Remember your mercies

"Remember your mercies, Lord, your tenderness from ages past. Do not let our enemies triumph over us; O God, deliver Israel from all her distress." (Psalm 25: 6, 3, 22)

God's mercies and tenderness from ages past extend from age to age to those who fear him. The Bible is a record of God's faithful mercies and tenderness towards man from age to age.

We pray to God daily not to allow our enemies triumph over us because our enemies are constantly alert and prowling around seeking for whom to devour. Today is the day of favor. It is also the day of battle with the enemy. The Bible is also a record of man's struggle with the enemy of mankind. Our success or failure in life depends on our trust in God and his word.

Finally, we pray to God to deliver Israel from all her distress. The Church is the new Israel. The distress of Israel/Church is the distress caused by her own sins and the sins of the world.

The Word and the Eucharist

"Lord, may the word we share be our guide in the kingdom. May the food we receive assure us of your constant love …. " (Mass Prayer in Lent)

In the Eucharist, God's word is broken open for our encouragement, light and guide. After the Mass, we go to our homes and our jobs to face issues concerning the family, job, money, health, tools and food. The word of God we hear at Mass should provide us light to deal with the various issues we face in the day.

In the Eucharist, we receive Jesus Christ as our food. This communion is a pledge of God's constant love for us. We find consolation in the truth that Jesus Christ is for us and with us because he gave himself freely to us in the Eucharist. This is the greatest gift.

The word of prophecy

"But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; so that you may be children of your Father in heaven for he causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike." (Matthew 5: 44-45)

 

Every word of God is a prophecy and a promise containing a prediction and a condition for fulfillment. In the above prophecy, Jesus is predicting that those who love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them will be free. They will also be children of God and enjoy everything that comes with that status. Now is this promise true? Ask anybody who has tried forgiving his enemies and praying for his persecutors. I raise my hand in testimony. This action of forgiving and praying for our enemies has the most cleansing and liberating effect possible in life. Why is this so? This is because every word of God contains a powerful agent to bring about that which is promised.

Keeping God’s Commands

"Happy those whose way is blameless, who walk by the teaching of the Lord.

Happy those who observe God's decrees, who seek the Lord with all their heart.

They do not wrong; they walk in God's ways.

You have given them the command to keep your precepts with care. (Psalm 119: 1-4)

 

In reading through the Bible, I observe that a lot of blessings is attached to keeping God's commandments. Some of the Bible heroes may not be canonized by the Church because of the life they lived. Without exception, each of them lived with the fear of the Lord. They did their best to keep God's laws and when they failed, they were quick to repent. Every one of them was immensely blessed by God. King David is my star among the Bible heroes. He was a great sinner but he loved God intensely. He lived completely in a supernatural environment in which God is the first cause of everything. David sought the Lord with all his heart.

Worship in spirit and truth

"Eternal Father, turn our hearts to you. By seeking your kingdom and loving one another, may we become a people who worship you in spirit and truth …" Mass Prayer in Lent

God is our eternal Father. Lent is a time of divine favor. One of our desires in the period of Lent is to turn to God with all our hearts, to seek his kingdom and to love one another. The disciplines of Lent: Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving when undertaken with generosity enable us to attain this objective. We thus become who we are created to be – sons and daughters who worship our eternal Father in spirit and truth.

Observe all the commandments

"Yahweh your God commands you today to observe these laws and customs; you must keep and observe them with all your heart and with all your soul." (Deuteronomy 26:16)

Father, if I observe all your commands and customs, you promise me:

"That he will be your God, but only if you follow his ways, keep his statutes, his commandments, his customs, and listen to his voice … he will raise you higher than every other nation he has made, and you will be a people consecrated to Yahweh, as he has promised." (Deuteronomy 26: 17-19)

Thank you Father for this promise. The Holy Spirit in me will help me to observe all God's laws and customs.

The word of God is perfect

"The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; his commandments are the wisdom of the simple." (Psalm 19:8)

The 10 commandments as a system of law is perfect. The word of God revives the soul. When the soul is depressed, burdened, give it the tonic of the WOG.

How are the simple and uneducated to attain wisdom? Through the word of God. God's word is the school of wisdom for everyone but especially for the simple.

The Spirit of the Magis

"For I tell you, if your uprightness does not surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 5: 20)

In Ignatian spirituality, the spirit of the magis is the intense desire to do more and not less for Christ. If we live this spirit, in everything we do, we do more than is strictly required and never less. Magis means going to the extra mile for the love of Christ Jesus. This is the spirit that impelled St. Francis Xavier, one of the first Jesuits to desire to conquer all the Far East for Jesus Christ in the 16^th Century.

Christ says in Matthew 5: 20 that the mediocre spirituality of the scribes and Pharisees will not be enough in the new dispensation. O Holy Spirit, teach me the principle of the magis.

Sentinels

"I trust in the Lord; my soul trusts in his word. My soul waits for the Lord more than sentinels wait for the dawn." (Psalm 130: 5-6)

Isaiah says that faith that is firm is also patient.

To find out what it means to be patient, I checked the dictionary and found the following:

1 : bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint
2 : manifesting forbearance under provocation or strain
3 : not hasty or impetuous
4 : steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity

Faith that is firm can endure trials and pain while waiting for an answer. It is not hasty or impetuous in seeking a resolution. It is steadfast in the goal that is expected despite opposition, difficulty or adversity. Won't it be nice to have such a faith?

Abandoning Uprightness

"But if the upright abandons uprightness and does wrong by copying all the loathsome practices of the wicked, is he to live? All his upright actions will be forgotten from then on; for the infidelity of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, he will most certainly die." (Ezekiel 18: 24)

Persevere in doing good to the very last.

Your endurance to the last will save your life.

 

When I broke with God in the years of my rebellion and wilderness, all my upright actions were forgotten. I died to the life of grace. We are truly alive because of the supernatural life of God in us. This life is supplied by the indwelling Holy Spirit. When we live in sin and refuse reconciliation with God, this life dies.

Observance of Lent

"Lord, may our observance of Lent help to renew us and prepare us to celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ ….. " (Opening Prayer in a Lenten Mass)

I wrote the following comment in my journal on the above in 1999:

How we observe Lent:

• Fasting and abstinence
  
• Prayer and almsgiving
  

We are renewed through the observance of the above exercises and others. This observance becomes a mysterious vehicle of grace.

Promise and Fulfillment

"Ask, and it will be given to you; search and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you ….. " (Matthew 7: 7 – 12)

This is big promise from Jesus. Do I believe this? Yes, I do. Do I believe that this applies to me all the time? I do not know. We read in the Book of Joshua these beautiful words about God's faithfulness to his promises:

"And so the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to their fathers he would give them. Once they have conquered and occupied it, the Lord gave them peace on every side, just as he had promised their fathers. Not one of their enemies could withstand them; the Lord brought all their enemies under their power. Not a single promise that the Lord made to the house of Israel was broken; every one was fulfilled." (Joshua 21: 43 – 45)

We see in Scripture again and again that God is a Promise Keeper. My relationship with the Holy Spirit has grown from my experience that I can ask for help and receive it in a timely fashion.

I cried, you answered

"O Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me. I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart, for you have heard the words of my mouth." (Psalm 138: 3, 1,4)

I learned from the experience of Israel that no matter how deeply they had offended God and no matter how long they stayed in rebellion, once they cry out to Yahweh, he answers them and saves them. This reminds me of the Divine Mercy. The mercy and compassion of God is unfathomable.

The ABC of Mercy states:

• Ask for mercy
  
• Be merciful
  
• Completely trust Jesus for mercy.
  

 

Remember God’s works

"Then calling to mind all the wonderful works of the Lord, he (Mordecai) offered this prayer …" (Esther 4: 17a)

I have found again and again from personal experience that calling to mind the wonderful works of God in my life produces immediate impact on faith, hope and love. In time of dire need and crisis, this therapy never fails. I also know that it works for others. I have used it successfully to alleviate mild depression in others.

Why is remembering God's wonderful works in our life so powerful in lifting us up from despondency? We know that what happened before can happen again. The fire of hope is lighted. And we feel gratitude and love for the one who relieved us in the past at the moment of dire need. We are emboldened to ask for help in the present crisis. God's standing promise can be claimed: "Call upon me at the time of need and I will answer you."

Satan being the father of lies and deception will give anything to cause us to forget God marvelous deeds in our life. I try to build up purposely a list of these wonderful works in my life. I printed the list and put it in a wall in my workstation and bedroom. As long as I am in my home, the devil has little chance of winning in this game. Whenever I am attacked by doubts, I don't have to think hard to remember. I glance at the wall and see the list. And then I give thanks and the discouragement vanishes. Thank you Jesus.

The Courage to act

"Father, without you we can do nothing. By your Spirit help us to know what is right and to be eager in doing your will." Mass Prayer in Lent

The Holy Spirit helps us on two levels:

• Light to know what is right
  
• Courage to do it
  

Jesus promised that the Father grants our prayers on our needs and even more so when we ask for the Holy Spirit.

My groaning

"Let my words reach your ears, Lord; listen to my groaning, and hear the cry of my prayer, O my king, my God." (Psalm 5: 2-3)

What is my prayer? What is my groaning and cry to God this Advent?

Greater docility to the Holy Spirit

I have come to recognize that the success of my spiritual journey, the Enterprise is in direct proportion to my openness to the Holy Spirit.

The Bread of life 2

"Father, you never fail to give us the bread of life. May this Eucharist renew our strength and bring us to salvation." Mass Prayer in Lent

Father has blessed me very frequently with the Eucharist since 1996. The Eucharist renews our strength and moves us closer to full redemption. Our life is a journey; a journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. Our destination, that is, salvation cannot be reached in one day or without struggle. The Eucharist is the food that sustains us in this journey. Every thought, word or deed moves us closer to our homeland or away from it.

A Sign

"This is an evil generation; it is asking for a sign. The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of man be a sign to this generation." (Luke 11: 29 – 30)

The Church is an authentic sign of the existence and presence of God in the world today. During the consistory of November 24, 2007, Pope Benedict said that the gathering of Bishops and people from every part of the world is a sign of the unity and universality of the Catholic Church. It is also a sign that God is with the Church. Such a gathering is not possible by human means.

A broken, humbled heart

"A broken, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn." (Psalm 51: 19)

God's word convicts us of our sins. God will respond with mercy to our brokenness and humility before his word.

I believe

"God saw their effort to renounce their evil ways. And God relented about the disaster which he had threatened to bring on them, and did not bring it." (Jonah 3: 10)

When God saw their response to his word, he became merciful and tender.

Preparation is the key to success:

• I believe in prayer.
  
• I believe in the word of God.
  
• I believe in miracle.
  
• I leave the rest to God.