Inspirations at your Fingertips!

Friday of week 28 in Ordinary Time Luke 12:1-7 St. Paul expounded on justification in the case of Abraham, who was justified, that is, made clean, not by his own action, but by his faith in God.  Faith or "pananampalataya" is a fruit of justification. Second, another fruit of justification is conversion or "pagbabalik-loob".  A person changes simply because of God's goodness. Third fruit of justification is righteousness or "pagiging matuwid".  It is a state when a person lives out the righteousness of God. All these run counter with hypocrisy.  Hypocrisy defies faith; it is to give merit to oneself as the source of goodness. Hypocrisy runs counter with conversion.  A hypocrite sees no need of conversion because he / she treats himself or herself as self-righteous. Finally, his concept of righteousness is self-righteousness, a form of spiritual pride which is one of the seven capital sins. Let our every thought, word, and action result ...

Thursday of week 28 in Ordinary Time Luke 11:47-54 St Paul dwells on the reality of justification: a way man is justified, not by his own actions or merits, but by the redeeming action of Jesus Christ. There are three things I would like to reflect about justification: First, it God is the one who justifies; not us. Second, as we are justified, we separate from sin and enter into God's righteousness. Third, our lives become pure grace in Jesus. Let us nourish the gift given to us by Jesus, the gift of redemption brought about by His passion, death, and resurrection.

Tuesday of week 28 in Ordinary Time  Luke 11:37-41 There's one Tagalog reality that's truly amazing; it's called "kalooban". Translated in English as "will", the definition of kalooban is not fully captured. It has its root word in "loob" or "inside"; it refers to the innermost being of a person, what lies in his heart or center of his being.  God is in the center of his being. Second, it also brings forth the word "kaloob" or "gift", a present or an offering.  But kaloob connotes a deeper meaning.  It's a gift coming from the innermost being, with the self as a present to the other.  And when the heart is a gift, it entails the offering of the whole self.  We become "kaloob" to God as God is to us in Jesus. Third, we now reach the state "kalooban" which means"will"; connoting a strongly held desire or wish with a commitment to live out what one strongly des...