Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Author: A Dose of God Today

  • God searches us to find us; not us searching for Him to find Him

    God searches us to find us; not us searching for Him to find Him

    June 28, 2019 – Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

    Eze 34:11-16; 

    Thus says the Lord GOD:
    I myself will look after and tend my sheep.
    As a shepherd tends his flock
    when he finds himself among his scattered sheep,
    so will I tend my sheep.
    I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered
    when it was cloudy and dark.
    I will lead them out from among the peoples
    and gather them from the foreign lands;
    I will bring them back to their own country
    and pasture them upon the mountains of Israel
    in the land’s ravines and all its inhabited places.
    In good pastures will I pasture them,
    and on the mountain heights of Israel
    shall be their grazing ground.
    There they shall lie down on good grazing ground,
    and in rich pastures shall they be pastured
    on the mountains of Israel.
    I myself will pasture my sheep;
    I myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD.
    The lost I will seek out,
    the strayed I will bring back,
    the injured I will bind up,
    the sick I will heal,
    but the sleek and the strong I will destroy,
    shepherding them rightly.

    PS 23:1-3A, 3B-4, 5, 6.

    R.(1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
    The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
    In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
    beside restful waters he leads me;
    he refreshes my soul.
    R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
    He guides me in right paths
    for his name’s sake.
    Even though I walk in the dark valley
    I fear no evil; for you are at my side
    with your rod and your staff
    that give me courage.
    R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
    You spread the table before me
    in the sight of my foes;
    you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
    R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
    Only goodness and kindness follow me
    all the days of my life;
    and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
    for years to come.
    R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

    Rom. 5:5b-11; 

    Brothers and sisters:
    The love of God has been poured out into our hearts
    through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
    For Christ, while we were still helpless,
    died at the appointed time for the ungodly.
    Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person,
    though perhaps for a good person
    one might even find courage to die.
    But God proves his love for us
    in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
    How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood,
    will we be saved through him from the wrath.
    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.
    Not only that,
    but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
    through whom we have now received reconciliation.

    Lk 15:3-7

    Jesus addressed this parable to the Pharisees and scribes:
    “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
    would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
    and go after the lost one until he finds it?
    And when he does find it,
    he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
    and, upon his arrival home,
    he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,
    ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’
    I tell you, in just the same way
    there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
    than over ninety-nine righteous people
    who have no need of repentance.”

    A friend of mine once posted of his Facebook account his thoughts, he said, “I am so tired of searching for God.” From his post, I thought that God seemed not to be found. He was searching for God as he said he felt empty within, he felt that he could not find joy. And God seemed to have lost his way!

    How could that be possible? That was what I thought when he said that God seemed not to be found! I heard this many times not just to that friend of mine. We have this belief that it is us who are searching for God, it is us who has been looking for Him, yet, at the end, we surrender because we have never found God in our life.

    The difficulty lies in the fact that we have been looking and searching for something or someone that has never been lost. And it is very true with God. God has never lost his way. God stays with us and is always with us. Yet, a point in our life we claim that we were looking for him and did not find him.

    Yes, we naturally look and search for something or someone that we have lost. But how could we find something if it is not lost after all? In fact, our search for God is useless because we tend to search God outside instead of recognizing Him in our very life.

    However, our first reading from the Book of Ezekiel and the Gospel of Luke present to us an image of God that Jesus wants to show to us today. Ezekiel affirms that it is God who will search and lead back the strays. In the parable, Jesus also tells us of the Shepherd who seeks the lost and rejoices when he finds the lost sheep.

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    This image of God tells us of a God who searches for the lost. Thus, God never lost His way. In fact, it is us who will be lost. We are the sheep in the stories who are driven by our selfish desires.

    Is it not that we tend to be unmindful and unconscious of many things in life except for our personal desires and wants, except with those that will give us comfort and pleasure?

    We might be full of ourselves, of what others can give us and of what is only beneficial to us without minding the needs of others. Like the sheep, we might also wander to the other side thinking that there is more security in addictions and vices, in depression and loneliness. So, we stray away from the comfort of our brothers and sisters, and from the presence of God.

    These attitudes of ours are basically refusal to God’s invitation. And our reasons? We have other priorities. Thus, this reminds us of our passive and complacent attitudes towards the many invitations of God.

    Nevertheless, God never tires to invites again and again. God invites us to be with Him, to join with Him and enjoy His abiding presence in our sacraments, in our liturgy and in our daily prayers, and in our community.

    Jesus is teaching us of a God who invites us and searches for us not just once but in every opportunity of our life.

    And this is the truth; it is God who has been searching and inviting us. He has been looking for us and he patiently waits for us to allow him to find us. And God takes the risk of being rejected. But though he has been rejected many times he never lost his confidence to invite us again and again. God always searches for the human heart and once he has found us he invites us to come to him.

    And this is the message of this feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus – this God who loves us so much cannot and will not give up on us, no matter what because we are always so dear to Him. Indeed, love is the language of Sacred Heart of Jesus expressed in God’s desire to search and find us so that we will be given the fullness of life.

    Thus, we don’t search for God because it is Him who has been searching for us. So, let us allow God to search for us and to allow him to find us. It is in this attitude that we will be able to listen to his many invitations and will inspire us to say YES to him. To say Yes and to affirm his invitation to recognize his presence in our life and with others. And when we are able to recognize him, then we will truly be joyful; our hearts will be filled with love of God, as St. Paul says to us. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

     

  • If we have Jesus in our life as our foundation, we will surely be fine

    If we have Jesus in our life as our foundation, we will surely be fine

    June 27, 2019 – Thursday 12th Week in OT    

    GN 16:1-12, 15-16

    Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children.
    She had, however, an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.
    Sarai said to Abram:  “The LORD has kept me from bearing children.
    Have intercourse, then, with my maid; perhaps I shall have sons through her.”
    Abram heeded Sarai’s request.
    Thus, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, his wife Sarai took her maid, Hagar the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his concubine.
    He had intercourse with her, and she became pregnant.
    When she became aware of her pregnancy, she looked on her mistress with disdain.
    So Sarai said to Abram: “You are responsible for this outrage against me.
    I myself gave my maid to your embrace; but ever since she became aware of her pregnancy, she has been looking on me with disdain.
    May the LORD decide between you and me!” Abram told Sarai:  “Your maid is in your power. Do to her whatever you please.”
    Sarai then abused her so much that Hagar ran away from her.The LORD’s messenger found her by a spring in the wilderness,
    the spring on the road to Shur, and he asked, “Hagar, maid of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”
    She answered, “I am running away from my mistress, Sarai.”
    But the LORD’s messenger told her: “Go back to your mistress and submit to her abusive treatment. I will make your descendants so numerous,” added the LORD’s messenger,
    “that they will be too many to count. Besides,” the LORD’s messenger said to her:

    “You are now pregnant and shall bear a son; you shall name him Ishmael,
    For the LORD has heard you, God has answered you.

    This one shall be a wild ass of a man, his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; In opposition to all his kin shall he encamp.”

    Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram named the son whom Hagar bore him Ishmael.
    Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

    The Word of the Lord.

    MT 7:21-29

    Jesus said to his disciples: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
    will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?
    Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’
    Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’
    “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
    will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
    The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
    But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
    And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
    When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
    for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
    The Gospel of the Lord.

    Have you been treated badly by others because of your failures? Or have you been unkind to others because of your frustrations? There would be times that we become resentful and unkind to people around us especially when we experience frustrations and failures in life. As a way of expressing our frustrations, we extend such negative feelings towards people under us. We will tend to be cranky and strict, unkind and ungenerous with others because we are basically angry with ourselves.

    This was what happened to Hagar and her son, Ishmael, who became the object of frustrations of Sarai and complacency and irresponsibility of Abram. Hagar was in big trouble, not of her own doing but of her masters. It was because of Sarai’s insecurity that Hagar and Ishmael suffered such unkind treatment. Sarai grew old and childless. She was supposed to produce children for Abram yet, it seemed that she could not.

    Abram was promised by God to have children as many as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the shore. Yet, not one child was given. Thus, Sarai felt pressured by their local custom to allow a maid-servant to become the bearer of Abram’s children.

    Indeed, it was out of her insecurity and frustration that she offered Hagar to Abram. However, later on, when Hagar became pregnant, Sarai became more resentful and despised Hagar. Sarai treated Hagar badly as an expression of Sarai’s frustration of herself and of her failures.

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    This will surely happen to us when we are not founded solidly. Jesus speaks of having a good foundation like building a house on rock rather than on sand. What does it mean? Building a house on rock means making myself founded on Jesus. Jesus is the rock, the very foundation of our person and of our faith. Jesus will also be our foundation once we are also ready to accept him and allow him to transform our life.

    How do we do it? It is by listening to his words and holding on to his promises that we become solid. By listening to God’s words and wisdom then, the more we also become aware of God’s desire for us. This will always assure us because God’s desire for us is always good and will always give life to us.

    However, if we decide to build our life on mere human understanding, mere human desires and wants, then, we are like building our house on sand. To settle on these weak foundations, means putting trust on our human inclinations to sin. We know that we are weak and we can easily be driven by our selfish desires and wants.

    This was what led Sarai and even Abram to be so selfish. They trusted their impulses to decide things, which had long-term consequences. They never even made God as part of that decision. Sarai made the decision out of frustration and insecurity while Abram also went with that decision in mere complacency and even without taking responsibility over Hagar and Ishmael.

    The Lord invites us today to claim Him as the foundation of our whole life. This means that Jesus wants us to make him part of our every decision and action. And surely, we are assured that as the storms of failures, losses, death, illness, pain, injury, worries and doubts in life will come, then, we have Jesus to hold on and to lean on. If we have Jesus in our life, we will surely be fine. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Beware of the empty promises of the False Prophets; seek rather the voice of Jesus

    Beware of the empty promises of the False Prophets; seek rather the voice of Jesus

    June 26, 2019 – Wednesday of the 12th Week in OT

    Mt. 7:15-20

    Jesus said to his disciples:
    “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing,
    but underneath are ravenous wolves.
    By their fruits you will know them.
    Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
    Just so, every good tree bears good fruit,
    and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.
    A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,
    nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.
    Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down
    and thrown into the fire.
    So by their fruits you will know them.”

    The Gospel of the Lord.

    Jesus warned his disciples of the presence of the false prophet who will bring confusion among them. This person is pretentious and lives a life filled with lies and shadows. Yet, a false prophet can be so entertaining, fascinating, persuasive and convincing. The false prophet’s words sound wonderful and filled with big promises. However, the fruits of the actions and words of the false prophet only bring destruction and death.

    This is the reason why Jesus wanted his disciples to be more discerning in listening to different voices around them. When a disciple is not attentive and discerning to the many inputs, he or she may be led easily to believe to fake news.

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    In today’s context, a false prophet may appear to us as a real or virtual person who may persuade us to believe in their false hopes, false alarms and fake news especially with what is happening in our community today. The intention of persuading us to believe has certainly contained hidden selfish agenda. But beware of these and be discerning because such actions will only bring us to division.

    Moreover, such false prophets can also take the form of the empty promises of our various addictions. Gambling, alcohol, drugs, sex, shopping, excessive Internet usage may promise to fill our empty and hallow hearts that long for attention and care, recognition and acceptance, affection and love. These forms of false prophets may also seduce us to believe that these addictions and unhealthy coping mechanisms may provide relief from the pain that we feel, pain of losing a loved one, of heartbreak, of rejection, or of failure and guilt.

    Jesus wants us to only listen to Him because all these various forms of false prophets will surely not bring us to life and freedom but rather to slavery and death. The Lord desires that we become free and alive.

    Thus, Jesus invites us today to be discerning, as we are bombarded everyday with many inputs from the outside. Listen also to the voice within us that will point us to come closer to God. Seek and listen to those people and other forms of media-communication that will bring you closer to Jesus and will help you to know yourself and him better.

    If you realize that this kind of person, media site, or attitude of yours does not bring you closer to God but away from Him, away from yourself and from other people, then, beware because that will only bring you to destruction.

    As we make the effort of listening and following the voice of Jesus, we will certainly also find the way to freedom and way to fullness of life. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Do to others what you like them to do to you

    Do to others what you like them to do to you

    June 25, 2019 – Tuesday 12th Week in OT

    Mt. 7:6, 12-14

    Jesus said to his disciples:
    “Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine,
    lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.

    “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
    This is the Law and the Prophets.

    “Enter through the narrow gate;
    for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,
    and those who enter through it are many.
    How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.
    And those who find it are few.”

    The Gospel of the Lord.

    What Jesus is saying to us today sounds very simple.

    Do you want others to be kind to you? Then, be kind to others. Do you want others to be generous to you? Then, be generous to others.

    This really sounds simple. Yet, as we have experienced, this is not always the case. Think of those people who were very ungrateful to you despite the many things that you have done for them. Think of those of talked behind your back, even though you have been good to them but these people remained vicious once they are at your back. Think of those people who only stay at your side as long as you can provide them their wants and needs, but once you fail to give what they want, then, they turn against you. Think also of those who always ignore you, criticize you and insult you before others.

    Now, this teaching of Jesus really sounds absurd, right? The Golden Rule will really sound ridiculous when we ourselves also are not convinced of its power. Indeed, the Golden Rule of Jesus has its power to transform individuals and communities. The Golden Rule inspires change of attitude and of the heart not just to the one doing it but also to the person who is the recipient of the good deed.

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    Jesus gave this Golden Rule to his disciples in a positive way, “Do to others what you want others to do you.” Jesus avoided the negative approach of, “Do not do unto others what you do not want others do unto you,” which sounds passive.

    This positive approach of Jesus invites us to take a proactive stance. This means that we initiate kindness, goodness and giving respect to others even though they may not deserve it. That is why; Jesus calls this the “narrow gate” because only few people will take the risk of expressing kindness and giving utmost respect to undeserving people.

    Yet, once we take the risk of going into this “narrow gate,” we shall also find life and freedom. Remember, God loves us even though we are unworthy and through that love, we find life.

    Thus, I would like to invite you to take the risk and actively do good things to people around, no matter who they are. At least, let them feel of your presence, a presence that neither judge nor condemn, but a presence that shows kindness and respect to the person. We don’t know that could be the most comforting day for that person, and that could also be your most awesome day. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • To proclaim that God is gracious is our calling as modern day John the Baptist

    To proclaim that God is gracious is our calling as modern day John the Baptist

    Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist – June 24, 2019

    Isa. 49:1-6; Acts 13:22-26; Lk 1:57-66,80

    Today we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist. He is a very important figure in the New Testament and that is why our Church celebrates with great dignity his birth.

    How significant was he then? The Lord promised to send a Messiah who will come to us in order to save us. But before the Messiah will come, a person shall be sent first to serve as a herald who will prepare God’s people for the coming of the Messiah. This herald will not only announce the coming of the Messiah but he too will lead the people to recognize who the Messiah is.

    In the prophecy of the Book of Isaiah, this person shall be a light of the nations because he will teach, lead and gather the people to see God. The birth of this person is not by accident but planned well by God.

    We have heard in the first reading how Isaiah described God calling his herald even before his birth. This herald has been named and appointed by God to lead his people. This is God’s promise to be first fulfilled through the participation of humanity, through us.

    The Gospel reveals further to us how God planned everything so that we will be able to recognize Him. The birth of John was announced to an old couple, Zachariah and Elizabeth. For the Jews, if a couple has no child, it means that they are not favored by God and worst they too believed that the couple are cursed.

    However, to the surprise of this old couple an angel announced that they will have a son. Elizabeth welcomed the message from God, but her husband, because it was too much to believe could not accept God’s gift. That is why, Zechariah was silenced by God. He only recovered his voice when his son was born. It was when he gave the name John to his son that the Lord opened his mouth again because the Lord is gracious. Yes, the name John or Johannes means the Lord is gracious.

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    The birth of John is God’s manifestation that He is indeed gracious and faithful despite our unbelief and doubts. God continues to reveal himself to us even though we refuse to believe.

    This was the role of John and that was to bring people again to believe that God has never abandoned us. God remembers and is here with us. This made John a great and important prophet because he reminded the people about God, made people recognize God and brought them close to God. Yet, because of this role of John, it caused John’s life. He was martyred, beheaded actually, because of this cause to make people recognize God.

    For all of us now, we may ask ourselves, “What is God’s plan for me now? What does God want me to be now? Is there also a divine purpose of my life?”

    We are called today to be the modern John the Baptist of God. Yes, you and me who have been baptized in the name of God have been called to proclaim God’s graciousness. We are called to lead people back and close to God and to discover a life filled with peace and love with God and with each other.

    How do we do it then? You as parents, you are in the best position to lead your children to God. You are there to prepare the way of the Lord in the hearts of your children. Teachers, educators and persons who are in authority, you too are in the position to influence your students, mentees and subjects to discover God in your authority. As friends, co-workers, and classmates we too are in the position to let those people around us to realize that God is in us. Through us, people around us may discover and be led close to God.

    This is how we celebrate this feast of the Birth of John, by making John alive in each of us. It also means that we make ever present God’s graciousness in us because we will become a witness to God’s grace. Hopefully, through this vocation of bringing people close to God, we as a community, will also journey closer to God as we struggle to recognize God daily in our life despite our unbelief and refusal to believe in his graciousness to us. Kabay pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR