What would you like to ask from God? What are we supposed to ask also? What do we also seek for ourselves? And what should we also seek in this life?
Do we ask and seek for a happy family and married life? Success and progress in our careers and business? Wealth and long life? A peaceful and comfortable way of life?
Given with the current realities and context that each of us has, our prayer is somehow being molded. This means that what we ask and seek in life are being influenced by our current realities in life. So, in particular, we could be asking for healing because of the illness in us. We might be seeking for justice because of the wrong done unto us. We would ask for a second chance because of the past failure we’ve made. We would seek for freedom because of the oppression that we’ve experienced.
Our readings today capture wonderfully the invitations of the Lord as we ask, seek and knock in our prayer. Indeed, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus told us to “ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
This invitation of Jesus is grounded on a “deep faith and trust” in the goodness of the Lord. The deep faith and trust in us are found in our total confidence and dependence on God who gives and grants what is better for us.
We remind ourselves that the Lord does not say that whatever we ask and desire will be given to us immediately and absolutely. This is not about to ask, seek and knock according to our whims and spur-of-the-moment. Rather, Jesus wants us to realize how important it is to pray and to be able to communicate with God, in all honesty and humility. This prayer springs forth from our intimacy and friendship with God.
Thus, prayer is not just about asking, seeking and desiring what we want for ourselves alone. When prayer is reduced for personal satisfaction then it makes us entitled and self-centered. It ceases to be prayer. Prayer, rather, is allowing ourselves to be more aware of the presence of God in our life. It also makes us aware of God’s presence in the lives of others. Prayer also allows us to acknowledge not just our needs but also the needs of others. This is how prayer builds up our faith and trust in God. Moreover, it also makes us to be deeply in loved and truly concerned for others.
The story of Queen Esther in our first reading tells us about this. The Queen, in all humility, pleaded to the Lord God to rescue her people from death. She did not ask the Lord God to only secure her status, title and wealth as Queen. When there was a threat of oppression, she did not think on how to save herself and her power. She was not after making a political alliance or simply to become a political puppet for her own advantage. Queen Esther, nevertheless, became an intercessor on behalf of God’s people, the Israelites.
The Queen asked the Lord for courage and strength that she may be able to become a true mediator between the people and her husband the King of Persia. She knew that this would be too risky as she might also lose everything she had as Queen, because she was a Jew. She pleaded to the King to stop Haman, an influential court official of Persia, from annihilating the Jews. Haman hated the Jews because of one man who did not bow and worship him.[1]
As the queen asked and sought the grace from the Lord, her prayers made her also deeply in love with God’s people. Indeed, her prayer was answered because God found delight in her heart that was filled with humility and love. And so, Haman was stopped and punished by the king, and the people were saved.
This is where we also find the invitation of the Lord for us today. In our prayer, ask the grace that it will be an opportunity for us to grow more in our love and concern for one another. In our prayer, seek God’s desire that we do not forget others and those who are most in need than us. In our prayer, knock that the door of friendship will be opened for us. As we continue the journey in this Season of Lent, let also develop our intimacy and friendship with God and with people around us. Hinaut pa.
[1] That man was named Mordecai, a cousin of Queen Esther.
What could make us give up on hope for others? When our heart is gripped by hatred and resentment then we easily give up on hope. When our memories are also petrified by our painful past, this could prevent us from realizing that there is hope. Indeed, hope for a change of heart and transformation of a person might be next to impossible.
We shall find it difficult to be reconciled. This is especially true when we have been deeply hurt by others. The pain and many hurts caused to us could make our heart hardened by anger and hatred.
A friend, who because of the unbearable pain he experienced from a person took revenge by his own hands. He became violent and hostile. He believed that it will be his only way of moving on. He thought that the person who caused such agony to him did not deserve any mercy. Yet, later, he too was being haunted by his own guilt. The hatred, resentment and violence that overwhelmed his heart, as he realized, brought more damage and pain to him.
That friend reminds me of our liturgical readings today. In the Book of Jonah, the prophet showed rebellious attitude towards God. Jonah was sent by God to do something, which he did not want to do. For that reason, Jonah tried to escape from God and to escape from the very responsibility that God gave him.
Jonah was sent to Nineveh, a city of which he hated so much. It was the city of the Assyrians. They were the very people who oppressed the Israelite. Jonah resented so much the Assyrians.
We can understand why Jonah showed deep disgust and hatred against the Assyrians. This was the reason why he tried to escape from God. God sent him to Nineveh to preach repentance so that God may show mercy. God’s mercy will save the Assyrians from death and eternal punishment.
However, Jonah feared that these people will repent and believe in God. Jonah was against the idea of God showing mercy to them. Jonah just wanted these people to suffer, to die and to rot in hell. He did not want his enemies to be saved and to be shown mercy.
Yet, this happened. Even with a heavy heart, Jonah did as what God told him. So, Jonah called the people to repentance. To his surprise, his enemies repented and believed in God. The Assyrians realized their faults and recognized the Lord God in their midst. That awareness changed their hearts and transformed the people.
Well, like Jonah, do we also find ourselves wishing or even praying for the suffering and death for those whom we hate? Does our resentful heart also desire vengeance and violence against those who have caused us so much pain?
In our own context now, we might also find ourselves wishing and cursing those people who did something terrible to others. When violence and or a crime is done to an innocent one, we also demand the same violence and crime to perpetrators. Like Jonah, we might have also believed that justice is fulfilled through a gruesome death to our enemies. Like Jonah, we might tend to believe that God should not show mercy to those who have hurt us. Like Jonah, we might demand from God to become indifferent to our enemies and people who did terrible things to the innocent.
Yet, this ancient story of Jonah tells us of something else. In this ancient story, the Lord God is revealed to be a God of everyone, of good and bad people, of righteous and sinners, of criminals and law-abiding citizens alike. God is for everyone as His mercy is for all.
God indeed shows mercy. Jesus who became human like us and lived among us is the Father’s ultimate sign of mercy and love. In Jesus, the Father tells us that we are never abandoned. In Jesus, there is always hope and goodness in each of us no matter how broken we are, and sinful we have turned to be. The Lord God always sees goodness in each of us.
From here, let us embrace the invitations of change.
First is the change of heart. The Assyrians were oppressors, abusers and thus sinners. Yet, when Jonah called for repentance, the people realized how sinful they were. These people acknowledged their sins, repented and believed in God. This changed their heart. We too are called to change our heart by owning our sins and failures, to repent and believe in God’s mercy.
Second is the change of mind. We were told that God changed the Divine will when the Lord saw that the people repented. Should we not change also our mind according to how God sees in us?
Third is the change of perspective and belief. Jonah realized that God is beyond his wants and beyond what he expects from God. The Lord is our God and it is God’s nature to grant mercy. God’s desire is to liberate from sin those who caused pain to others and those who are being oppressed and abused. God, indeed, desires the salvation of everyone. Hinaut pa.
Prayer is one of pillars in this Season of Lent. As we are called in this season to return to God, to mend our hearts and relationships with one another, prayer plays a vital role. We remind ourselves that prayer makes us more aware of God’s presence in our life. As we become aware of the Divine, then, it also allows us to recognize ourselves together with our faults and failures. Hence, to humble ourselves before God makes our prayer more effective.
This also tells us that prayer is indeed not limited with our memorized and devotional prayers. Moreso, it is allowing ourselves to be intimately connected with God. This is what Jesus revealed to us today.
In the Gospel of Matthew, the Lord teaches us how to pray. Jesus himself taught us how to approach the heart of God. this is expressed with a greater confidence to God whom we also call as our Father. Jesus directed the disciples on how to truly ask and seek the will of the Father by praying sincerely.
This is where we also find Jesus’ warning. The Lord exhorted us not to babble in our prayers that are only meant to impress people. Jesus was conscious how the pagans would use many words but merely babbling. This was influenced from the beliefs of the pagans to use many words in order to appease a violent and angry god.
Yet, our God is not violent neither angry not needed to be appeased. God, as Jesus introduced to us, is our Father. In fact, the Psalm acknowledges this, “the LORD is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.”
By calling God as our father, this brings us into the affection that we have with God. God certainly loves being called as our Father, whose only desire is for us to grow in love.
This invites us now that our prayers and other forms of devotions are not meant to impress others. Do not pray to flatter or manipulate the Lord because of our long, wordy, high-falutin and unintelligible prayers. Instead, the Lord wants our sincere and humble heart that recognizes God as our Father.
The Lord’s Prayer brings us, indeed, into sincerity and humility because the prayers acknowledges first God, as our Father whose “divine will” takes priority than our own. Thus, we seek and recognize the will of God for us and not our wants. This brings us to be more aware of our needs of the present moment, of today, and not to be burdened by our past or to be anxious of tomorrow.
This is very important to remember that the prayer Jesus taught allows us to be more aware of our present moment, of our needs and graces of the here and now. This will make us more contented and confident in life for we shall see how God provides and works for us in the present moment.
Jesus invites us and teaches us on how to seek God’s desires because God knows what is best for us by praying the way he prays. May this simple but powerful prayer of our Lord gives us more confidence in the presence of God dwelling among us whose only desire is the best for us. Hinaut pa.
At that time when our Lord Jesus was walking with us on earth, many were not able to recognize that the Lord God was in Jesus. In fact, his disciples at the beginning thought he was just a great teacher. They believed he was a wise man. Some saw him as a healer or one of the prophets. Many even took offense when Jesus taught them and explained to them the sacred scriptures.
Jesus was too ordinary for many that they could not believe the divinity in him. Those who were familiar with him grew bitter and insecure. The learned, those who possessed influence and authority at the time even felt threatened. Yet, as the apostles later on told us through their personal accounts of the Gospels and letters, in and with Jesus, God-is-with-us.
This is what Jesus revealed in his words and teachings, in his actions and encounters with countless people. Yet, indeed, it would be difficulty to recognize the Lord and spot his presence when we are only after with spectacular and out-of-this-world revelations. God’s Divine-Self or Divine Presence is manifested in the ordinary and the simple especially among the weak and the vulnerable.
This is what Jesus taught us today in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus said, “whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” Using a parable, Jesus tells us that his presence resides to those who are hungry and thirsty, the stranger and the naked, the sick and the imprisoned. By being able to do good for them and to help uplift their quality of life, then, we do it as well for the Lord.
Clearly, Jesus identified himself with the weak and the vulnerable. What the Lord calls us is to recognize him and his presence among the least of our brothers and sisters. Recognizing the Lord then, has also a call for moral responsibility from us.
This is what the decrees all about revealed in the Book of Leviticus. Those laws are meant for us to take of each other and protect one another. By being able to show our true concern, sincerity, honesty and love for each other then we fulfill the law of God.
And so, as we continue the journey in this Season of Lent, let this be an opportune time for us to express in concrete ways works of mercy. Let our good deeds bring life to others. In this way, we shall encounter the Lord Jesus through the faces of one another especially among the weak and vulnerable. Hinaut pa.
What kind of temptations that we find ourselves struggling from? There could be small and simple temptations that may come and easy for us to overcome. Some are quite difficult to avoid when such a temptation is what we also desire.
To name a few of common temptations may come in these forms. For example, students are tempted to watch their favorite TV series or play “Mobile Legends” with their friends rather than to study. As a consequence, a temptation to cheat during exams can be possible or super late submission of paper works. Workers or employees are sometimes tempted to steal from their company or employer, or place of work perhaps because of a need at home or because of a lavish lifestyle. This can also be true among business owners or employers who do not give just wages to their workers. Others would even treat their workers in an inhumane way. What they were after is merely profit.
Among our political leaders, because of the prevailing culture of dishonesty and corruption, they could easily fall in the corrupt system of politics that instead of serving their constituents, then, they seek to amass wealth and protect their business interests. And because it is not easy to be an honest, a counter-culture and self-sacrificing public servant, it is a temptation to just “go with the flow” and join the band of corrupt officials – because confronting the powerful will mean persecution and pressure from the political-powers-that-be.
On a personal level again, sometimes we are also tempted to be complacent, to stay in our “protected shells” or settle to what is only easy and comfortable because we do not want to be disturbed, we do not want to take an extra mile or refuse to take the risk. Sometimes we too are tempted to just go with the flow and to become passive in our relationships because we do not want to face our issues and refuse to admit what is wrong with us.
Husbands or wives succumbed to the temptation to engage in extra-marital relationships perhaps because their married life has become cold. We, as sons and daughters, may be tempted to escape from home and seek for what is fun and entertaining outside because the home has become a source of boredom for us. Or we may also seek more attention outside our home or seek love and acceptance from other people because home has become a source of despair, condemnation, of pain and trauma. Others also yielded to alcohol and drug abuse or worst to commit suicide to forget or end their overwhelming problems.
Until the very end of our life, we face temptations. And so, on this First Sunday of Lent, let us understand better our human tendency towards sin and how we can overcome temptations in life.
In the biblical understanding, temptation means a “test” – that is of putting a person to a test. Temptation is also the urge or desire to engage into something which may result to a long-term consequence. It also makes us inclined to commit sin and thus, being away from the grace of God.
If this is a test then, why would God bring us to the test? The common understanding in the bible is that, God tests His people to put them in situations that would reveal the quality and sincerity of their heart, faith and devotion. In trials, God strengthens our patience and hope, matures our faith and assures us of his love.
Though God allows trial and suffering but it is the devil who brings suffering and pain. The devil’s intention is to bring us into hopelessness so that we give up on God. The devil tries to crush a person by putting so much pain and suffering. The devil deceives us to choose what is easy and what is naturally appealing to us, to make short cuts, and more reasons for giving up. The devil will discredit God’s love and mercy when we are in so much pain and confusion.
This is what the Gospel brings us today. Jesus was alone in the desert but filled with the Spirit of God. Then, the devil came to tempt him in three different situations.
The first temptation was to turn the stone into bread. Jesus by that time was starving. He was weak and so the devil used the weakness of Jesus to tempt him. This temptation was an offer to give in to the basic “human need.” It was to respond immediately for one’s “self-satisfaction.” Yet, the Lord understood well that his mission is not to satisfy himself but to do the will of his Father. Thus, Jesus chose to be hungry so that He too will experience how to be hungry. Through his hunger, Jesus can fill our hunger not just for food but for love, for affection and for God.
The second temptation was to worship the devil instead of the Lord God in exchange for all the kingdoms of the world with their riches and power. Jesus was poor and had no influence. The devil knew this and that’s why the devil offered Jesus riches, power and dominance. However, Jesus chose not to worship Satan, not to worship riches and wealth, not power and dominance over others, not control and influence or independence from his Father in heaven. Jesus chose to be powerless and vulnerable like the poor, the sick, the dying and oppressed.
The third temptation was to test the goodness and fidelity of the Father to Jesus. Jesus was alone in the desert and had surely felt loneliness and abandonment. This experience was used by the devil to tempt Jesus to test his Father’s faithfulness. The devil knew that Jesus had become insecure of what lies ahead. Being human, the future is always uncertain. But then, Jesus did not give in to that temptation to make certain of his Father’s love. He showed the devil that there is no need for testing God’s goodness to be certain of it. He showed that true faith in the Lord God is to embrace trust and hope in the midst our uncertainties and doubts.
All those things that the devil offered were actually not necessarily negative or evil. Satisfying ourselves, having riches and material possessions, and being certain of what lies ahead in life, are good in themselves.
Yet, be aware of this. Such good things can become a trap of the devil to allure us and keep us preoccupied, anxious, doubtful, fearful and insecure. These good things may then, keep us away from the grace of peace that God gives us. That is why, when something preoccupies and makes us anxious other than loving God, then, it comes from the devil.
Hence, our own hunger for attention, love and intimacy can become a trap when these are only directed for self-gratification. It happens when we immediately choose what is only comfortable and beneficial for ourselves without considering others or even at the expense of others. This leads us away from God.
Something can also spring up from our desires to be self-sufficient, the desire to exercise power and dominance over others, or simply to be successful. However, when our possessions, gadgets, work, fame, career and ambition preoccupy our heart and mind, then, we allow the devil to work and control our life.
Indeed, it feels so good to be served, to be self-sufficient, to have anything we need and want immediately. It feels good to be praised and be recognized because of the good things we did. It feels good to be able to exercise influence and power over the inferior ones.
But, when all of these only serve the ego (self) and feed oneself, then, we begin to become corrupt. The desire to have more and gain more becomes addictive. We will tend to worship ourselves rather than God, the Giver of everything and the source of all riches.
Moreover, our anxiety to be certain at everything about life can also become a great temptation. This anxiety can be very strong because when it controls our mind and heart then we begin to lose our peace of mind and become doubtful of God’s goodness. We will lose our self-confidence because we become fearful in making mistakes and taking risks. The temptation lies in our tendency to be masters of our own lives, to be independent from God. This will not surely bring us closer to God but in fact, we choose to be isolated from the grace of God.
The Gospel tells us that Jesus was actually led by the Spirit of God into the desert to be tempted. And Jesus was victorious over the temptations because he chose life and hope not death. Jesus chose his Father in heaven rather than the devil. This is how Jesus chose us.
And so, as we will all face temptations, let us also allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into our own deserts, to face our own struggles and difficulties. We are called not to escape from life but to face them with courage and faith. In this Season of Lent, we may discover and reaffirm God’s tremendous love and forgiveness for us. Hinaut pa.
A DOSE OF GOD TODAY 