SIGNS, WONDERS AND MIRACLES

  Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Paul’s conversion. The 1st reading for today is the 2nd telling out of 3 about his conversion (Acts 9, 22 & 26). It was at that time when he was trying to fulfill his mission paradigm since there was a treaty to arrest all the Christians in  Damascus . On his way to Damascus St. Paul changed. Jesus called him by name. He comes from the tribe of Benjamin where King Saul was the most prominent figure at that time. Jesus called him by his Hebrew name, Saul. From that time on he was never the same again. Instead of him arresting Christians it was now him being arrested for converting Jews to Christianity. The mob was ready to tear him apart if not for the Roman soldiers who grabbed him and protected him since he is a Roman citizen. Despite of this he showed them that he’s still a Jew and still following the custom. He calmed everybody down and spoke to them in their language. He could speak Hebrew because he was educated in Judaism in both...

 Our God is our stronghold, in Him alone we must trust. Amen. Hallelujah! 2 Samuel 5: 1-7, 10  But David did take the stronghold of  Zion , which is the City of  David .  David grew steadily more powerful, for the LORD of hosts was with him. If we enter into agreement with any person we have to make sure that we are able to fulfill it and vice versa for the person whom we make a contract with. It is so disappointing when things do not turn out the way it should be and terms and conditions are not followed. I guess, we have all encountered mishaps and are dismayed along the way.  It is always best that if there's someone whom we should observe and maintain a covenant with then there should be no other but God. For His words and promises will always remain true. As in Habakkuk 2:2-3, "Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; If it del...

    Problems, trials and difficulties are all part of the life we live here on earth. They are present whether we accept it or not. What's most important is that we realize that in the midst of all these things is a God who is with us. He is strong and faithful and would always help us overcome whatever comes our way. If we really believe in this then we can get over all our fear, depression and grief. If this is the case, then there is no reason for us to be sad and weep but instead rejoice in the Lord who is our strength and follow exactly what is written in today's 1st reading.  The insights in the Companion Journal wrote, "As we read this text from Nehemiah, it is important for us to recognize the awe and respect with which the Jewish people held the Word of God. If only we had the same respect for God’s Word. We all ought to have at least one Bible in our homes and it ought to be read often. If we are not taking up the Word of God and reading it regularly our minds a...

  David in today's 1st reading was confronted with a temptation. As we go through life, we sometimes encounter similar situations and also end up succumbing to it. These are times in our life when we get caught in the crossfire of life's battles. We need to learn how to handle such situations and learn from the pitfalls of King David. At the time he had this temptation he was in an idle moment. Take note of this specific bible passage which states that while the army of  Israel  was in battle David, however, remained in  Jerusalem . It pays to always be busy doing something for God’s work. As the saying goes an idle mind is the play place of the devil. We must know that one of the things we have to watch out for are these unguarded moments when we become vulnerable to temptation. We must remember and pay attention to these situations that we are in when we fell into sin. We must learn from that experience and know how to overcome it when we encounter it again. We nee...

The purity of desire, cleanliness of intentions and nobility of character all dwell in the heart of man. That is why God does not look on appearance but into one's heart. It is noteworthy that today’s 1 st  reading demonstrates the goodness of David and his upright character over Saul. The Lord wants us to remove all wickedness in each one of us. We can never hide from God because everything that does not come sincerely from the purity of our hearts will eventually be revealed, exposed and people will know about it sooner or later. We should have the same conviction as David in today's 1st reading to stand by what is good. Despite his opportunity to get back at Saul and take his revenge he still did what was right in the eyes of God. David's heart is pure and full of mercy. Though, it may cost him his own life that he spared Saul's life, his enemy who wanted him dead but he still decided to leave it all up to God. Amen. Hallelujah!  1 Samuel 24:3-21    ...

  David defeated Goliath and fought in service of King Saul but Saul missed the point and was consumed by envy and anger.    He should have been grateful to David for delivering the Israelites from the hands of the Philistines. Let us pray to the Lord that we be guarded from the malice of sin (Pride, envy, lust, anger, gluttony, avarice and sloth) and truly live a life after Christ.  Today's 1st reading also speaks of Jonathan who interceded in David's behalf and thus was spared his life. It demonstrates to us the power of intercession and encourages us to do the same for our fellow brothers and sisters. We are all called to pray and intercede for each other. Even those people whom we never had the chance of knowing personally.  In turn we should also thank God for using people as an instrument to save us from every danger. We can not deny that we have witnessed God's intervention in our life through people that we can consider as Jonathan just like in today's f...

  If we will just look back and recall the tough times that we've been through then we can now just laugh it off and shrug our shoulders but way back then was a different scenario. We sometimes wonder how we were able to go through that kind of ordeal. Today's 1st reading tells us of the story of David & Goliath. Everybody knows from the beginning that it was a mismatch and judging from the standard of this world, David does not stand a chance against Goliath. The same is true with our giant problems and concerns in life. Are we faced with our own Goliath?    Take courage! We may have to go up against a very scary giant Philistine in our life. We must not forget that God can deliver us from all our problems and can save us from the clutches of Goliath. If like David we entrust all our battles to the Lord then victory shall be ours. Amen. Hallelujah! 1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51 32 David spoke to Saul: “Let your majesty not lose courage. I am at your service to go and ...