All Have Sinned

 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

No one particularly likes to talk of sin. A whole lot of preachers shirk from telling their congregations that they are sinners and need to turn away from their evil worldly ways. Saint Paul clearly tells us we are all sinners, not only the Pharisees or tax collectors or corrupt politicians or fornicators, or murderers. ALL are sinners. When we talk of sin, we would also have to ask, "By whose standards?" Most of us would like to make our own, and exclude from the list whatever we do! 

But Saint Paul tells us we are all under the law of God. We can't make our own rules, even if we argue till we are blue in the face to be politically correct or socially acceptable. In the end, what will matter is we are under God's law because He created us, and we have all sinned against Him. 

In Josh McDowell's book, "More than a Carpenter", he relates a story of a judge in California who declared a young woman guilty for speeding. He fined her $100, and then the judge stood, took off his robe, and paid the fine. You see, the woman was his daughter. He was willing to pay the price for her so she could go free. 

In the court of life, of which God is the judge, the "wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). We are all sinners, guilty as charged. God took off His robe of divinity to come down in the form of man to pay the price.  

Thank You Jesus for loving us so much You chose to redeem us, to be the propitiation for the requirements of the Father, so we may live with You forever in Your heavenly Kingdom!

Only the Lord

 “Only in God is my soul at rest; from Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed at all." Psalm 62:1-2

This reminds me of “Nada De Turbe”, St. Teresa de Avila's prayer:

"Let nothing disturb you,

Let nothing dismay you,

Everything passes,

God does not change.

Patience overcomes everything,

Who has God lacks nothing.

God alone suffices."

Yes, Lord, may nothing disturb me. May I be able to retreat with you, calm, knowing that You are in control, that there is nothing impossible with You! Even if there is turmoil all around, all this talk of the “Big One” and the need to prepare Go Bags and family reunification plans because of all the earthquakes recently. Add to that the uncertainty of having our Congressmen and Senators embroiled in systemic corruption, trillions in taxes stolen blatantly. Yet will I trust in You and be not disturbed.

Corrie Ten Boom who along with her family had been hiding Jews in their home in Holland, had been arrested by the Gestapo.  She was a prisoner for 11 months, 4 of those months she was kept in solitary confinement in Scheveningen prison. Then she was transferred to Vught concentration camp and eventually to the dreaded Ravensbrück in northern Germany where her sister Betsie died. 

“I couldn’t have done it myself,” Corrie shared. “Only the Lord carried me through. I had always believed in Him. But now I know from experience that Jesus' light is stronger than the darkest night. I had my Bible with me. And in it, I read that even the hairs on our head are numbered. God holds the universe and the smallest details in His hands. That gave me peace- He had not forgotten me.” 

He will not forget us either. As it says in Deuteronomy 31:8, “The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." 

Out of the Abundance of the Heart

 The Lord said to him, “Oh, you Pharisees, although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil.” Luke 11:39

How harsh Jesus’ words to the Pharisee who was merely amazed that Jesus did not do the ritual hand washing before eating. This practice called netilat yadayim is rooted in ancient traditions of spiritual cleanliness and purity. Although this was prescribed for priests at first, it was later extended to all Jews. Water is poured over each hand, from a cup or pitcher until the wrists are wet. If one eats at Van Gogh is Bipolar along Maginhawa street, the meal starts with handwashing with water and baking soda poured from a pitcher. 

As is usual when we are with Jesus, it can be very uncomfortable because he can read our minds. And sometimes what we think cannot be exposed to polite company. Our thoughts can be wayward, and can be disgusting. Like the Pharisee in this story, I tend to be judgmental, holier than thou, and vain. That is why we have to train our thoughts. Luke 6:45 states, "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks". This verse emphasizes that what a person says is a reflection of the inner state of their heart. 

Do we spend more time making ourselves presentable and well turned out rather than making sure our thoughts are pure and holy? 

Praise God I am Healed!

 “Praise God I am healed!” Luke 17:15

Jesus healed many, many people in various kinds of ways. Here in Luke 17, he met 10 lepers who asked Him to have pity on them. He instructed them to go and show themselves to the priests. They obeyed, and on the way, all 10 were healed. Only one of the lepers went back to look for Jesus to thank Him and give praise to God in a loud voice. 

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten made whole? Where are the other nine?” Then he turned to the Samaritan man who was healed and declared, “Your faith has been your salvation.”

There are countless things to thank God for. Some years ago, I decided to number my thanks to God in my journal. This was after I read Ann Voskamp’s best seller, “A Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are”. I am now in #12,702.

In her book, Ann writes, “Being in a hurry. Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I've ever gained from being in a hurry. But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing.... Through all that haste I thought I was making up time. It turns out I was throwing it away.” 

It seems the nine lepers were in a hurry. Perhaps now that they were healed and whole, there were a hundred and one things they wanted to do. They wanted to see their families for sure. Being lepers, they were pariah, and they were supposed to stay away from people. Whatever it is, they did not take the time to go back and thank Jesus. Because they did not take the time to be grateful, they missed a most precious gift that only Jesus could bestow: salvation. 

In the midst of all my rushing, I need to take the time to slow down and thank God. My Father has all the time in the world for me. Silly, absurd, crazy me. He has time for me and my challenges, my rants, my idiosyncrasies. I should stop, savor His presence and love, and thank Him.

Blessed

 “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” Luke 11:28

The prophet Samuel reminds us, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” Obedience brings blessing. When I was young, I was always asking God to treat me gently. I was aware that there were many things that could happen that could destroy the perfect world I had with my family, my friends, this precious little circle I lived in. And God was faithful, and answered my prayers. 

Then one day He showed me, that if He did not prune me, I would wither and die like a plant that was not exposed to a gardener's pruning shears. There are different kinds of cutters. Some are strong enough to cut tree branches, and they are called "loppers". Then there are the specialized ones for pruning Japanese bonsai and the exquisite miniature landscapes of the Vietnamese. To cut leaves and branches higher up, gardeners can use an averruncator which has a telescopic pole.

One of my favorite verses is from 1 Corinthians 3:9, where Saint Paul tells us we are God's garden, His field, His farm. And like any farmer, God prepares the ground for a rich harvest. The hard soil must be broken up, so He can plant the seeds. The season, the timing, the depth of the seeds in the soil, how much water, how much sun, these are all to be considered. And then when the plants are grown, and in need of pruning, God lovingly takes out those pruning shears and removes those dead leaves and unfruitful stems. Even Jesus was pruned. And Jesus learned obedience from His suffering (Hebrews 5:8-9). Perfect obedience.

I do believe that God has a special set of shears for each one of us. For some of us, He uses the lopper. For some He picks the high carbon kiri style shears for precision cutting. Whatever tool God uses, and we can be sure it is the perfect one, we know it is so we will yield much fruit, and bloom! One day we will be perfect too, like Jesus!

The Finger of God

 “…by the finger of God.” Luke 11:20

This phrase is found in the Bible in four places. The first time in the Old Testament we read this is in Exodus 8:19 when Moses unleashed the third plague and Pharaoh’s magicians could not replicate the appearance of thousands of gnats. In Exodus 31:18, and Deuteronomy 9:10, it is written that it was the finger of God that made the engraving of the Covenant Law on the stone tablets. 

The fourth mention is by Jesus Himself where He claims that it is by God’s power that He drives out demons. Even a small portion of Jesus’ power is enough to defeat the enemy. In this passage, Jesus cast a demon out of a man who could not speak, and the man’s voice returned, amazing the crowd. Jesus did many miracles but some believed He did it by Satan’s power, the prince of demons. 

“A kingdom at war with itself is doomed,” Jesus reminded them. “How will it stand? If it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” Jesus warns that, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” 

I recently learned that one of the men who has stolen billions from our government coffers was a former seminarian. Another one used to be an altar boy assisting at mass. What happened? 

Sometimes the problem is we are not fully committed to God. Instead of being solidly on His side, we sit at the sidelines. On Sundays, we go to church, and pray. We even decide to do better, to love God and neighbor. But then during the week, it’s back to our favorite sins and worldly pleasures. One man told a priest during confession, “Father, I keep confessing the same sins!” The priest responded, “What do you want, new sins??!”

God can work powerfully in us, even an ounce of His power would be enough to change us, but the deceiver is so insidious. A man does not start with stealing billions. He gets an invitation to drink perhaps, or visit a nightclub where he meets people throwing money around. Before he knows it, he’s up to his ears in shady deals. The only solution is to decisively cut away from our lives that which lures us into sin from the start. Then we can show Jesus we want to be on His side, not against Him. 

Ask and You Shall Receive

 “Ask and you shall receive." Luke 11:9

Have you ever wondered why sometimes God's answers take so long in coming? I have. Sometimes we pray and pray, fast, cast out, stand on God’s promises etc. but we do not see the answer for a long time. 

There is a story of a young boy who witnessed the difficulty of a butterfly coming out of its cocoon. He pitied the butterfly struggling to get free that he decided to help the butterfly out by cutting the cocoon. He did not know that these beautiful winged creatures release a chemical when they are getting out of the chrysalis. Their pushing and pulling movements within the cocoon pumps the chemical fluid into their wings, and this chemical strengthens their wings.

Because the boy helped the butterfly, when it emerged its body was swollen and its wings weak and crumpled. The wings did not expand and it could not fly. 

Like the struggles of the butterfly, our trials and challenges have a purpose. Even the timing is important. In Romans 5:3-4 we read, “…we glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” 

And from James 1:2-4, we are encouraged to “Consider it pure joy, brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

God has a wonderful plan for each of us. Let us ask, trusting that we will receive God’s answer in His perfect time! “And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

Lord, Teach Us to Pray

 “Lord, teach us to pray…” Luke 11:1

Is there only one way to pray that will get the Lord’s attention? Is it not that He will listen whenever we talk to him, however we talk to Him? We do not have to be high church formal, we just have to be ourselves. I was listening to the testimony of a young Muslim woman studying in the UK who was so confused but eager to know the truth. 

She prayed that she wasn’t sure about what she believed anymore but that she wanted to believe in Jesus if He was real. She asked Him to show her whether He was truly the Son of God, whether He really died for her sins and whether the love the Christians talked about was genuine. She told Him she was willing to lose everything if He would just make Himself real to her. After her prayer, she said she didn’t know what she expected to happen but then she felt a real deep peace settle over her. It was like coming home after a long, and difficult journey. 

Contrast her prayer to Mother Teresa’s. The saint asked God to lift the darkness from her soul even for only a few days. She says the agony of desolation was so great and the longing for the Absent One so deep, that the only prayer she could still say was “Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee.” And this desolation, this “dark night of the soul” as St. John of the Cross calls it, went on for years. 

Obviously there is not just one way to speak to God. We just need to be sincere, and authentic as God knows us inside out! It would never do to pretend with our Father! Let us offer the loaves and fishes of our lives,  praying with confidence throughout the day, following 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 

 Drew this for my friend’s birthday. Enjoyed doing it. 

Plenteous Redemption

 “With you is forgiveness...and plenteous redemption." Psalm 130:4,7

Asking forgiveness is hard. As a Catholic, I am supposed to confess to a priest at least once a year. But every time I go, I recite the same litany of sins!

It is such an awesome thing that God's second name is forgiveness! And with Him is plenteous, bountiful, redemption! That means that for as many times as we go to God, through a priest, or just direct to God Himself, He is ready and willing to forgive us and we can be as white as snow! He knows what we are made of - Psalm 103:14 says that he knows our frame, and He knows we are dust!

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

Cardinal John Henry Newman, an English Catholic theologian who was formerly an Anglican priest, coined the term “aboriginal vicar of Christ” to describe the conscience. God gave us this wonderful gift of an innate, internal voice within us that discerns right from wrong almost like a gps saying ‘go here’ or don’t go here’. It’s a direct, personal connection to God’s will. But we have to listen. It’s like when the prophet Elijah encountered the “still, small voice” of God in Kings 9:12. God does not speak in power but subtly, gently, and only usually when we take the time to attentively listen. 

Bishop Robert Barron tells the amusing story of the actor Shia LaBeouf when he first met him in a Capuchin monastery in California. Shia was immersing himself in the daily life of the friars in preparation for the movie about Padre Pio he was making. The Bishop had just finished giving a talk to the deacons when the actor sat next to him in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel just off of the main church. They were silent for a while, until Shia asked, “I'm just kind of wondering what what's going on here. Are you waiting for Him to come out?” 

When we listen to God, we need some sort of expectation He will speak. Yes, we’re waiting for Him like a friend we can sit with in comfortable companionship. We can tell Him anything! “Speak Lord, your servant is listening!” 

Who is My Neighbor?

 “Who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:29

A scholar of the law asked Jesus this question after he recited the great commandments of loving God and loving neighbor. Indeed, do we know who our neighbors are? 

Pope Francis writes that the Parable of the Good Samaritan “indicates a way of life, which has at its main point not ourselves, but others, with their difficulties, whom we encounter on our journey and who challenge us.” Do we, like the Good Samaritan, stop, go out of our way, take our focus off ourselves, to help a brother or sister in need? 

I appreciate the sharing of Lizanne Southgate so much because the one who stopped and helped her was a cleaning woman at the hospital where she took her 2-year old son to. Larkin, her son, was in surgery and she was all alone because her husband was at home taking care of their other children. While waiting in agony, fearing for her son’s life, she saw on the TV in the waiting room that the city of Los Angeles was engulfed in riots and fires. Her mother was there and she could not get through. 

She collapsed against the wall weeping. When the elevator doors opened, a wiry cleaning lady emerged pushing a big fuzzy, dust mop. The lady, after a moment, slid down beside Lizanne and asked what was wrong. She held Lizanne’s hands in her rough, work-worn hands and patted them. She began to speak of her own life and Lizanne realized the old lady had so many sorrows. 

“How do you survive?” Lizanne asked. 

“You just gotta have faith. Nothing lasts forever, it all passes on. And when you can’t hold on no more, you just let go and let the angels carry your troubles awhile. It’ll be all right.” 

Lizanne’s “mop angel” stayed with her until the doctors came out to tell her they were able to take the gangrenous appendix out of Larkin, and that he would be fine. She eventually found out her mother was safe as well. 

Lord, I hope I am not too busy with my own concerns that I fail to see my neighbor in need. I hope I can be present to others and not be so focused on my own needs. Help me to be the neighbor You want me to be! 

God is Enough

 “Write down the vision...for the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfilment, and will not disappoint...” Habakkuk 2:2-3

I always get excited reading the daily scriptures. Like the prophet Habukkuk and many before and after him, I too ask why God allows evil, why He does not put a stop to all the billion peso corruption scandals and injustice and immoral leaders... The list is long and I know these questions have troubled many and have even caused many to abandon their faith. 

Habakkuk asks: “Why do You gaze on the faithless in silence, while the wicked devour one more just than himself? ....Shall he then keep on brandishing his sword to slay peoples without mercy?”

When we read a great novel or admire an artist’s masterpiece, everything makes perfect sense when we see the whole and not just a part of it. The same is true with God’s great work of heART. We do not understand why He permits a 6.9 earthquake in Cebu displacing 80,000 people, or Muslim jihadists to terrorize tens of thousands of Christians in Nigeria. We can be sure God has a greater good in mind for us and His creation. 

I am reminded of Charles Templeton, a charismatic evangelist who would hold successful crusades around Europe in the 40s and 50s with Billy Graham. But he became an atheist partly because of this same complaint. How can a good God permit all the misery and violence and evil in this world? 

God answers Habakkuk: "Write down the vision clearly...for the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint. If it delays, wait for it...The righteous shall live by faith." (Habakkuk 2:2-4)

I think the key is the last verse. We need the eyes of faith because faith looks beyond the circumstances and rests on God's wisdom and His promises. The world has not changed much since the prophet’s time. Listening to the news about all the rape and killings in the most beautiful cities in the world can drive us to despair. What is God doing? Why does He allow any of it? Why did God allow Jesus to be humiliated and crucified?

I like the answer of Peter Kreeft, a Roman Catholic theologian. He compared Calvary to Judo: “The enemy’s own power is used to defeat him… Satan’s end was God’s means. God won Satan’s captives – us – back to himself by freely dying in our place.” 

So I try not to question God and His ways. I will just trust and have faith. Our God knows all the answers. We do not need the “answers” to our questions or the challenges life gives us, as much as we need God Himself! When we have nothing left but God, God is enough.

Like a Little Child

 “...although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.” Luke 10:21

Richard Dawkins, the infamous militant atheist biologist, was on a BBC radio show once with the Rev. Giles Fraser, former canon chancellor of St. Paul's Cathedral in England. Dawkins had just claimed that people in Britain who identified themselves as Christian, were not Christian at all, because according to a survey conducted by their group, they could not even name the first book of the New Testament! Reverend Fraser then countered with the question: “Could you give me the full title of The Origin of the Species”?

Dawkins hesitated and mumbled, "On the Origin of Species…Uh…With, oh, God, On the Origin of Species. Um…There is a sub-title with respect to the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life.” Would his answer indicate that Dawkins was not a real evolution-believing atheist? 

Sometimes we can be too wise for our own good. Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, “I tell you the truth, unless you repent and change, and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Strong words. Wise people have tried to prove that God does not exist, but they can’t answer where moral law comes from if there is no God. 

Little children instinctively trust adults, and we, like little children, like lambs, should trust our Shepherd. Like little children, we should be full of hope and expectation. We should bask in our Father’s all powerful love. Instead of always being bothered and stressed, we should recover our capacity to be fully in the present, to experience the gifts God gives us. Like little kids who are enthusiastic and lack guile, we should not be afraid of creating or making or starting something new. Atheists may try to destroy, but little children like to build. Lord, may we never be cynical or angry. There is so much for us to discover and learn if we open our hearts to You, like a little child!