Inspirations at your Fingertips!

legacy, anybody interested? Mark 11:11-26 In the gospel, Jesus cursed a fig tree.  But in the middle of the story, he also drove the money changers out of the temple. Whether we like it or not, we are leaving memories behind - good memories, bad memories.  What memories would you like to leave behind? Another word is "legacy".  Legacy is something that we will leave behind and will stay in the world for generations to come. Parents, what legacy are you leaving to your children? Land? Money? Or God and his values that your children will teach their children and next generation of children? Would we want to be remembered as saving our own family or we extended our arms to help a greater number of families, especially the poor? Would we want to leave things that only stay in this world but cannot reach heaven? We can either stay barren, or we can decide to use our lives to leave traces of God's presence in the world and leave a rich legacy of the Lord's ...

Faith Mark 10:46-52 Qoheleth describes the grandeur of God and His power over all creation. If things are in disarray, it's not because of God.  Rather, we allowed ourselves to go far away from him. In the gospel, Jesus cured the blind man.  He established himself rightfully as the Son of God with the same power as the Father, with the power to restore all things, including sight. And what is our response?  Faith.  This is what Jesus checks on all of us. Faith is simply a product of our relationship with the Divine Master; our ability to detect his presence. Faith involves entrusting of oneself to the Master as one does to a friend.  "I believe in you" means we have total faith in him before all else.  That is faith. Finally, faith is the realization of the envisioned restoration.  "Amen" is our firm conviction that God is in control of all things and He will bring it to completion.  Our action then is our response in faith.  W...

How deep is your love? John 21:15-19  It all boils down to love.  If we truly love God, all things will spring out from it. "Do you love me more than these?" Jesus is also asking us whether  our love for God would be higher than our families and our own lives.  If the answer is "yes", then all else will follow. The life of loving, if defined only in human terms is not really love.  First, if a man loves a woman, it should be as faithful and as responsible as Jesus' love for us, his Church. If we claim we have love, our love should transcend familiar and social ties; it should reach out to the poor. If our love is truly authentic, then we would really end up following Jesus to the cross, all for the sake of mankind.  That's why Jesus said, "Feed my sheep."  Those who may have love in the family but do not love the poor may not have any true love at all. How far would our love for Jesus go?  Do we really love him more than all these? ...

Glorify the Father John 17:1-11 As we are being prepared to receive the Holy Spirit, let us know what it means to exactly receive it - it simply means to be able to "glorify". Glorifying means bestowing honor ...  The main focus is glorifying the Father.  Jesus did just that. Second, glorifying means finishing the work of the Father.  Reflect on St. Paul's life as he glorifies the Father by doing his will. Third, glorifying means to mirror the Father just as Jesus offers everyone to be glorified in the Father.

To be poor John 16:20-23  I  would like to greet the Christian community of Kapasigan a happy Fiesta as they celebrate the feast of their patron, San Isidro Labrador. "San Isidro", a Spanish laborer, maintained his poverty before God.  There are three things which makes San Isidro poor: First, he was poor in God's eyes.  To be poor means to maintain our humility before God. Second, he was poor in men's eyes.  He maintained the poor lifestyle together with his wife who is also a saint. Third, he was rich in kindness and service to the poor.  He possessed Jesus' heart.  His employer allowed him to go to daily masses because he saw his kindness and his generosity. How true then is the gospel message for today, "You sorrow will turn to joy."  Because our sacrifices on behalf of the poor will not go unrewarded.  Let us imitate the life of San Isidro Labrador.

Pasig - after much deliberations, St. James spoke " I rule, then, that instead of making things more difficult for pagans who turn to God, we send them a letter telling them merely to abstain from anything polluted by idols, from fornication, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For Moses has always had his preachers in every town, and is read aloud in the synagogues every sabbath." In the gospel, Jesus stressed to remain in his love, keep his commandments, so that our joy would be complete. Why would our joy be complete?  Because it is in total conformity to God's will; it is united with God. What constitutes a life filled with joy? What are the things that bring us sadness?  Probably some unmet needs.  But if we are filled are we happy then? After much deliberations, St. James gave a judgment on the issue of circumcision - not to make it more difficult for pagans to turn to God, to abstain from anything offered to the idols, fornication, meat of ...

Mirrors John 14:21-26 Mirrors are amazing equipment.  They have the capacity to reflect back images. We are mirrors.  We mirror the very presence of Jesus or the lack of it. We need to be mirrors and not be broken glasses.  At all times, let our lives reflect the living Lord through the following: 1. Obedience - follow Jesus' every move as his mirrors the Father's love 2. Communion - we work for unity with the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit and with one another. 3. Mission - let us produce other mirrors for Christ.