When life gets rough, where do you get your strength? When life seems unfair, where do you get your courage?
Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, reminds us today to draw strength from the Lord and to pray at every opportunity in the Spirit. Paul acknowledges how life as a Christian can be so demanding and challenging. Aside from the personal issues and problems, there will be rejections and oppositions coming from those with evil intentions.
With this, Paul tells us today to always find strength from God and not from our arrogance and self-confidence. The Lord is our rock, source of our strength, as our Psalm proclaims today.
Paul enumerates the values where we can draw that strength from God. When we are truthful and honest, standing to what is right, embracing peace, holding to our faith and meditating upon the word of God, then, we shall always draw God’s strength in life. We are being promised that in whatever circumstances we are in, we shall always have the strength of God.
This is something that Jesus showed us also today in the Gospel. Despite the opposition and the resistance of the people in Jerusalem, Jesus remained steadfast and confident in the Father. Jesus never surrendered in us, to gather us together and bring us closer to God. Jesus desires that we will all be reconciled to him.
In his ministry, Jesus drew strength from the Father and the love that they share for all. Thus, God yearns for the freedom of all.
Today, Jesus also calls us that when life gets rough and when life seems unfair, draw strength from him. Paul suggests that we pray to the Spirit at all times, at every opportunity. Praying to the Spirit makes our heart and mind more attuned and familiar to God’s way. This will allow us to become more responsive to God’s invitation for us. Hinaut pa.
Never underestimate a small act of kindness or a simple gesture of love and affection. This can create a great impact to another. Just imagine the comfort you can bring by just listening to a person, or by just assuring your presence to a grieving person or by sharing your small resources to a person in need.
Thus, even in these simple and ordinary acts and gestures, the kingdom of God becomes more present and alive in us. In fact, Jesus reminds us in today’s Gospel that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed or like a yeast mixed to some flour. A small mustard seed becomes a large bush where birds dwell and take shelter. A yeast also reacts chemically to the flour and makes a very good dough for bread.
These are images on how small things create great and significant impact. Indeed, the Kingdom of God begins with small things. Jesus is even telling us that the kingdom is not of grandiosity and majesty, not characterized by flamboyance and extravagance. The Kingdom of God is rather characterized by sincerity and love, by simplicity and gentleness.
This is how we are also reminded today that the Kingdom of God is not too far from us. God’s kingdom is among us and easily be made present in us only if we are conscious about it. Today, Jesus calls us to make the kingdom more alive and present in us, among our families and friends, communities and workplaces.
To be able to practice it concretely, then, make the effort in showing kindness and generosity to people around you, both in words and actions. Express gentle words of comfort and assurance to a friend who is struggling at this moment. Express a generous action by being available to a person in need. Share your resources according to your ability who ask for help. Be more considerate and understanding to a struggling or sick family member. Gather them together to pray. Pray also for those who asks for prayers. And do it with gentleness, with sincerity and kindness in your heart.
Certainly, the Kingdom of God will also silently grow in us and among us and will be more alive and present in our life. Hinaut pa.
The words of Jesus in today’s Gospel, sound quite harsh but simple. He said, “You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why you do not know how to interpret the present time?” The crowd that gathered around Jesus were very slow to recognize the person in front of them. The kingdom of God has come in the person of Jesus. The face of God has already been revealed. Yet, the people were not able to understand the signs revealed in the ministry of the Lord.
What could have prevented them? What was the cause of the blindness of the people or of their indifference towards the Lord?
The crowd that gathered around Jesus, most of them, were perhaps became only intrigued of the works of Jesus. The Lord who became popular among the people because of his works and preaching, were sought after by the people. Others wanted to meet him to be healed, to get answers for the questions of their life, others must have been there in order to witness something spectacular from Jesus.
However, many of them, did not really understand who was before their eyes. Many failed to see God working in the ministry and in the life of Jesus. This must have been caused by that limited understanding of the people.
This limited understanding was caused by the biases, preconceived notions and uncompromising belief about God that hardened the heart and mind of the people. For example, the people saw Jesus as merely a prophet, or a healer, a preacher, a reformer or a carpenter. People were so fixated that God was distant and cannot become closer to the people. The people believed in a God who easily get angry, violent and aggressive. The Pharisees and scholars of the law promoted a belief in a God who is untouchable. Hence, sinners and sick people were removed from the community.
These are just some possibilities that prevented people from recognizing the Lord and understanding the signs of God’s grace in the present. There are still many others that until now have gripped us from reading and recognizing those signs of God’s grace for us.
Hence, on our part, we might fall to the same failure of the people as we also bury ourselves into our past mistakes, into our habitual sins, into feelings of hopelessness and despair, into guilt and fear, into our anger and hatred, into our abusive tendencies, into our selfish intentions. When we yield even into one of these, then, we could also become dismissive of God’s presence and ignorant to God’s manifestation in the present moment.
Today, Jesus wants us to become a people who longs to see God’s face and able to accept God’s grace today. This is what our Psalm proclaims today, “Seek the face of the God of Jacob.” Let us seek God’s face and enjoy God’s presence among our friends and family members, with God’s creation and all the things that surround us now. As we recognize the Lord, let the Lord challenge us and move us to go beyond ourselves. Hinaut pa.
We desire for peace. We long for harmony. We want a life without disturbances and troubles. This is the reason why we also ask God for peace of mind and peace in our homes because in one way or another, we are experiencing some sort of difficulties. One may be having some sleepless nights because of some personal or family issues or conflicts and misunderstanding. Another must be bothered by an illness or because of demands at work. Some students these days, must be having some troubles too in fulfilling their school projects and finishing their modules.
However, one may be disappointed with what Jesus told us in today’s Gospel. The Lord said, “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”
We heard it right. Jesus does not bring peace but division. He is here to disturb us. Yet, what does he really mean? It is very important that we understand the words of Jesus in the context of those who wanted to follow him. The very environment where Jesus spoke these words was characterized by corrupt and self-righteous leaders. The Pharisees and the scholars of the law represented those people who wanted to stay in power, preserve the status quo and secure their comfort. There were Jewish leaders too who became puppets to the Roman Empire in order to secure their wealth and influence.
And these people who succumbed to the cycle of corruption at the expense of the common people, did not want anybody to challenge their peace. Thus, anyone who will dare to confront them was deemed to be a threat to that peace they were enjoying. However, was this “true peace” at all?
This peace is about the comfort and routine of life or ‘business-as-usual.’ This means that one goes and proceeds to what one usually does in life. We may do what we want by satisfying our desires, from mere complacency. This peace only knows about maintaining the status quo, that we are comfortable with and preserving an environment that will not disturb us. Yet, this peace is shallow and remains self-centered. It focuses on our ego. This is not true peace.
That is why, the Lord comes to disturb us when we have grown so attached with our comforts and when we are so caught up with maintaining to what is only beneficial for us.
When we become complacent and passive, we do not want to be challenged, we do not want to go beyond and become life-giving. We do not want to confront ourselves and others because it might cost us conflict and division or to sacrifice the contentment that we apparently enjoy. We might find ourselves to settle to what is only easy, comfortable and beneficial by doing the same things, thinking the same thoughts and imagining the same ideas to the point that we refuse to do more and give more.
However, Jesus does not want us to just settle with this seemingly peaceful environment. God does not want us to become a person who becomes a prisoner of his/her own selfish desires who will become abusive and corrupt yet most insecure. Jesus does not want us also to just go with the flow and remain passive.
The Lord wants us to find freedom. Jesus is not in favor in making ourselves passive, complacent, and self-satisfied yet stagnant. Jesus wants us to grow, to be mature and to become the person He wants us to be.
The invitation for us is to allow the Lord to touch and to disturb our complacency and passivity so that we will be able to see things differently and wonderfully. As Christians, we too are called to call and confront others when our community and our leaders become passive and complacent.
As we allow the Lord to disturb us, we may be able to see new perspectives in life despite its monotony, more dynamic and life-giving ways of relating with people around us, and a deeper and life-changing encounter with God through the ordinary expression of our faith. And remember, this calls us to be pro-active, honest and courageous in expressing our faith and to the values that we believe as Christians. Hinaut pa.
What’s the difference between pranking and surprising someone? If we would scan our Facebook wall, prank videos are all over. These prank videos, though they may cause laughter and entertainment to the viewers, but these are malicious and mischievous acts played on someone. Some pranks are simple but others are way beyond simple tricks, but too much. These cause embarrassment and humiliation, shock and dismay or anger and irritation to people being tricked. A prank has no intention at all to bring joy to the person.
A surprise, on the other hand, is to strike with wonder or amazement especially because it is unexpected (Merriam-Webster definition). A surprise brings joy not just to people around but also to the person being surprised. That’s why we like a good surprise for our loved ones particularly during special occasions. Surprises do not only flatter the heart of the person being loved, but, surprises also create true creativity and bonding among friends, families and lovers.
Our God does not prank us. God would not dare to bring us into humiliation and embarrassment just for entertainment. What God loves, is to surprise us.
This is something that we discover in today’s scripture readings. The Gospel of Luke, as it proclaims an image of God’s final judgment on us and delivering punishment for those who are wicked and rewarding the righteous, however, it is not just limited to this. This particular passage of Luke also conveys to us how the Lord loves to surprise us. Definitely, the Gospel invites us to be attentive to God’s surprises.
God comes to us and reveals Himself to us in the way we would not expect it to be. That’s why it is a surprise. It is unexpected but with the intention to bring joy. St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, gave us the hint on how he experienced such a surprise from Jesus. The Lord revealed himself to Paul on the road to Damascus when he was in search of Christians to be persecuted. That surprise from Jesus changed the whole life of Paul. It was in that surprise that Paul truly encountered the Lord and was converted to Jesus. Paul called this, revelation, a grace given to him. This grace that filled Paul is now being shared to others.
This is the invitation for us today. We are called to be attentive and to make ourselves available to the many surprises of God. We need the eyes of faith to believe in the God of surprises. God will never prank and make us embarrassed. God would only surprise us to bring joy and peace.
Thus, God may call us to serve and love Him in the way we have never thought about or to do something which was unthinkable before. God may reveal His presence to us in the most ordinary ways and to ordinary persons who are already familiar to us. God may answer our prayer through the help and generosity of an unexpected friend or even through a stranger. God may bring us joy through a simple gift from a person we love or through reconciliation and peace offered to us by the person we have hurt or those who have hurt us. God may surprise us through the embrace and acceptance of people around us. And like Paul, the Lord may also surprise us in the way that it will challenge and change our beliefs, attitudes and the way we look at things.
Be always mindful of God’s daily dose of surprises.
There are many possibilities of God surprising us. Let us allow, then, the Lord to surprise us today and every day. Grab and welcome those surprises from God by exercising a greater awareness of what surrounds us. Having those experiences will make us more confident in our relationship with God. Do not just be passive or complacent or indifferent. Be always mindful of God’s daily dose of surprises.
I invite you now to spend a time of recollection or of silence each day even in a short moment of 5 to 10 minutes before you end your day. Spend these few minutes to recollect on how God gave us the grace of surprise during the day. Thank the Lord for the grace and never forget to share your grace of surprise to people around you so that we too shall become God’s surprise for others. Hinaut pa.
A DOSE OF GOD TODAY 