God Himself is the top prize

"LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you have made my destiny secure.
*Pleasant places were measured out for me;
fair to me indeed is my inheritance."  (Psalm 16: 5 - 6)

God Himself is the top prize.  He who has God has everything.

"And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life."  (Matthew 19: 29)

You are the living bread that came down from heaven

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”  (John 6: 51)

Lord Jesus, I ate this Bread today.  Thank you for inviting me to eat this Bread in the Kingdom. I participated in the Supper of the Lamb, therefore I rejoice when I read of your promise in John 6: 51.  Let it be done to me according to your promise.

God is not ashamed to call me a son

"Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."  (1 John 3:2)

The  Holy Spirit declares in the above scripture that here and now, I am a child of God.  Do I believe this?  Yes, I do.  Do I live the implication of this astounding declaration always and everywhere?  Not always and everywhere but  I am learning.  All the truth I need to live my filial adoption are contained in the Our Father, the Lord's Prayer.  God who is not ashamed to call me His son gave me a Brother in His Son Jesus Christ who is not ashamed to call me a brother.

Father thank you for adopting me as your son.  Jesus Christ, thank you for not being ashamed to call me your brother.  Grant me the  grace to embrace my  weaknesses so that I can return love for love.

"When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” (Luke 2: 48)
Consider this:  Jess Christ is not ashamed to call Mary His Mother.

My mood and every other thing is determined by my faith.  I am upbeat today.  Why? God says to me today: You are my son.  Jesus Christ says to me: You are my brother. Both Father and Son say to me:  We are not ashamed of you.

Jesus Christ is the light of all nations

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
Upon those who lived in a land of gloom a light has shone.”  (Isaiah 9:1)

The great light is Jesus.  He is the Light of all nations.
I like the exposition of John Gills on Isaiah 9:2:-

“they have seen a great light;
Christ himself, who conversed among the Galilaeans, preached unto them, and caused the light of his glorious Gospel to shine into many of their hearts; by which their darkness was removed, so that they not only saw Christ, this great light, with their bodily eyes, but with the eyes of their understanding; who may be called the "light", because he is the author and giver of all light, even of nature, grace, and glory; and a "great" one, because he is the sun, the greatest light, the sun of righteousness, the light of the world, both of Jews and Gentiles; he is the true light, in distinction from all typical ones, and in opposition to all false ones, and who in his person is God over all.”

Matthew Henry has equally good commentary on the above scripture:

“When the gospel comes to any place, to any soul, light comes, a great light, a shining light, which will shine more and more. It should be welcome to us, as light is to those that sit in darkness, and we should readily entertain it, both because if is of such sovereign use to us and because it brings its own evidence with it. Truly this light is sweet.”

The Lord bless you and keep you!

"The LORD bless you and keep you!
The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!"  (Numbers 6: 24 - 26)

My God and My Father, what a beautiful blessing to start this year 2013!  I believe in you.  I have absolute trust in your power.  I know you want indeed to bless me.  With open heart, mind and hands, I receive your blessings this day.  I ask for one favor now, Father.  Never permit me to doubt the blessings  you have pronounced on me this day.  No matter the circumstances, always help me to remember this blessing and to take comfort in it.  I ask  this in the name of your Son Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen!!!

2013 - A definite Year of Change

"You know these things...now do them.
That is the path of blessing." (John 13:17)

Change happens not because of what you know but because of what you do daily.

Remember: Christmas is a season and not a day.
May 2013 bring you much joy & peace, deep experience of faith & good health.

Peace beyond understanding

"And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful."  (Colossians 3: 15)

The peace that Christ promises is the peace that can coexist with bad news.  It is a peace that is based on faith and our knowledge of God.  It is a peace that is enhanced by understanding, that gift of the Holy Spirit that reveals to us what God is doing in our life.  Without this peace, there can be no security.

"Whoever claims to abide in him ought to live [just] as he lived." (1 John 2: 6)

"Whoever claims to abide in him ought to live [just] as he lived."  (1 John 2: 6)

How did Jesus live?  He lived the Beatitudes.
Lord, this is not easy.  Jesus knows that this is not easy.  This is why He gave us the means.  The means to live the Beatitudes are prayer, word of God and the Sacraments.

They followed the Lamb wherever He goes

"These are they who were not defiled with women; they are virgins and these are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been ransomed as the firstfruits of the human race for God and the Lamb."  (Revelation 14: 4)

God loves purity and chastity.  Virginity in the above scripture may be a symbol for corporal or spiritual virginity and purity.  Apostasy and adulteration of doctrine is considered spiritual adultery.  The pure and wholesome milk of  Christ's teaching is fully contained in the deposit of faith which is guarded by the Church's Magisterium.  From the first beginning of the age of the Church.  this body of truth has been under attack by heretics and apostates.  But thanks to the promise of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, the Church has remained the bulwark of truth to the present day.

He saw and believed

"Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed."  (John 20: 8)

Lord, let me tell you what I want today.  I want to see many of your little signs and believe.  I know you reach out to me constantly through little signs.  The big signs come once in a while and I appreciate these very much.  But  it is the little sign that oils the wheel of life for me.  From time to time during the day, I notice these little signs and I give you thanks.  What I ask for now is that I notice more of them if not most.

Thank you Lord for little signs.  You give them in order to connect us to you.

The Holy Spirit of your Father will speak through you

"When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."  (Matthew 10: 19 - 20)

December 26 is the feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr.  Stephen's life and death shows the faithfulness of Jesus to His promise in Matthew 10: 19 - 20.  What encouragement this is to all Christian disciples.  Stephen's life and death also proves another truth from St. Augustine:
"If you pray well, you live well.  If you live well, you die well.  If you die well, all is well."
Stephen was filled with faith, fortitude and the Holy Spirit.

Lord Jesus, on this day we remember the life of your servant, Stephen, grant us who honor his memory deep faith, courage and fill us with your precious Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The Child born today is the Savior of the world

"For a child is born to us, a son is given to us;
upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,
Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.  (Isaiah 9: 5)

"Father, the child born today is the Savior of the world.  He made us your children.  May He welcome us into your kingdom where He lives and reigns with you for ever and ever."  (Opening Prayer - Mass of Christmas Day)

Save us from our enemies and from the hands of all who hate us

"He has raised up a horn for our salvation
within the house of David his servant,
even as he promised through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old:
salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us"  (Luke 1: 69 71)

Salvation is all about deliverance "from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us."

Who are these?  Let us ask St. John the Evangelist:
"For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world."  (1 John 2: 16)

Our enemies are our natural concupiscence, the attractions of the world and Satan.

When the Son sets us free from the above, we are truly saved.

Do not stand at the door and knock

"“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me."  (Revelation 3: 20)

Dear Jesus, please do not stand at the door and knock.  My  home is always open to you.  If the door is not ajar for you when you arrive, here is the spare key so that you can let yourself in.  Whether the door is opened for you or let yourself in, you will be always welcome in my home.  I have resolved have nothing but 100% devotion and commitment to you.  Never allow this desire to weaken for any reason.  I ask for this in your name Jesus.

I do like Hannah

"Then Hannah spoke up: “Excuse me, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here near you, praying to the LORD.
I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request.
Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD.” Then they worshiped there before the LORD."  (1 Samuel 1: 26 - 28)

Lord, following the spirit and example of Hannah, you have been very good to me.  I offer you all my time, talent and treasure as well as all my weakness.  Lead me, guide me and use all for your kingdom as long as I live.

I rejoice in my faith

"Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."  (Luke 1: 45)

What the Lord has spoken to me:
"But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.
Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil." (Matthew 6: 33 - 34)

This is a promise with a condition.  What does it mean to seek first the kingdom of God?  It means to seek first the King in always and everywhere.  Jesus Christ is the King.  Where Jesus reigns, there is the kingdom of God.  Jesus reigns where His word reigns. Jesus reigns  where the Beatitudes voluntarily observed as the law of the kingdom.

Righteousness is produced in us by the indwelling Holy Spirit.  When we welcome the Holy Spirit in our hearts, He produces righteousness in us.

 "Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."  (Luke 1: 45)

I believe that God will fulfill to me the promise in Matthew 6: 33.  I believe so because God is all powerful and can do anything He wants.  God is all truth.  He is not a man to lie.  Faithfulness is the very essence of God's character.

I rejoice in my belief and everyday I wait with joyful expectation to receive from God what He has promised..

Nothing will be impossible for God

"And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; 
for nothing will be impossible for God."  (Luke 1: 36 - 37)

Elizabeth suffered from advanced barrenness.  In the fullness of time, God made her fruitful according to His plan for her life.  I suffer too from advanced barrenness.  I am yet to be fully productive in God's vineyard.  I believe that God will make me exceedingly fruitful in the fullness of time.  For as God has promised, "Nothing will be impossible for God."  I know that God can do anything.  How do I know that He will do this for me?   I appropriated this same scripture this season last year.  When it is proclaimed again this year, I find myself yearning for the experience of Elizabeth.  This is how I know with certainty that this promise is too for me.  Wait!  Wait with courage!

Wait for God's perfect timing

“So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others.”  (Luke 1: 25)

God fulfills His designs and promises at His own time.

"But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time."  (Luke 1: 20)

Believe what you hear. It is good to wait for God's time.

And they shall name Him Emmanuel

"“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”  (Matthew 1: 23)

Mary is predestined by God to be the Mother of Jesus Christ.  All her privileges stem from this unique choice.  Her fullness of grace, her perpetual virginity, her singular role as intercessor are all consequences of her extraordinary vocation.

We honor Mary as Mother, Virgin, Teacher and Mediatrix of all graces.  Towards the end of the 4th century, Helvidius denied the perpetual virginity of Mary, a belief that was held by the Church for centuries.  St. Damasus was pope at this time. St. Jerome was urged to answer Helvidius.  At first, he declined because he regarded the question below his dignity.  But eventually, he picked up his pen and answered him.  At this time, St. Jerome was the recognized authority in Greek and Hebrew.  He was a Church Father and Doctor of the Church. He is the foremost scripture scholar whose reputation has not deemed by the passage of time.  On the question of Mary's perpetual virginity, whom do you trust?  St. Jerome or the so called "doctors of divinity" from the so many denominations that populate the map today?   The question about Mary's perpetual virginity did not arise again till the reformation.  Heresy is cyclical..

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

"The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."  (Matthew 1: 1)

What follows Matthew 1:1 is a long list of the ancestry of Jesus Christ.  How is the roll call?  Very human.  We see saints and sinners.  There is always a black sheep in the family.  And Scripture says that Jesus Christ is not ashamed to call His disciples His brothers.  "He who consecrates and those who are being consecrated all have one origin. Therefore, he is not ashamed to call them “brothers.”  (Hebrews 2: 11)

One great insight I got from the Genealogy of Jesus Christ is that there never was the so called Great Apostasy in Christianity.  The Mormons believe that there was one.  Protestants think that the Church forsook its ancient dogma and practice and therefore the necessity for the Reformation.

The Catholic Church has always been One, Holy, Apostolic and Catholic.  These are the four marks of the Church.