Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Author: A Dose of God Today

  • Live in the Spirit, Follow the Spirit

    Live in the Spirit, Follow the Spirit

    October 16, 2024 – Wednesday 28th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101624.cfm)

    Each of us is a person capable of THINKING, FEELING AND ACTING. With what I think and how I feel, how do I act? We know for a fact that our actions are most of the time influenced by what kind of ideas we develop and feelings that we foster. This is how the kind of relationship and treatment to others are being molded. This also include the kind of decisions that we make; the kind of passions and ideals we express; and the kind of intentions and desires that we try to fulfill are being realized.

    The passage of the Letter of Paul to the Galatians reminds us of this reality in our humanity. And in the language of Paul, he told us how the “works of the flesh” and the “Spirit of God” will mold and influence the human mind and heart. This is at the same time a warning and a call for every Christian.

    Paul warns, “if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” This is the law of death, of corruption and misery. As what the Apostle reminds us such “works of the flesh” are filled with selfishness and utterly centered on the ego of the human person. It feeds and nurtures what would separate us from others and from the grace of God.

    This is the very reason why Jesus, in the Gospel of Luke rebuked the Pharisees and the scholars of the law who were only filled with their selfish desires and ambitions. They thought nothing of others, but only what was only beneficial, advantageous and comfortable for them. They may have looked like righteous and pious people on the outside, as they were very concerns of appearance and elaborate rituals, however, their hearts were filled with malice and indifference.

    In consequence, their mind and heart were prevented to see and recognize the presence of God in the person of Jesus. They even felt threatened by the mere presence of Jesus and his way of life and teachings. They rejected him because they allowed their minds (thinking) and their hearts (feeling) be influenced by works of the flesh. Thus, their reaction (acting) towards Jesus and his message of conversion was filled with violence and hatred.

    This will also happen to us. When we too are only concerned of ourselves without minding the needs of others and if those people around us, we become so self-centered. When we want to only think and feel for ourselves then our actions become selfish and indifferent. When we only foster anger and hatred in our hearts, refusing to let them go, then our actions and words will surely be violent and malicious. When we linger only to our pains and hurts, we will certainly remain suffering and hurting ourselves and others. When we too are only concerned of seeking comfort, advancing our selfish desires and ambitions, then, the more we become indifferent, removed from what others would feel and experience.

    Paul rather calls and reminds us to “live in the Spirit and to follow the Spirit.” And the Spirit of God, that raised Jesus from the dead and made us children of God will bring us to love, to joy, to peace, to patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

    We pray and ask for this grace then, that in all things, our thinking, feeling and acting will be filled with the Spirit of God, that we may follow Christ more closely, know him more clearly and love him more dearly. Hinaut pa.

  • Faith is Loving

    Faith is Loving

    October 15, 2024 – Tuesday 28th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101524.cfm)

    In every group or organization there is always this desire that in order to express their identity, there should also be uniformity in language, ways of doing or even appearance. And so we create initiations when there are new members and introduce to them those ways and things so that they become like us, identifiable and one with the group or organization.

    This is also true in many cultures, as we belong to a particular culture it is almost expected that we follow what is proper to that particular culture. Anyone who does not follow or adhere to the cultural beliefs, ways, costumes and customs are considered an outsider or foreigner. And so people who want to be identified to a seemingly more superior and cool culture, we try copy and mimic their ways so that we can say, “we belong.”

    Though there is nothing wrong with this, however, such desire to make everybody else to look like us or to impose on others our ways of doing before they will be welcomed can also be problematic.

    This is what St. Paul in his Letter to the Galatians told us about. At that time, there were some Christian Jews who demanded that those Gentiles who accepted the Gospel of Christ must also follow the religious and cultural practices of the Jewish people. This demand became a tension in those times of the first Christians. For them, one is being justified by the law of Moses.

    Nevertheless, Paul, a Jew and a Pharisee himself, reminded the Christian Jews that one is justified not by law but by faith. Thus, Paul said, “For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.”

    There is no need for that kind of uniformity before the non-Jews will be accepted and welcomed. It is Christ Jesus and faith in him that we are justified and welcomed. Moreover, this faith is expressed in love not in indifference or in our superiority and righteousness over others. Therefore, our Christian faith is not kind of affiliation like in organizations or associations that we create. Our Christian faith is rather a relationship expressed in and through love!

    This is what Jesus also emphasized in today’s Gospel as he encountered a Pharisee who was rigid and meticulous over man-made religious practices. Jesus directing at the heart of the matter, rebuked the Pharisee with all frankness, “Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil!”

    The rigidity and meticulous observance of the law was only a cover-up, a façade of a plunderous and evil heart. But Jesus sees that heart and his words pierces through the heart.

    Hence, what Jesus asks of us is not uniformity but consistency in our words and actions, not mere observance of the law but charity and integrity, not in merely being obliged but by being in love. We ask the Lord today that indeed, our faith will work through love. Hinaut pa.

  • SIGNS AND MEANINGS

    SIGNS AND MEANINGS

    October 14, 2024 – Monday 28th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101424.cfm)

    Everywhere we look at, there are many signs around us. Depending on its intended us, a particular sign will tell us what it is about. For example, a red light in an intersection, would tell us that cars should stop and let those other side of the intersection pass through since they have the green light. In a water dispenser, a red colored faucet means hot water while the green or blue means cold water.

    There are also natural signs around us. When we see thick and dark clouds above us, most likely rain will come in few minutes or hours. After an earthquake, when the sea would recede quickly, surely, there will be a tsunami after.

    Aside from these, there are also human emotional signs that we have to be aware of. When a person who withdraws into the recesses of his/her room, feeling sad or anxious and lonely, the person might be already undergoing depression. A person who feels afraid and terrified over particular  another person, event or place, the person might have a traumatic experience associated in those things.

    These are just few examples of different signs around us and of their meanings. And it is also important that we are able to understand them and so respond appropriately to every particular situation.

    In today’s Gospel, we too are reminded of signs. Jesus was asked by the people to give them sign before they believe in him and in what he showed them. The people seemed to believe rather that Jesus was like a magician who would do out of this world signs that would entertain them. Their demand to give them a sign was rather, a sign as well, that they have not able to understand the greatest sign already given to them.

    Jesus was the greatest sign ever revealed by the Father. Yet, their unbelieving and malicious hearts made them close-minded. Even when the sign was in front of them, they refused to see and recognized God’s greatest sign of love and salvation.

    St. Paul in his Letter to the Galatians reminds us that such attitude and way of life is a sign that these people still like with the yoke of slavery. It was slavery of hatred and indifference, the slavery of malice and selfishness. Hence, they were not free.

    However, Jesus desires that we indeed become free. Again St. Paul told us, “for freedom Christ set us free.” The very presence of Jesus in us brings us to freedom!

    Thus, as we come to understand the many signs around us, may we also become more attuned and familiar to the signs the Lord gives us. These signs from the Lord, and his presence revealed to us may not be extra-ordinary or spectacular, but simple and ordinary. Let us be discerning and patient then and make ourselves free from anything that would prevent us from recognizing and embracing God’s many manifestations in our life and relationships. Hinaut pa.

  • SEARCHING AND SETTLING DOWN

    SEARCHING AND SETTLING DOWN

    October 13, 2028 – 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101324.cfm)

    Have I settled down? Have I found what I am looking for? Do I find fulfillment and contentment with what is happening in my life now? With my work? In my relationships? Or am I restless and still searching, unable to settle down? Do I find emptiness and meaninglessness with what I do and with I have?

    Indeed, when we have reached an age of maturity and finds ourselves still searching and longing for something worthwhile and meaningful for our life, we might find ourselves restless and anxious. As a result, we could be shifting a course one after another, or changing jobs one after another or ending a romantic relationship and starting a new one without any fulfillment in those relationships. Our mind keeps changing. We are confused what we really like and what we don’t like. At times, we would just let others tell us what to do but later on regret because we never wanted it.

    However, such restlessness would also allow us to refine our intentions and see better ourselves. This also means that we need help from others to accompany and guide us in searching and finding what we are meant to be and to do. In fact, St. Irenaeus famously said, “the glory of God is a human being fully alive.” Having our full potentials, expressing and giving fully and freely what we are meant to be and to do would reveal the glory of God in us.

    In today’s readings, this need and reality is revealed to us. And so, let us see how God unfolds his invitations and challenges for us.

    Jesus, in the Gospel of Mark, encountered a man who in his heart knew already what he wanted. He asked the Lord, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” This man must have been respected and adored by many. He was a good man, religious and a pious Jew. He followed the commandments of God. He too was rich. Having such kind of character and wealth, people must have looked up to him. However, he too was restless. He was in search of something more meaningful and more worthwhile perhaps, over his routine in life.

    The Gospel told us, that Jesus looking at him, loved him and said, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then, come and follow me.”

    Nevertheless, the words and demands of Jesus were too radical and difficult for him to accept. He must have understood that and knew that that was the way, yet, he couldn’t. This made the man sad. He went away and did not follow Jesus because he had many possessions. The many things he possessed prevented him to be free.

    This makes us realize now that what we have achieved, accumulated, gathered or saved in this life won’t give us the true assurance of contentment in life. We may have the best job and position in our company, but remains unhappy. We may have gained many degrees and have spent a number of years in our profession but we feel empty. We may be so comfortable in life, doing so well with our business, yet, we feel restless when we are alone. Or we may have also been married or committed ourselves to religious life, having spent a number of years, yet, at the end of the day we couldn’t deny that our heart is still longing for something more. And this can be tiring or at times overwhelming.

    When we are in this kind of crossroad in life, this is also an opportunity for us to see clearly ourselves and see God. What we need is a heart that seeks wisdom able to discern and choose what to keep and what to let go.

    This is what the first reading calls us today. The author of the Book of Wisdom says, “I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.” Wisdom is proven to be better than power and wealth, even with health and beauty. With wisdom, it leads us to what is lasting and fulfilling.

    This is what we also discover with the Word of God, filled with wisdom, as revealed in our second reading. The Letter to the Hebrews tells us that “the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.”

    Hence, there are three points that we can bring today as our take-aways.

    First, come closer to Jesus. Like the man in the Gospel, take the courage and the boldness to come closer to Jesus, to encounter him, that we too might be able to look at his eyes and realize how much Jesus loves us. This should give us the assurance and confidence above everything else. We can do this as we come closer to the Sacraments of the Church. The Holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation would surely bring us closer to Jesus and to ourselves.

    Second, seek for wisdom. Wisdom is a gift and through the Word of God revealed to us this gift is given. There are also people who can help us and seek wisdom for us to be able to see and understand better our heart. This may help us to discern well and choose  what will give us true fulfillment.

    Third, let go of those that are possessing us. As wisdom will help see and discern our heart, let wisdom allow us to take action by letting go whatever is  possessing us, of those that prevent us to be free. Unlike the man in the Gospel, we may not go away feeling sad because we are unable to let go, but rather take the risk of letting go and following Jesus freely and gladly.

    May these challenges bring us closer to Jesus and allow us to create and develop lasting relationships as we tread the path of life God calls us to be, wherever we are now and whatever is our status. Hinaut pa.

  • US being Married to God

    US being Married to God

    October 13, 2024 – 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101324.cfm)

    In a recent Facebook post, a young man named Seth Adam Smith who, after being married to his childhood sweetheart for a year and a half, realized, and said: “Marriage is not for me.” Why…? after all these months of marriage, eventually he comes to appreciate his Father’s advice before his wedding. Before wedding, His dad said to him: “Seth, marriage is not for you. You don’t marry to make yourself happy. You marry to make someone else happy. More than that, marriage is not for yourself. You are marrying for a family and for your future children. Marriage is not for you. It is not about you. Marriage is about the person you married.”

    Surely married couples could relate to such realization or advice. For marriage is indeed not really for the sake of oneself but for the sake of your lifetime partner. Eventually married couple has to learn along the way that marriage is not all about “I” or about “Me” or about “You” but all about “US”. And surely such realization is a hard-learned lesson, for such wisdom only happens through trial-and-error experiences.

    To be selfless, i.e. to be not selfish and self-centered then is the very challenge of committed love we called marriage. For love is more than just a feeling or emotion but a commitment and decision to go beyond and give up oneself for the sake of the other. In other words, in marriage – in committed love, couples are to love their own spouse and children as much more than they love themselves and one another. Their love should be other-oriented than self-directed.

    A married life in committed love is thus, not for your own but for the sake of your loved ones and for the sake of loving them, same way as Jesus loved us. Love then should not be a story of “I” nor a story of “me” or “you”, but is & should be a story of US.

    In our gospel today, wanting more than just observing and obeying God’s commandments, the rich man asked Jesus for an advice as to how to inherit eternal life. With and in love, Jesus counselled and challenged him to give up and share everything to the poor and follow Jesus. Instead, the rich man however went away sad for he had many possessions. With this, we hear Jesus’ well-known words, “Children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom” – harder than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.

    And sadly, we also unwittingly misquote & misuse these words as our usual excuse for our failures and shortcomings in life-commitment, as well as for thinking and even believing that God’s salvation and eternal life is difficult, impossible, and even exclusive only for the few.

    Nonetheless Jesus teaches us in our gospel today that Eternal life with God’s salvation is more than just our longing for sacredness and holiness in life, and our search for contentment and happiness in life. For Jesus, life with God is all about having and being in covenant & committed relationship with God. In other words, eternal life is all about being married to God, and also requires of us to have marriage with God. No wonder why ordained, consecrated, and married life are sometimes described as: “a life married to God” for it is indeed a marriage – a loving commitment to God.

    And since eternal life is our marriage to God, we may also say that our marriage to God is not FOR us, because committed life with God is not about us, and not for ourselves alone, but moreso for the sake of, and all about God’s glory and salvation for all others than just us.

    Jesus also somehow teaches us today that like any marriages, our life with God involves detachment, charity, and discipleship. Same way as the rich man is asked to give up and share everything to the poor. To live life with God, we must also learn detachment, i.e. how to give up, even deny ourselves, and share what we have to other and for others. As married to-God people, our life: our time, talent, and treasure are not for us alone but for

    God and others than ourselves. Life with God also requires us to be and do everything with and for charity, i.e. not for a prize or reward, but for free and out of love, and in responsibility for others. And above all, life with God is to be a disciple – a follower of Jesus in life.

    As people married to God, we must also then learn to lead our lives same way as Jesus lives, serves, and loves God and others. Detachment, Charity, and Discipleship are somehow key ingredients in our marriage to God, and as to any committed-relationship as well.

    As Jesus forewarned us, difficult and impossible for us it may be, such life in marriage to God is also possible, since “All things are possible For God”. In other words, Life with God is possible and meaningful, if and when we do things and have our being not for ourselves but for God’s sake, and for others than ourselves.

    Lord Jesus, guide us continually in life for us to know God deeply, love Him dearly, and follow Him faithfully especially now & always. Amen.