"carry Me"

Gospel: Lk 10: 1-9

After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, “The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way. And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again. And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house. And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, ‘The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.’ “

We have no perfect vision of our future in life. We are like walking on the road full of wolves and darkness covers the places we are pass through. This is the image of the world when people live a life attached to the worldly things. This is life without God. A life with no direction.

The Lord reminds us in His words, “Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way”, but only carry His presence in our life.

In our journey, we will meet a lot of people with different personality and from different cultures. God calls us to share His love to other people. Curing their spiritual sickness and allowing them open up to God.

Be A Blessing!

Believe then Proclaim

Gospel: Mark 16:15-18

Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents (with their hands), and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

***

We can go on telling everyone about God’s greatness and infinite love but the real challenge is to make them actually believe in it. All the wordy proclamation of the Gospel would be worthless if you don’t put some action into it.

How can you make a person believe that God is a good God who blesses abundantly when you, as a friend, can’t be a comforting blessing when that person is in deep sorrow?

How can you make people believe that God loves them no matter who they are when you let your own insecurities eat you up?

How can you make people believe that Jesus died on the cross to save them when you, yourself, condemn them?

Many of us are guilty of these. Sometimes, we even feel unworthy or we simply turn a blind eye on our faults. At other times, we justify ourselves. To make people believe in what you say, you have to believe it yourself.

Another point in the Gospel today that struck me is that when Jesus said “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature”, He meant everyone. Those who have once heard and believed in Him, we are tasked to remind them. Those who have never once heard of Him, we are tasked to introduce Him to them. Those who once believed and rebelled against Him, we are tasked to bring them back to Him. That’s everyone. One challenge here could be figuring out who these people are. So let us keep our eyes and hearts open to these people.

You are the Son of God

Mk 3:7-12

Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples.
A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea.
Hearing what he was doing,
a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem,
from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan,
and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon.
He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd,
so that they would not crush him.
He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases
were pressing upon him to touch him.
And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him
and shout, “You are the Son of God.”
He warned them sternly not to make him known. 

 ___________________

Six years and counting..

Since I dedicated myself to follow Jesus.

Six years and counting..

I am blindly following Him.

People have been asking me lately what has gotten into me to change this much. Their questions linger my mind. Did I really change? Like the people in the Gospel, They came to Jesus not knowing what will happen to them. But within themselves they know that great things happen when you follow Jesus. :) They are unconsciously hungry for Jesus.. and YES, I am like them. :)

"IN FAITH, THEY PRESSED THEMSELVES TO TOUCH HIM"

"A day TO be GOOD"

Gospel: Mark 2:23-28

One sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?" And he said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions." Then he said to them, "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath."

The Gospel reminds me that somehow we are like the Pharisees. Sometimes, we focus too much on the negative side of people and not on the their needs. When people commit sin we tend to talk about their failures rather than help them. 

In the same manner, when we sin, we forget to raise ourselves up from sinfulness and continue committing the same sins.

AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN...

Today God reminds us once again of our calling of bringing other people and ourselves to Him. God is present everyday. Let us take  some action that would lead us to experience the fullness of His love. Let us make everyday a GODLY DAY. BRING people to GOODNESS. BRING people to GOD. BE with GOD.

Lets pray!

Fasting

Gospel: Mark 2:18-22. 

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to Jesus and objected, "Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"

Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.

But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. 

No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. 

Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins."

Fasting is the practice of withdrawing from personal indulgences. Food is the common indulgence for most people that’s why Catholics avoid meat during Lent. While we wait for Jesus, why not fast from common indulgences we fail to notice most of the time? For example, anger, hard feelings, insecurities, etc. In fact, avoiding these for the rest of our lives would make us healthier spiritually just as we are healthier physically when we avoid meat. 

Immorality

Gospel Jn 2:1-11
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.When the wine ran short,
the mother of Jesus said to him,“They have no wine.”
And Jesus said to her,“Woman, how does your concern affect me?
My hour has not yet come.”His mother said to the servers,
“Do whatever he tells you.”Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,
each holding twenty to thirty gallons.Jesus told them,
“Fill the jars with water.”So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them,“Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”
So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,
without knowing where it came from— although the servers who had drawn the water knew —,
the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him,“Everyone serves good wine first,
and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;but you have kept the good wine until now.”
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory,
and his disciples began to believe in him.

+++

One of my classes decided to have a debate as our semi-final exam. One of the topic was about the Divorce Bill in the Congress, if it is time for our country to have such law.

ALARMING. IT IS. 

The propositions used by the Church to counter RH BIll is now taking place. Immorality is spreading fast. Ano sunod? Same sex marriage? :)

“Everyone serves good wine first, 

and then when people have drunk freely, 

an inferior one;but you have kept the good wine until now.”

Qoute and qoute and qoute. Gets? :)

I Came For YOU

Gospel: Mk 2:13-17

Once again he went out along the sea. All the crowd came to him and he taught them. As he passed by, he saw Levi, son of Alpheus, sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him. Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus heard this and said to them [that], “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

After reading the gospel, I came to reflect on the life of Levi. When Jesus called Levi to follow Him, he immediately got up and followed. And when they went to his house, some tax collectors followed  and ate with them.

As I was reflecting, I began to remember my journey with the Lord. During my youth camp, way back 2006, I have felt that the Lord is already calling me to follow Him. But then, I did not respond immediately to his call. When I had my first Regional Youth Conference in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, that was the time when I said “yes!” to him. When I said “yes!”, I did not know what’s ahead of me. And when I entered college, my journey with the Lord had become more meaningful. I then began to know Him more and was able to discover His great plan for me. He really has a great plan for me and part of that plan is to become a shepherd to his flock. But as I continued my journey with the Lord, it came to a point that I felt unworthy of the great things that He has given me. I became a failure.

In the past months, that feeling of unworthiness kept on haunting me. And I was not able to cheer myself up or even convince myself to move forward. I became so fearful to take the first step and start my journey with the Lord again. But as I was reflecting on the gospel, I recalled what Fr. Chris told me, “Every time you feel unworthy of what God has given you, remind yourself that NOBODY’s even WORTHY ENOUGH.” He was right and Jesus even said that “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” In the gospel, Levi was called by Jesus to follow him even if he is a sinner and even some tax collectors followed him and ate with him.

I came to realize, I really am a sinner but still Jesus is calling me to follow Him. When I said “yes!” to him, it will be a “yes!” forever. And though I have failed, Jesus is telling me now to be like Levi who followed him immediately despite of his sinfulness and even brought other tax collectors. I am even invited to eat with him. He already forgave me and I should forgive myself too so that I can start my journey with Him again. And as I follow Him, He even blesses me more; He is now encouraging me to call fellow sinners as well.

We are all sinners and Jesus is calling each of us to follow Him. He came to save sinners. 

Acknowledge that you are a sinner and listen to your heart. He is already calling you. Will you follow him?

“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”