The Transfiguration of Jesus strengthens our hope of Resurrection.

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Matthew 17: 5).

Sunday 8th March, 2020 of the 2nd Week of Lent. The Gospel narrative today is the Transfiguration of Jesus.

At the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus journeyed to the River Jordan to be baptized by John the Baptist. Before Jesus journeyed to Jerusalem to begin His Pascal Mystery, He climbed Mount Tabor to confer with Moses and Elijah.
Jesus' Baptism prepared for our Baptism. Baptism makes us a new creation, the adopted children of God.
The Transfiguration of Jesus gives us a foretaste of Christ's second coming when the Elect will be transformed and become like Jesus as He appeared in the Transfiguration. The Transfiguration prepares us for the great mystery of our own Resurrection.

The Transfiguration of Jesus sustained the faith of the disciples of Jesus in the life and death struggles they faced in the first centuries of Christianity.

Because of the Transfiguration, we see Christ as our hope. We also understand that the victory over death and sin will come via the Cross.  The Cross is the Means of Salvation, Redemption, Glorification and Eternal life. This is the gracious and mysterious will of the Father.

Are you fired up by the great promise of the Transfiguration?

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Saints Perpetua and Felicity fearlessly faced their butchers.

"Today you have accepted the Lord’s agreement: he will be your God, and you will walk in his ways, observe his statutes, commandments, and ordinances, and obey his voice.  And today the Lord has accepted your agreement." (Deuteronomy 26: 17 - 18).

Saturday 7th March 2020, of 1st Week of Lent is also the feast of two young martyrs from North Africa: Saints Perpetua and Felicity. (+ 203). Perpetua was mother of a young child and Felicity was pregnant.
Perpetua and Felicity triumphed over their butchers by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. (Cf Revelation 12: 11).

In our key Scripture for today, Yahweh God signed an agreement with His People. He would protect them and provide all their needs. The People will obey His commandments. Have you heard some televangelists say something like: "God loves you with an infinite love. No matter what you do, it can never effect the degree of God's love for you." You may ask such false teachers: "How about the agreement, the covenant?" Throughout the Bible, breaking of the Covenant has met with severe punishment ranging from crop failure, draught, military defeats and the most severe, exile. Jesus Christ foretold the destruction of Jerusalem because of the unfaithfulness of the People. This happened in 70 AD.

Beware of false teachers.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

I desire repentance and not condemnation.

"Do I find pleasure in the death of the wicked—oracle of the Lord God? Do I not rejoice when they turn from their evil way and live?" (Ezekiel 18: 23).

Friday 6th March 2020 of the 1st Week of Lent is also the First Friday of March. The dominant theme today is Sin and Reconciliation.

Jesus Christ is the Face of Mercy of God. No sin is too sinister, too big for God to forgive. No time is too soon, too late to ask for mercy. Everyone who asks for mercy will receive mercy.

The Lord is kind and merciful.
Ask for mercy.
Be merciful.
Completely trust Jesus for mercy.

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Honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus this First Friday.

First Friday in March, 2020 .

Jesus promised 12 special graces and favors to all those who will honor His Sacred Heart especially on the First Friday of every month.  In the 3rd month of the year 2020, we look at Promise #3.

#3.  "I will console them in all their troubles."

Jesus does not promise us a trouble free life.
"My son, if you aspire to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for an ordeal." (Sirach 2: 1).

Troubles are opportunity to grow spiritually.  "I promise to be your strength in proportion to the trust you place on Me." The more you trust Jesus, the more He is your comfort, strength and security in trials.

Remind the Lord often of these promises. Remind Him also of His promise to answer every prayer. (Matthew 7: 7).

Honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the First Friday of March, 2020.

For the 12 Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, click the link below:

http://sfjweb.com/?q=content/sacred-heart-12-promises

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Prayer is the key to your destiny.

"Everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7: 8).

Thursday 5th March 2020 in the 1st Week of Lent. You can call this Thursday "Ask and Receive Thursday" because Confidence in Prayer is the theme of the liturgical texts. Prayer determines your destiny. Do you come to God in prayer with a confident and expectant faith? If you you do not, have you asked why? Could it be any of the following:

#1 Unbelief in God's promises.
#2 Pride.
#3 Unconfessed sin.

If Prayer is the key to receiving all the good things God has planned for us, not to pray and learn to pray well is the gravest injustice against oneself. Jesus calls Prayer a vital necessity. Sacred Scripture bids us:
#1 Pray always.
#2 Pray everywhere.
#3 Pray about everything.

Do this and it shall be well with you.
St Augustine teaches:
If you pray well, you live well.
If you live well, you die well.
If you die well, All is well.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

O God have mercy on me.

"When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out." (Jonah 3: 10).

Wednesday 4th March 2020, of 1st Week of Lent is the feast of St Casimir (1458 - 1484). Son of King and Queen of Poland and Lithuania. Compared to his siblings who may be called brood of vipers, Casimir had faith, piety, humility and chastity. He loved the Eucharist and had a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He died at the age of 26.

Our key Scripture is from Jonah 3: 1 - 10. This Scripture reminds us that God calls us to repentance this Lent 2020. There is no time to waste. God is waiting to see a humble and contrite spirit. He pleads: "Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart for I am gracious and merciful." (Joel 2: 12 - 13).

Do not delay the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Remember the ABC of Mercy:
A: ASK FOR MERCY.
B: BE MERCIFUL.
C: COMPLETELY TRUST JESUS FOR MERCY.

A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spur.
Behold, now is the favourable time.
This is the day of salvation.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

St Katharine Drexel heard the call of Jesus and responded fully.

"My word that goes forth from my mouth; shall not return to me empty, but shall do what pleases me, achieving the end for which I sent it." (Cf Isaiah 55: 11).

Tuesday 3rd March 2020, of 1st Week of Lent is the feast of St Katharine Drexel (1858 - 1955), Virgin. Katharine was a wealthy heiress from the rich and famous class of the Philadelphia society. She realized that it profits her nothing to gain the whole world and put her eternal destiny in jeopardy. She listened to the Call of Jesus Christ to teach the message of the Gospel and bring the Eucharist to African-American and Native American people in the South of the United States. In 1915, Katharine founded the Xavier University in New Orleans. At her death in 1955, over 500 of her sisters were teaching in 63 schools.

God’s word to go and proclaim the message of the Gospel did not fall in vain on the heart of St Katharine. It accomplished the end for which God sent the word. A harvest of 100 fold. So shall it be for you and me if we follow the third petition of the Lord's Prayer:
"Your will be done,on earth as in heaven."

Lord Jesus, You blessed St Katharine Drexel with abundant harvest in Your field. Look upon us in Your mercy and bless and prosper the work of our hands.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Be holy.

"The Lord said to Moses:  Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy." (Leviticus 19: 1 - 2).

Monday 2nd March 2020, of 1st Week of Lent.

God is appealing to us in the first Reading today to be holy. The child of God must emulate the character of the Father. Why do we assume that holiness is impossible for many except a few? This is a big lie of the Devil. Jesus teaches that the shortcut to a happy fulfilled life is to make first priority His Kingdom and His righteousness and everything we need will flow to us. Do you realize that righteousness is another word for holiness?

How do we become righteous or holy? The saints have taught us the secrets since the dawn of Christianity. The simplest formula may be: Embrace God’s gracious and mysterious Will every moment. When you do this, you keep ALL the commandments. Start by praying for the desire to embrace God’s gracious and mysterious Will every moment in your life.

St Ignatius Loyola teaches that Desire is the Key. Desire transforms a man. Desire produces a spiritual kinetic energy that moves you to action. Then in the Last Judgment, you can ask Jesus with a smile on your face:
"Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?" (Matthew 25: 37 - 39).

"Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Jesus overcomes the Devil in the Desert.

"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil." (Matthew 4: 1)

Sunday, 1st March 2020, 1st Sunday of Lent.

The Gospel, Matthew 4: 1 - 11 is the Temptation of Jesus the Christ. After His Baptism, the Devil whisked Him off to the Desert.
What is the Desert?
Where is your Desert?

#1 The Desert is the place of spiritual combat.
#2 The Desert is the place of preparation for our life's work.
#3 The Desert is the period of Closed Door experience. Closed Doors: Health, job, finance, etc.

No preparation, no performance.  I was fortunate that I had five years of closed door Desert Experience before I had a big opportunity.
Recently, there was news of a young lady mayor of one of our large cities sentenced to three years in a federal penitentiary for financial impropriety.  Was she prepared by a desert experience before her big job? The Desert is the place where we confront our demons, discover who we are and develop plans to deal
with the wiles of the enemy of mankind. No preparation. No performance.

Starting from Abraham and Jacob, David to Jesus, John the Baptist and Paul, all of our Bible heroes spent time in the Desert.

See how James in his letter describes what the Desert does for you:

"Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1: 2 - 4).

The Church teaches that we can overcome evil in our lives through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. (Cf CCC 1434). Lent is a great time to start.
O that today you listen to the Lord, harden not your hearts.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Step by step guidance better than the GPS.

"The Lord will guide you always." (Isaiah 58: 11).

Saturday, 29th February, Saturday after Ash Wednesday.

Brethren, you know without doubt that the Bible is God's precious manual for our life. Will you carelessly discard the manual of an expensive computer software or How to use booklet of a medical equipment on which your life depends? Every single day, the Church celebrates the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Perfect Sacrifice. The Church uses the same Scriptures inspired by the Holy Spirit organized in a lectionary everywhere in the world.

What I am about to reveal to you may not be a secret for many. During the holy Season of Lent, the Church pulls out the best and the most powerful Scriptures for our consumption. This is because God Himself promises that Lent is the favorable Season to bless us.

Before the era of GPS navigation, being a roaming salesman in a large city was a very challenging task. But I discovered God's promise: "The Lord will guide you always." (Isaiah 58: 11). Things changed for me. All I needed to activate this promise was a short prayer: "My God, I can't find my way to the client's place. I need this sale desperately. Please help me O God." Again and again, the Lord led me like the three magis to where I needed to be.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Your will or God's will?

"See, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits." (Isaiah 58: 3).

Friday 29th February after Ash Wednesday in the Season of Lent.

Of the many indictments in the first Reading from Isaiah 58: 1 - 9, the one that struck home for me is:
"See, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits."
Put simply, this says: "You do your will and not mine."

Do you prefer your will to the will of God? Falsehood and fake doctrine are so prevalent today that some false teachers will have you believe your will is the same as the will of God or as good as the will of God provided your intentions are good.

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4: 1).

Pray for the gift of discernment of spirits this Lent 2020. And embrace the narrow way of sanctity: Embrace God’s gracious and mysterious Will every moment.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

The key to life and prosperity.

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9: 23).

27 February 2020, Thursday after Ash Wednesday.

Many of us received the ashes and started the Journey of Lent yesterday on Ash Wednesday. There was much enthusiasm for Jesus and His mission. Today, Jesus shows us how to journey with Him successfully to Easter. There are 2 key words in our chosen Scripture verse: :

#1 Daily: The Journey is a daily commitment you renew at the beginning of each day. For example: Lord Jesus, this is Day 2 of Lent, I choose to continue the Journey of Lent with the help of Your grace.

#2 Deny: Do not be afraid of the word "Deny yourself." The Lord who created you and knows exactly what you need and when you need it asks you: "Are you able to embrace my holy, gracious will even when it is mysterious to you?"
If you say Yes to the question and commit to embracing the gracious and mysterious will of God every moment, this is ALL the self-denial Jesus is asking of you today. One day at a time this Lent.

Today, God is setting before us: life and prosperity, death and doom. Whichever we choose shall be ours. If we choose life by obeying the commandments, God promises to prosper whatever we do. (Cf Psalm 1: 4).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Here is Lent 2020!

"Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says:
In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 5:20; 6:2).

Today is Ash Wednesday, 26th February 2020.

Our Lenten Journey begins today. The Destination is Easter.
What you need for the Journey:
#1 Prayer
#2 Fasting
#3 Almsgiving

We struggle against evil day and night. Jesus Christ overcame evil on the Cross. The Cross therefore is the means to the End we all desire: Victory, Freedom, Peace, Prosperity, etc. Our Cross during the next 40 days is: To embrace God’s gracious and mysterious will every moment in Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving. Rejection of the Cross is rejection of Jesus Christ, Savior and Redeemer. The Prince of Peace and Prosperity.

If we are faithful during this Journey of Faith, the reward will be huge and unbelievable. Among other things, we will grow in perseverance and come to exclaim: The Lord is truly my Good Shepherd. Now I lack nothing.

"To every time its purpose:
There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven:
A time for tears,
a time for laughter;
a time for mourning,
a time for dancing." (Cf Ecclesiastes 3:1-22).

Happy Lent!

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

When you ask and do not receive.

"You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." (James 4: 3).

Tuesday 25th February 2020 in the 7th Week in Ordinary Time is the eve of Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the holy Season of Lent 2020.

We continue to enjoy the practical wisdom from the Letter of St James. We all have experienced occasions when we ask God for something we believe we need and deserve to receive but were disappointed. Why?
#1 Have you asked in faith? To ask in faith is to ask knowing that God is both able and willing to grant you the particular favor.
#2 Are you prepared to wait for God's time? Faith that is perfect is also patient.
#3 Do you ask to spend it on massaging your ego, self-indulgence or illicit pleasures?

God is a Father who loves you too much to help you at self-destruction.

Submit your desires, your plans and your entire life to God. Attachment to anything that is not God is idolatry. It rouses the passion and causes it to make war within us.

"Purify your hearts, you of two minds" and God will grant you your heart’s desire.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

I believe, help my unbelief.

”But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”  Jesus said to him, “‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.”  Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” (Mark 9: 22 - 24).

Monday February 24th in the 7th Week in Ordinary Time. The Gospel of today provides us the opportunity to grow in faith and enjoy the power of faith.

The father of the epileptic boy having at last placed himself in front of Jesus, was desperate to see his son healed at all cost. But one cannot buy faith. Mercy and compassion are always available.
”But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

The Bible has a lot to teach about Faith:
#1 Without faith, we cannot please God.
#2 Although man cannot live on bread alone, the just man lives by faith.
#3 This world is in a bitter and deadly conflict between good and evil. Victory must come to the side with faith.
Etc,

How do we get this precious faith?
Faith comes from hearing/reading the word of God constantly. To this, add prayer. For prayer and faith are like joined twins that can never be separated even by the most advanced surgery.

Your prayer must be fired by confident and expectant faith for God Himself has promised: Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will swing open for you.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

God loves us first.

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord." (Leviticus 19: 18).

Sunday 23rd February in the 7th week in Ordinary Time. You may call this Sunday: Love Sunday because of the emphasis on love in the liturgical readings of today.

What is love? I never understood what love truly means until I met the word waiting for me in 1 Corinthians 13: 4 - 7:
Love is to be patient and kind to your neighbor and stranger. Love does not envy; it does not boast and it is not proud.
If you dishonor others, if you are self-seeking, if you are easily angered or keep records of wrongs, sorry, you do not understand a thing about love.

The Romans say: "Nobody can give that which he does not have." How do you get love? Start from this truth: God first loves us even when we are unlovable. In 1 Corinthians 13: 4 - 7, He shows us some of the attributes of His love: patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, long suffering, etc. We can not imitate God's love except the Holy Spirit helps us. The Holy Spirit is our Paraclete and Advocate and always ready and willing to help us.

Now that you know how dearly you are loved, you will be blessed if you do the same.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

The Feast of the Chair of St Peter.

"The Lord says to Simon Peter:
I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail, and, once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." (Luke 22: 32).

Saturday 22nd February 2020 in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time is the feast of the Chair of St Peter, the Apostle.

We celebrate today the mission of St Peter and his successors as universal teacher and pastor of the world-wide Church. Jesus Christ, Head of the Church conferred and guaranteed the stability of the office the Petrine Ministry.  It is amazing that the office of the Pope, the Supreme Pontiff has not failed. Good men and bad men had been popes but the integrity of the teachings of Jesus Christ has been preserved faithfully. This is what we celebrate today.

Have you ever heard Jesus say that He prayed for you? I felt this at the beginning of my conversion and this word of knowledge (rhema) has always bring comfort to me in difficult periods. If Jesus Himself  prays for me to the Father, then all is well in spite of all appearances. In fact, we are all Simon Peter. Jesus prays for each of us. He promises to be with us always and everywhere. Trust Jesus!

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

The Feast of the Reformer. Meet St Peter Damian.

"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." (Mark 8: 34).

Friday 21st February 2020 in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Peter Damian (1001 - 1072), Benedictine monk, Bishop and Doctor of the Church. Peter Damian lived over 200 years before St Francis of Assisi and almost 500 years before St Ignatius Loyola. When we honor the saints, we glorify Jesus Christ, the King of all Saints. 

It would appear that the Scriptures in the Liturgy today is written to celebrate the life of the monk-Cardinal whose life we celebrate today. Damian was a reformer who urged his fellow clergy to live upright lives. Many clergy at all levels were at this time living sordid lives. But Peter pursued reforms with the heart of a pastor unlike Martin Luther (1483 - 1546) who preferred to tear up the seamless garment of the Body of Christ and got nether the reform he sought but instead thousands of petty churches quibbling over doctrines.

I like the Opening Prayer in Mass of St Peter Damian:

"All-powerful God, help us to follow the teachings and example of Peter Damian. By making Christ and the service of His Church the first love of our lives, may we come to the joys of eternal light, where He lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever."

May we all say Amen!

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirst.blogspot.com

The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

"Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?" (James 2: 5).

Thursday 20th February 2020 in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time.

That God has a preference for the poor is obvious from the ministry of Jesus. Who are the first people to notice Jesus and seek His help? Who in the society is more likely to be hungry, sick and outcast? The poor! When people of high class in society seek out Jesus for a desperate healing, for example: the Centurion, Jairus, or the rich woman with the issue of blood, their desperate need placed them in the class of the Anawin. Every disadvantage is a blessing and an opportunity.

Who are the poor among us today? The orphans, widows and immigrants (the Bible calls them strangers because this is how the Egyptians saw the Jewish immigrants). From the time of Abraham, the class of the poor has remained constant. As it was in the beginning so it is today.

A melodious refrain we sing in the Liturgy is "The Lord hears the cry of the poor." How true! Although God in His omnipotence can provide the necessities of all His creatures,  God says to man: Increase and multiply. I charge you to take good care of My creation.

The poor seeks the Lord at all times. He answers them and delivers them from all their fears. If God Almighty has given you more than you need, do not hoard your surplus.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Believe what you read. Practice what you believe.

"Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves." (James 1: 22).

Wednesday 19th February 2020 in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time.

When I read James 1: 19 - 27 (our 1st Reading today), I was stung by two reproaches from the holy word.  "Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves." What is the Lord trying to tell me? I spent hours in the word of God every day. I try to go to Mass many days a week. I try to be an active member of the RCIA. But I do not go to the Soup Kitchen nor visit the sick or prisoners. There are other corporal and spiritual works of mercy I don't even think about.

Lord Jesus, I am encouraged when You talk of persevering in the word:

"But the one who peers into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres, and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, such a one shall be blessed in what he does." (James 1: 25).

Brethren, let us believe what we read. Let us teach what we believe. Let us practice what we believe and teach. Then we shall be immensely blessed by "the perfect law of freedom."

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com