Imperfect Family

“Am I my brother's keeper?" Genesis 4:9

Not one of us has a perfect family. Just the fact that we belong to it makes it imperfect already!! Although we love each other, try to be kind and generous, something will happen to bring out some thorns. Usually it's not even intentional.

In the story of Cain and Abel, the conflict starts with both of them offering God the fruits of their labor. While God favors the offering of Abel which consists of several choice lambs from the best of his flock, God is not so pleased with what Cain gives him. Reading from the original Hebrew shows that Cain offered the last remnants of his harvest. Leftovers. In Malachi 1:6-14, God is not pleased when we do not offer to Him our best. It is the same as when we give a worthless gift to the President or to an important guest. It is as if we give them an insult instead of a compliment!

But even after Cain insults God, God still teaches Him by saying that Cain should learn to respond in a right way to His teachings because "...if you don't, watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you!" Sin has a way of escalating. From envy, anger, then hatred, then before Cain knows it, he is the first murderer!!!

After Cain murders Abel in his rage, God asks him where Abel is. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Cain answers defiantly. In Ezekiel 33:7-9, God makes it clear that we are responsible for our brothers and sisters. We are stewards of our relationships. And that is why God constantly reaches out to us. He takes it upon Himself to reconcile us to Himself.

Thank you Lord for Your loving kindness to us! Thank you for Your perseverance and faithfulness to us! Thank you for Your forgiveness!

Yes Means Yes

“Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’” Matthew 5:37

That is simple enough, isn’t it? But when I was young, my mother, sisters and I attended a Bible Study every week. Then one night the teacher said that if we had a visitor we wished to avoid, it was all right to say we were not home even if we were. He said, “You are only meaning you are not home for that person.” I sat there shaking my head, and the teacher called upon me to say something. Of course I said that was lying, and there was a short argument. I started crying and he asked me why I was crying. I answered that it was because he was my Bible teacher and he was teaching wrong things. Well, the Bible study group broke up after that. 

Today, people do not take their words seriously. A famous boxer promised that if he was elected Senator, he would not enter the ring again. And then he did. Many people deceive because of their love for money like Bernie Madoff, a former chairman of NASDAQ. He was an accomplished and respected expert in the financial field when he was found out to have perpetrated an elaborate lie about his investment firm. 

Another reason for lying is the desire for power. Perhaps the biggest liar of all time was Adolf Hitler who reasoned that everyone tells small lies but few have the temerity to tell colossal lies. He and his minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, were able to eliminate six million Jews by convincing the German people that the Jews were the enemies and the cause of all their country’s problems. 

It is so sad to hear a leader say that honesty should not be an issue in elections. “Lahat sila sinungaling, lahat ng tao sa mundong ito sinungaling,” she claimed (All of them lie. Everyone in this world is a liar.)  No wonder our country, our world, is in such a big mess, if we cannot depend on the word of the people leading us! 

If we want to see change in the world, we have to be the change. We have to tell the truth, and we have to teach our children to tell the truth.

How Many Loaves Do You Have?

“How many loaves do you have?" Mark 8:5

In the 6th chapter of Mark, Jesus was followed by 5,000 people and He tells His disciples to feed them, “Give them something to eat yourselves.” Of course they were flabbergasted and said, "With what? It would take a small fortune to buy food for this huge a crowd!!!" We would say the same, don't you think? Here in chapter 8 of Mark, there are less people, 4000. The disciples ask the same thing, but with less incredulity. "How are we supposed to find enough food for them here in the wilderness?"

"How many loaves of bread do YOU have?" Jesus asked.

I like these passages about the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, because it shows that miracles start with what we have in our hand. What we give to God. A few days ago, several earthquakes and aftershocks devastated Syria and Turkey. Now we have learned that more than 23,000 have been confirmed dead, and with thousands of buildings fallen into rubble, many more may not be found for a long time. It is devastating and horrendous. When I saw the pictures and the videos, my first thought was how hopeless it all was. Any help we could send would just disappear like a drop of water into a vast ocean of need. But just as God multiplied whatever was given to Him before, He will do the same today. He is after all, the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. 

We need never lose hope. “The first 72 hours are considered to be critical,” said Steven Gody, a natural hazards expert at a University in England. At past 99 hours, children including two little sisters were found alive. Can you imagine the jubilation of those who were digging with their hands through the fallen stones and steel? 

How many loaves do WE have in our hands? Let us put it in God's hand and see miracles!

So Wise!

“The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise!" Genesis 3:6

Poor Eve! She just wanted to be wise! Don’t we all? The serpent in the Garden of Eden was very cunning and shrewd, and all he wanted was for Adam and Eve to disobey God and to follow him instead. First, he plants seeds of doubt about the goodness of God, and Eve suddenly agrees with him. "God says we must not eat of the fruit of good and evil, or EVEN TOUCH IT!" Eve told the enemy. God never said anything about not touching the fruit! How harsh she made God seem! She can't even touch this beautiful fruit, and now all Eve can think of is touching, taking and tasting this forbidden fruit. Sounds so familiar! 

When God made the world, and put man in it, there was a clear distinction between good and evil. There was absolute good and absolute evil. Separate, defined, with a very clear division. The word knowledge is da'at in Hebrew, which can also mean union. Da'at was also used in the Bible to describe the union of Adam and Eve. So we can say that the tree with the forbidden fruit may also be named the Tree of the Union of Good and Evil. How can good and evil ever be one? 

I can see why God did not want man to eat of this tree. Just see what is happening in the world today. So much ambiguity. Moral issues are cloudy. There is so much argument even among Christians about right and wrong. We are so enamored of what "looks fresh, delicious and will make us wise"! The world thinks nothing of killing babies now. We are more concerned about killing of animals. We are just getting farther and farther away from the true wisdom we claim to seek, farther and farther from the source of that wisdom. And that is why, just like Adam and Eve, more and more people are hiding from God, in shame, in frustration, in anger, in rebellion, in confusion.

If we only turn back to God who is all good, and all forgiving. We will find the wisdom, love and peace we all need and want.

At Last

“This one at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." Genesis 2:23

After saying that everything was good in the first chapter of Genesis, God says it is NOT good for the man He created, to be alone. "I will make a helper suitable for him" (Gen. 2:18,20) A study of the Hebrew words for suitable helper yields the meaning "an equal and perfect counterpart". Eve is by no means inferior in standing to Adam.

There is a joke that God told Adam He would provide a partner for him, perfect in every way. Adam then asked what would it take for him to have this perfect partner? God answered, "An arm and a leg." "OK", Adam asked next, "What can I get for a rib?" And the rest is history!!!

Relationships are far from perfect because we are not perfect. And marriage between an imperfect man and an imperfect woman is one of the most "efficient" ways God uses to "perfect" us. Couples are like sandpaper to each other. Sounds painful, but if we are committed to God and to each other, if we do not give up, and forgive time and again, we will eventually get our rough edges smooth!

One Life

“Bless the Lord, O my soul!” Psalm 104:1

We have only one precious life to live. Will we give it back to the One who loves us best, or will we live it with no concern for the purpose for which we were made? We may have a difficult life, but we can still live it for God. We celebrate today the Feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita. She is the first Saint from Sudan and was canonized in the year 2000 by Pope John Paul II. 

Josephine was born into a prestigious and prosperous family but when she was about 7 to 9 years old, she was abducted by Arab slave traders and was sold and re-sold five times in the markets of El Obeid and Khartoum. She was beaten by her masters, and from one of those beatings, could not move from her bed for a month. A total of 114 intricate patterns were tattooed on her body while her mistress was watching with a whip in hand. 

The Italian Vice Council who bought her, brought her to Italy and there she became nanny to a young girl named Mimmina. When the mother needed to meet her husband in Sudan, Josephine and Mimmina were left in the care of the Canossian sisters in Venice. There, Josephine first learned of Jesus and was enamored. "Those holy mothers instructed me with heroic patience and introduced me to that God who from childhood I had felt in my heart without knowing who He was,” she wrote. She got to know and love Jesus who was also beaten and treated unjustly just as she was. 

When Mimmina’s mother came to take them away, Josephine refused to leave, and an Italian court had to intervene. Slavery was outlawed in Sudan before Josephine’s birth and Italian law did not recognize slavery. Josephine chose to remain with the Sisters, entered the novitiate and took her vows. Her life was marked by a heart for missions, and an ever-present gentle smile. 

When asked what she thought of those who kidnapped, flogged her and kept her a slave, Josephine said, “If I were to meet them, I would kneel and kiss their hands, for if that did not happen, I would not be a Christian and religious today.” 

One life to live. Do we give it to God? 

In His Image

“God created man in His image.” Genesis 1:27

What a beautiful amazing gift that God created us in His image and likeness! I don’t think we can find this truth in any other religion or belief. 

We have so much potential in us, so much capacity to create, invent, compose, think. We can exert our human body to its limits and we have not even reached the frontiers of what we are capable of. It may not feel like it, but the human brain’s memory storage capacity is around 2.5 petabytes (or a million gigabytes), according to Paul Reber, a professor in Northwestern University. 

But because God gave us free will, we have abused our freedom. I cannot imagine how some sane, intelligent people think it is ok to allow babies in the womb to be killed legally! Shouldn’t those babies be protected and given the same rights we have? Each of those babies have so much potential, so much capacity to create and think, and could one day, give the answer to one of mankind’s innumerable problems. 

Who gave man the power over life and death? How can anyone declare that just because a man or woman is a drug user, that person is useless, a dreg on society and will never change? 

There is so much in a person we will never understand. Joe Dean Sola was a drug user who used to burn Bible pages for his marijuana. His ambition was to become a druglord. What is he now after God’s finger touched him? He has saved hundreds of children from a life of crime and prostitution in the streets of Manila. How about John Pridmore who was a former angry East End gangster who couldn’t spend the money from his drug dealing faster than it poured in? Now he speaks to millions of young people around the world about God’s love and forgiveness. He even spoke in World Youth Day in Sydney in 2007. 

We should never give up on people. We need to encourage, we need to forgive, we need to believe, not only in others, but in ourselves us well. 

So good!

“God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31

God saw that what He created was good- light (v.4), land and sea (v.10), plants and trees (v.12), sun, moon and stars (v.18), fish (v.21), animals (v.25), man and all he had made (v.31). 

It wasn't enough to say that God saw what He made and it was good once, twice, three times. In the first chapter of Genesis, it is repeated all of 7 times! And the original Hebrew translation is not only good, not only very good, but "exceedingly good". 

In Genesis 1:31, in the New Living translation, we can read, "Then God looked over all He had made, and He saw that it was excellent in every way." What was the point of creating a world excellent in every way? Of course God who is the ultimate "Creator" can't make anything less than excellent. But the fact that He took so much care with the world also bears witness to how much He loves us, don't you think?

The spectacular Taj Mahal was created for the remains of the 3rd wife of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. The Emperor was devastated when his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal died during childbirth, and he built the mausoleum to show his devotion. The Emperor described the beautiful Taj Mahal thus: "In this world this edifice has been made to display thereby the creator's glory."

If a mere man can come up with this gem of a building for his dead wife, how much more will God show His love for His people who are living in His image? The earth's glory has dimmed somewhat through the ages because of man's carelessness and willful destruction. But God did not give up. Jesus heralds the new creation.

In the Cathechism of the Catholic Church (CCC349), we can find that "the work of creation culminates in the greater work of redemption. The first creation finds its meaning and its summit in the new creation in Christ, the splendor of which surpasses that of the first creation."

Let Your Light Shine

“Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Heavenly Father.” Matthew 5:16

This seems in contradiction to the verse in Matthew 6:3 which says, “When you give … do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”. In the verse before that, we read, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”

When we were going through my father’s things after he died, we found among his things, an envelope with letters from a woman. Reading through it, she was thanking him for some contribution my father made. My sister said we should find out who she is and why daddy was helping her. So we went to the address on the envelope, and met an 86 year old lady. She is very active in the Methodist church, and was a deaconess for several years. Her husband was a Pastor who had passed away some time ago. She was very effusive about the financial help my father gave for the Preacher’s Kids association, for a concert of Arnel de Pano, and even help for her own little apartment. Our visit was very rewarding for she was even a student of my grandfather, the late Bishop D.D. Alejandro, and she told us stories about him and our grandmother as well! 

When my mother died, several women came up to me also, telling me how my mother helped them when they needed it. She would give money to jumpstart their livelihood, or for their medicine, etc. My parents did not announce their good deeds, but certainly their light is still shining now! 

The Right Path

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." Psalm 23:1

When you read Psalm 23, it is all very pleasant and serene, refreshing and comforting. But to be part of the Lord's flock, first we need to be marked. A shepherd uses what they call a "killing knife" to make a notch in the ear of  his sheep, a distinct mark so he can tell his sheep apart from others. That's painful to both the sheep and the shepherd. We too are marked, set apart, sealed by the Holy Spirit. Not only that, if a lamb goes astray too often, a shepherd has no choice but to break two of his legs. After the shepherd sets it, he carries the lamb around on his shoulders for several weeks. That creates a bond between them and the sheep stays close to the shepherd after that. 

Yes, the Lord is our Shepherd. He takes care of us. Only His goodness and kindness follow us all the days of our lives. If there is anything that happens in our lives that is difficult, hard to understand, we need only to have faith that our Shepherd is doing what He needs to do to keep us close. Sheep are known to be stubborn, and maybe that's why Jesus said we are like sheep! We like to go our own way even if there are wolves waiting to devour us! (Is.53:6)

Lord, You are my Shepherd and I belong to You! Help me always to keep on the right path! 

Good and Bad Birthday Celebrations

“At a birthday celebration of Herod, the daughter of Herodias performed a dance and delighted Herod so much that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for." 

Matthew 14:6-7

Birthdays are a time of celebration and rejoicing. Perhaps we look back at our life, and thank God for the many blessings He bestowed on us, family, friends, our talents and gifts. We may also use the time to evaluate, recalibrate, examine our life. A wise man or woman would take the time to pray and offer his or her life to God. Some take pilgrimages or retreats to start anew. 

What did Herod do? Here is a man whose thinking is distorted by power, lust, pride and the influence of a woman with no conscience. One can imagine what went on during his birthday if the daughter of his mistress danced to his immense delight that he promised to grant her ANYTHING her heart desired, even to half his kingdom! Instead of a celebration of his life, he manages to turn his birthday into an infamous assassination when the daughter upon the advice of her mother, asked for the head of John the Baptist! John's head was brought in on a platter and presented to Salome.

I don’t know if this is true but Jews believe the writings of Josephus to be accurate. This historian wrote that Salome, the name he gives to Herodias’ daughter, died when her head was sliced off by sharp ice! She was crossing the Sikirus river on foot during winter and fell into the frozen water up to her neck and could not get out. Divine justice? 

We do not have to wait for birthdays to examine our life, and the road we are taking. Every new day is a gift from God to correct mistakes, to forgive, to heal broken relationships, to be more loving, grateful and kind. We need to surround ourselves with good people who desire to do God's will and who will accompany us on our pilgrimage to heaven. 

Lord, thank You for being our compass, our North Star. Thank You for showing us the path to life not death. May we always listen to You and should we stray, Lord, bring us back to You. 

We Wait!

“My eyes have seen your saving deed...” 

Luke 2:30

There was always a lot of activity in the Temple in Jerusalem, a lot of coming and going all around. On the day Mary and Joseph brought the 40 day old baby Jesus to present Him to the Lord, only an old man and an old woman witnessed it. Simeon was righteous and devout, and had been waiting to see the Christ. Then there is the 84 year old prophetess Anna, who never left the Temple, but worshiped there night and day. Out of all the people who visited the Temple that day, only these two were blessed. 

“My eyes have seen Your salvation!” Simeon cried out in joy. Anna gave thanks to God and thereafter spoke about the child to all who would listen. What was special about Simeon and Anna? They were waiting. They had eager hearts and minds, thirsting for God. They listened to the Spirit. 

Perhaps there were many in the Temple that day who were praying and seeking God just as there are many people who come to church today. But if our prayers are always about asking God for this and that, we seldom have time to wait and listen.  We will not hear God speak in His still, small voice 

(1 Kings 19:11-13). 

Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” Jesus does not barge in, demanding we listen to Him. We have to invite Him in. If we open the door, we will marvel like Simeon and Anna at what God will say and do in our lives. Come, Lord Jesus, reveal Yourself to us! We wait for You eagerly! 

Whom the Lord Loves

“Whom the Lord loves, He disciplines.” Hebrews 12:6

This is quite easy to understand. As parents, we see the need to discipline a wayward child. We set down rules about sharing, telling the truth, no bullying, studying before playing, etc., and when rules are disobeyed, there are corresponding consequences. God set down laws as well, and when we do not follow, there are repercussions. 

Many atheists always say they do not believe in a personal God who loves us. They ask how can an almighty powerful God who sees everything and can prevent evil, permit the horrors of the Holocaust and the wars and sexual slavery and the like. This has been debated for years and years and will continue to be a hot topic that will not go away. The thing is the holocaust and all the evil in the world did not happen overnight and was not perpetrated by a single person. When does an atheist expect God to put a stop to evil? Each one of us was given the awesome gift of free will. Each one of us has the freedom to sin and alternately, to listen and follow God. Does an atheist expect God to stop a person from thinking he is better than others, is more entitled than others? Just as the Kingdom of God starts as a little mustard seed and grows into a tree, so does evil start from a tiny little thought. 

In the letter to the Hebrews, the writer reminds us to endure our trials as discipline, for the fruit of discipline is righteousness. Moreover we should “make straight paths for our feet”, in other words, decide to pursue what is right and true. We should also “strengthen our drooping hands and weak knees”. That means to recommit ourselves to the hard work of prayer, lifting our hands to God and kneeling before Him in humility and adoration. Let us put a stop to the spread of evil in our own turf by not allowing unrighteousness, deception, the culture of death, and corruption, to find a foothold in our midst, and by speaking out against it.

Your Faith has Saved You

“Courage, daughter!  Your faith has saved you.” Matthew 9:22

The story of this woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years can be very discouraging. She spent everything she had for doctors and medicine and she was not getting better. In fact she was getting worse! I know so many people who have been sick a long time. In fact I am one of them! I have Thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder caused when the body doesn’t make enough hemoglobin, an important part of red blood cells. It may have triggered all the calcified emboli in my arteries. Three years after my open heart surgery to remove it, I am still breathless, and still need healing for my lungs. 

Sometimes I feel like that veiled woman in a crowd in search of Jesus. “If only I can get close to Him. If only I had enough faith." This woman was very fortunate in that she managed to touch Jesus' garments and she was healed instantly. In the 5th chapter of Mark, we read more of this woman’s story. Jesus looked around at the crowd surrounding Him, and asked, "Who touched me?" What is important to me is that Jesus looked for her. For 12 years, perhaps she was feeling neglected by God, insignificant. How many times do we pray, "Do you care, God? Do You know what I am going through?" This is what our enemy wants, that we think God does not care, God does not know what we are going through. In this battle of the mind, we need to fight for the truth.

God does care. We matter to Him. Every single one of us. We are loved. That is what we want to know in our heart. "Who touched me?" is the cry of a God who wants to connect with us. Faith is our connection. "Daughter, your faith has healed you," Jesus said. And so with us. Our faith that whatever we go through, whether 12 years or not, whether it is about healing, or broken relationships, or lack of money or whatever, God walks with us. God is there, loving us whatever we are going through. He will never allow things to happen to us that is not good for our character. That will not make us bloom. In the next story of Jairus and his daughter, Jesus says, "Do not be afraid. just trust me."

Yes Lord, I trust You. You will work everything in my life for my good, because You love me, and I love You! (Romans 8:28)

Among Tombs

“...he had his dwelling among tombs.” Mark 5:3

In Mark chapter 5, we read of an amazing incident where a man with a legion of evil spirits is made free by Jesus. He had been dwelling among the tombs and he was always crying out and bruising himself.

Here in our city, Manila, there are many who live in the cemetery, among the gravestones. They build haphazard shanties on top of stacks of tombs. The “lucky” ones get to live in fancy mausoleums they are paid P50 to take care of. There is no water, no electricity, the residents say, but there are TVs and karaoke machines and light bulbs. The community is frequently raided by the police in violent anti-drug raids, and the victims are buried there, near the shanties of their families. Their lives are terribly wretched, but they are used to it. Some have lived there since the 60s.

Sometimes some of us get too comfortable living amidst dead things. Many of what we concern ourselves with have no eternal value. Instead of spending time with loved ones, we work to accumulate things we cannot bring with us when we die. We are surrounded by dead things. I am surrounded by so much stuff that sap my energy, and I cannot hope to take care of even if I live to be a hundred! I hope I can put more of my time and effort investing in people instead of things!

Blessed are We!

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of God is yours.” Matthew 5:3

This is kind of a difficult passage with many possible interpretations.

I guess it's because we tend to pick and choose what we want to hear. I think Jesus meant that we have to be poor in spirit, dependent on Him, empty of ourselves, before we can have the kingdom come into our lives. You can't fill a bottle which is already full of water or wine. If our hands and hearts are already carrying so much of what the world has to offer, we will not be able to receive from God what He wants to give us. That is reason enough to be pitiful instead of blessed! 

This passage is also about being really poor, wanting, needing... when we are poor, we are not content with the state our life is, and we are ready to cling to God. Not like the rich, young man in the Bible who was already contented with what he had and did not want to give up anything for God.

I hope we will never be content with our life as it is. No matter how special we are, we should know that we are spiritually poor, bankrupt before the Almighty God. We have absolutely nothing to offer Him aside from our sinful selves. Still He calls us to Himself, worthless as we are. As His children, He wants to give us the riches of heaven, robes of royalty in exchange for rags, and beauty for ashes. Blessed are we indeed!

We are Perishing

“Master, do you not care that we are perishing?” Mark 4:38

In this story we see how human Jesus was. He was exhausted after preaching to a multitude. I am sure we can relate if we’ve had to give a talk, seminar, lecture or workshop. Nowadays we have microphones, weather proof outdoor speakers, amplifiers, laptops, powerpoint, projectors and all sorts of digital gadgets to help us. Jesus had none of that. He must have had to choose the location, by the sea, so His voice would be naturally amplified as it traveled over the water. 

In the evening, after preaching, He asked that they go over to the other side on a boat, and He promptly fell asleep in weariness. He could not rest for long because a furious squall arose, and the waves broke over the boat, almost tilting it over. The experienced fishermen turned timid and woke Jesus, “Teacher, don’t You care that we are perishing? We’re going to drown!” 

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the raging sea, “Hush! Be still!”, and the waves and the wind obeyed Him. Many of us are like these fishermen. We go through life unmindful of what God does for us every single minute of the day. Then something happens, and we cry out, “Lord, do You not care what happens to me? Why are You allowing this? Why do You allow me and my family to suffer?” 

Many even become atheists because they cannot believe a loving God allows suffering and pain. But many of us forget all God has done and is doing for us. A human Jesus came down, leaving His glory, to be able to speak to us, man to man. For three years He preached, healed, and gave us the unparalleled sign of His death and resurrection. He taught and did so much, the whole world would not be able to hold all the books if everything was written down (John 21:25). We should take the time to read, and understand His Words. His Words are so important, crucial, significant, essential for us to learn and know. He sacrificed so much, He exhausted Himself, He drained His life, just so we would understand Him and know what is important to God.

Spread the Faith!

“The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed." Mark 4:31

If Jesus were to start a business, I think He would have started small. He wouldn't have borrowed a lot of money. He would have worked out of his garage or bedroom. He wouldn't have looked for PhDs or business people with a lot of experience. He would have trained His people Himself, and He would have grown this mustard seed business slowly but surely. God never looks down upon small beginnings. In Zechariah 4:10, God asks, "For who has despised the day of small things?"

We can start with a mustard seed faith, really tiny, but in God's hand, the Master Gardener, it can grow and develop into something so mighty, the devil cowers in fear before it. We can and should grow our faith. 

A little known fact about the lowly mustard seed is that many species are allelopathic. They produce high amounts of sulfur-containing compounds called glucosinolates. When the seeds are planted, these compounds are released into the soil and triggers a biofumigant response. This simply means that when we plant mustard seeds, we don’t need to use pesticides! It produces a toxicity in the ground so that other seeds will be unable to germinate! 

We need to spread our mustard seed faith far and wide so no tares of the enemy can grow! No to weeds or thorns, no deception, no fake news, no double dealing and fakery! Let us clear the land of the seeds the enemy plants by dispersing our seeds, no matter how insignificant and small over any territory we can claim, our home, our offices and schools, our parishes, our subdivisions, all over social media! Let us not allow the enemy to lay claim on what is rightfully ours! Game? 

Stir into Flame

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. 

Why are You Persecuting Me?

“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Acts 22:7

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle. Saint Paul is definitely one of the pillars of the church, but he started out as an enemy of God’s people! 

Saul was so sure he was doing God’s will. He watched as Stephen was stoned to death. He was zealous in rounding up the new followers of Christ, bringing them to Jerusalem in chains and throwing them in jail. But God did not allow him to continue. On the road to Damascus, a brilliant light flashed from the sky and he fell to the ground. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 

“Who are you, Sir?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting!”

 

I wonder how many times Saint Paul told his conversion story, and to how many people? It was certainly dramatic, and did not need any embellishing. How many people were spellbound and turned to God because of listening to him? What marked him as a man that God wanted on His side? Perhaps it was his passion and bravery. Whatever he did, he did with conviction. God doesn't want us to be lukewarm, sitting on the fence, waiting to see which side will win. I am sure if he was alive today, Saint Paul would not be intimidated by anyone. 

Saul never saw Jesus, never touched Him, never knew Him. Yet Jesus accused, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Jesus was the man Saul arrested, had chained and scourged. Jesus was the woman Saul had dragged into prison. Jesus is the maid we talk harshly to. Jesus is the beggar we ignore. Jesus is the employee we vent our anger on. Jesus is the Christian persecuted in China we do not pray for and forget about. Jesus is the baby in the womb with no voice we do not fight for. Jesus is the hungry child in Payatas we do not feed.

 

Lord, how many times have I, like Saint Paul, persecuted You? Open my eyes, like You opened Saul's, and make me see, just as You made Paul see, what I can do for You and Your people. Help me to bring Your light of truth into the world.