Joseph who is the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus. Joseph is not king but a carpenter and being Jew knew of the prophecy as foretold by the prophet including this one from Isaiah 7:14 … the Lord Himself shall give you a sign, “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name Emmanuel.” as spoken to him by the angel who appeared to him. He finally understood the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel. Isaiah is important to better understand Jesus. Joseph knew of the need for secrecy and not to make public these things because the reigning king at that time is Herod. He is not Jew but an Edomite who was just appointed by the Romans to be king. He is king not for the Jews but for the Romans to collect taxes for them. This is mainly the reason why Herod wants all male babies born at the time of Jesus, dead. Joseph dreamed a lot of dreams and it was through them that Joseph was able to successfully carry out his mission as the protector of the baby Jesus. Another point of reference here is the fact that in the Old Testament (OT) there was a foreshadowing of the Magi or Wise Men who came to worship Jesus in the manger. It was at the time of the reign of Balak an evil king in the OT when Balaam also a wise man from the East prophesied in Numbers 24:15,18 that there shall come a Star out of Jacob and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel who will dispossess Edom. He was asked to exact a curse upon Israel but from his mouth came forth a blessing. A star and a scepter signifies kingship. In parallel, it was also the 3 wise men who were looking for a star that would direct them to the newborn King of Israel who would inform Herod of his whereabouts but warned in a dream not to go back to him in a dream. Jesus is truly our King. The Kingship of Jesus is accompanied by many more wonderful things that we still have to know of. In the Jewish tradition the # 3 and 7 stands for perfection and completeness. It is somehow puzzling to know that there are 3 sets of 14 generations from the time of Abraham to the exile to the time of Jesus. So why the #14? The significance of the #14 stands for the name of King David which is equivalent to 14 in Hebrew. The 3 sets of 14 stands for perfect royalty and king that all leads to Jesus. It could also be equivalent to 6 sets of 7. The #6 signifies the date when the beast is made or the beginning thus the #666 which signifies the beast of all beasts. The 6 of 7 sets could mean the beginning of the 7th set. 7 is also the Sabbath. The new 7 is the new creation. Jesus is the beginning of the 7th set. Why the fuss in all of these? It is a consolation to know that we have a God who is King. The King of kings and the Lord of lords. We will eventually come face to face with our Creator and God who made heaven and earth. The time is now to make a conscious move to be in touch with this truth. It is such a waste that we don't always realize God's presence among us. When there is nothing more rewarding than to always be aware of God's presence and cry out to Him in joy. Whenever we are in a relationship with someone and give our 100% into it then we can not help but expect it to work. But there are times too when we have given our all and yet it doesn't seem to be enough. We sometimes are bound for disappointments. When these things happen then is really no reason to be sad for we can always go to God for consolation whose love for us endures forever. We are all called to become partakers and residents of the eternal Kingdom of God. The invitation to be His favorite is open to all because we are all special to Him. Only through enrichment of our souls can we truly appreciate and experience this reality now and for all eternity. If we as human beings are concerned about our physical appearance, all the more should we strive to enhance our overall spiritual condition. We should also build up spiritual muscles and strive to maintain a balanced Christian life. The best way to do it is to always attach to the main source of all goodness. In the horror movie entitled, "Nightmare on Elm Street" every time the girl in this movie falls asleep, her nightmare begins and Freddie Krueger appears to wreak evil and havoc in her life. She has to stay awake or else something really bad happens to her and the people around her. Somehow this should make us realize the importance of being awake, conscious and in touch with reality. If there's one thing that we have to always be aware of, that is God has our best interest in mind. It may not be easy to see, understand and have a grip on this reality always especially at times when we seem down and out as in falling flat on bed without a care in the world like dumb sleepyheads. We have to rise, wake up and shine. We ought to always get a hold of this truth in today's psalm and never let it leave our consciousness. We will eventually come face to face with our Creator, and the time is now to make a conscious move to be in touch with this truth. Our devotion to God should have no limits for He is Almighty, All Powerful and Holy. We should remain faithful to God and never stray away from the path where He leads us. Let us stay within the flock that God has formed for us. When we are being cared for by God who is constantly and consistently good, kind and faithful forever and ever then we are confident that we are safe and secure in the fold where we belong like a flock tended by the Good Shepherd. We should always remember that we have a God who cares for all our needs for we belong to Him. May we all take part in the grand banquet that God has prepared for us in heaven. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 100:1b-2, 3, 5
R: We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; 2 serve the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful song. (R) 3 Know that the LORD is God; he made us, his we are; his people, the flock he tends. (R) 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise; Give thanks to him; bless his name. (R) 5 The LORD is good: his kindness endures forever, and his faithfulness, to all generations.
Nothing compares to the love that God has for us. A love that goes beyond measure is what He offers to us. It should be freely accepted without any pressure or force just like the way it was freely given to us through His Son, Jesus. We need to be aware of it every single moment of our lives. We are so blessed that His love for us surpasses all other kinds of love we've ever known and we'll ever come to know. We may keep on searching for the best kind of love but we'll just be disappointed if we look for it in other than God Himself. For His love alone suffices. Everything happens for a reason. Whatever the reason is we can be confident in the truth that God loves us so much and hope that we will never be disappointed. As we continue the process of living, dying and the hope of resurrecting, we the church of God, the triumphant (angels and saints in heaven), militant (the living) and suffering (souls in purgatory) join forces in prayer in the hope that we will all someday be together in heaven. We can not deny the fact that we live in an imperfect world but in it also came forth a glorious array of holy men and women who are proclaimed saints of the church. I do believe that we can look after the example they left behind and ask at the same time their intercession in order for us to truly live the life of Jesus the way they did. The life of the Blessed Mother and the saints although they generally represent a life of sacrifice and sorrow from the world's point of view, is in truth victorious and triumphant. You know why? I believe that they have learned the secret enclosed in today's 2nd reading. Amen. Hallelujah!
Romans 5:5b-11
5 Brothers and sisters: Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us...But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. 9 How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath. 10 Indeed, if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 Not only that, but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation...
Jesus knows everything that we are going through. We can depend and rely on the truth that He comes to us. He does everything for us, not just curing every disease and illness but teaches us, too so that we can proclaim the gospel of the kingdom ourselves. As God has loved us, we are also called to respond to this love by reaching out to others. Though the path is long and difficult, He has promised us power to overcome all hardships for we are assured that we can do all things through Him. There is a mission and a purpose for each one of us that we need to respond to one way or another at one point in our life. We are not to expect something in return in whatever we do whenever we are called to do something for God. It should give us so much confidence knowing that we have a feeling God who always looks after our welfare. His ways are perfect and just. His heart goes out to us and His love encompasses everything. He wouldn't have come more than 2,000 years ago if this is not so. Being able to realize the need to work and strive to show forth the greater glory of God and acting on it with much conviction and without any hesitation should be our main goal for we have already benefited from the priceless gift of God to us in Jesus. Without a cost we have received for the price is too high to be paid it was already paid a long time ago by Jesus when He offered Himself to die on the cross for our sake. We see a lot of problems in our own society and if we don’t allow and fully trust Jesus to put order in our life just like the sick people in today’s gospel then we might remain incapacitated for life. We have to set limits in order for us to get rid of the bad elements that make us sick whether physically or spiritually. Just like when we avoid too much sugar, salt and fats in our diet or else we will die of diabetes, hypertension and cardiac arrest. We have to control our eating and exercise. We have to exercise a certain control in ourselves so that we can become efficient and useful laborers in God's vineyard. The harvest is indeed abundant but the laborers are few and we are called to be a part of God’s work force. Amen. Hallelujah!
Matthew 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8
35 Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. 36 At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.
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