Faith is Like a Muscle

 “Daughter, your faith has made you well.” Mark 5:34

In the 5th chapter of Mark, there are two very powerful stories about faith and healing. Jairus, a synagogue official, approached Jesus because his daughter was on the point of death. Then there is an unnamed woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. She managed to get close enough to touch Jesus’ clothes and her flow of blood dried up. “Daughter, your faith has saved you,” Jesus told the woman. 

When people from Jairus’ home arrived to tell him that his daughter died, Jesus told Jairus, “Do not be afraid, just have faith”. They continued on their journey, and Jesus did not allow the crowd to accompany Him inside the house, except for Peter, James and John. He told everyone in the house who ridiculed Him to leave. Then He brought Peter, James, John, Jairus and the mother into the sick child’s room. “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” He commanded, holding her by the hand. The 12-year old stood up immediately and walked around. 

I believe faith is like a muscle. We need to practice it all the time, use it, by praying at all times, and confessing the Word of God. We need to claim God’s promises, searching the Bible for this treasure God left us, so our faith will grow. But as the story of Jairus shows, we also need to surround ourselves with people of faith. Even Jesus could not work miracles in His hometown because people there scoffed and did not have faith. Faith is an amazing gift that God wants to give each one of us. We just need to walk closely with Jesus, read His Word, give it a chance to come alive in our life. 

When I was praying about this, I felt God assuring me, “If you have faith, you will not be afraid of the future, of the past, of people who have the power to harm you. You need not fear for your family, or your business. If you have faith, you will know that all is in My hands. If you follow Me, listen to Me, even when you make mistakes, I can turn it into good. Trust in Me, live in My Word, and dwell in my peace.”

Don’t Waste The Gifts

 

We are All Blessed for Who We are - Precious in God's Eyes

A Spiritual Reflection by Pope Francis

In today's Liturgy, the Beatitudes according to the Gospel of Matthew are proclaimed (cf. Mt 5:1-12). The first is fundamental. This is what it says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdomof Heaven" (v. 3).

Who are the "poor in spirit? They are the ones who know they are not enough for themselves, that they are not sell-sufficient, and they live as "beggars for God." They feel their need for God and recognize that every good comes from him as a gift, as a grace. Those who are poor in spirit treasure what they receive. Therefore, they desire that no gift should go to waste. Today, I would like to pause on this typical aspect of the poor in spirit: not wasting. The poor in spirit try not to waste anything. Jesus shows us the importance of not wasting. For example, after the multiplication of the loaves and the fish, he asks that the leftover food be gathered so that nothing is wasted (cf. In 6:12). Not wasting allows us to appreciate the value of ourselves, of people, and of things. Unfortunately, however, this principle is often disregarded, above all in more affluent societies where the culture of waste and the throw-away culture are predominant. Both are a plague. So, I would like to propose to you three challenges against the waste and throw-away mentality.

The first challenge: not to waste the gift that we are. Each one of us is a good, independent of the gifts we have. Every woman, every man, is rich not only in talents, but in dignity. He or she is loved by God, is valuable, is precious. Jesus reminds us that we are blessed not for what we have, but for who we are. And when a person lets go and throws him or herself away, he or she wastes him or herself. Let us fight, with God's help, against the temptation to believe ourselves inadequate, wrong, and to feel sorry for ourselves.

Then, the second challenge: not to waste the gifts we have. It turns out that about one-third of total food production goes to waste in the world each year, while so many die of hunger! Nature's resources cannot be used like this. Goods should be taken care of and shared in such a way that no one lacks what is necessary. Let us not waste what we have; rather, let us disseminate an ecology of justice and charity, of sharing! 

Lastly, the third challenge: not to throw people away. The throwaway culture says, "I use you insofar as I need you. When I am not interested in you anymore, or you are in my way, I throw you out.” It is especially the weakest who are treated this way: unborn children, the elderly, the needy, and the disadvantaged. But people are never to be thrown out; the disadvantaged cannot be thrown away! Every person is a sacred gift, each person is a unique gift, no matter what their age or condition. Let us always respect and promote life! Let's not throw life away!

Dear brothers and sisters, let us ask ourselves some questions. Above all: How do I live poverty of spirit? Do I know how to make room for God? Do I believe that He is my good, my true and great wealth? Do I believe that He loves me, or do I throw myself away in sadness, forgetting that I am a gift? And then: Am I careful not to waste?

Am I responsible about how I use things, goods? And am I willing to share them with others, or am I selfish? Lastly: Do I consider the weakest as precious gifts whom God asks me to care for? Do I remember the poor, those who are deprived of what is necessary?

May Mary, the Woman of the Beatitudes, help us witness the joy that life is a gift and the beauty of making a gift of ourselves.

Pope Francis, Angelus Message, January 29, 2023

(© Copyright 2023 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

The Child Grew

 "The child grew and became strong..." Luke 2:40

There were many pains that pierced Mary's heart as Simeon foretold in Luke 2:35, “And you yourself a sword will pierce." No mother should undergo what Mary had to go through. But before Jesus went into public ministry, she had watched Him grow, and become strong and bright. How her heart must have rejoiced in Him! 

My son Josh will soon be 31 years old. I look back and remember him as a baby, a toddler, going to school, and I can't imagine giving him up like Mary had to give Jesus up. After all, Jesus had His own mission, His own God-given purpose.

Like Jesus, our children have their own mission too. We can only do so much. Give them just so much guidance and protection. Eventually they have to find their own way. There's a saying, “God has no grandchildren”. Our children have to have first hand faith. They have to discover God on their own, and have a relationship with God. We can't hand it down to them. 

Even if we're not perfect in any way, we can be a model to them, and show that a life of faith is a life worth living. It is also important that they know that far more than  good grades or being excellent in sports or earning money or whatever, the priority for each and every one of us is a close relationship with God our Father, loving and Him with all our heart, soul and strength. 

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 6:5-7)

Blessed are the Gentle

 "Blessed are the gentle..." Matthew 5:5 (NAS)

In most Bibles this passage reads, "Blessed are the meek..." but meekness is not a 'popular' virtue these days. In novels, someone who is meek and unthreatening usually is not the hero of the story! When we think meek, we think downtrodden and almost certainly miserable, at least I do! 

What does it mean really, and more importantly what did Jesus mean? In the Amplified Bible, it reads, "the mild, patient and long-suffering". In Wikipedia it says, "restraining one's own power so as to allow room for others." So apparently meek can mean one has inner strength, self-control. Saint Paul described a servant of the Lord to Timothy, that he "must be gentle, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose." (2 Timothy 2:24–25) One has to be strong to be meek! 

Usually when I think I am wronged, I get ready for a fight. I’ve been working on withdrawing funds from a well known insurance and investment company for months now and it’s been difficult to say the least. I got so frustrated I asked if they were going bankrupt and requested for another agent in a voice that was definitely not meek. I got what I wanted, but I did not inherit the earth! In Matthew 5:5, Jesus says that the meek, the gentle, the patient inherit the earth! Shouldn't we practice meekness, patience and gentleness then? Let's be on the lookout for opportunities to practice self-control so the Lord can give us our inheritance! 

A Clean Heart

 “A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.” Psalm 51:12

In Jeremiah 17:9, the Lord despairs of His people, if that can be said of God. He says the human heart is more tortuous than all else, deceitful and desperately wicked. I can indeed see evidence of this in what is happening around me, in my country, in the world. In Jeremiah 17:4, the Lord says, “The wonderful inheritance I have reserved for you will slip out of your hands, and I will send you away as captives to a foreign land. For you have kindled my anger into a roaring fire that will burn forever.” 

I was watching a Youtube video of one of Mother Teresa’s interviews. What I read in the comment section totally shocked me. People were saying she was a monster, she was no saint, she had millions hidden in bank accounts, she wanted the sick to suffer, etc. etc! In the political arena, it is no different. The comments on Facebook posts seem to come from sick, deranged minds. I learned yesterday that a fake news post on a fake news site was shared 10,000 times and the real news post on the real news site was shared 50 times! Why do we prefer to share sensational stories that are untrue? 

So much deception in the world! May we not be the ones who lead people away from You, Lord, but may we always bring people to know of Your saving love, graciousness, faithfulness, and goodness by our words and actions. A Christian’s life is the world’s Bible. 

Be gracious to us, O God, according to Your lovingkindness. According to the greatness of Your compassion, blot out the stain of our sin. Purify us from our transgressions. Create in us clean hearts, O God. 

Turn Away!

 “To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” Mark 4:30-32

Most of our ideas begin from something small. Most projects, plans, businesses, organizations, heroes, etc. start out like Jesus’ mustard seed. In the first reading about King David and Bathsheba from 2 Samuel 11:1-17, we see that David’s terrible sin against God started when he remained in his palace instead of going with his army out on campaign. After his siesta, he strolled about lazily on the roof and saw a beautiful woman bathing. Instead of looking away, he asked about her and invited her into his room. She became pregnant and he devised all sorts of plans for her husband, a faithful soldier, to lie with Bathsheba. When Uriah did not do so, David took the irrevocable step of having him murdered. David was a man “after God’s own heart”. How could he conceive of such a dastardly deed? 

“True, I was born guilty, a sinner, even as my mother conceived me,” King David acknowledges in Psalm 51:5. I listened to Dr. Clay Jones on YouTube speaking about the depths of human depravity. He is with the Christian Apologetics program at Talbots Seminary, and the author of “Why Does God Allow Evil?” Dr. Jones studied genocide, the Japanese atrocities in Nanking China in 1937 where sons were forced to rape their mothers, the Holocaust where millions of Jews, dissidents and homosexuals were systematically murdered by the German Nazi regime between 1933 to 1945, and other evils. He concluded that those who commit genocide are not inhuman monsters but it is the average members of the population who commit the horrendous evil. Just as those who approve of the abortion of 60 million babies, pulling babies’ legs or suctioning them or scraping them out while still alive are ordinary people like you and me. How is that possible? 

Goodness or evil starts small, starts from a seed. We have to be very careful what we allow to grow in the fertile soil of our heart and our mind. What kind of ideas do we entertain? We need to be vigilant against temptations that are offered to us from the books we read, the shows we watch, the sites we visit on the internet. We may think, “Oh I’m just going to take a peep! No harm can come out of it.” Unfortunately many people have gotten into serious trouble from just that attitude. With the grace of God, we should snip the pesky seductions in the bud and turn away. 

The Light is a Person

 

“A lamp is not brought to be put under a peck-measure, is it, or under a bed?" Mark 4:21

In the original Greek, Mark wrote this passage as, “Is a lamp come into the house to be put under a bushel or under a bed?" Obviously a lamp does not come into a house by itself, but perhaps Mark meant something else altogether. 

In John 3:19, we read, "the light is come into the world..." In John 8:12, Jesus tells us, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." 

The lamp, the light is a person, and that person is Jesus, who came into the world, not to be hidden, but to be exposed. Sometimes, we like to keep our faith secret. We believe in God, His promises, and try to obey Him. But we do not like to tell others, preferring to be an undercover Christian, especially in this age of political correctness!

When Jesus instructed the disciples in the 10th chapter of Matthew, He told them, "What I tell you in darkness, speak in the light." The precious mysteries of God, our faith, should not be kept to ourselves. 

Lord, help me to share the treasure I have found in you, the light of the world!

The Seed is the Word

 "A farmer went out to plant some seed...Other seed fell on fertile soil and produced a crop that was 30, 60 and even a hundred times as much as was planted." Mark 4: 3-8

The seed here is the Word of God, and the soil is our hearts. There are different kinds of hearts. In 2006, I was very frustrated that even if I prayed early in the morning, and thought about what I read in the Bible, by 10 in the morning, I could not remember even the verse I read! My heart was like the footpath, where the birds just picked up the seeds and ate it!

Although the Word is spread far and wide- we can read our Bibles, online, on billboards, we can listen to it on TV, on Youtube, in prayer meetings, there is much more seed the enemy is planting! I think we have to think of more "creative" ways to plant the seed in our heart, to help it germinate and grow. We cannot allow the enemy to stifle it with all the work we need to do, to choke it with the lures of materialism, with anxiety, to drown it with the so many forms of entertainment, and our desire for a life of ease and comfort.

That is why in 2006, I decided to illustrate the Bible verse I read in the morning. I started with cutting up pictures in magazines and glueing it on to my prayer journal. Then I graduated to drawing and painting. It helped immensely to embed God's Word in my heart. I can say it's not only helped me grow spiritually, and given me joy, but I also discovered God’s gifts to me! Truly, what God has planted in my heart produced so much more than I could ever had imagined! I also started my blog in 2006! 

Then I discovered groups of women painting on their Bibles. Some of you may disagree with doing that, but I try hard not to get too much paint so I can still read the Word. Also, I have so many Bibles and I do not paint on my main Bible. My main Bible is soooo full of notations from past studies - another way I try to place the Word in my heart, and help it permeate my life! Just as we find all sorts of ways to improve the way we do our work, or raise children, or style our hair or make up, the way we dress, we should also be creative in our journey with the Lord.

With Abandon

 “Then David...came dancing before the Lord with abandon...”  2 Samuel 6:14

I’ve never danced before the Lord with abandon, with all my might, and soul and breath. But the times I’ve given myself fully to worship Him have been exhilarating and freeing. When we worship, we unite ourselves with God, with the Maker of heaven and earth. We unite ourselves with beauty, with truth, with all that is and ever will be. We are one with all the angels singing praise to the One they know without any doubt as the One True King. We are in harmony with all the saints, the martyrs who gave their blood, sweat and tears because as Jim Elliot wrote, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Although I cannot imagine myself dancing with King David, I can imagine myself jumping, shouting, singing out loud in jubilation. I cannot wait for the day we leave behind all the ambiguity of this world, the penchant of people nowadays to make their own reality and believe it to be true. Where is honor? Where is righteousness? One cannot worship where there is no truth! Jesus said in Matthew 15:8-9: “This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me. Their worship is a farce...”

Lord, forgive us for our many sins. Forgive me, Lord. I do not want to be a hypocrite. I want to worship You in spirit and truth. May I treasure You above all things.

Gifts from God

“Stir into flame the gift of God that you have...” 2 Timothy 1:6

Today we celebrate the Feast Day of Saints Titus and Timothy. Saint Paul wrote letters to both of them as they were his companions on his missionary journeys. The second epistle to Timothy was written with great affection sometime in 67 C.E. while Paul was imprisoned in Rome, towards the end of his life. 

He writes, “I am grateful to God...as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day. I yearn to see you again...as I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and that I am confident lives also in you.”

“For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice

but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for his sake; but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God.”

It is good to read this as a letter to ourselves as well. Indeed we all have received gifts from God, and if we do not find out what gifts these are and use them, we will be like birds in a forest, silent, with songs inside us that no one can hear. 

Just the Holy Spirit

 

“He appointed the Twelve...” Mark 3:14

Jesus chose 12 men, Simon, whom he named Peter, James and John, two brothers known for their aggression and impetuousness. Jesus called them “Boanerges” sons of thunder because they were hot tempered. Then there was Matthew, a tax collector, and Simon, a zealot, which meant he was a revolutionary. Most of the twelve were fishermen. 

I think it is amazing that Jesus chose these men. He knew that the Good News should be spread to all nations. Here is the Great Commission He entrusted them to do before He left the earth, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Should he not have chosen great teachers, orators, speakers, men of religion, instead of rough hewn men who had no experience whatsoever in preaching? But we can see these men were able to do the job Jesus entrusted to them, without television, without radio, without the internet. Just the Holy Spirit! 

Jesus chose us too, to be His mouth and hands and feet on earth. We are imperfect, flawed, just as the disciples were. That is exactly how Jesus likes it! 

Tears in Your Vial

 "My wanderings you have counted. You keep track of all my sorrows. Are not my tears stored in your vial, recorded in Your book?” Psalm 56:8

Many Jewish customs are fascinating. I do not know if it is still done today, but before, each Jewish child was given a small bottle which they are supposed to keep until death. They were supposed to collect one tear from every time they experience a sadness or tragedy in their life. They were also to collect tears from everyone who experienced this sadness with them. At the time of their death, the tear jar would be buried with them, and they would give the bottle to God to show how much hardship they had undergone. 

There is no doubt that the Jews have gone through more than their fair share of suffering. The death camp in Auschwitz is evidence enough. People have visited there and it changed their life completely. Some could not go through all the rooms where human hair was stocked, where there were pictures of the people experimented on by Josef Mengele. This man who should not be called a doctor, conducted research on twins, babies, dwarves, etc. and performed forced sterilization and castrations on  men and women. 

Of the estimated 1.3 million people deported by the SS and police in 1940-45, 1.1 million of them were murdered in gas chambers and so-called science experiments. Tears? I should think Jews are very familiar with tears. But how did their “extermination” start and why did Germany, this brilliant country, go along with it? 

I am sure the answer is complicated, but we can see stirrings here in the Philippines. There are people with obnoxious ideas who want to cling to power, and lots of sycophants with no spine to speak out against evil and wrong doing. We have to continue to pray, do what we can where we are with what we have. There is a God who hears our prayers and sees our tears. We have to remember the battle is against spiritual forces of evil, and pray hard. But let us not be afraid or discouraged for the battle is not ours but the Lord’s. 

The Battle is the Lord’s

 “The battle is the Lord’s...” 1 Samuel 17:47

What would have happened if David did not know the Lord? There would be no story of him slaying Goliath. He would not have been king. David was a confident boy, but his confidence was clearly from His relationship with God. Even if his oldest brother Eliab put him down and angrily asked, “What are you doing here at the battlefield? You’re supposed to be taking care of your pitiful sheep!” 

But this did not deter David. He declared for all to hear, “Who is this Goliath, this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?” 

What we can accomplish has a lot to do with our image of God, what we believe of Him, what we know of Him, what we have experienced with Him.  David shouted, “The Lord who saved me from the claws of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine!” They had a lot of history together, David and the Lord. They had a relationship. He was not afraid of the giant Goliath that made the battle weary Israelite army quiver and run away in fright. 

“You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied...All this multitude shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves. For the battle is the Lord’s and He shall deliver you into our hands,” David proclaimed.

Whatever battle we face, we have God at our side. But it will not matter one iota if we don’t know it, or we don’t know Him. We need to have a relationship with Him, we need a history with Him, so we can be confident of His help, wisdom, and His winning the battle for us.

God’s Creation

 “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

When God sees Nick Vujicic, what does He see? God sees his heart. When we look at Nick, what do we see? A man with no legs and arms! That is the first thing that strikes us. Nick was born with the tetra-amelia syndrome but even if he does not have arms and legs, he goes around the world preaching to millions of people. 

In his autobiography, he writes that his mother rejected him when the nurse brought him for her to hold. “Take him away! I don’t want to touch or see him!” she cried out and his father vomited. His mom and dad were probably so distraught, they left him in the hospital at first. His mom managed to hold him when he was already four months old. But that did not define Nick. Of course, Nick questioned God. Why was I born this way, he asked. He felt hopeless and depressed and wondered if suicide would solve his problems. He felt this way for seven or eight long years and asked God many questions. 

It was only when Nick took God seriously, and began to read the Bible, that he was healed emotionally and spiritually. The verses from John 9:1-3 resonated with him as He realized that God had a plan and a purpose for him. “…this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” From age 19, Nick had been able to give inspiration and encouragement to others by sharing his testimony. “You have a choice. We can choose to dwell on disappointments and shortcomings. We can choose to be bitter, angry, or sad. Or when faced with hard times and hurtful people…we can choose to learn from the experience and move forward, taking responsibility for our own happiness.”

Nick’s special condition has enabled him to reach hurting people that no one could reach. He has had opportunities to serve God in a special way. One time, he had a short meeting with the President of Ecuador. A few days after that, the President had to consider a law that would allow abortion of disabled fetuses. He vetoed it because he said Ecuador needed more Nick Vujicics! We may not have as big a challenge as Nick, but certainly we have as special a role to play in God's scheme of things! As Nick always says, “I am God’s creation, designed according to His plan for me!” 

Obedience is Better than Sacrifice

 

“Obedience is better than sacrifice." 1 Samuel 15:22 

Saul was tall, handsome, charismatic and anointed by God to lead his chosen people. He began well but ended by committing suicide. Obviously it is not enough to be chosen by God, to be given His Spirit, His seal of approval. What went wrong?

First Saul was impatient, he did not wait for God to tell him what to do through His prophet Samuel. Then he blamed others for his mistakes, not learning from them. Then he became arrogant, acting as if he did not need God. Finally he blatantly disobeyed God's commands. So I have to watch out for my impatience, even the little ones, like when I am unkind to people who make cold calls, who bother me when I am busy, or to sales people who take too long doing their job, or with people who do not understand my instructions. 

Unkindness, impatience are little things but lead to bigger things like arrogance, rebellion and disobedience. These bring us farther and farther away from God! That's what I've learned from poor Saul who was so blessed when he was young! 

Samuel the prophet told Saul that obedience was better than sacrifice after Saul blatantly disobeyed God's order to destroy ALL of the Amalekites. But Saul kept the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to God.

Sometimes we may have good intentions, but if we do not take the time to  read God's letter to us, the Bible, if we don't take time to pray and to listen to Him, how can we obey?

Doubts

 “And I myself did not know him.” John 1:31

This is a surprising statement from John the Baptist. Wasn’t John a relative of Jesus? Mary was so close to Elizabeth as to rush to her and be with her at the time of their pregnancies. Even so it says in the 1st chapter of John, that John the Baptist did not recognize Jesus for some time. 

When John the Baptist was in Herod Antipas’ filthy prison awaiting execution, he was afflicted with doubt and questioned who Jesus, his “cousin”, was. His pain may be heard in the question he sent his followers to ask of Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

Doubt is an insidious thing. It is one of the powerful tools of the invisible enemy which he uses craftily to great effect. Many of us grew up with stories about Jesus, the babe in the manger, who was revealed to be Savior, deliverer, the Immanuel, “God with us”. Although we celebrate Christmas with much heart, attend the dawn masses, put our family pictures in Facebook with our greetings, we may also, like John the Baptist, entertain doubts about who Jesus is. 

Did Jesus get mad that John doubted Him? Did He renounce John? No, he invited John’s faithful friends to observe Him as he healed the sick and delivered some from demons. “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.” (Luke 7:22)

John’s painful questions would have been put to rest because he would have recognized the prophecy of Isaiah about the coming Messiah in those words. If we have any doubts about who Jesus is, we need only to talk to Him and tell Him. He may send someone to testify about Him, or He may give us the desire to read the Bible, how the Old Testament and the New is filled with God’s intervention in history from the time of the Patriarchs. Christ fills and illumines its pages. 

Let Christ fill our hearts to overflowing these first days of the new year. He awaits with open and gracious arms.