Burn

“Were not our hearts burning within us?" 

Luke 24:32

In Luke chapter 24, we read the account of two of the disciples of Jesus walking on the way to Emmaus. They were talking and debating about all the events that just happened, about how Jesus was crucified and how the tomb was empty. Jesus chose to join these two disciples, Cleopas and his companion, who were not part of the Eleven disciples, as they walked, but they did not recognize him. Then beginning with Moses and the prophets, Jesus interpreted for them all that referred to Him in the Scriptures beginning with Moses and the prophets. How I would love to have been there eavesdropping on that conversation! 

When Jesus revealed Himself to them, and left, they exclaimed, “Were not our hearts burning within us?"

What makes our hearts burn? Get excited? Traveling? A new gadget? Jewelry? 

A designer bag? Bargains?

What about the Word of God?

We have to find a way to make Scripture, God's letters to us, exciting! That's why I started painting His Word. As a visual learner, I draw pictures, now on my iPad, so I can keep God with me throughout the day and remember what I meditated on. So I can be involved and enthusiastic and eager about my prayer time, my time with the 

most important Person in my life!

There are many ways to make reading God's Word and prayer more exciting and enriching. We can read different versions of the Bible, or look up the stories in commentaries. I like researching on the internet and I learn many things about Jesus’ time by asking questions about the passage and looking up the answers. Sometimes I read a narrative in the gospels pretending I was actually there, an eyewitness. Or at other times I paraphrase the scripture in my own words, like I’m making my own version of the Bible. I also like praying the scriptures, especially the Psalms. If I had the gift of music, I would compose songs, or if I was blessed with rhythm, I would dance for the Lord. In as many ways we are unique and different, there are as many ways we can give praise and glory to God, and invite Him to visit us the way He walked with Cleopas and his companion on the way to Emmaus. And what’s more, we can be sure, if we go even part of the way towards the Lord, 

He will meet us where we are! 

YES! It is possible that 

our hearts will burn for God! 

Why are You Weeping?

"Woman, why are you weeping?" John 20:13

After reading the four Gospels' accounts of the resurrection story, I find it a little hard to put it all together in one cohesive story. But that is not surprising considering how sometimes there are so many versions of one story depending on who is telling it. What is different about the Gospel story is that women are the primary witnesses. During those times, women could not even appear in court as credible witnesses, so if the Gospel story was just made up, as some believe, the writers would never have used women as witnesses.

In the 20th chapter of John, after Mary Magdalene had gone early to the tomb while it was still dark, and had seen that the stone had been rolled away, she ran quickly to Simon Peter and to John to tell them. Perhaps the men hesitated, but they went with her. After seeing for themselves, that what she said was true, they each went away again. They left Mary. Isn't that strange? They did not try to investigate, they did not look for any signs around the tomb, they did not look for anyone to ask. They just left. They were still in their "fear" mode. They had assumptions about what happened, and did not want to interfere. Jesus, their leader was dead, they did not want to be connected to Him any longer.

But Mary, Mary wanted answers. She stayed. She did not want to leave until she had some clue as to what happened. Aren't women like that? We can't let go. We like to solve things, until we sometimes become busybodies!!! But this time, Mary gets her reward. Jesus appears and asks why she is crying. And then she recognizes Him and she is filled with joy!

Let us not be afraid to cry. Pope Francis said that sometimes tears are the lenses we need to see Jesus. Recalling the story of Mary Magdalene, the Pope said, “let us ask the Lord to give us the grace of tears — it’s a beautiful grace” — and ask for the grace “to be able to say with our lives, ‘I have seen the Lord,’ not because he appeared to me, but because I saw him with my heart.” Christian witness, he said, can be summarized as: “I live this way because I’ve seen the Lord.” (Homily about Forgiveness, April 2, 2013, at the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae)

Do we live as if we have seen the Lord? 

The Tomb is Empty

“You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’ 

Matthew 28:13

What is the significance of the empty tomb? The late Billy Graham relates the story when Konrad Adenauer, the first post war Chancellor of West Germany asked him: “Do you believe Jesus Christ really rose from the dead?” Billy Graham then answered, “Mr. Adenauer, if I didn’t believe that, I would have no gospel to preach.” Then the Chancellor concluded, “Outside of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I know of no other hope for mankind.” 

Resurrection Sunday is a day of great rejoicing for those who believe that the tomb was really empty. For those who don’t, for those who are ambivalent about this, the whole story of Jesus loses personal significance. Of what use to us is a man who claimed he was God, who said he would rise from the dead, but had no power to do so? We would have no need for him aside from his good instruction. For that is what Jesus’ words would amount to- good advice like all the self help books for sale nowadays. 

But because Jesus’ tomb was empty, we can rely on all His promises, all of the promises in the Old Testament. Because He lives, we too shall live! The same power that raised Him from the dead can raise dead marriages to life, dead relationships, dead careers, dead hopes, dead dreams... There is resurrection power available for us who believe! 

The non-believer may ask us why we believe in Christ’s resurrection. Isn’t it all legend? Even the opponents during Jesus’ day admitted the tomb was empty. That’s why they invented the story that His body was stolen. But Jesus’ followers were too frightened to do anything like that. It was the women who discovered the tomb had no body in it. If a story had been concocted, they would not have used women as witnesses because their testimonies would not have been admitted in any court as commanded by the Talmud. The disciples lived lives of desperation and suffering because of what they believed and claimed. They were willing to die for the truth they believed in, and they did get martyred for being followers of Jesus. They lived in exciting times as defenders of the truth! 

We live in exciting times as well! Do we stand with Jesus just as the disciples did?

Hope is Alive!

"We don't know where they put Him!" John 20:2

As a woman I can imagine myself in Mary Magdalene's place. I would not have had a good sleep...who could, after seeing someone you love crucified! Perhaps I was not able to sleep at all! I would have asked others to walk with me to Jesus' tomb early in the morning, just as I walked to where my mother lay in her coffin at 4 in the morning. It was very dark and all I wanted was to be with her, just one last time. So I can fully understand Mary. Perhaps she wanted to pour out her fears, her sorrow, her dashed hopes, despair even. 

But because Mary went, she is given a gift. She does not know what it means at first. Sometimes, even most of the time, God's gifts are shrouded in mystery. And like all gifts, there is an anticipation, a hope, then a revelation. We only realize its significance, its worth, when we stay close, trusting, and we ponder like Mary the mother of Jesus. She whose heart was pierced, “treasured all these things and  reflected on them in her heart." (Luke 2:19) 

The revelation of Easter, Resurrection Sunday, is not something we should keep for ourselves. Like Mary Magdalene, after unwrapping the gift and realizing its value, we should go out and share it with others. “This is what I found out! HOPE is alive! All Jesus said was true! IS true! ALL His promises!"

This morning, I woke up thanking God for Easter. Otherwise we just might be made of cardboard, no hope, no future, no dreams. But because Jesus rose from the dead, as He said He would, we should go back to ALL He said and live the way He said we should live, so we can have ALL He promised we could have! Thank you Lord for this absolutely marvelous awesome gift!

Blessed Rest

“Let us strive to enter into that rest.” 

Hebrew 4:11

It’s been a pretty hectic few days. On Maundy Thursday, I went through two versions of the Stations of the Cross in Jerusalem via YouTube, and listened to Catholic convert Steve Ray on Parousia. After lunch, I prepared haroseth, mixing apples, raisins, walnuts, dates, almonds, cinnamon, and sweet red wine in a bowl. At a Seder meal, haroseth symbolizes the mortar which the Israelites used to bind the stones and bricks in their back breaking work for their Egyptian masters. Haroseth has been a symbolic part of the Jewish Passover for at least 2,000 years.

Before 3 pm, we prepared the Seder meal ceremonial plate and paraphernalia, with a bone from a goat, bitter herbs, the haroseth, an egg, salt water, wine glasses and unleavened bread. Usually we have guests, but this time we just had a zoom get together for our Seder meal. 

Yesterday, Good Friday, I attended Father Johnny Go’s “Letting Good, Letting Evil, Letting God” retreat in the morning then we joined our community’s recollection and liturgy after lunch. What I found interesting was Father Go’s mention of what philosopher Hannah Arendt said about Adolf Eichmann. Arendt was a witness at Eichmann’s trial where he was convicted of a crime against humanity for the atrocities committed against the Jews. Arendt said Eichmann’s crime was his failure to think for himself. He was just following orders! And then Fr. Go related that to what was happening today with social media. Sometimes we do not think and just repost and forward! We need to think critically so evil will not proliferate. In order to think well, I think we also need to rest well. It will not do to always keep ourselves busy, so that we are always preoccupied. We need space for God to fill us up. 

One of the gifts that God wants to give us is the promise of rest. In Hebrews 4:1, the writer says, “God’s promise of entering His place of rest still stands.” Today, Holy Saturday is a day of rest after two days of blessed busyness. There is no mass today until the Easter vigil tonight. So we wait with the disciples, with Jesus’ mother, with all the faithful. Jesus’ body lies in the tomb, but we know in faith, that we do not wait in vain. Today, like all the times we wait for God’s answer to our prayers, we wait in hope and faith. God is working. Even if all others see is the tomb, we know the tomb is empty and our Savior lives. We can rest gratefully in that truth. 

Family Business

“My kingdom does not belong to this world.” 

John 18:36

I have been working in our family business since I was 11 years old. We always say our business is a miracle. So it is. It was started by my mom, with no capital, with more common sense than business sense. And it is being managed by a family with more creative inclinations than business savvy. During this time of pandemic it is surviving by the grace of God! 

But there is another business that is even more of a miracle, one million more times a miracle! More than 2000 years ago, the Father left the business to His Son (1 Cor. 15:24-28). And the Son had to learn everything in 30 years, and pass it on to all sorts of ordinary people, like fishermen and tax collectors! He invited them to invest, to commit themselves to this amazing business plan, to follow Him and to advertise the business and spread the Word.

It is a business that will never fail, never go bankrupt, and you don't have to be rich or smart or popular to be a part of it! It's not easy, because to be a part of the Family business, you have to carry your own cross just as the Son did on a Friday like this one. But there is a manual of instructions, a business plan, to read and follow. 

What is great about this business, is the promise of victory and blessing if we follow and obey (Dt. 28:1-2) And if we continue to be faithful, the retirement plan is out of this world!

Are you in? 

Beauty for Ashes

“...beauty for ashes...” Isaiah 61:3

This is one of the most beautiful promises in the Old Testament. The prophet Isaiah’s ministry spanned 60 years and four kings. He lived through war and the destruction of Israel. But his prophecies were always about rescue and restoration. 

“...to provide for those who grieve in Zion, a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness in place of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” When Jesus went to the synagogue on a Sabbath, he read these same verses from the passage of Isaiah. 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed Me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” Jesus rolled up the scroll and sat down. “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” 

For hundreds of years, the Jews had been waiting for their Messiah. They expected a King in resplendent robes with a mighty army. Jesus came in peasant garb and dusty sandals. Today He walks among us, and many people still ignore His presence. He may be the beggar with a misshapen face on the overpass. He may be the autistic child in the corner shunned by his classmates. He may be one of the 5000 forgotten prisoners in overcrowded QC jail. He may be anyone who needs us to bring him glad tidings and good news. 

Before Jesus left, He instructed, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere.” If we obey, we will have the joy of giving beauty for ashes, gladness instead of  mourning, thanksgiving instead of despair.

Is it Me?

 "One of you will betray me!" Matthew 26:21

How inconceivable is it that Judas, a man who had walked with Jesus, listened to Him, took care of his money, saw miracles, could betray Jesus for a measly 30 pieces of silver? 30 pieces was the cost of a slave! Would it have been more understandable if it was 3000 pieces or 3 million pieces of silver?

Like all of us, Judas Iscariot had preconceptions about Jesus. He probably thought Jesus would be the promised King of the Jews, who would save them from the oppression of the Romans. He followed Jesus maybe because he saw how popular Jesus was, and he believed he could profit from this as evidenced by the passage in John 12:6. "He was a thief who was in charge of the disciples' funds, and he often took some for his own use." Judas' heart was obviously calloused, self-serving. He was blinded by his selfishness from seeing who Jesus really was!

We too can be like Judas. When we fail to see Christ in others, we can easily betray them. When we have expectations about what a husband or child or neighbor should be and should do, and they fail to live up to those expectations, we can easily rationalize our own lack of love, compassion and service. I often judge people and get irritated with their inadequacies. I often forget to see others as God sees them. I often forget the Christ within each one of us. Yes, one of us betrays Christ, and that one is me! Thankfully, Jesus always forgives us seventy times seven, and He brings us back into His fold, like the good shepherd He is! 

Fullness of Life

"I will lay down my life for You!" 

John 13:37

During the Last Supper, we would all like to be Peter and not Judas the betrayer. We would all like to be the one who says to the Lord, "I will lay down my life for You! I am ready to die for You! I will follow till the end!" 

We would all like to see ourselves as coming from the heroic mold and certainly Peter thought he could hack it. But Jesus knew the truth. "Lay down your life for me?" answered Jesus, "Before the cock crows you will have disowned me three times!" What was the difference between Peter and Judas who betrayed Jesus willfully? Their hearts. 

"A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." (Luke 6:45, NIV) Peter spoke what his heart was full of, his ardent desire to be there for Jesus. Jesus knew what was in Peter's heart just as He knows what is in ours. 

Lord, may my heart be full of love for You and Your Word. May my heart just burst with gratefulness that You chose me. If I let go of You, as Peter did, bring me back. Forgive me of all my sins and show me the path to fullness of life.  

Wasting Our Life

“Why has there been this waste of perfumed oil?” Mark 14:4

When Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of intensely aromatic oil. She broke the bottle and poured the costly genuine spikenard on Jesus’ head. Spikenard during Bible times was used to anoint those of high honor, and symbolized the very best, like the “gold standard” does today. 

Because it was very expensive, perhaps worth 3 years’ wages, some were indignant. “It could have been sold and the money given to the poor!” What these indignant people did not realize was that whatever we lavish on Jesus will never be wasted. Our time, our money, our resources, our gifts and talents.  Whatever we give, He will use and multiply a hundredfold. 

Many people thought Mother Teresa was wasting her life on the poorest of the poor. But she was really wasting her life on Jesus. “Each one of them is Jesus in disguise,” she declared.  "If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one." And then one of my favorites: “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."

Are we wasting our life doing small things with great love? Each one of us is unique and precious and has a role in building the kingdom of heaven. Lord, may I do my very best with the small things you have given me to do. May I not count it as a waste when I give my time, talent and treasure to Your work. Jesus wasted His life for us, His very blood. What are we wasting for Him? 

Through God’s Eyes

“My dwelling shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” 

Ezekiel 37:27

In the beginning of Ezekiel chapter 37, Ezekiel describes his vision of a lifeless valley of very dry bones. It’s a desert. As Ezekiel gazes at this desolation, God asks him, “Can these bones live? Can they ever have life in them again?” Ezekiel answers that only God could ever know that. But looking at the bones, it seems as if all hope is gone. 

God then tells Ezekiel to speak to the bones on the ground. He tells them to, “Hear the word of Yahweh, hear the word of God.” God will then bring breath, the Holy Spirit, a new wind, to these bones and they will live again and in this vision God does just that.

When we look at the present landscape, it seems just as bleak as this valley of dry bones. Of course economies around the world have suffered but ours is especially badly hit as it has contracted by 9.5%, the worst since 1946. About 4.5 million of our people have lost jobs. That’s not surprising considering so many businesses have laid off people or have permanently closed. If we take a look at the state of education, it can be depressing. I saw a grown man cry on TV bemoaning the fact that he can’t teach his children because he himself never got past grade 2. Then there are the rising suicide rates, and young people becoming mentally unstable. We hoped we were over the worst of the pandemic, but it’s back with even more ferocity. “Can we have life as we know it again? “ we echo the words in Ezekiel. 

If we look at this scenario, let us gaze through God’s eyes instead. He is doing a new thing, a major reset. Only He can bring a fresh, new wind through this desolation. He says, “Hear My Word, read My Word, and I will dwell among you, and guide you, and you shall be my people once again.” Instead of helplessness, if we focus on God, He will be sure and give hope. If He can bring a valley of dry bones to life again, it will be easy for Him to get our country and people on track again if we turn to Him. 

Mighty Champion

“The Lord is with me, like a mighty champion...” Jeremiah 20:11

The difference of Christianity from other religions is grace. In Islam, I think you get to Paradise according to your good character and the good deeds you do (Quran, 16:97). In Buddhism, if you follow the Noble Eight Fold Path, you will attain Nirvana. Hinduism believes in reincarnation based on karma, which seems to be a force in a person’s present that affects what happens in future lives. 

None of these belief systems seem to have a mighty champion who does all the work for us. One of my favorite verses is from Exodus 14:13, when Moses tells the people to just stand firm when they were being pursued by Pharaoh’s mighty army with 600 of Pharaoh’s best chariots and charioteers. The Jews were caught beside the shore with nowhere to hide. 

Moses reassured, “Fear not! Stand your ground and you will see the victory the Lord will win for you today...The Lord Himself will fight for you, you only have to keep still.” We know what happened. The waters parted, the Israelites went through, and the chariots drowned when the waters closed in on them. Indeed when Jesus became a man and was crucified, He took all our sins with Him. He is our mighty champion. All we need to do is repent, believe in Him, accept His saving work for us and receive His Holy Spirit. Pure grace. Pure gift. 

Thank You Lord for grace, a way out of sin and a way into Your family. 

Courage to say Yes

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38

It must have been frightening for Mary to receive a message from an angel. And even more frightening to realize that her whole life was about to take a radical turn. Her response? “Here I am, the Lord's bondslave, His handmaiden. Let it be with me as you say."

How many of us would have had the 

courage to say that?

Instead of fear, Mary faced the future with faith. Faith is believing God, rather than

giving credence to what we think, 

what we feel, or what others say.

We all have to face our own destiny and in Romans 12:3 we learn that God gives each of us a measure of faith with which to face whatever is handed out to us. We have a choice whether to grow that faith or to allow it to wither. And the way to grow and make our faith blossom is, “to HEAR the message of Christ." (Romans 10:17) Every time we say yes to God we open a door to more and more of His blessings, more of His light entering our life. To say yes like Mary is to welcome God’s action and intervention in our life. When He stands at the door and knocks (Rev. 3:20), do we say, “Here I am, come in!”

Freedom

“We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone.” John 8:33

Most of the survivors of the Holocaust have harrowing stories to tell. Dr. Edith Eva Eger is no different. She arrived in Auschwitz as a young girl in May 1944. She came down from the cattle car with her mom and sister and there was a man with cold eyes pointing to the left and right. He pointed that her mother go left, and Edith and her sister were to go right. She followed her mom, and the man came after her. He looked her in the eye and said her mother was just going to shower. She never saw her mother again. Someone pointed to the smoking chimneys to tell her where her mother had gone. 

She saw the man again and someone told her he was Mengele, the angel of death. He wanted to be entertained and her friends pushed Eva to dance for him because was a ballerina who had danced many times before. After the dance, Mengele gave her a piece of bread which she shared with her friends on the top bed. Many months later, she was in a death march and anyone who was too weak to go on was just shot and left in the ditch. Her friends noticed that Eva was shaking from exhaustion. They formed a chair with their hands and carried her. 

In a book she wrote entitled The Choice, Eva writes: “What happened can never be forgotten and can never be changed. But over time I have learned that I can choose how to respond to the past. I can be miserable or I can be hopeful - I can be depressed or I can be happy. We always have that choice, that opportunity for control... Suffering is universal. Victimhood is optional.” Eva chose not to be bitter, not to be enslaved by unforgiveness and hatred. Is any sin holding us captive? Lent is the perfect time to break free from shackles. There is a grace that God gives us every time we come to Him for healing. Let us choose freedom in Christ and not slavery. 

Without Complaints

"Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he recovered." Numbers 21:9

In the book of Numbers there is a very strange story of how the people complained bitterly against God and Moses. The journey from Egypt to the promised land was arduous and their patience was wearing thin. "Why have you brought us out from Egypt only to die in this desert, where there is no food or water!? We are disgusted with this wretched food!" 

In punishment, the Lord sent serpents which bit them and many died. When the people repented, realizing their sin, the Lord instructed Moses what to do, and Moses obeyed. He made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole and when someone who was bitten by a serpent gazed at it, he was healed. 

We too are on a pilgrim journey along the desert roads of this earthly life. There is much to complain about. This pandemic has gone on interminably long. The numbers of Covid cases have turned into names and some of those who have perished alone in hospital rooms are people we know. The corruption in the government even at the highest levels bodes ill for the hoped for timely supply of vaccines, and the finding and approval of effective cheap repurposed medicine to help in the prevention and cure of this virus. 

God never promised an easy carefree trip. He promised that He would walk with us and bring us to the Promised Land. We need to find God's promises in the Bible and hang on to them. There are too many serpents roaming around waiting to bite us. But just as the Israelites could look to the bronze serpent for healing, we have Jesus to gaze at. 

Jesus tells Nicodemus in John 3:14-15, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.”

Lord, many things in the Bible are mysteries to me. Why choose a saraph serpent as an instrument for healing? But I do not need to understand everything. I just need to believe You and Your Word. I just need to walk with You and follow Your lead. I want to go where You will bring me, no where else! Are you willing to go where the Lord will lead without complaints? 

Go and Sin No More

"Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more."

John 8:10-11

Every Lent, I go through some guilt trip because of not doing enough. The story of the woman caught in adultery in the 8th chapter of John is my story. If people knew what I do and don't do during Lent, they could bring me before Jesus and accuse me. Adultery is a very grave sin, but “every sin is an act of infidelity toward God, to whom we belong in a bond of covenant love. Sin is a violation of the vows of our Baptism and an act of destruction against our own soul.” (Anawim)

But what does Jesus do when I am unfaithful to Him? When I am selfish, insensitive, uncaring of the poor and of others’ needs and feelings? Does He condemn me? 

He said, "Let the man or woman among you who has no sin be the first to cast a stone at her." Twice Jesus bent down and started tracing on the ground with His finger. What did He write? Only I could see it. Only I could see that He saw my heart, He saw my sin. The second time he bent down, He erased it all so there was no record of it. "I do not condemn you," He said, "but from now on, avoid this sin." 

Thank You Lord, for erasing my sin with Your blood. Thank You that there is no condemnation for I belong to You (Romans 8:1).

See Jesus, Be Jesus

“Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” John 12:21

“Scarlet and the Black”, starring Gregory Peck, is one of my favorite movies of all time. We used to watch it again and again during the time videos were on Betamax tapes. I am now reading “The Vatican Pimpernel”, a book about the real Father Hugh O’Flaherty, who looks nothing like the handsome and dignified Mr. Peck. 

The Irish Catholic priest, Monsignor O’Flaherty, was a senior official of the Roman Curia during World War II, and was responsible for saving around 6,500 Allied POWs, refugees and Jews from being captured by the Fascists in Italy and the Nazis of Germany. He was quite creative and resourceful in evading the traps of the Gestapo and the Sicherheitsdienst by wearing all sorts of disguises, sometimes walking the streets of Rome as a nun or coal man. This is what earned him the nickname “The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican”.

Many times the Monsignor risked his life to shelter fugitives in rented apartments, convents, monasteries and Italian homes. He formed a network of many valiant hearted men and women including priests, aristocrats, Italian royalty, and diplomats who funded the operations, smuggled messages, scrounged around for black market food and medical supplies, falsified documents, and harbored fugitives within their small cramped apartments or palazzos. It was a game of hide and seek where people’s lives were at stake. Ireland had declared neutrality in the war, but when the Monsignor observed how the Jews were treated by the Nazis, his motto became, “God has no country”, and he knew what he had to do.

After the war, the Gestapo colonel Herbert Kappler, the Monsignor’s adversary, very ably played by Christopher Plummer in the movie, was tried and convicted of war crimes, and was imprisoned. The Monsignor was one of the few people who visited the man who had tried to capture and kill him, even to putting a white line that separated the Vatican from occupied Rome. Several years after, the Monsignor baptized him into the Catholic Church.

Very few of us have the opportunity to literally save thousands of lives. But we can always live our life so that others may see Jesus in us and want to live their life as Christians. 

Never Before

 “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.” John 7:46

The temple guards were referring to Jesus in this passage. They were all impressed with what Jesus said. 

There is a quote I like which goes: You can't have too many books. Indeed I have so many, I haven't read most of them. But the Bible is a different kind of book. So much wisdom, guidance, stories to ponder distilled into less than 80 books! Even if you read the Bible a thousand times or more, you'll get even more insight and understanding from its pages every time you read it. Because the more you read, the more God gives His Spirit! You will see that there is so much beauty and truth in the Bible! Can you imagine what John the beloved disciple said? He said that there were so many other things that Jesus did, and of course said, that even if the whole world was a library about Him, it could not hold all of it! I would have especially liked to have been there on the road to Emmaus when Jesus explained to Cleopas and his companion, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself! (Luke 24:13-35) That would have been awesome! 

Jesus' Word will not go back to Him void, without fruit, without effect (Isaiah 55:11). Jesus showed that when He curses something, it dies. I am almost sure Jesus blessed and confessed growth and healing and strength for all those who believe in Him. In John 17:20, He prayed for ALL those who WILL believe in Him throughout the ages. His Word has power, and that is why in spite of persecution, there is an explosive growth of Christianity today, especially in Africa, Latin America and even in China. Isn't it a miracle that the teachings of an obscure rabbi changed the world, and changed the way we measure time? If His teachings can do that, can you imagine what it can do for me and you?

Where is Jesus?

“You should have known that I would be in My Father’s house.” Luke 2:49

Joseph and Mary went to Jerusalem every year on the Feast of the Passover. When Jesus was 12 years old, they all joined the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast. Passover is a major Jewish holiday, celebrated up to the present to commemorate the Exodus. This was the time God liberated the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt 3,300 years ago. With signs and wonders, God led the Jews from Egypt, through the parting of the Red Sea, the wilderness of Mount Sinai, and gave Moses the Ten Commandments. 

After the week long festivities, Joseph and Mary started walking towards Nazareth. After one day of travel, they looked for Jesus, thinking he was in the caravan of family and friends journeying homeward. When they could not find him, they walked back and searched for Him. They found him three days after the Feast was over. 

Where did they find Jesus? In the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. All who heard Him were astonished at His understanding  and intelligence. Of course His parents had been worried! “Son, why have You treated us this way? We were so distressed to find You were not with us,” His mother lamented. 

“Didn’t you know I would be in My Father’s house?” Jesus replies. Where will we find Jesus today? He wishes to live in the temple of our hearts. Can He find a home in our hearts? During Passover in the Holy Land, one of the activities is cleaning their houses, from top to bottom, vacuuming especially for any minuscule chametz(“leaven”). We too should spend time searching our hearts for “leaven”, ways we disobey God and His laws. Let us make room for Jesus this Lenten season, do some ‘spring cleaning’ to be ready for His joyous Easter resurrection! 

Stand in the Gap

“Moses, his chosen one, withstood him in the breach ​to turn back his destructive wrath.” 

Psalm 106:23

The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend, it says in Exodus 33:11a. He was chosen to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Then when the stiff-necked people angered God at Sinai, God said, “Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them. Then I will make of you a great nation.” What did Moses do when God was ready to destroy all of Israel and just raise up a new nation out of Moses’ descendants? Did Moses just say yes, ok, do what You want, Lord? No, Moses “stood in the breach”.

Standing in the breach is a military metaphor, meaning to stand in a break made in a fortress or city wall where an army can rush in and invade. In Sinai, Moses heroically chose to confront God, standing in the gap, interceding like a warrior who tries to stop an enemy at the risk of his life. God relented in the punishment He had threatened to inflict on his people, it says in Exodus 32:14. 

We see clearly that we as Jesus’ friends (John 15:15), we may stand in the gap for others. We can plead earnestly like Moses for our family, friends, our nation, whatever we care about. Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote in a poem, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” We will never know how much evil has been turned aside, and how much good has gushed forth, when we are at our knees in prayer. We do not know if God really did intend on destroying the rebellious Jews, who made for themselves a molten calf and worshiped it, or if He was testing His servant Moses. 

What we must take away from this passage is we must never give up praying no matter how dire the situation. Perhaps a son or daughter has gone astray and fallen with a bad crowd, a husband is very sick with Covid in the ICU, our country is still in the thick of the pandemic and four million people need jobs, millions of students are having a difficult time with their online studies, so many are depressed and want to commit suicide....this list can go on and on. We need to stand in the breach like Moses, to intercede for one another, to fill in those gaps in one another’s spiritual armor. 

Another example is during the time of the prophet Ezekiel. God was angry because, “The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice.” And we read in Ezekiel 22:40 that God “looked for someone among them who would ...stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.” Today, will He find us standing in the gap for our nation, for our leaders, for our people, for our family and friends?