A Man Born Blind - 4th Sunday of Lent

His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him. We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.

“This is something obvious but has always been overlooked by some. They think that sickness is a form of punishment from sins.

"Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How does he now see?" His parents answered and said, "We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. We do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for him self."

Good answer. Not implicating oneself yet not covering up the truth.

"What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" He answered them, "I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?"

This is a case where people ask questions and they would only wanted to hear the answer they like. This is spiritual blindness.

This is actually happening in the Philippine Senate hearing of NBN deal.

High in God

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 17,1-9. After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and do not be afraid." And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, "Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead." There are points in life when we felt spiritually high. At these moments we feel so good, everything seems right, you felt as if you are ready to give half of your wealth to the poor. During these moments we are very much willing to forgive our enemies. How we wish that such feeling would last, but sadly they don't. Maybe these moments are fortaste of heaven, something that we can look back every now and then specially when we are feeling low. Something which can give us hope to carry on in this valley of tears. Yes we couldn't make a tent and stay there forever, maybe not yet but the real thing is actually much much better.

The Beatitude and Global Warming

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth . . .



Living simply is the best solution to global warming.

To be meek is to be humble and to be humble is to live simply.

Living simply means less CO2 emissions. With less carbon dioxide in the air, our planet has a big chance of survival.

Walking helps a lot, not only to our planet but also to your heart.

False needs created by advertisments is making things worse. We change mobile phones every now and then, and so with our i-pods, pc's etc. In producing loads of them because of high demand, we add more CO2 in our atmosphere.

Live simply, be meek and we can save the planet.

My reflection on Lk 23, 35-43

.The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

Jesus had just confirmed that no matter how sinful you are, all you need in order to be in God’s Kingdom, is a sincere intention that you wanted to be.

Will it be alright then to say that, I would live a sinful life now and then I’ll just repent on the time just about before I die?

No and Yes. No because if you are indeed sincere in your intention then you will never do so. Yes because even then your sincerity to repent in the hour of death could indeed be genuine. God knows if you are.

Is the other thief salvation accidental? What if he was not crucified with Jesus, then he would never have the chance to chat with him. Still he would be. The mere fact that he explicitly told Jesus of his desires just confirms what his heart desires. God knows what’s in our heart, whether we say it or not.

What about the other thief, i.e. the evil one, was he saved at all? Only God knows. Remember Jesus asked his Father to forgive his murderers for knew not what they are doing, plus the fact that stealing is not a mortal sin. Thus, he had a chance.

My reflection on Lk 20, 27-38

When we die we become brothers and sisters to all.

In terms of choosing the right partner, not all marriages are perfect. In fact most couples had married someone else from his or her desired partner to be.

Some are too shy to express his love to the girl of his choice so he ended up marrying someone else. Some marriages are arranged by parents thus it’s highly possible that couples resulting from this don’t actually like each other.

Some relationship had been going on for a long time and all of sudden conflict (minor in most cases) arose and it just ended simply, then after a short period of time, one party met someone else and got married and the other did the same thing.

We also experience being related to one person after another and eventually we got married to someone who happened to be in-relation to us on the time that we decided to get married. Though summing up we can say that we sincerely love each one of those who had been related to us in the past.

The worst experience perhaps is for someone who wanted to marry someone of his like which is just unacceptable generally.

If God is love why doesn’t he simply make every relationship works. Of course in this present world it doesn’t but in the life to come it will. For we are going to be brothers and sisters. Marrying is only proper to this present world but not in the world after it.

We can look forward to being with our ex, and ex’s as much as we can without any conflict at all. Just be patient and hope for eternal happiness.

My Refelction on Lk 19, 1-10

Sachues wanted to see and know who Jesus is.

There is one hindrance or obstacle in order to realize his wants. He was short in stature.

All of us want to know more about Jesus or about God. Because we are God’s creatures, the Holy Spirit dwells in us and compels or draws us towards God.

There will always be hindrances in this longing to know or to be with God.

We must overcome it whatever it is. Just like Sacchaeus who overcame his shortcoming by climbing into a sycamore tree.

Once we have done it, we have done our part and God will do the rest.

Jesus looked up and saw him and Jesus came to him. And then transformation follows. Things that we normally unable to do, like Sacchaesus who must be a lover of money and therefore would be finding it hart to give away some, suddenly was willing to give ONEHALF of his money to the poor and to pay back (4x) all that he had cheated. For someone in his position, doing such is hardly inconceivable.

There are things which we think we are incapable of doing but we shouldn’t worry because once we have done our part God will do the rest.

my reflection on Rom 8, 18-25

". . . the sufferings of this present time are nothing compare to the glory to be revealed to us . . ."

In math, when you divide 1 by 1000 the quotient is almost negligible.

In the life to come i.e. when we pass over to the world yonder, the hardest and the most bitter experience we had will surely be insignificant.

After enduring pain or big problem, once it's over you simply feel I'm glad it's over. You just don't care much if how painful the experience is. This is just a foretaste of what is going to happen in the life after our death.

Only the Creator knows best about His creatures. God knows that in due course we will understand the reasons behind these apparently meaningless pain and sufferings in this present world.

My Refelction on Tim 4, 6-8

You would know the depth of your being a Christian not during Christmas but on Good Friday.

When your prayer is not answered, when your friends deserted you, when the whole world seems to be against you.

It's easy to be a Christian when God do marvelous things for you in the same way that you want Him to. But when God does good things for you but their goodness are not very obvious some falter.

To be a true Christian is to keep going on Good Friday with a big hope for Easter Sunday.

Perez and Solomon

Perez and Solomon have something in common. i.e. both of them were born, say illegitimately.

Solomon's story is more popular. He was the son of King David to Bathsheba, the wife of an Army General whom David saw taking a bathe from, maybe a window in David's palace. And then many things happened consequently after that but in the end, Solomon was born.

Perez story was not known apart from he being one of the twins born by Tamar to Judah. Tamar became pregnant when she pretended to be a prostitute to Judah - his father in-law who sent her home when Judah's sons died one after another.

While we don't know much about Perez, we can deduce that he had become a great man when the elders in the story of Ruth wished Ruth and Boaz wished them that may their house be one like that of Perez.

Being born out of wedlock is never the fault of the child and therefore it should not be taken as something disgraceful. What matters is what had become to the person rather than how he came to be.

bad-star - a person born illegitimately.

The Daily Gospel

Repent

Repentance means realization of the evilness of sin. It means hating sin because of sin itself.

Repentance means realization of the importance of love. It means hating sin because of love.

The point being is that when a person repents he should be motivated by love. He refrains from doing evil things because he knew that it is not good for the others or for himself.

The point being is that a person repentance should not be motivated by fear. A person who refrains from sinning becaue he fears being thrown into hell is a person with very narrow faith. Such is not even faith at all.

The Bible should be read in its proper context and in relation with the entirety of the Bible. We find in the it several allusions to the wrath of God as if God is a blood thirsty person who would love seeing sinners burnt in hell.

Bear in mind that the OT understanding of God is a vengeful God, a punishing God and the Evangelists were simply coming from this sort of background hence they echoed the OT understanding of God.

But we must remember that God is love, all his actions are motivated by love. The only reason therefore why a soul is sent to hell is that God loves him.

DAILY GOSPEL «Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68 Saturday, 27 October 2007 Saturday of the Twenty-ninth week in Ordinary Time Today the Church celebrates : Bl. Emilina, St. Frumentius See commentary below or click here Saint Augustine : Answering God's call to repent at last Letter to the Romans 8,1-11. Hence, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death. For what the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless to do, this God has done: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for the sake of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous decree of the law might be fulfilled in us, who live not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. For those who live according to the flesh are concerned with the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit with the things of the spirit. The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the spirit is life and peace. For the concern of the flesh is hostility toward God; it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 13,1-9. At that time some people who were present there told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them --do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!" And he told them this parable: "There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, 'For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. (So) cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?' He said to him in reply, 'Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.'" Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB Commentary of the day : Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (in North Africa) and Doctor of the Church Confessions Bk. 8 (trans. F.J. Sheed) Answering God's call to repent at last Those trifles of all trifles, and vanities of vanities, my one-time mistresses, held me back, plucking at my garment of flesh and murmuring softly: "Are you sending us away?" And " From this moment shall we not be with you, now or forever?" And: " From this moment shall this or that not be allowed you, now or forever?" What were they suggesting to me, O my God?… I hesitated to shake them off and leap upwards on the way I was called: for the strong force of habit said to me: "Do you think you can live without them?" But by this time its voice was growing fainter. In the direction towards which I had turned my face and was quivering in fear of going, I could see the austere beauty of Continence honorably soliciting me to come to her and not linger, hands full of multitudes of good examples... "The Lord their God gave me to them. Why do you stand upon yourself and so not stand at all? Cast yourself upon Him and be not afraid; He will not draw away and let you fall. Cast yourself without fear, He will receive you and heal you"... This disputation within my heart was nothing other than a struggle between myself against myself… When my most searching scrutiny had drawn up all my vileness from the secret depths of my soul and heaped it in my heart's sight, a mighty storm arose in me, bringing a mighty rain of tears. That I might give way to my tears and lamentations, I rose and went out… I flung myself down somehow under a certain fig tree and no longer tried to check my tears, which poured forth from my eyes in a flood, an acceptable sacrifice to Thee. And I spoke to you freely: "And thou, O Lord, how long? How long, Lord, wilt Thou be angry forever? Remember not our former iniquities." (Ps 6,4; 78,5)… And I continued my miserable complaining; "How long, how long shall I go on saying tomorrow and again tomorrow? Why not now, why not this very hour?" And suddenly I heard a voice from some nearby house, a boy's voice or a girl's voice, a sort of sing-song repeated again and again: "Take and read, take and read." I ceased weeping and immediately began to search my mind most carefully as to whether children were accustomed to chant these words in any kind of game, and I could not remember that I had ever heard any such thing. Damming back the flood of my tears I arose, interpreting the incident as quite certainly a divine command to open the book of the apostle Paul and read the first passage on which my eyes should fall… I returned hastily and took up the book and read what I had seen before: "Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscence," (Rom 13,13). I had no wish to read further, and no need. For in that instant, with the very ending of the sentence, it was as though a light of utter confidence shone in my heart, and all the darkness of uncertainty vanished away. Manage your subscription directly clicking HERE ---------------------------------------- The DGO is sent every day to more than 255.000 subscribers ! Do you want to help us maintain this free service? Daily Gospel is free of charge, it is not free of cost. Make a tax-deductible donation directly at "The Daily Gospel", PO BOX 16, New Hope, KY 40052. USA. Thank you and God bless you.

My Refelction on

. . .

mr reflection on Lk 12, 35-38

"Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants."

A compartmentalized Christian

He is Christian when praying, during Sundays and prayer meetings, when doing apostalate works

But outside those times, he cheated his income tax, he cheated during election, engaged in immoral practices, underpaid his employees, entertained evil thoughts

Some politicians are typical compartmentalized Christians.

Some catholic priests are likewise.

Christian should be a Christian 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

Whatever you do let it be motivated by love.

A Christian should be a symbol of genuine love.

Some Christians are not even 'christians' i.e. they don't belong to any Christian sects or religions but they are symbols of God's love.

When Relationship Ends

To some, it took them several relationships before they had finally settle down.

A genuine relationship never really ends. A relationship that had ended badly, i.e. both parties ended up hating the other so much did not really exist in the very first place.

Some couples really cared and loved the other so much but for some other reasons the relationship has to end.

Those who were matured enough indeed the relationship but not the friendship.

In our present world we tend to believe that loving is exclusive. In other words it is a common understanding that a person should only love one person at a time - in this context love is referred to us the love of a man to a woman and vise versa.

Something that we can look forward to is that when we pass over to another world after our death, we will become brothers and sisters. Hence, things that we consider illicit like dating an ex-loved one while married to another one, will no long be.

You can be with your ex's whenever you wanted to without conflict at all. No relationships ever ended in the strictest sense.

My Refelction on Lk 12, 13-21

Here’s the difference between a rich Christian and “A lover of mammon.”

A rich Christian is one who has attain a certain level of maturity hence God helped him become rich because through his riches he could served God better. Some genuine Christians prayed for riches but God did not make them so because God knows that riches could be detrimental to them, i.e. with respect to their spiritual maturity.

A lover of mammon became rich out of his own will and his own way. God knows that riches are not good for him but God respect his freedom hence God did not intervene. But if this kind of rich people would earnestly pray to God that they may be a good Christian then God will certainly help them how to get rid of all their riches or perhaps help them to attain the level of spiritual maturity wherein they can make use of their wealth for the greater good.

The temptations facing a rich man is far greater than that of a poor man, hence a spiritually not so mature person would not be able to cope up with the demand of being rich.

My Refelction on Lk 18, 1-8

God answers all our prayer.

When God seems not to answer our prayer, he actually did. His answer is simply, what you are asking for is not good for you. God always gives you what you want as long as what you want is good for you.

Sometimes you don’t know that what you wanted isn’t good for you, but God always knows better than you do. Soon you will realize the reason why and you would know.

Sometimes His answer is #, “yes go for it” but you need to make the move. God wants you to share in His works so that you may be God-like. You must be ready for what you are asking for because it that is too much for you God will simply not let you down by overloading you.

Keep praying. He always answers. Line is always open.

My Reflection on Tim. 4, 9-17

Notice here how depressing the situation of St. Paul is. A colleague deserted him, an enemy had been so rude and creul to him.

A situation like this is an acid tet to every Christian. We can prove how faithful we are to Christian faith, not when we are on top of the world but when we are at lowest point in life. When a good friend deserted us, when an enemy subdue us, when we are deprived of material things, when we are imprison and powerless.

"Pece be with you."

That's is our asurance that we can overcome situation as this. This peace offered by Jesus is not simply peace as absence of war but inner peace which could be a source of our inner strength that no matter how distasteful the situation we find ourselves in, such will not subdue us. We will survive.

The Daily Gospel

DAILY GOSPEL «Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68 Wednesday, 17 October 2007 Wednesday of the Twenty-eighth week in Ordinary Time Today the Church celebrates : St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, St. Ignatius of Antioch See commentary below or click here Saint [Padre] Pio de Pietrelcina : "Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces." Letter to the Romans 2,1-11. Therefore, you are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment. For by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the very same things. We know that the judgment of God on those who do such things is true. Do you suppose, then, you who judge those who engage in such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you hold his priceless kindness, forbearance, and patience in low esteem, unaware that the kindness of God would lead you to repentance? By your stubbornness and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God, who will repay everyone according to his works: eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality through perseverance in good works, but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness. Yes, affliction and distress will come upon every human being who does evil, Jew first and then Greek. But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, Jew first and then Greek. There is no partiality with God. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11,42-46. Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk." Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, "Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too." And he said, "Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them. Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB Commentary of the day : Saint [Padre] Pio de Pietrelcina (1887-1968), Capuchin friar AP; CE 47 "Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces." True humility of heart is more easily felt and lived than externalised. Naturally, we should always show ourselves humble in God's presence, but not with the false humility that only leads to discouragement, despondency and despair. We should have a low estimation of ourselves, not put our own interests before those of others and reckon ourselves of less importance than our neighbour. If we need patience to bear with other people's troubles, we need even more to learn how to support our own. Faced with your daily infidelities, make acts of humility constantly. When the Lord sees you practising repentance in this way, he will stretch out his hand towards you and draw you to himself. Nobody merits anything in this world; it is the Lord who grants us everything out of sheer kindness and because, in his infinite goodness, he forgives all things. Manage your subscription directly clicking HERE

My Reflection Lk 11, 37-41

The Bible is not a book of history. Of course there are lots of historical events narrated in it but the point being is, don’t read as if it is a book of history.

One common error by many is treating it as a historical book. One classic example is this passage.

If I have to take this as a historical event that happened exactly as such then this would give me a picture of an arrogant and ungrateful guest.

The main purpose of reading the Bible is that it should bring us to faith. If by reading a biblical passage we didn’t feel inspired in terms of deepening our faith, then it is a crystal clear sign that we missed the point.

So let’s not dwelt too much on Jesus attitude towards his host, the message here is that we must be clean inside and outside.

Reflection Lk 11, 29-32

"This generation is an evil generation . . ."

If this passage scares a you bit prompts you to do good because you it make you afraid of eternal damnation, then you must be missing the whole point.

Remember, the Bible is a book of faith. In other words when a person reads the Bible, the intended outcome is that his faith increases.

Thus, if by reading the Bible makes you fear about hell, then it is not serving its purpose. We have to do good not because we fear hell but because we love God.

This passage should be read in conjunction with more fundamental Christian priniciples, i.e. God is Love, God forgives 70 x 7, God is rich and mercy and compassion, slow to anger and quick in forgiviging.

Bear in mind that the Gospel is a written by a 1st century Christian whose idea of Gos is a punitive God, a Gos who brought forth the great flood and damnation to Sodom and Gomorah. Not everything in the Bible was actually said by Jesus but rather was put in Jesus mouth by the Evangelist because relative to their purpose and to the present historical and cultural context of the intended readers, his goal would be achieve, i.e. to bring faith.

The main point of this reading is that we should hate sins. We should repent because a person living in guilt will never be happy, will never have peace of mind.

My Reflection On Lk 17, 11-19

. . . The Kingdom of God is not limited for some chosen ones but for everyone.

The story of the 10 lepers echoes the same theme as that of The Good Samaritan and that of the Samaritan Woman.

In todays time the Samaritans could be comparable to Communist Countries and the likes of the Talibans and supporters of Saddam regime.

Jesus attitude towards them just showed that the love of God is for everyone. Salvation is likewise for everyone who wanted it.