Inspirations at your Fingertips!

More Easter thoughts Gospel:  Luke 24:1-12 Following all the readings for the Easter Vigil till the Gospel for this evening, I would like to reflect on the following words that relate with our Easter experience: The first is the word "creation".  What this world has destroyed, God has created it back.  What was old has turned new.  There is always renewal in God. The second word is "faithfulness".  Just as Abraham was unquestionably faithful to God, our faith definitely brings alive the light of Easter in our hearts that links us directly with God. The third is the word "victory".  God will always be victorious over any kind of slavery, whether political, moral, social, or economic.  As Jesus' passing over death is a living testimony of this victory, so too will goodness prevail in our lives. All these are found in the one with a direct experience with the Divine Master.  Their hearts are being created again, this time, renewed in God.  The

Worth emulating  Matthew 26:14-25 The gospel is a prelude to the blessed event that we will recall tomorrow, i.e., the most holy Eucharist. By this time, Judas already would have gone out and Jesus would have already reprimanded Peter.  Everything is ready for the banquet.  Jesus is the supreme sacrifice to his Father. Jesus is the sacrament of His Father for all of us to see.  Salvation comes in our total adherence to Jesus and not to ourselves.  Just as Jesus carries the dignity of His Father, we carry that dignity if we allow ourselves to imitate the virtues and goodness of the Father. Judas' words and actions are not dignified.  They are signs of betrayal and mistrust; of a total loss of the sense of faith.  They are not worth emulating.  Jesus' actions are worth it. In my 20 years as a priest, I know that this is not an easy task; but it is worth all efforts to be configured to the Father's will. If I see I am not worthy; I charge it to the Father.  If I

Glorification  John 13:21-33,36-38 As we get closer to the celebration of the Paschal Mystery, we see how our world and God's world become closer and united.  In both reading, the Son is glorified by the Father; his glorification also shows in his Son who obediently does His will to His delight. In the gospel, the Father's relationship with the Son is manifested in Jesus Christ and not in Judas and even Peter.  Their actions debase human existence. Let us learn from Jesus and we shall know the mystery of our human existence.  Just as the Son glorifies the Father in bringing his sons and daughters back to him, our existence in this world is merely to glorify the Father and mirror Him to others.

Conversion  Mark 12:28-34 The readings always bring out a call to conversion.  Come back to me, come back now! Why do we have to come back to the Lord?  Because the effects of sin are upon us.  I would like to stress more about the effects of the callousness of a person exposed to a world of sin.  Sin deadens our hearts; makes it deaf to the cries of the poor; makes it callous to the feelings of all; and makes us blind to the presence of beauty and of God. Jesus calls us to love once again; love in its truest form.  From the document of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI on Deus, Caritas Est, he stresses on a self-sacrificing love patterned after the Lord Jesus.  He also stresses that love, from romantic to self-sacrificing love is founded only in God who is love. By purifying our hearts, God will fill it up with his own love.

Forgive  Matthew 18:21-35 The tone of today's readings is one filled with reparation ... showing man's utter nothingness and the overwhelming power of God. But God is not one-sided. The compassion of a repentant, contrite heart hits his own heart. In the gospel, we are also asked to forgive seven times seventy times. Why should we forgive? 1. because forgiveness is a mark of being human. 2. we should forgive because it is our divine nature. Forgive is the way this world should go.  And God taught us how to save the world: by forgiveness.