God is able

"God is perfectly able to enrich you with every grace, so that you always have enough for every conceivable need, and your resources overflow in every kind of good work." (2 Corinthians 9: 8)

Every good gift comes from God. Our time, talent and treasure all come from Him. Whenever God asks us to do something or give something, He wants us to remember the above promise. God is able to enrich us with every grace. He is able to provide all the resources we need for every kind of good work. Therefore let us respond to God with open and generous spirit. Can we ever outdo God in generosity? Never!

Release the shekel

"Go to the lake and cast a hook; take the first fish that rises, open its mouth and there you will find a shekel; take it and give it to them for me and for yourself." (Matthew 17: 27)

Jesus has shown before that He knows where all the fish are hiding. In the above scripture, He shows that He knows the particular fish that had swallowed a shekel. Now He commands the fish to release the shekel.

All things serve God. All things are possible for God. To know that my destiny is safely in the hands of God gives me a lot of comfort.

Fear God alone

"The Lord, your God, shall you fear, and him shall you serve; hold fast to him and swear by his name." (Deuteronomy 10: 20)

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom do I fear?" (Psalm 27: 1)

What we fear:

• People in authority
  
• Disease
  
• Poverty
  
• Death
  

The Lord wants us to fear Him alone. If we have fear of God in our hearts, we fear nothing. If we do not have the fear of God, we tend to fear everything.

 

 

 

All gifts come from God

"God of power, giver of the gifts we bring, accept the offering of your Church and make it the sacrament of our salvation……." (Offertory Prayer at Mass)

God is the giver of every gift. The offering we bring to Mass comes from Him. He inspires the work and gives the power that earns the money. Therefore, we should not be mean in offering Him our first fruits. We should remember that we can never outdo God in generosity.

The Eucharist is a great exchange of gifts. We bring our offering. God accepts it and in exchange gives us the Body and Blood of His Son, Jesus.

Taking the eyes off Jesus

"Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was, he became frightened; and beginning to sink, he cried out, 'Lord, save me!" (Matthew 14: 29 – 30)

How we become frightened in projects when we take our eyes off Jesus to focus on strong wind, earthquake and fire. But all is not lost, if we recover our senses and cry out like Peter, 'Lord, save me!"    

"When I am afraid, I put my trust in you, in God, whose word I praise, in God I put my trust and have no fear, what power has human strength over me?" (Psalm 56: 3 – 4)

A tiny whispering sound

"After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave." (1 Kings 19: 12 – 13)

Notice how God chose to reveal Himself to Elijah – "a tiny whispering sound."

"Be still and know that I am God."

"My salvation is in tranquility, my strength in confidence."

"My ways are not your ways."

Elijah first perceived loud wind, earthquake and fire. But when he heard the tiny whispering sound, he knew the difference. He probably knew the difference by the application of the gift of discernment. The servant of God knew the attributes of his Master.

Our Promised Inheritance

"Almighty and ever-living God, your Spirit made us your children, confident to call you Father. Increase your Spirit within us and bring us to our promised inheritance….." (Opening Prayer at Sunday Mass)

The Spirit makes us God's children. We rejoice to call God Father. We are confident that God is our Father. God our Father is not inferior to our human father in any way. If our human father can provide us bread when we ask for it, God our Father can provide us much more.

We also pray that God increase His Spirit within us. Jesus promises that this is a prayer that the Father will grant as a matter of priority and urgency. How do we recognize n increase in the Holy Spirit within us? If we notice an increase in faith, patience, humility, wisdom, courage, we know the source is the Holy Spirit. By His fruits, we shall know Him.

Consoling truths

"The LORD is my light and my salvation;

whom should I fear?

The LORD is my life's refuge;

of whom should I be afraid?

 

One thing I ask of the LORD

this I seek:

To dwell in the house of the LORD

all the days of my life,

That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD

and contemplate his temple.

 

I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD

in the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD with courage;

be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD"

Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14

Two consoling truths from the Responsorial Psalm of today:

"Fear is useless; what is needed is trust." (Luke 8: 50; Mark 5: 36)

"Wait for the Lord with courage." (Psalm 27: 14)

 

 

I am with you always

"I, the Lord, am with you always, until the end of the world, alleluia." (See Matthew 28: 20)

If the Lord is with me, it is accomplished."

Emmanuel!

Bearing fruit that lasts

"The Lord says, 'I have chosen you from the world to go and bear fruit that will last, alleluia." (See John 15: 16, 19)

"I will be a witness to you in the world, O Lord. I will spread the knowledge of your name among my brothers, alleluia." (Psalm 17: 50; 21: 23)

Conquering through faith

"In truth I tell you, if your faith is the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there, and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17: 20)

Faith is simply believing that God's word is true; that God will do what He promises. In the Gospels, the evangelists emphasize again and again that things turn out exactly as Jesus had said. I am delighted when I read this. God's faithfulness to His promises is one of His attributes that I love very much. We cannot live a victorious life without faith. This is the message of the whole of Chapter 11 of Hebrews. The author gives a list of all the Old Testament giants that overcame daunting odds through faith. The message is clear. If they overcame by faith, we too can overcome by faith.

Forgetting

"When Yahweh has brought you into the country which he swore to your ancestors …. That he would give you, ..... be careful you do not forget Yahweh who has brought you out of Egypt, out of the place of slave labor." (Deuteronomy 6: 10 – 13)

Is it possible to forget Yahweh when He brings us into our Promised Land? The answer is an unequivocal Yes. If this is impossibility, scripture would not have warned us of it.

My God, your word is true. I know you will lead me to the PL. I know too that I can forget you in the PL. Father of mercies, may your grace forbid this from happening.

The Gang of Three

"Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain by themselves." (Matthew 17: 1)

The gang of three, Peter, James and John are representatives of the Church who became witnesses to the Transfiguration of the Christ. Jesus Christ strengthened their faith through this experience.

Lord Jesus, open our eyes to see your glory and give us the grace to bear witness to it in our lives.

Morning Star

"So we have confirmation of the words of the prophets; and you will be right to pay attention to it as to a lamp for lighting a way through the dark, until the dawn comes and the morning star rises in your minds." (2 Peter 1: 19)

What is the evidence that the word of God in scripture is true?

The Church as the Body of Christ is the visible sign and confirmation of the words of scripture. The Church is what scriptures foretold it would be:

• Universal
  
• Historic
  
• Relevant
  
• Invincible
  

Trust the word of God.

All honor and kingship belongs to Christ

"On him was conferred rule, honor and kingship, and all peoples, nations and languages became his servants." (Daniel 7: 14)

The "Him" is Jesus Christ to whom all honor, power and majesty belongs. I want to publish this truth with all my time, talent and treasure.

Lead me, guide me and use me, dear Lord Jesus Christ.

My King and my Boss

"But you,'he said,' who do you, say I am?" (Matthew 16: 13: 15)

You are Jesus Christ:

• My Lord and my God
  
• My Savior and my Redeemer
  
• My King and my Boss
  
• My Friend and my Companion
  

Lord Jesus, that I may know you more, love you more and serve you more. Amen

Meribah

"These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites laid blame on Yahweh and where by their means, he asserted his holiness." (Numbers 20: 13)

In the desert, the Israelites were stretched to the breaking point at the Waters of Meribah. They failed the test and murmured against God. Every crisis is a test of faith. Where do you go first for help? Whom do you trust? Are you prepared to wait for God for deliverance?

Meribah is the type of all testing grounds. Where is your desert or Meribah?

• Home
  
• Workplace
  
• School
  
• Church
  
• Playground
  

The geography is the theology.

Always with you

"I, the Lord, am with you always, until the end of the world." (Matthew 28: 20)

Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us. But in Matthew 28: 20, He promises to be with us always till the end of our life. Consider this for a moment. A medical doctor can be very powerful and highly competent. But can he promise to be with you always until the end of your life? Of course not! Only Jesus can make this promise and keep it.

Let your desire be granted

"Woman, you have great faith. Let your desire be granted." (Matthew 15: 28)

My simple definition of faith is putting our trust in God's word. This happy woman has just heard that her desire is granted. Her faith led her to ask confidently. She went away believing that it would be done to her according to what Jesus said. I want to exercise my faith like this woman. I want to hear Jesus say to me: "Let your desire be granted."

Milk and honey

"We have made our way to the country where you sent us. It does indeed flow with milk and honey; here is what it produces. At the same time, its inhabitants are a powerful people…." (Numbers 13: 27 – 28)

The Enterprise is a journey to the Promised Land. Indeed milk and honey flow here. At the same time, it is occupied by the Anakims, that is very powerful demons. In the name of Jesus I will conquer. I came, I saw and in the name of Jesus I conquered.