Posts

Showing posts from April, 2018

How to serve God in the temporal world

Image
Saturday of the 2nd week of Eastertide John 6:16-21 This 14th day of Easter, the office of deacons was established so that the temporal needs of the poor members of the Church would be met while the apostles continue their ministry of proclaiming the Word. In the gospel, Jesus was seen walking on the waters. Easter is about the resurrection of the Lord, in body and spirit.  In our case we could experience the resurrection in the integration of human lives with a spirituality that comes from the power of God.  This is called secularity.  It may seem material, but we could recognize God's presence in the world and in way we conduct our temporal affairs - our work, the ways we handle our material possessions, and our preoccupation with day to day living. Each moment calls us to recognize the immense power of the Lord as the one who gives order to our lives.  He is the one walking above the waters; he is in control of all  created things. Second, each moment calls us to re

How to open the eyes of our faith

Image
Easter Thursday Luke 24:35-48  We are exposed to forty days of Jesus' presence to the disciples after the Resurrection.  This is the fourth day. Peter gave a discourse after he and John cured a lame man.  He helped deepen their understanding about Jesus and the work of salvation.  He needed to explain all these to open the eyes of their faith. In the Gospel, Jesus appeared to the apostles.  He even proved to them that he is present in body and spirit through the eating of the food.  But like the first reading, he wanted to open the eyes of their faith to greater realities: the reality of God's love and salvation through him. We are in need of salvation.  But existence in this world means we have to have the resources to feed our bodies with food.  Some of our brethren get stuck in the world of materialism, others hinge on power, fame, and persons for their happiness. How do we open the eyes of faith then to the realities of Jesus? First, realize that even the worl

How we can increase our affections for Jesus

Image
Easter Tuesday John 20:11-18 We are capitalizing on Easter experiences after the Easter morn. The people were cut to the heart when Peter explained how Jesus, the Messiah, was rejected and killed.  Three thousand people converted to the faith immediately after that. Mary had the most intense experience of seeing the Lord immediately on that Sunday morning.  It confirmed how treated Jesus even before he suffered and died - as Master, as Lord and God, and as her Beloved. We are inspired by concrete experiences of love, hate, joy, and sorrow.  In psychology, understanding our feelings manifests self-discovery of what we hold dear to our hearts and what we abhor.  Consequently, if we are devoid of positive feelings for the Lord, let's increase our experiences of faith, especially those that help us deepen it. How do we increase our sentiments and affections for the Lord? First, learn from the Master.  Treat Jesus as such - a master, a teacher, someone in authority over