Faith is the Key

 

“Faith is the key...” Romans 4:16

In my other Bible, I read, “It all depends on faith, everything is grace.” 

One time I had my hair cut by my favorite cutter. My sister Peggy told me not to have it cut too short and I did give Bernie that instruction but unfortunately I asked him to tell me his story and it was a long story so my hair got shorter and shorter. 

Bernie’s ‘salon’, if it can be called that, is like a hole in the wall next to a dingy car repair shop. He charges P60 (about a dollar), but I am more satisfied every time I go to him than when I go to expensive parlors. I asked him where he learned to cut hair. He comes from Isabela in the Cagayan Valley and his father was a poor farmer. He wanted to go to school but there was no money for any of the family to go to school. He asked a relative in Manila if he could stay with her for a while and she agreed. In Manila, even while he was still a teenager, he would find jobs as a houseboy. On his third job, his boss said, “Bernie, you’re not going to be a houseboy forever. I will pay for the haircut and grooming course in TESDA so you can learn a skill.” After he finished that, and he went to school, he would charge P5.00 to cut hair. All his classmates would have their hair cut and he would be able to buy school supplies and books. He is the only one of his siblings who can read and write. Eventually he sent his nephew and niece to school and they graduated and have their own homes, and cars and families. He bought his brother in the province a rice field. He sends money home to his mother regularly. 

While telling his story, he would call himself “bakla” (homosexual), and he told me most of his friends could not save any money because they would “rampa” all the time. What’s rampa, I asked him. “Go after men. Different men who just fool them for their money.” 

While talking to him, I was praying if there was anything God wanted me to say, but Bernie would keep talking, and cutting. He said he was “palasimba”, a churchgoer. He would pray to God, “Lord, please give me a house. Even if it’s just a ‘kubo’, a hut.” Eventually he was able to buy a house in a gated subdivision. He said he was so grateful to God for his blessings. “Lord, I only asked for a hut, and you gave me a concrete home.”

Yes, faith is the key. I think God gave each of us a key. It’s up to us to use it to open doors, or to let the key sit unused. Sometimes we even lose the key. But if we love God, love those God gives us to love, work hard, use the key, other doors will appear and we can use the same key to open more doors. 

A Mother’s Love

 

“Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.” Isaiah 49:15

There are a growing number of women who do not want children. They either want to get married or not, but they do not want to have children. There’s even an acronym, ‘DINK’, for a couple with double incomes but no kids that’s quite popular on Tiktok although it’s been around since the 1980s. They prefer to travel, grow their career, or plan for early retirement.

But there are women like Maria Cristina Cella Mocellin, who just appreciate being a mother so much, she will do anything to give her child the very best. Maria Cristina met her husband Carlo and married him in 1991. They already had two children when it was discovered that Maria Cristina’s cancer which had been treated during her younger years, had recurred. She chose to forgo chemotherapy to protect her unborn son. After giving birth in July 1994, she underwent treatment, but it was too late. The cancer had spread. She left her family on October 22, 1995, at the age of 26.

Her cause for beatification began in 2008, and on August 30, 2021, Pope Francis declared her Venerable, recognizing her heroic virtues as a mother. 

New Life

 

“Where these waters flow they refresh..." Ezekiel 47:9

How good it is to make God a part of our life each day! Like a constant stream of water that passes through dry parched land, that is our God's touch on our lives! But it is also so easy for us to let the desert take over. In Israel, they have made their deserts bloom and they fight desertification, the desert’s continuing conquest of their land. The scientists learned that they have to direct the brackish water directly to the roots, not allowing the salt in the water to touch the green leaves. They use the drip-irrigation system which allows the nutrients to drip drip drip slowly soaking the roots and minimizing evaporation. 

We can liken this to our journey as Christian pilgrims. We too are constantly at the mercy of enemies who want to attack our faith in God, and our Christian lifestyle. This is why we need to be connected to the power of God and His Word. How? Day by day, drip by drip being connected to the Source of living water. 

In The Anawim Way, I read this passage some years ago: “Ezekiel’s vision of the abundant and life-giving water flowing from the Temple is clearly symbolic. He is describing, not a physical river which flows into a desert in the Middle East, but a spiritual river of grace which flows into the desert of humanity, giving life to the hearts of all who believe.” St. John the Evangelist once had a vision of this same ‘river’. He speaks of it in the Book of Revelation: ‘Then the angel showed me the river of life-giving water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb’ (Rev 22:1). On Good Friday, we will see the true Source of this river. It springs forth from the pierced side of Jesus on the Cross. All grace flows from the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the ‘fountain of life and holiness’. 

In Ezekiel’s vision in chapter 47, the prophet describes the water of life. “Wherever this water flows, everything will live” (v.9). Through the water of life from the wounds of Christ, Ezekiel’s vision is fulfilled.

Lord, by Your Spirit, may we, Your people, Your Church, be constantly connected to You, refreshed by You, and may we bring new life, healing and transformation wherever we go. 

Still Have Work To Do

 “I create Jerusalem to be a joy...” Isaiah 65:18

“L'Shana Haba'ah B'Yerushalayim“, the Jews pray after Passover or Yom Kippur. It means, “Next year in Jerusalem!” Before, the Jews of the Diaspora would pray this with longing to return to their very own country after having been dispersed. Now “Jerusalem” in this prayer refers to the future city and the Temple that will be rebuilt when the Messiah comes. It is also the New Jerusalem, or Heavenly City, a symbolic and literal representation of heaven on earth described in Revelation 21.

I have been listening to Corrie Ten Boom’s preaching, her stories about Betsie her sister, and the horrors of Ravensbrück. At 85 years old, she needed a pacemaker. She said she would have wanted to go to heaven but apparently God had other plans. After traveling all continents of the world, preaching the good news, starting when she was in her mid-50s, she was able to settle in her very own home with a garden in Placentia, California. God promised her that she would be able to reach more people than she did going from place to place. On April 15, 1983, Corrie Ten Boom passed away on her 91st birthday. Jews believe that only very special, blessed people are given the honor of dying on their birthday.

She is now in Jerusalem, city of joy, city of the living God. One day we may be able to meet her and see her smiling face. But not yet. Right now, we still have work to do- God’s work, just like Corrie, that He has prepared for us to do. 

The Lord Sees the Heart

 “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because he sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

Every day we are bombarded with beautiful people on our feeds in Facebook, Instagram, etc. I am reminded of the book, The Picture of Dorian Gray, written by Oscar Wilde in 1890. It is about a beautiful young man who sold his soul to keep his youth. Instead of his face showing the hedonistic, corrupt life he chose, it was his portrait that reflected his many sins and the picture became more and more grotesque every day. 

In contrast I offer Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, known as Mother Teresa to most of us. She was not beautiful. It is interesting what Bill McKendry, a top advertising executive with Leo Burnett thought of Mother Teresa’s feet when he interviewed her in 1996. 

She was wearing sandals as she usually does, and he was startled at how tremendously deformed, calloused and warped her feet were. 

“With toes that were twisted, nails that were missing, and bruises everywhere, Bill felt they were by far the ugliest feet he’d ever seen. He also knew they were the most beautiful he’d ever seen. Those were the feet of someone who lived life passionately in service to others. Those were the feet of someone who didn’t take the easy path or make life solely about themselves. Those were the feet of a woman who had every reason to retire, to not travel, to finally relax, but with failing health traveled to the United States to raise awareness and money for the neediest of the world.

They were, in other words, the feet of a living saint. “ 

God certainly saw beyond the wrinkled face, hands and feet of Mother Teresa. He saw her desire to give Him her all in spite of the profound spiritual loneliness she felt detailed in her letters to her spiritual directors. 

Father, may You walk with me, and always lead me to grow closer to You, until my heart is pleasing to You in every way.  

Have Mercy!

 ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ Luke 18:13

If we listen or read St. Teresa of Avila’s autobiography, she says a lot about being wicked, and sinning against God, but does not say what it is she has done. Luigi said that when you are close To God, you are more aware of your sins. In her autobiography St. Teresa wrote that she was ‘very fond of St. Augustine...for he was a sinner too.’

What impressed me is that she spent a lot of her time talking to God. Although she is the total opposite of Brother Lawrence, who was a simple man, unpolished and awkward, they both ‘practiced the presence of God’. In contrast, St. Teresa was sophisticated, her father was one of the richest men in Avila, and when she was young, she was very concerned about her looks, make up, and even perfume. 

Much to the disappointment of her father, she entered the religious life at the age of 20. She was sick for a long time, staying in bed for almost a year. What pained her about her sickness was she could not pray all alone as there was always someone watching out for her. 

Eventually, she found the laxity of her Order disturbed her. There were too many visitors of high rank, and unsubstantial conversations that intruded on the practice of contemplation and solitude. She then founded a ‘reformed’ Carmelite convent with stricter monastic regulations which included flagellation! She was a reformer and during the last three years of her life, she founded several convents and even men’s monasteries. 

What transformed this frivolous young woman interested in romance novels into one who only lived to serve God with her whole heart, soul and body? We can say it was the mercy and grace of God. 

St. Teresa de Avila wrote: “Trust God you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and everyone of us.”

Have mercy on me, O Lord, a sinner! 

Take with You Words

 "Take with you words and return to the Lord." Hosea 14:3

Sometimes all I do is talk, talk, talk to God, not allowing Him to say a word to me! But then I have a long seemingly unending list of prayer requests! I do not think those are the “words” this passage suggests we take to the Lord. 

Then what are the words that we should say to Him? This verse from Hosea is always recited on the Sabbath preceding Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people. (Hebrew: [ˈjom kiˈpuʁ], or יום הכיפורים) I love how the Hebrew script looks! 

The Jews usually observe this holy day with long fasting and prayer in the synagogue. It is a day of atonement and repentance.

“Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to the Lord.” In Hebrew, ‘words’ means things, realities, and the connotation is we need to repent sincerely. Rabbi Len Ben Sisi wrote that the power of repentance was so great it soars all the way up to the throne of glory. 

Yes, Lord, forgive us for abandoning You. Show us the way back to You! Father, we want to be pleasing in Your sight. Wash us clean of our iniquities, “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." After that, I am sure His grace will allow us to enjoy and bask in His presence! 

The Finger of God

 “...by the finger of God..." Luke 11:20

Can we say we have been touched by the finger of God? Have we seen God's power at work in our lives? Or perhaps we see God intervening in someone's life and wonder why He has not done the same for ourselves. We live in a skeptical world, very much the same as the time when Jesus lived. Back then, some thought that when Jesus cast a demon out of a deaf and dumb person, He did it with power from Satan! Today, we prefer to be sophisticated skeptics, always questioning whether God is present or if He exists at all! I saw this picture on Facebook of a big sign "GODISNOWHERE". How would we read it? God is nowhere? Or God is now here?

When we start with faith, we will see signs of God's being "now here" everywhere! I see it in every answered prayer. I see it in every encouragement and smile I receive. I see it in the miracle of our business that thrives in spite of many mistakes and failures. I see it in the perseverance and faith of my countrymen who have good humor in the midst of trying times. 

Sometimes we need bigger signs that God is present. Marion Brown, a court reporter, grew away from her faith as she got older. She became skeptical that God was listening when she talked to Him. It took a big fire, the 2003 wildfire that destroyed over 700 thousand acres and more than 3000 homes, to make her believe again. Her family's home was razed to the ground. When she went back to the site with her husband and kids to find if there was anything of value that was left, they looked around and everything was just ashes. There were even holes on the ground because the roots of the trees were burned. She started to pray for words to say that would help her sons heal. She could see her younger son Erik quietly going around with tears falling down his cheeks. He suddenly got excited when he found a book but when he picked it up, it disintegrated in his hands. 

"Wait! Look!" he shouted. In his hand, was left a most fragile piece of ash. It was a picture of a family holding hands, with the words, "Count your blessings."  

Lord, may I always remember to be grateful for Your presence in my life. May I remember to count my blessings and not wait for big signs before I believe You are working in my life! 

God’s Friend

 

Moses said to the people, “ Now Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe…” Deuteronomy 4:1

There are things I remind my son Josh about, and because I've said them again and again, his response is a plaintive, "Mom! I've heard that before!" 

“Pray everyday and read the Bible.” I drummed this into his brain since he was young. "Don't date until you're ready to get married!" I've taught my son what I believe is best for him. Would God our Father do any less? 

In the 4th chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses tells his people to listen and observe the statutes and decrees God gave them, His chosen people. It is for their own good, just as it is for ours. His law is easily summarized into the Ten Commandments and the Shema, the Jews' daily declaration of faith to one God. Just as we want to teach our children what is good for them, so God wants to teach us how to live in good order, wisely and faithfully. 

There is a story of an old miner who lived like a hermit in the Colorado Mountains. When he died, his relatives came and took his meager belongings, an old cooking pot, and some rusty mining equipment. Before they left, his old friend came walking up and asked if he could have what was left. They answered, "Sure! We got everything we want." The friend then went in, moved the table, and lifted one of the floorboards. There was his friend's hoard of gold worth millions. Only a true friend would know your worth! We need to be God's friend to know how valuable His Word is! 

Lord, thank You for the gift of Your Word. I know Your Word, Your promises, Your decrees, are worth more than gold or silver, or property in Manhattan or all the wealth Elon Musk has! 

Forgive to Give Freedom

 “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” Matthew 18:21-22

Ann Voskamp is one of my favorite writers and this is what she has to say about forgiving:

“This is hard but healing:

 

Forgive to give freedom.

Forgive to give yourself the key out, forgive to give what you’ve been given.

Forgive to give what you will need to get a thousand times so you can get to go on. 

 

Love gives. So live given.

Love is a verb and that verb is give.

You’ve been given so much — so how can you not live given?

 

Give thanks and live given — this is how you get joy.”

Forgiving is not the easiest thing. I know because just the other day I was grappling with saying mean words about somebody who did something not even against me but what I felt was against all Filipinos. How much more if he wronged me or a loved one personally? But forgiveness is a decision we have to make each and every day until we get it right. Our Father is all about forgiveness. When we say the Lord’s Prayer we ask that He forgive us as we forgive those who have sinned against us. Sometimes this is impossible and I think of all the survivors of Auschwitz like Corrie Ten Boom, or women who have been raped or abused like Christine Caine, or mothers and fathers whose sons or daughters have been taken from them by the IRGC or grooming gangs in the UK. We cannot do it on our own. We need to pull from God’s sea of mercy and allow Him to work in our hearts and minds one day at a time. Sometimes a minute at a time. 

Use Our Weapons

 “Am I a god with power over life and death, that this man should send someone to me to be cured of leprosy?” 2 Kings 5:7

The story of Naaman, a LEPER, makes a very interesting read. Naaman, must have been an impressive man in spite of his being diseased. He was the highly esteemed army commander of the King of Aram. 

Naaman’s wife had a little Jewish slave girl who told her a prophet in Samaria would be able to cure him of his leprosy. The King sent Naaman off to the King of Israel, with a letter. When Joram, the King of Israel read the letter, he tore his garments and exclaimed, “Am I a god with power over life and death, that this man should send someone to me to be cured of leprosy?”

When Elisha the prophet heard about this, he told the King of Israel to send Naaman to him. After Naaman obeyed what Elisha told him to do, to go and wash seven times in the Jordan river, his leprosy was healed. His flesh became like a little child.

It is a question to me why we do not have prophets like Elisha we can go to for guidance and healing. We need him today to go around the world healing so many people who are sick, and to give specific advice for our government leaders! I think it is because Jesus came and sent us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. We are supposed to be “Elisha” in our part of the world. We need to practice the gifts of the Spirit which include healing, discernment, wisdom, miracles, prophecy, tongues and interpretation of tongues. These are weapons God gave us to advance His Kingdom. 

Just like in any army, we need to learn and practice how to use weapons. We can’t expect to go out into the battlefield and be an expert. We need to be brave and pray over sick people and use the gifts God gave us. Maybe at first, we won’t see any results. But if we keep at it and don’t give up, I am 100% sure, we will see God work through us. 

The God in our Midst

 "Is the Lord in our midst or not?" Exodus 17:7

Like the Israelites, we tend to ask this question when we are in the midst of some trial. In Exodus 17, the people of God grumbled and complained because they were thirsty. They forgot all about the pillar of fire that guided them at night, the parting of the sea so they would be saved from the Egyptians' wrath, the manna and the quail from the Lord's hand for them to eat. 

In Romans 5:3-4, Saint Paul advises that we should rejoice in our trials and tribulations: knowing that tribulation produces steadfastness, patience and perseverance. This in turn develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation. When we are undergoing some trial or testing, let us be confident that God is doing some perfecting in us. Just like any master potter, He will knead and mold, and carve. He will throw us on the potter's wheel again and again. He will creatively use the needle or the brush or whatever tool He can, to make us into the masterpiece He plans. I was listening to Fr. Mike Schmitz and he said, “The reality is that God does not waste our wounds. That all of this can be used. The truth is this, that nothing given to God is ever ever wasted because he's involved. Because God can use every part of your story.” We can trust Him with our life. 

Lord, it may be hard to rejoice in the trials and sufferings we sometimes go through. May we always be aware that You walk with us during these times, and may we be confident that You are doing some important work in us. Amen. 

Focus on the Father

 

‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns…you slaughter the fattened calf.’ His father said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ Luke 15:29-32

I don’t know about you but I can relate more to the son who did not leave home, who was obedient, and did his work diligently and did not squander half of the father’s wealth. Like that son, I most probably would have felt very bad about the big welcome given to the son who left home. 

I have to confess that I sometimes wonder if I will see the big sinners in heaven. Just yesterday my husband and I were discussing how councillors in his hometown corner the market for particular construction materials and earn big money. It is against the law for public officials to have direct or indirect financial interest in any transaction requiring their office's approval and yet this is what is happening all over our country. 

After politicians have stolen millions from our country’s coffers, after they have deprived a majority of our people of a good education, basic healthcare, efficient transportation, and sufficient food supply, will they receive forgiveness from the “ocean of mercy that opened up for the whole world” when Jesus died on the cross? My mind says an adamant NO! But my heart says YES! If they come humbly before the Father, of course He will welcome them with open arms! 

I realize I am self-righteous much like the older son, “caught up in the narrow confines of the ego”. If we are in the right relationship with the Father, we will just be focused on  Him. We will be using all our strength, our passion, our gifts, on being one with Him in His purposes and goals for me and for others. We will desire that all, absolutely all, may receive of the Father’s bountiful mercy and grace.