Inspirations at your Fingertips!

The gift  Mark 4:21-25 Appreciate the Gift - Jesus himself.  This gift causes us to change.  This gift of love causes us to love and he gives his love freely to us. The gift of Jesus produces a stream of love and good works. In the Gospel, the gift is the amount measured that will be measured back to us.  "For a man who has, more will be given; but for the man who has not, even the little he has will be taken away from him." We don't want to lose our gifts.  To multiply it, let us give more to Jesus.

Salvation in Jesus alone Mark 3:7-12 In as much as the readings give a distinction between the priest and Jesus, one should make the proper distinction as follows: 1. the priest of the Old Testament is different from the priest of the New Testament.  The priests of the Old Testament make their self-atonement for the sins committed against God.  The priests of the New Testament act on behalf of Jesus to save us through the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 2. the priests of the Old Testament offer as many as possible different gifts for the atonement of sins.  The priest of the new Testament give witness to Jesus' once-and-for-all offering of the expiation of sins. 3. The priests of the Old Testament offer on peoples' behalf while the priests of the New Testament configures himself toward Jesus who is himself the offering. We are all called to the universal priesthood in these ways: 1. to lead others to the very action of salvation of Jesus; 2. to capit...

Rest  Mark 2:1-12 The letter to the Hebrews for this day focused on "resting" and entering into the rest of our Lord.  The author gave reference to the day when the God rested in the 7th day, marking the state of paradise before the sin when man is one with God. A state of rest is Jesus in the gospel as he pardoned the paralytics' sins and cured him.  The paralytic felt overwhelmed by the love of God. Secondly, a state of rest is like others who helped the paralytic and brought him to Jesus. Now, it is up to us to analyze why there is no rest in people's homes and in people's hearts.  It all depends upon our eagerness to let Jesus in our lives and share him to others that accounts for true peace in the world.

Can we feel again? Mark 1:40-45 With the letter to the Hebrews as a guide, it will be easy for us to develop a spirituality that is lasting, permanent, and life changing, that after Christmas we are happy to possess everyday of our lives. And the call of the reading for today is not to harden our hearts. Hearts harden when we don't have any time for God when we think we know everything about God that there is nothing new about God or our faith. Harden hearts come in when we don't discern God's action. For we are filled with ourselves and our dreams, and wants and desires. A life that is open and willing to be formed is the better option. God created us not for ourselves but for Him. A life that doesn't have any place for God is not worth living. The gospel is about the leper being cured.  When the body starts feeling again, is not calloused, but capable of feeling and all cells are healed, then it should recognize the One who is enables the b...

The power of man  Mark 1:21-28 As Jesus begins his public ministry so too our desire to God in this New Year. Notice in the first reading when God extols man, who was "crowned with glory and splendor".  Of course, He is referring to His Son, Jesus of the New Testament. But it does not hurt for us to realize that God loves us as well. From this love, he has given us authority over unclean spirits, to bring order and unity in creation. To serve Him with delight and lead all peoples back to Him. May we embrace the "new man" in Jesus Christ.

True faith Luke 4:14-22   As Christmas is ending, make no mistake about it.  Christmas is just beginning because it is just planted in our hearts.  We need to nourish the seed of faith planted in our hearts, not abort it.   John's letter reflects the real effect of Christmas - in ourselves as we love one another.  It is a direct mirror of God's love for us - our love for one another.  He further states that we have already triumphed over the world - through our faith.   Our faith, what is in our mind and heart, what mold our wills, brings life into the world.  It man's access to God.  Thus, communion is possible because of faith. Through faith, we can see everything - God's glory and man's holiness.  We can see the story of humankind's existence in God.  Thus, in the gospel, we can see the Good News brought to the poor, liberty to captives, sight to the blind, freedom to the downtrodden, and the Year of the Lord i...

Because of you John 1:29-34 What would it be like after Christmas? Would we end up the same persons or something happened that changed our lives and our outlook of life?  Reflect on the words "Dahil sa yo": Dahil sa iyo, nais kong mabuhay Dahil sa iyo, hanggang mamatay Dapat mong tantuin, wala ng ibang giliw Puso ko'y tanungin, ikaw at ikaw rin Dahil sa iyo, ako'y lumigaya Pagmamahal, ay alayan ka Kung tunay man ako, ay alipinin mo Ang lahat ng ito, dahil sa iyo. It is because of Jesus that we got to be like this. It is because of this the God chose to forgive us and called us His sons and daughters. It is because of Christ that we can change. Why are we like this? Because of his presence or his absence.  Why do we choose to do good?  It is because of him. After Christmas, only we can know what happened to us, whether we have grown in faith or lack of it; only our knowledge of Jesus can determine our life and our salvation.