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BEARING OUR TRIALS WITH FAITH

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FRIDAY, FIFTH WEEK OF LENT    Jer 20:10-13; Ps 18:2-7; Jn 10:31-42 The Son of Man Eluded Their Grasp The omnipotence of God is such that he is always near to us and carries us, supporting us with his powerful providence. Sometimes the real presence of God is difficult to grasp, perceive, or comprehend. He seems so removed from our troubles and anxieties that we feel like giving up in our faith. None is a total foreigner to these moments of radical isolation from others and from God, our source of existence and being. In such moments when we search for meaning in life, we must hang on with faith in God, bearing in mind that God’s presence and love will be renewed at dawn. By dawn, we mean whenever God chooses to bring back his light to our darkness and re-establish his communion with us. The psalmist describes his own dark moment in the psalm. “The waves of death rose about me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the snare of the grave entangled me; the traps of deat...
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OUR PERPETUAL COVENANT WITH GOD

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THURSDAY, FIFTH WEEK OF LENT    Gen 17:3-9; Ps 105:4-9; Jn 8:51-59 The Covenant in Perpetuity Following the readings the Church gives us to reflect on, we consider God's faithfulness to his word again. As we have come to understand, we can say without doubt that God keeps his covenant ever in mind; for through his word and dealings with men, we come to know the meaning of covenant. God lives by himself and does not need anyone or anything for support. Rather, He is the support of all that exists and will come to exist. God is life and truth, and his word is life and truth. Our Lord taught us this when he informed the Jews that the Father gives life and has also given the Son the same power to give life to whomever he wills. He created man and woman to be with him and enjoy the communion of his goodness. The initiation of the communion as desired and designed by God is revealed in the Son of Man. By the perfection of the planned communion, the Son of Man gives life to who...
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THE SACRIFICE OF OUR NATURE

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THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD     Isa 7:10-14,8:10; Ps 40:7-11; Heb 10:4-10; Lk 1:26-38 The Reward of The Sacrifice of The Lamb We have reflected on the sacrifice that our human nature was created to be to God. For a sacrifice to be truly worth the name, it must be a voluntary offering and never forced in any way. Any form of coercion removes the beauty and worth of the sacrifice. Therefore, after God’s creation of man and woman in His image, he let them exercise their free will as a path leading to making them in the likeness of God. The path outlined by their free will, if illuminated by the word of God, leads to divine likeness. Thus, the true path of our free will is a path of sacrifice of ourselves to God. It is indeed so, because God, who leads us in the path, is the meaning of sacrifice. God is holy unto Himself; He is consecrated to Himself as He cannot be any other, in any respect. So, listening and doing the word of God makes us a sacrifice to God. Sin...
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THE SYMBOL OF OUR SACRIFICE

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TUESDAY, FIFTH WEEK OF LENT    Numb 21:4-9; Ps 102:2-3,16-21; Jn 8:21-30 The Lifting of the Son of Man We can understand the revelation of man as the temple of God in a slightly different way, which enriches our appreciation of our vocation to God. The fact that God created us for himself, to be his dwelling place, implies that our nature is supposed to be a sacrifice to God. Since human nature is ours, the sacrifice ought to be made by man, and not by God or any angel. However, the fact that corruption lies at the root of our nature makes this sacrifice impossible. By their original disobedience, our first parents admitted the seed of corruption into our common nature. Because of this corruption at our origin, God promised a new beginning for the human person when He promised to create enmity between the serpent and the woman, between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. The new beginning of human nature was necessary for its sacrifice to God, as divi...
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LIFE IS OUR CHOICE TO MAKE

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MONDAY, FIFTH WEEK OF LENT    Dan 13:41-62; Ps 23; Jn 8:1-11 Our Choice to live a Spiritual Life The Gospels we have heard for three consecutive Sundays of Lent have been thematic; the Church uses these different themes to prepare us for the coming Paschal celebrations. The theme of water of life, or the living water, was presented on the third Sunday at the encounter of our Lord with the Samaritan woman. The theme of the light of the world was presented on the fourth Sunday with the healing of the man born blind. The theme of life was presented yesterday, the fifth Sunday, with the raising of Lazarus from the dead. In each of these encounters, the Son of Man offers himself as the living water, the spiritual light, and the life of the world respectively. The offers remain open for each of us to accept or not. At each point of these encounters, our Lord makes it clear that it was not the making of the needy person that he or she is found in that position of need. But...
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LIFE IN OUR GRAVES

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SUNDAY, FIFTH WEEK OF LENT    Ezek 37:12-14; Ps 130; Rom 8:8-11; Jn 11:1-45 I am the Resurrection and Life As we draw nearer to the Paschal celebrations of the Church, we witness more of the tension between light and darkness, between life and death. The readings the Church places before us make the identity of Jesus Christ clear. As the identity of the Son of Man is unveiled on one hand, the stance of those who oppose him also becomes known. The revelation of light brings to light various works of darkness and also illuminates darkness for us to know it for what it really is, namely, the absence of light or dislike for God. God is the only source of true light; every light derives its source from God alone. As God put forth the light of his word and presence, each of us chooses the role we want to play. It is a choice we make within and by ourselves. Those who choose to be with God and work with him receive light and life. On the other hand, those who refuse to be with ...
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PERFECTION OF RELIGIOUS SACRIFICE

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SATURDAY, FOURTH WEEK OF LENT    Jer 11:18-20; Ps 7:2-3,9-12; Jn 7:40-52 The Sacrifice of the Son of Man As Saint Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 2:15, the spiritual man or a righteous soul can judge all things through the light of God’s word that he has in him. The word of God, which is the light of wisdom illuminating us and all creation, directs the mind and heart of the spiritual person to discern the truthfulness of all things and their purpose in his life. The knowledge of creatures and their usefulness is only a secondary good that the word of God confers on us when we receive it with faith; the first and most important being the knowledge of God and His holy will for us. Our knowledge of God through His Word helps us to order our lives to Him first as our Creator and ultimate good or end. Subsequently, we are able to use all things as they come our way as a means to reach our end in God. Because faith enables us to receive the word of God and build our lives on God,...
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