Inspirations at your Fingertips!

Eradicating evil Matthew 10:26-33  In the first reading, evil seems to be found in the very hearts of people who despise the good and wish their end.  But they will reach their own ends while God will emerge triumphant. In our situation today, it seems that evil is all around us, in Marawi, and in our own hearts.  It seeks to nullify every good we have done.  But in reality, it is leading to its own destruction.  In Tagalog, the word "nagwawala" typifies what evil is: towards destruction, even of itself. In the Gospel, Jesus underscores the need to have courage: "Do not be afraid. For everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear."  He commands us to be steadfast in faith, not compromise it; rather, to side with the truth. How then do we eradicate evil? First, be faithful to God.   He creates; he reconciles; he makes whole.  He forgives; he satisfies; he heals.  "To whom shall we g...

Love! Matthew 11:25-30  As we celebrate the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus we are confronted with a heart that is overflowing with love that we need to cherish, meditate, and contemplate each moment of our lives.  It also reflects the process of our intimacy with Jesus, thus, inculcating his very own heart. The readings teach us the the various facets of God's love. First, that in the First Reading, Moses reminds the people on the very reason of God as he choose Israel as his son - it is simply because he loves. May this remind us to be moved in constant humility in this world; that we have nothing to brag about except being loved by God. Second, from the Gospel, let us choose Jesus' yoke, for his "yoke is easy and his burden is light."  His yoke is truly incomparable with the yoke of sin. Third, let us live out God's love in our bodies and souls by loving God above all things and loving our neighbors as Jesus loved us. God's love truly transforms ...

Goodnews at your Fingertips Blogspot: Saturday of the 6th week of Eastertide : What to ask our Lord John 16:23-28 In the first reading, the Church further progressed with Apollos being taught "the Way"; i....

Doing the works of Jesus John 14:15-21 We reflect on the development of the resurrection experience in the sixth Sunday of Easter. In this Sunday, we hear Philip and the apostles doing exactly the works of Jesus like curing the sick and expelling demons.  Easter shifted from the resurrected body of Jesus to the Church where all its members are doing the exact works of Jesus.  The Church now becomes the body of Christ, doing his work everywhere. This is possible because of the Holy Spirit as Jesus promised , " I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be  with you for ever," giving the apostles and us that assurance that he will stay with us forever. This is our challenge  in the 21st century, to do the exact works of Jesus as in the time of the apostles, instead of limiting our Christian responsibility to simply attending 1 hour weekly masses.  In order to be converted to Christ, we need to use up time as long as the on...

An authentic Church John 15:18-21 The Easter experience continues with the expansion of the Church as Timothy and the other disciples proclaim the Good News even to Macedonia and to the rest of the world. In this experience, the resurrection of Jesus now resides in people being resurrected from the world to new life in God, including us in the present moment.  This privilege is not given only the Jews, but offered to the rest of the world.  And the institution carrying this is ecclesia, the Church. Let us deepen the gift given to us when we were baptized and incorporated into the Church, which is universal in nature, "Catholic", reaching to the ends of the earth. The qualities of this Church are: First, it is born of the Spirit.  We may be in the world but not of this world, because our life's meaning is now founded on Jesus crucified and resurrected.  We then incorporate ourselves with others who were also drawn from the earth to be with God forever. S...

Recognize Jesus in daily life John 21:1-14  It would be nice if we connect the Resurrection experiences of the apostles with our daily life experiences.  These are the usual things that we do, like the usual things the apostles did like fishing.  We are also confronted with the daily challenges like the confrontation of the apostles with the reactive pharisees.   In the midst of these daily experiences let us strive to do the following: First, always give witness to Jesus - never lose sight of giving witness to Jesus in a world that tends to forget him; Second, offer every action to Jesus - whether this be fishing or office work, or school work, never lose sight of Jesus in daily life; Third, always recognize Jesus in the midst - the apostles recognized Jesus in the catch of fish; the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, defended the faith from those who wish its death. Let's strive always to give witness to Jesus even in the ordinariness of life.

The Church, a sign of the resurrection of Jesus Luke 24:35-48 The resurrection stories are marked by a movement from disbelief to belief, confusion to clarity, and sorrow to joy.  This is the message of Jesus.  But there are profound teachings underneath the miracle of the resurrection: First, that Jesus is the Christ foretold in the Old Testament We are called to challenge even the little faith we have in Jesus instead of the things of this world; nourish it and make it grow. Second, that Jesus makes possible the forgiveness of sins Jesus would not allow men and women to die in their sins.  This is the central message of the resurrection.  Death and sin have no power over him. Third, we are called to be witness to the resurrection of Jesus This marks the very mission of the Church; it is the very reason of its existence - to tell the story of the resurrection and cause the resurrection of people. In a world geared to gloom and despair, the Church...