Tag Archives: doubt

3 April, Friday – At Your Service

Lent, , ,

3 April 2020

_______________________

Jeremiah 20:10-13

Jeremiah said:

I hear so many disparaging me,
‘“Terror from every side!”
Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’
All those who used to be my friends
watched for my downfall,
‘Perhaps he will be seduced into error.
Then we will master him
and take our revenge!’
But the Lord is at my side, a mighty hero;
my opponents will stumble, mastered,
confounded by their failure;
everlasting, unforgettable disgrace will be theirs.
But you, O Lord of Hosts, you who probe with justice,
who scrutinise the loins and heart,
let me see the vengeance you will take on them,
for I have committed my cause to you.
Sing to the Lord,
praise the Lord,
for he has delivered the soul of the needy
from the hands of evil men.

_______________________

John 10:31-42

The Jews fetched stones to stone him, so Jesus said to them, ‘I have done many good works for you to see, works from my Father; for which of these are you stoning me?’ The Jews answered him, ‘We are not stoning you for doing a good work but for blasphemy: you are only a man and you claim to be God.’ Jesus answered:

‘Is it not written in your Law:
I said, you are gods?
So the Law uses the word gods
of those to whom the word of God was addressed,
and scripture cannot be rejected.
Yet you say to someone the Father has consecrated and sent into the world,
“You are blaspheming,”
because he says, “I am the son of God.”
If I am not doing my Father’s work,
there is no need to believe me;
but if I am doing it,
then even if you refuse to believe in me,
at least believe in the work I do;
then you will know for sure

that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.’

They wanted to arrest him then, but he eluded them.

He went back again to the far side of the Jordan to stay in the district where John had once been baptising. Many people who came to him there said, ‘John gave no signs, but all he said about this man was true’; and many of them believed in him.

______________________

At least believe in the work I do; then you will know for sure that the Father is in me and I am in the Father

Amid our current pandemic situation, if someone does good deeds, others will comment that it is hypocrisy. If someone shows indifference, others will comment that they are worthless. It is true that we cannot please everybody. Our life must not be dependent on the appreciation of others. But we are working like that. We show up to work on time to let the people know we are responsible. We submit efficient works to let others know that we are reliable. Now that we are on quarantine, we try to do as much housework or ‘work from home’ tasks as we can to let others know we are dependable. We do things to please other people. But it is not how it should be. Yes, it is very impressive that we are capable of doing great things. But can we just be alright with just ‘doing great things’ and remove the part ‘to let others know’?

As Catholics and believers of Christ, we wholeheartedly do our best to follow Christ and live His word. Easier said and done, because our modernity is a source of increasing temptation that leads us to stray away from Christ.

Let us ask ourselves, “Should we wait for our deathbed before we want to do good deeds or ask for forgiveness?” Some of us are on quarantine and most of us are living with our families. Let us take this as an opportunity to converse with them. Let us put our phones down and have a decent meal together. Yes, we need our phones to be updated on the latest events. But it can wait. Use the social distancing time to ‘re-learn’ about your family members. We may realize that our family members have changed or there could be the ‘aha’ moment when we realize that it seems it is only now that we get to know them better. Talk to them about anything. It is a simple way of reaching out to them. Some of them might not like the idea of being inside the house for the time being. Let them feel at ease because they are with their family. They are your family, you know them best. In that way, we are being used as tools in sharing the good works of Christ.

(Today’s Oxygen by Beryl Baterina)

Prayer: Father God, please grant us the grace to see the goodness in others and to show goodness as well. Amen.

Thanksgiving:  Thank you Father God, for the people who heed the call to be of service during this COVID-19 pandemic.  Amen.

12 April, Friday – Praying through Pixels

Lent, , ,

12 April 2019

_______________________

Jeremiah 20:10-13

Jeremiah said:

I hear so many disparaging me,
‘“Terror from every side!”
Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’
All those who used to be my friends
watched for my downfall,
‘Perhaps he will be seduced into error.
Then we will master him
and take our revenge!’
But the Lord is at my side, a mighty hero;
my opponents will stumble, mastered,
confounded by their failure;
everlasting, unforgettable disgrace will be theirs.
But you, O Lord of Hosts, you who probe with justice,
who scrutinise the loins and heart,
let me see the vengeance you will take on them,
for I have committed my cause to you.
Sing to the Lord,
praise the Lord,
for he has delivered the soul of the needy
from the hands of evil men.

_______________________

John 10:31-42

The Jews fetched stones to stone him, so Jesus said to them, ‘I have done many good works for you to see, works from my Father; for which of these are you stoning me?’ The Jews answered him, ‘We are not stoning you for doing a good work but for blasphemy: you are only a man and you claim to be God.’ Jesus answered:

‘Is it not written in your Law:
I said, you are gods?
So the Law uses the word gods
of those to whom the word of God was addressed,
and scripture cannot be rejected.
Yet you say to someone the Father has consecrated and sent into the world,
“You are blaspheming,”
because he says, “I am the son of God.”
If I am not doing my Father’s work,
there is no need to believe me;
but if I am doing it,
then even if you refuse to believe in me,
at least believe in the work I do;
then you will know for sure
that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.’

They wanted to arrest him then, but he eluded them.

He went back again to the far side of the Jordan to stay in the district where John had once been baptising. Many people who came to him there said, ‘John gave no signs, but all he said about this man was true’; and many of them believed in him.

______________________

Even if you refuse to believe in me, at least believe in the work I do

One trait which cuts across consistently throughout the public ministry of Jesus was the way in which those around him often were not able to see the truth of who He was. They were focused more on the superficial actions of what Jesus did and what he said. The Jewish people and their leaders could only interpret the actions and words of Jesus through the lens of Judaism – and from this lens, they were not able to accept the many revelations of God through Jesus sent to be the Messiah. It is through this lens that they could only see the miracles, especially those of healing and casting out of devils. They were also not able to accept the revelations of Jesus as the Son of God (which became only blasphemy), the Messiah sent to redeem the world (reducing him to just another prophet or the reincarnations of Moses or Elijah) or that their focus was on how Jesus desecrated the Sabbath rather than the revelation that mercy is what God’s love is all about, not rituals. Because they were unable to cast off the lens of Judaism, many of them were unable to let the light of truth penetrate and they remained in darkness, to be forever lost.

Many remain lost in that darkness through modern day lenses — materialism, humanism, or even through the viewpoint of Americanism which defines a great part of the evangelical Christian sects, so dominant in America, which are so vocal in the condemnation of God’s revelations through the Catholic faith. All of which does not allow the light of God’s revelations to shine through.

In the gospel, Jesus therefore makes a simple but succinct point. That if we cannot believe his words, then let his actions bring forth the revelations and lead us to the light.

We too often lose sight of the truth of God’s presence and intimacy in our lives — of His sovereignty, His power, His mercy, His blessing, His graces. When the storms of our lives blow hard and furious, when the desert of our lives make our faith dry and parched, when we are too busy being strangled in the thorn-bushes of worry and responsibilities of this world, we question God’s promises, His Will and His word. These too become our own lenses and they too are just as powerful in preventing God’s light and truth from penetrating into the reality of our lives.

In such times, let me suggest you do this – close your bible, keep your prayer cards, store away your spiritual readings. Then take out your phone and open up the gallery where you store all the photos contained therein. As you go through them, you will probably have captured photos from a myriad of events that have happened to you — celebrations marking family milestones, the birth of your child, a birthday, a wedding anniversary, your child’s first step or perhaps the wedding of one of your children, an unforgettable outing with your best pals, various events at church, a reunion with a special someone in your life, graduation of your child, perhaps your kid did great in school and got an award, a statue of your favorite saint you chanced upon, a promotion celebration for you in your office, an amazing sunset — and of course, all those wonderful memories of the family holidays you may have had.

Your memories tug at your heart and perhaps, you can reflect and come to realize just who made all those great memories and events in your life possible in the first place. God not only blessed you abundantly, He was also present with you at those great moments of your life. More importantly, you begin to see that indeed, God acted in your life. He worked in your life to bring you providence, achievement, joy, fulfillment, growth, peace, hope.

Sometimes, he even made miracles happen just for you.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Justus Teo)

Prayer: Father help us. We forget easily. We doubt all the time. When your will differs from ours, when we feel the weight of the cross, when the bright lights and glitz of this world beckon, we doubt. We forget who you are — Almighty God, faithful friend and brother. Instead, we see you as weak, indifferent, distant, unattainable, often, we don’t see you at all. Help us to break through the lens of our preconceived notions, of our stubborn habits, of our unbending minds and wills.

Thanksgiving: Father, thank you for showing us once again, who you really are and where you have always been. Thank you for bringing the light of your truth to pierce through the deepest darkness of our hearts and helping us shatter the lenses that keep us in bondage to our sins, our doubts and which stops us from reaching you. Our Almighty God, our friend and brother who never left our side. Not for even one second.