Inspirations at your Fingertips!

Dedication of the Lateran Basilica John 2:13-22 Undoubtedly, the picture of the prophecy in Ezekiel is one of fullness and abundance.  Things are fully restored and teeming with life.  It is the Lord's doing. In the Gospel, Jesus expelled the money changers inside the temple, shouting, "Don't make my Father's house a marketplace."  In another gospel, Jesus said, "You have made it a den of thieves!" I'm referring to the respect that is due to a church for being the house of God.  But this Gospel can also refer to the people entering the church.  There are those who simply enter and receive communion while being in a state of sin; others simply receive communion without committing themselves to adore, love, and follow Jesus nor serve the church. When we reflect about fullness of life and blessings, it is imperative that we cling to God first of all and give what is due him - all respect, adoration, and service.  Only then can we think ab...

Formula for life Luke 11:47-54 The greeting of St. Paul to the community of Ephesus reveals an inspiring overview of world of Christianity - our lives before, during, and after Christ.  "God chose us in Christ before the world began to be holy and blameless in his sight."  At the end, "he would bring everything together under Christ, as head, everything in the heavens and everything on earth."  and in the middle, how Jesus "through his blood, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins." The gospel however gives us a sharp contrast of how Jesus reprimands the pharisees for killing the apostles and prophets. One path leads us to Christ; another path leads us away from him. The things that lead us away from Christ are: sin, the self, and the lures of this world.  We have to watch out for them.  We cannot know, love, adore, and serve God if we are filled with selfishness, if the world entices us, and most of all, sin overwhelms us.  We close our...

Preparing for Lent Mark 10:28-31 As we approach Ash Wednesday, let us remember that this is not a story of our sins; this is not even our asking for forgiveness.  A real preparation for Lent would be this: First, that we overwhelm ourselves with the love of Jesus.  Lent and Holy Week are simply about the never-ending love of Jesus, reflecting the Father's love to us and saving us in the process. Second, it is the story of the life that Jesus offers.  Those who leave home for him will receive a hundred times over, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land... oblation is a story of life and fruitfulness. Third, it is a story of Jesus' reflection of the Father - holiness, obedience - qualities that the old Adam destroyed.  And now, they are offered to us. Pray to embrace these things tomorrow and the entire Lenten season.

Choose Life Mark 5:21-43 We may not know it, but the effects of sin are death and destruction but the way of the Lord leads to life. In order to have life and give life, let us learn from the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The Father creates and sustains life; the Son brings us from death to life; and the Holy Spirit constantly brings life till we reach heaven. Choose life; choose God.

Instruments of life John 6:52-59 How could someone like Saul, who was a murderer of Christians, become Paul, now an instrument of Jesus to bring life to others? How could we be the same, i.e., instruments of life to others? First, center on Jesus; literally, receive Jesus, take in Jesus into the self.  "I tell you most solemnly, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you."   Second, taking Jesus in the self means learning from him, digesting his teaching, literally letting him live in us.  "He lives in me and I in him."  The self becomes a replica of Jesus.   Finally, only Jesus becomes the source of life of everyone.  "He now draws life in me."  We become instruments of life to others because it is Jesus' life in us.   Thus, learn the three things that make us instruments of life: receive Jesus, learn from Jesus, and let Jesus be a part of our lives.

Where have we left off? Yesterday, we witnessed Peter giving an account of Jesus' resurrection in the light of Scriptures, to the amazement of the Pharisees who were supposed to be the learned in Israel. He was talking from the heart.  From a direct testimony of Jesus who resurrected, he now proceeds to touching people's lives with the authority of Jesus himself. In the gospel, an intimate experience with the Lord makes the apostles fully convinced and without question that the one who was directing them was Jesus himself.  But what struck me was not just because Jesus had risen from the dead.  Rather, he continues to give them life as he continues to give us life. He converts the sadness of people into joy.  He fills them with food.  He consoles and he heals.  He has the power to give us life everyday of our lives. Let us be sensitive to the signs of life.  Let us vow to give life and only life to others.  This will be our direct testim...

Can we make our own Lenten mission statement?  Certainly, Christ did.  He would suffer greatly, be killed, but on the third day, he would rise again. Our mission statement should lead us to life.  But what is true life?  Jesus said, "He who wants to save his life will lose it.  But he who loses his life for my sake shall find it."  We may be saving our lives here on earth, but we are actually dying.  Notice the signs of death around us.  If we choose real life, we need to offer ourselves to God and others so we may all live in God.  A parent who denies himself or herself of all material comforts to prove a point to his or her children that life with the Lord really matters is actually a source of life for the children. Let's celebrate Lent by entering into the death of our own selfishness so that through our sacrifice, all may life as Christ did.

The one killing us is our notion of ordinariness.  We think we are just ordinary human beings with ordinary needs and wants just like any other.  Meanwhile, we let others control our destiny. Our lives are not ordinary; we are living witnesses of our world today.  Either we do what we are supposed to do or rue it all. Our children our growing, the clock is ticking, and we have only one life to live. If we are to decide to act accordingly, pray, that it be fruitful - not only do our families benefit but all people; not only do we think of our own generation but the next; and finally, not only do we think about our stay in this world but what is to come - eternity in heaven with God.  It is God whom we should reflect.  It is Him whom we should serve.

God created woman, the complementary of man to be his "helpmate". What is a helpmate? In Tagalog, it means "katulong, katuwang, kasama." In English, a helpmate is a helpful partner, a companion, who is a spouse, a compliment to one's existence.  We are never complete by ourselves, but are made so by the presence of another who is also a part of us. Jesus tried to isolate the Jews from the others but learned deeply from the Syrophoenician woman to asked to cure her daughter.  We are all connected, "Ang sakit ng kalingkingan ay sakit ng buong katawan."  Learn from the words of Scripture: "As long as you did it to these least ones, you did it to me." Treat everyone who is a child of God a "helpmate" or a "companion"; a partner in the work of bringing all things under God's rule.  Open our eyes to see that we are never alone; there are people alongside with us, living, thinking out the same things, and deserving th...