SIGNS, WONDERS AND MIRACLES

 In today's 1st reading we can simply conclude that our God operates in very simple terms that will only require something as plain as common sense. There is nothing else more right and sensible than what it suggests. Amen. Hallelujah! James 5:13-20 13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint [him] with oil in the name of the Lord, 15 and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful... Have you experienced being ignored by someone whom you are talking to? If yes, then you definitely can not think highly of such a person who deliberately ignores you for no reason at all. I am s...

   If only we will realize that complaining is almost considered as a crime then maybe we can decide against it even before doing so. Thus we need to take heed of what today’s 1 st  reading tells us. Amen. Hallelujah! Blogger Free weblog publishing tool from Google, for sharing text, photos and video. James 5:9-12 Do not complain, brothers, about one another, that you may not be judged. Behold, the Judge is standing before the gates. Take as an example of hardship and patience, brothers, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Indeed we call blessed those who have persevered. We can never fathom the wisdom of God but we can always remain confident in the truth that His kindness is perfect and everlasting. He makes all things work for good. When we feel so helpless, miserable and alone, never ever doubt that He can't help but be the loving God that He is. God loves us so much that he will adjust to our needs and make things work for good. There is no reason for us ...

  Today's 1st reading serves as a warning for all of us not to be led astray by the values that this world hold dear. It is so hard not to be influenced by it because we are still in this world and detaching from it poses a more difficult task than to imbibe the ways of the world and just go with the flow without any resistance. We must master all our courage and strength in sticking to the truth and values that Jesus teaches us in the bible as in the Book of James. Amen. Hallelujah! James 5:1-6 1 Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. 2 Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten, 3 your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure for the last days. 4 Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers who harvested your fields are crying aloud, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have live...

   There is some truth to the famous rap song, "Don't worry be happy" if we believe that our lives is in the hands of the Lord. The enemy of happiness is not sadness but fear. Happiness is not a mood or emotion. It is a way of life.    Here are the 7 tools of happy people I learned from Bro. Bo Sanchez. 1. They create their destiny. 2. They accept forgiveness. 3. They nurture connections. 4. They find delight everywhere. 5. They embrace change. They are eternal students. 6. They trust deeply. 7. They work their purpose daily. The 7 tools address the different fears in our lives. Fear robs us of happiness. The 3 parts of the brain that control fear are the  brainstem, amygdale and the cortex. The brainstem and amygdale controls the endocrine glands which produces the fear hormones called the adrenaline and cortisone. Stress makes us unhappy. The antidote of fear is love. In 1 John 4:8 it is written, Perfect love casts out all fear. We have to fill our lives with ...

  We often find ourselves asking the people around us, "Are you sure about that?" whenever we are in doubt of some things. One thing is certain, only God can give us sure and fail proof tips.    Amen. Hallelujah! James 4:1-10 ...You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions...So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you... Since I arrived here in the US, I can say that I have never been closer to God the way I am right now. Every single day is a new day with the Lord full of surprises. I could never forget that time when I got a call from an old friend and elementary classmate whom I haven't seen for almost 20 years. It gave me a new found joy of being able to talk to her and relate how things are with both of us. To top it all I found out that she lives near Beaupre, Quebec in Canada where the stately and famous basilica of St. Anne is situated. Being born on S...

     Everything that is attributed to Mary points to Jesus all because she accepted the will of God to happen in her life. We, like Mary are invited too, by the Angel Gabriel to conceive Jesus in our hearts. It is by our own decision that we should answer God's call just like what Mary did. We thank Mary for her obedience. She did not disobey God like what Adam and Eve did in today's first reading. The Catechism of the Catholic Church instructs that "Genesis 3:15 is called the Protoevangelium -first gospel: the first announcement of the Messiah and Redeemer, of a battle between the serpent and the Woman, and of the final victory of a descendant of hers." Even before the time when Mary was not yet born, she can already be found in the scriptures owing to the great role entrusted to her to be the Mother of God. It is God's original plan that we live in paradise but Adam and Eve fell into sin that He immediately switched to another plan through Mary who did not frust...

     The talk entitled, "Opening to God's love" by Dominic Berardino broadened my understanding of God's love. I was specifically touched when the speaker said that God has so much love that He is not able to contain it and it overflows. God's creation is His way of making room for His love. We are all expressions of God's love. It was impressed to me that as pro creators of God we too are capable of expressing this love and make it grow and multiply through the help of the Holy Spirit. Allow God to change our hearts and live that love not just in words but in action, deeds and in truth. He further said that peace is still unfulfilled, which is very evident in the prevailing conditions worldwide because people or we are not yet fully transforming our hearts to love. He said he used to be a "Cultural Catholic" who never heard the personal message of God's love. Although he already felt the love of God at age 7 when he had his 1st communion, he sti...