Speak Lord

 

“Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10

How many times did the Lord call Samuel before Samuel answered Him? Three times. For us, it can take many, many more times, I think. Samuel was living with Eli the priest, in the shrine of the Lord in Shiloh. His mother had dedicated Samuel to God. We are not so blessed as to have nothing to do but devote all our time and energy to God. Samuel was already learning at a young age how to listen to the Lord.

How important it is to reserve a quiet time for the Lord so He can speak to us! 

Steve Clark in his book, "Catholics and the Eucharist: A Scriptural Introduction," wrote: "There is nothing more important than to have God speak to us. We belong to a relatively self-confident human race. We live after centuries of technological development. We can handle more and more of the uncertainties of life, acquire more and more knowledge, power, and comfort. Those of us who are adults with an adequate education, job, financial standing, and home often feel that we can get our lives to go much the way we want them to.

"Yet, we also know that tragedy may happen to us or those close to us. We know we are not doing well with our responsibilities in various respects, and the consequences may be bad for us and others. Accidents also may happen at any time. Furthermore, even though we resist the thought, we know that a destructive global war that might destroy all we hold dear is still possible. And we all know we will die one day and perhaps become helplessly incapacitated before that."

Yes we could be on the brink of a global war even now. There is just so much happening on so many fronts and many countries are teetering on precipices of their own making. But even if we do not think of world affairs, there are challenges we have to deal with at home, with our friends and neighbors. My sisters and I pray together every day and our intercessory list just gets longer and longer. 

What is God trying to tell us? CS Lewis wrote that, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world…”

Speak Lord, Your servants are listening. Help us to hear You and hear Your words. 

Gift of Joy

 “Why are you bothering us, Jesus of Nazareth?” Mark 1:24

In Deuteronomy 18:16, the Jews had just petitioned God for a prophet to speak to them. They did not want to hear God’s audible voice nor did they want to see the fire engulfing the mountains, the clouds and the thunder and the thick darkness. I suppose it terrified them as it would terrify us. So God granted their request and sent prophets. He did not speak to them audibly as a nation again. He instructed them about these prophets in Dt 18:19, “But against anyone who is not willing to listen to his words, which he will speak in My name, I will stand forth as the avenger.” In another version, it reads, “I will make him answer for it.” How terribly important it is for us to read Jesus’ words, understand and obey! Jesus is the perfect revelation of the Father! But unlike the awesome voice speaking in and through the fire, He is not terrifying!

And that may be the reason why so many of us ignore Him, and like the man with the unclean spirit in Mark 1, we want Him not to mind us so we can do what we please. “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Go away and leave us to our own devices!” 

We do not realize how wretched and pitiful we are without God to guide us in our life. We reject His Words not knowing rejection of His Words means rejection of His gift of joy. 

“These things I have spoken to you,” Jesus said in John 15:11, “that your joy may be full.” And in John 17:13, Jesus said, “I am speaking these things in the world, so that they may have the fullness of my joy within themselves.”

Lord, I want that fullness of joy in my life. Bother me! Teach me Your ways! 

Fishers of Men

 

“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Mark 1:17

I will always remember my dad for being eternally young and enthusiastic. Even when he was 90 plus years old already, he would not let his feeble frame stop him from going out on a fishing boat in Batangas with fishermen to find fish. He walked slowly to the boat with someone to support him. He was put in a chair to be carried inside the boat. He was out in the sun for 6 hours looking for fish. His fish finder conked out but he came back still convinced there was much fish to be caught off the coast of Batangas. He was not discouraged after hours under the sun.

We too are called to be “fishermen”, but not of fish, but of men. Do we easily get discouraged after people don’t respond to our invitation to join a prayer meeting or listen to an inspirational talk? I listened to a woman share about how she found the Lord after a neighbor just kept persistently listening to her problems. They would be sitting down at a coffee shop or on the steps to her home, and the neighbor would patiently encourage her and pray for her, until one day she decided to go with her to a Life in The Spirit Seminar. 

Ric Warren, the founder of Saddleback Church, wrote on one Facebook post, “The night before my father died, my wife, my niece, and I were in his bedroom by his side. Dad suddenly became very agitated and tried to get out of bed," Warren continued. "Of course, he was too weak to get up so Kay insisted he lay back down. But he kept persisting in trying to get out of bed. Finally, Kay in exasperation said 'Jimmy, you CANNOT get up! You are dying. We will get you whatever you need. What are you trying to do?'

"My dad replied, 'I've got to save one more for Jesus! I've got to save one more for Jesus! One more for Jesus! One more for Jesus!' He began to repeat that phrase over and over and over. It is no exaggeration to say that during the next hour, he repeated the phrase probably a hundred times: 'Got to save one more for Jesus!'"

No wonder Ric Warren is so passionate about what he does! “While my head was bowed,” Warren recounted, “my dad reached out and placed his frail hand on my head and said, as if commissioning me with a sacred calling, 'Reach one more for Jesus! Reach one more for Jesus!' It was a holy moment and I knew what I was supposed to do the rest of my life, regardless of problems, illnesses, conflicts, critics, attacks, delays, difficulties, or any other barriers," he wrote.

My Beloved

 

“This is My Son, My Beloved, in Whom I delight." Matthew 3:17 (Amp.)

In another version, we find: "Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well-pleased." And in Mark 1:11, “You are My beloved Son. On You my favor rests." I went through different versions because I imagined myself, during my baptism, with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit being present along with my parents and godparents. God looked down and said, "This is my beloved daughter! My favor rests on her! I delight in her! She pleases me well!" Blasphemy? Indeed not!

Jesus paved the way for us to be part of His holy family. We are adopted sons and daughters of God. In Matthew, we see a longer retelling of Jesus' baptism than that we find in Mark. We see that John the Baptist protested strenuously to Jesus' request to be baptized, but Jesus insisted. "This is the fitting way to fulfill all righteousness, to perform completely what is right." (Matthew 3:15, Amp.)

Jesus went into the waters of baptism just like any sinner. He joined with us, sinful humanity, and shared the travails, weakness and death of ordinary human beings. Because of His obedience, the Father was well pleased with Him. In His baptism, the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, were present. In our baptism, Father, Son and Spirit were present as well. We are one family, one church. And when Jesus was baptized by John, even though He did not need it, He was saying to each one of us, I am one with you. I will be with you through thick and thin, I will journey with you, I will see to it that you finish the race. I will do everything, even to dying like a common criminal, so that the good work started in your baptism will be carried to completion (Phil. 1:6). 

Thank You Jesus for everything! You made the impossible possible for us!

Plant Seeds

 “So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase, I must decrease.” John 3:29-3

John the Baptist said this in answer to some questions put to him about him baptizing and about Jesus baptizing as well. John was very clear about his role in God’s Kingdom. 

Are we clear about our role in the Kingdom of God? In His last recorded personal instruction to His disciples, Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20) Do we take this as a personal commissioning or do we dismiss this as a call only to the disciples, to priests and pastors and missionaries? 

I take this as a personal call to step out in faith and plant seeds of faith in any way I can. Today there is such tremendous opportunity to do so, not only because of the internet, but also because more and more people are in need of prayer and encouragement. Just the other day, I got a comment from someone who said she needed the message I shared. Every day, we can pray that Jesus leads us where we can plant seeds. He promised to accompany us while we do this. We will be surprised, like John the Baptist, at the joy it will bring when we obey Jesus’ instructions. 

Our Only Real Hope

 

“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do will it.  Be made clean.” Luke 5:12-13

Life can be burdensome. Many times we carry a load on our back and it can break us or make us stronger. We cannot really carry it alone or it will make us bitter, desperate, rebellious and even hardened to the point of brittleness. Think of those who survived the Holocaust, who went through wars, and great famines. I remember in the last pandemic, when we were praying for whole families to get well and several members passed away. It was heartbreaking. And now there are several wars, persecutions and rebellions going on in the world today. So much insecurity and fear! Where are we to go to look for the bright light we long for? 

When I think of burdens I remember Shrek the sheep. He became famous in 2004 for his fleece which was abnormally heavy! Merinos are normally shorn every year but Shrek was an expert in hiding in caves and avoided being caught for six long years! He belonged to the Bendigo sheep station near Tarras, New Zealand, and when he was finally found, his shearing was broadcast on national television. An average merino would just carry 4.5 kg, with an exceptional weight of up to 15 kg. Shrek’s fleece weighed 27 kg, enough for 20 large men’s suits! What a heavy burden, simply because Shrek kept hiding from his shepherd for six long years! He was a runaway rebel like many of us, preferring to carry our burdens by ourselves. 

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light,” Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30. If we surrender, stop hiding, Jesus promises He will give us rest. All we need to do is to learn from Him, to read and understand and take His words to heart. He came to heal us. He gave His life so we can have life! He is our only real hope!

The Power of Faith

 “The power that has conquered the world is this faith of ours.” 1 John 5:4

Now that is a pretty bold claim! This was written by Saint John the Evangelist in Ephesus in AD 95-110. 

In another version we can read, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

There are many businessmen and world leaders who are already super successful, super powerful, but keep wanting more and more. Nothing this world offers is enough for them. There are many sports stars who have achieved the pinnacle of success and found they were still searching for more. One of them was Deion Sanders, a retired American professional football and baseball player who has an estimated net worth of $60 million. His list of career highlights is so long, I got tired of scrolling down the page. He was one of the biggest, most famous, richest superstar athletes in the world with a $10,000 bed in a $5.7 million dollar home and a collection of luxury cars, but he just felt empty. He said he had nothing until he found God. He felt so empty and lonely even if he had everything and achieved everything he could ever want. He even tried to commit suicide in 1997 by driving his Mercedes off a 30-40 foot drop cliff, after playing in a baseball game for the Cincinnati Reds. Amazingly, he didn't suffer any life-threatening injuries.

One day, after searching and talking to his Christian friends, this happened: “I was lying there in bed about four o’clock in the morning when I was awakened by these awesome lights in my room. I say it was like a 747 had landed beside my bed, and there was this incredible rush of wind that felt like a helicopter had come in with it.” 

“I remember opening my eyes just the slightest bit and saying, ‘God, if that’s You, take me! Take me, Lord,’ and I was trembling all over. Before long it was silent and the lights disappeared, and later that night I got up and opened my Bible to a passage that said, ‘If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation’ (Romans 10:9-10). The words hit me like a ton of bricks. I knew they were meant for me and at that precise moment I was delivered.”

Now he is so vocal about how he got saved, and he puts in time helping troubled youth find meaning in their life. Deion’s post on X for 2026 was: “Do u feel different or the same? There has to be a disturbance inside of u that's unsatisfying to your soul. You will no longer have Peace doing, living, talking, walking or exuding the same thang u did in 2025. God is doing a new thang with u so Let's Go baby.”

He continuously posts encouraging messages like, “You are not alone! God sees you, wants u & loves you. God can't overtake your will. Your freedom to choose, do, speak, think & love he gave that to u so when u wake u should choose the giver of the gifts. Think!”

Lord, may we not believe that conquering the world lies in getting all we want from it. May we not be captivated by all that is enticing in the world. May we go after the one true treasure, You! 

Do Not Be Afraid

 

"Do not be afraid." Mark 6:50

"Perfect love casts out all fear." 1 John 4:18

As is usually the case, the first reading points out a theme in the gospel reading of the day to emphasize it. Today's gospel is from Mark 6 and tells the story of the disciples being sent off to Bethsaida by Jesus while He goes off to pray by Himself. Jesus from afar, sees the disciples being tossed on a boat by a storm. It is still dark, and when Jesus walks on water toward them, they become afraid. These strong husky fishermen cried out in terror at seeing a "ghost"!

"Get a hold of yourselves!" Jesus says, "It is I. Do not be afraid."

In 1 John 4:11-18, the writer tells us that God is love and in love, there is no room for fear. It is good to examine ourselves and see if we have any fear or doubt that we need to root out. Fear of what the future holds, fear of death, fear of losing someone or something, doubts about our capabilities at work or as a mother. Perhaps we can never fully rid ourselves of some fears, and some are really absurd (like my fear of butterflies!), but we can follow John the Apostle. John in his gospel confessed 6 times that he was the apostle Jesus loved. It is not mentioned in any other gospel, but John knew Christ's love for him was real.

We too can know with certainty that God loves us and wants the best for us. All we need to do is read the Bible, which to me, are His love letters to us. We can feed on it, and make it a part of us. The prophet Jeremiah said, "When Your words came, I ate them. they were my joy and my heart's delight."

God is Love

 "...God is love..." 1 John 4:8

One of the most important revelations we can have is the fact that God loves us. God loves ME! We might say, oh, I know that!!! I've known it since I was a kid. John 3:16. I've heard that so many times!

But do we let it inside us so it changes the way we think, the way we feel every day, the way we treat others? Do we let it invade our heart and mind and spirit? Are we healed of hurts and pains because we know God loves us? Are we so confident in His love that we can get through our challenges and trials victoriously and not allow the enemy to whisper that it's just not true! Do we know in the dark that God loves us, when our mother just died, or our daughter is breaking our heart, or our husband is seeing another woman, or someone is ridiculing us?

We have to work at getting this truth to become REAL in our lives. One of the ways is to confess it, say it out loud. In Psalm 45:1, it says: "My tongue is like the pen of a skilled writer." What we say, our words, like that of a good writer, can touch our heart and mind, so that it can change us. And we need to use our tongue to write the promises of God in our heart. NOTHING, absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:35).

I like writing "thank you"s to God in my journal and I started to number them after I read Ann Voskamp's book, "One Thousand Gifts". I am now in #13,169. I like to list what God does for me, the big things, and the small. Yesterday I thanked God that my sister Tina and her husband Pat came for a visit from Japan, and we had a despedida for them last night. Our dinner was punctuated by some hearty laughs reminiscing about the past. What a tremendous gift God gave us in our family! Truly God shows His love for us through each one of our family members! 

I can look at my journal and see all the ways God surrounds me with love. And it reinforces my spirit, and makes me strong and confident. It is good to watch out for signs of God's favor. It is not so good to take for granted all the wonderful offerings of love God woos us with. 

Test the Spirits

 “Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1

Sometimes I feel like a crazy person when I talk about evil spirits because most people don’t believe in spirits anymore. That is exactly what the unseen forces want, that they are disregarded and considered superstition. 

St. Paul in Ephesians 6:12 emphatically states, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the directors of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places.” What the demons did in Bible times continues on today. Jesus was constantly at war with demonic forces and definitely knew they existed. Whatever Jesus believed in, I definitely want to know about and believe in, whether it be fashionable or not. 

These days, with fake news battling against the truth so prevalent on the world stage, with ordinary decency and morality not so ordinary any more, one could even say we are fighting a losing war. But that is exactly what evil spirits want to spread- hopelessness, despair, turning to all sorts of solutions except to God. 

Many of the saints had to battle spirits of darkness. St. Ignatius of Loyola had been strangled and tormented by demons. Evil spirits danced around St. Alphonsus Rodriguez and jumped on him. St. Colette of Corbin was disturbed by infestations of ants, snails, turtles and reptiles, anything to disturb her devotions. Padre Pio was beset with many forms of demonic manifestations, sometimes they came in the form of his spiritual director.

Today, the devil does not have to resort to these things to keep us from praying and reading God’s Word. There are enough distractions around us already! Since I use my iPhone and iPad for work AND prayer, I have to constantly remind myself to be more disciplined and not allow my attention to be easily diverted by my to do list, advertisements, notifications, messages, and amusements. 

We need to go back to God, to use His armor and all the tools He has given us to combat the enemy. “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:13) We do not all pray the same way, but I find keeping a daily journal helps keep my focus on God. Having a set time to pray, going through my day and thanking God for big and small things, trying to understand the daily scripture readings, and just conversing with Jesus throughout the day and telling Him I love Him are on top of my list of weapons in my War Room. 

Freedom to Choose

 “Where is the new born King of the Jews?" Matthew 2:2

May my heart seek You O Lord, just as the wise men from the east followed Your star!

What amazes me is Herod. While many in Jerusalem were awaiting the Messiah with longing, he wanted to destroy this promised King. True, he wasn't a Jew, but the wise men, these astrologers, weren't either. Herod was blinded by power and his own selfish desires. There were so many prophecies regarding the Messiah, and he obviously believed in them or he would not have bothered to call all the chief priests, scribes and the magi to question them. Unfortunately he asked them questions, NOT to find the Messiah, but to murder Him!

How about us? Are we like the astrologers who went out of their way to seek the truth? When they found Him, they were filled with joy, worshiped Him, and gave Him all they had. Or are we like Herod, who tried to protect his way of life from the intervention of God at all cost? We may also be like the scribes and high priests, they who knew the prophecies, and did not even bother to travel a little way to find the truth for themselves. We may know the Word, read the Bible, but do we apply it?

We are all given freedom to choose. When we read this passage in Matthew, it seems easy to choose the path the astrologers took. But most of the time, we choose to follow our own path, protect the status quo, and fear leaving the familiar to follow the path God wants us to take. A lot of times we want to keep what we have, refusing to see that whatever we give up for God, He will multiply a thousand fold.

A New Song

 

“Sing to the Lord a new song..." Psalm 98:1

The Jews for most of their history have been exiled, persecuted, and have suffered greatly. But in spite of all the pressures of living in a foreign land, they have managed to maintain their language, culture, identity and spirit. When the temple was destroyed and Jerusalem pillaged, the focus of their worship transferred from the temple to their faith communities. That was when the Torah was rediscovered and read afresh.

I can say I also live in exile, in a foreign land. I am, after all, a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20). And like the Jews, with their songs of lamentation, I complain about this strange land I live in. The world as I know it is transforming too fast, and I can't say it's for the better! 

The people who are looked up to, change their husbands or wives like they change their cars. Politicians lie with audacity and have no compunction to steal from the hungry and the homeless. They flaunt their misappropriated wealth with no shame. There are apps and sites that promote adultery, and people who are against abortion are insulted. Women jiggle and sing on social media in next to nothing! Unscrupulous people prey on the elderly and the sick and steal their hard earned money with scams. In some countries, a father who tries to save his daughter from grooming gangs is the one who will be imprisoned by the police! No, I do not feel like I belong!

Yet I can still sing new songs to the Lord! For His mercies are new every morning! And I know in every dark shadow, there is a light shining...even in the remotest region of the world! I just need to open my eyes to what God is doing. He keeps His promises, and I wait in faith, and journey with all the other pilgrims to my promised land!

Perfect

 

"And this is the promise He made us: Eternal Life." 1 John 2:25

To live happily ever after, isn't that what any bride wants on her wedding day? I forget which husband on my Facebook feed said that his wife was the perfect gift for an imperfect man, but I thought it was a beautiful sentiment. 

I read 1 John 2:25 about God's promise to us and I thought about marriage, and how it is a covenant, a promise, God promising us eternal life. He put a ring on my finger, just as another father put a ring on the prodigal son's finger. A PERFECT GIFT FOR IMPERFECT ME! I do not deserve it, I can never earn it, but God desires to give me eternal life, to be together forever.

There are many things that God does that I do not deserve. He gives me a beautiful wedding dress to replace the rags of my sin and shame. He washes me clean by forgiving me time and time again like Hosea forgave His harlot wife.

Sometimes, because I pray every day, read the Bible, buy food for prisoners and do other good deeds, I think I am in right standing with God. I am complacent and un-needy. But I am as far from holiness and righteousness as the east is from the west! And yet, Jesus, my bridegroom takes me by the hand, and walks me down the aisle, and says, "Yes, I do. I do die for this precious one. I do promise to give her eternal life with Me and My Father in My Kingdom." 

That is the perfect ending and beginning, and the best part is, it is NO fairy tale!!

A New Year Prayer

“The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you! The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace!" Numbers 6:24-26

Here is the prayer that the priests of Israel would pray over their people. We can claim this for ourselves because Jesus is our High Priest. So this is my prayer for you and me for a blessed 2026! 

This blessing is the oldest known biblical text that has been found and amulets with these verses have been found in graves dating from the First Temple Period. This is how God instructed Moses for Aaron to bless the Israelites. 

During the Old Testament times, only adult males descended from Aaron could perform this priestly blessing. But as Christians, we are all priests by virtue of baptism, and we can give this benediction to each other!

These words can be so familiar to us that we can take it for granted. However, if we study the original Hebrew, the blessing would read like this:

“Yahweh will kneel before you presenting gifts and will guard you with a hedge of protection. Yahweh will illuminate the wholeness of His being toward you bringing order and He will beautify you. Yahweh will lift up His wholeness of being and look upon you and He will set in place all you need to be whole and complete.” 

Isn't that amazing? Why should the Lord, King of the Universe kneel before us? Quite absurd! But not if we realize He is our Father who loves us. When we were small, our daddies would kneel down before us, go down to our level, to talk to us. When he saw us approach him, his face would light up. So does our God appreciate it when we approach Him and spend time with Him. 

For the start of this new year, let us claim this blessing for ourselves and those close to us!