Psalm reading for today Aug. 12, 2011

P S A L M

 

Psalms 136:1-3, 16-18, 21-22, 24

R: His mercy endures forever.

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever; 2 give thanks to the God of gods, for his mercy endures forever; 3 give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his mercy endures forever. (R) 16 Who led his people through the wilderness, for his mercy endures forever; 17 who smote great kings, for his mercy endures forever; 18 and slew powerful kings, for his mercy endures forever. (R) 21 And made their land a heritage, for his mercy endures forever; 22 the heritage of Israel his servant, for his mercy endures forever; 24 and freed us from our foes, for his mercy endures forever. (R)

FREEDOM AND FORGIVENESS

SABBATH

Where there is no forgiveness, freedom is lost. This may sound a little harsh at first, but if we reflect upon the idea we will begin to understand that it is true.

When a person sins against us, a relationship of bondage is established. We are tied to the sinner in a relationship that can go only one of two ways. We can forgive the person and free the relationship to become what it should be in Christ; or we can seek revenge or hold resentment and thus bind ourselves to that person in a very unhealthy and ultimately destructive way. It is irrelevant what sin we are talking about, though obviously the bigger the sin, the more difficult it is to choose the former rather than the latter. It is also important to recognize that by forgiving a person, we do not at all give any approval to the act of sin. Forgiving a person in no way legitimizes what the person did to sin against us. Forgiveness is a gift we bring to the person who sins against us, as though we are saying, “Look, I do not want this action to harm our relationship in an irreparable way.” It is a gift of mercy; it is a gift of peace; it is a gift of generosity and love. Why should we forgive those who sin against us? That has a very simple answer as indicated by today’s Gospel. If we want God to forgive our sins, then we must learn to forgive those who sin against us, or else we will be guilty of hypocrisy. What right have we to ask God’s forgiveness if we are not willing to forgive the sins of others against us? Precisely none! Forgiveness frees us to continue in relationship with the sinner in the best way possible, but there will always be a residue of the sin, for example, in the broken trust between two people. There is little we can do about this. This is one of the consequences and effects of sin. This is even more reason for us to try to avoid sinif possible.  Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL   Reflection Question: Am I willing to forgive those who have sinned against me?   Holy Spirit, grant me the grace to let go of the hurt of sin so that I will be able to forgive the people who have sinned against me, no matter how big or small the sin was.   St. Lelia, pray for us.

Gospel for Today - August 10, 2011

G O S P E L

 

Just as a grain of wheat must die if it is to bring forth life, so too must we surrender all that we are and have to the Lord if we want them to be truly fruitful in His Kingdom. Yet death is never the end; rather it is the start of new life.

 

ALLELUIA

R: Alleluia, alleluia

Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life, says the Lord.

R: Alleluia, alleluia

 

John 12:24-26

24 Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.”

 

my reflections

t h i n k : Death is never the end; rather it is the start of new life.

Filipinos: from the eyes of a foreigner

Here's something very positive written by a foreigner named Steve Ray about Filipinos.

 

Steve Ray authored many best-selling books, among which are, 'Crossing The Tiber' (his conversion story), 'Upon This Rock' (on the papacy), and just recently, 'John's Gospel' (a comprehensive Bible study guide and commentary).

STEVE RAY'S OPEN LETTER

 

TO THE FILIPINO CATHOLICS: 

 

We stepped into the church and it was old and a bit dark.  Mass had just begun and we sat toward the front.  We didn't know what to expect here in Istanbul, Turkey.  I guess we expected it to be a sombre Mass but quiet and sombre it was not -- I thought I heard angels joyously singing behind me.

 

The voices were rich, melodic and beautiful.  What I discovered as I spun around to look did not surprise me because I had seen and heard the same thing in other churches around the world.  It was not a choir of angels with feathered wings and halos but a group of delightful Filipino Catholics with smiles of delight and joy on their faces as they worshiped God and sang His praises.

 

I had seen this many times before in Rome, in Israel, in the United States and other

countries.

 

Filipinos have special traits and they are beautifully expressed as I gazed at the happy throng giving thanks to God.  What are the special traits which characterize these happy people?  I will share a few that I have noticed -- personal observations -- as I have travelled around the world, including visits to the Philippines.

 

FIRST, there is a sense of community, of family.  These Filipino Christians did not sit apart from each other in different isles.  They sat together, closely.  They didn't just sing quietly, mumbling, or simply mouthing the words.  No, they raised their voices in harmony together as though they enjoyed the sense of unity and communion among them.  They are family, even if they are not related.

 

SECOND, they have an inner peace and joy which is rare in the world today.  When most of the world's citizens are worried and fretful, I have found Filipinos to have joy and peace --  

a deep sense of God's love that overshadows them. They have problems too, and many in the Philippines have less material goods than others in the world, yet there is still  a sense of happy trust in God and love of neighbour.

 

THIRD, there is a love for God and for His Son, Jesus, that is almost synonymous with the word Filipino.

 

There is also something that Filipinos are famous for around the world -- their love for the Blessed Mother.  Among the many Filipinos I have met, the affectionate title for Mary I always hear from their lips is "Mama Mary."  For these gentle folks, Mary is not just a theological idea, a historical person, or a statue in a church -- Mary is the Mother of their Lord and their mother as well, their "Mama."

 

The Philippines is a Catholic nation -- the only such nation in Asia -- and this wonderful country exports missionaries around the world.  They are not hired to be missionaries, not official workers of the church.  No, they are workers and educators, doctors, nurses and housekeepers that go to other lands and travel to the far reaches of the earth, and everywhere they go, they take the joyous Gospel of Jesus with them.  They make a sombre Mass joyful when they burst into song.  They convict the pagan of sin as they always keep the love of Jesus and the Eucharist central in their lives.

 

My hope and prayer, while I am here in the Philippines, sharing my conversion story from Baptist Protestant to Roman Catholic, is that the Filipino people will continue to keep these precious qualities.  I pray that they will continue loving their families, loving the Catholic Church, reading the Bible, loving Jesus, His Mother and the Eucharist.  As many other religions and sects try to persuade them to leave the Church, may God give them wisdom to defend the Catholic faith.

 

As the world tempts them to sin and seek only money and fame and power, may God grant them the serenity to always remember that obedience to Christ and love for God is are more important than all the riches the world can offer.  

 

May the wonderful Filipino people continue to be a light of the Gospel to the whole world! 

 

Be a proud Filipino and share this with your family and friends!

THE HAMMER OF HERETICS

SABBATH

 

Today is a very special day forthe Dominican family around the world as they celebrate the feast of their founder and spiritual father, Dominic de Guzman. Dominic lived around the time of St. Francis of Assisi. Legend has it that the two met on at least one occasion. The first reading (not from the actual feast but from the ferial day) reminds us that we have to follow the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul. This is what Dominic and the saints did. This is why they are placed before us by the Church as examples of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Dominic had a great love for the Lord to the extent that he shunned all the trappings of the priesthood so as to preach the Gospel with a new purity of heart and lifestyle. The Church had become very distant from the lives of the ordinary people. Because of this, many heretics were having great success because they lived simple lives rather than demanding that the poor people support the extravagant lifestyles of the clergy. Dominic and Francis repudiated such lifestyles and took to the streets as beggars. Their simple lifestyles became a powerful witness to the truth of the Gospel and its power to redeem. The Church needs to constantly go back to its original calling. In some places, it is too caught up in politics; in others, it is identified with the rich and powerful; in still others, it is so self-absorbed that it has lost any witness value. The role of the Church is to stand in solidarity with all men and women and, since most people are just getting by or  poor, this is where the Church must be. Yes, the Church is there for the rich, too, but only as a means for them to attain salvation and not as a means to help keep them in power. Let us be mindful of the lives of saints and seek to imitate them in our own. Let us pray that we will stand in solidarity with God’s poor people.  Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL   Reflection Question: Do I live in solidarity with God’s people or do I deliberately stand apart from them?   Lord Jesus, You left the glory of heaven in order to dwell on earth. Let me follow Your example of identifying Yourself with the poor.   St. Altman, pray for us.

Thoughts of the Day/Pensamiento del Dia

THINK OF YOUR TROUBLES FOR A MINUTE
IF THEY ARE AS BIG AS A MOUNTAIN  OR AS HARD AS A ROCK,

PRAY TO THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART,

TELL HIM HOW MUCH YOU DEPEND ON HIS MERCY.    
WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT, HE WILL REMOVE THEM  OUT OF YOUR WAY,

OR HE WILL GIVE YOU THE STRENGTH TO DO IT.

God is our shelter and strength,

always ready to help in times of trouble.
Psalm 46:1

Many of us are very busy, running off our feet from dawn to dusk. But what are we busy about? We need to stop and listen. Busy-ness is not a virtue. The important thing is to be active about the right things. And to know what is the right thing to do, we have to stop and listen to God in deep prayer and pondering His Word.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

PIENSA EN TUS PROBLEMAS POR UN MINUTO.
SI SON TAN GRANDES COMO UNA MONTAÑA,
O DUROS COMO UNA ROCA ATRAVESADAS EN TU CAMINO,
 CLAMA AL SEÑOR CON TODO TU CORAZON,
 DILE CUANTO DEPENDES DE SU MISERICORDIA; 
Y   CUANDO  MENOS TE LO PIENSES, EL LAS REMOVERA, 
O TE DARA LAS FUERZAS PARA QUE LAS MUEVAS TU.

Dios es nuestro refugio y nuestra fuerza; 
nuestra ayuda en momentos de angustia.
Salmo 46:1

Muchos de nosotros estamos muy ocupados, corriendo los pies desde el amanecer hasta el anochecer. Pero lo que estamosocupados en? Tenemos que parar y escuchar. Ajetreo no es una virtud. Lo importante es estar activo en las cosas buenas. Ysaber qué es lo que hay que hacer, tenemos que parar y escuchar a Dios en profunda oración y la meditación de su Palabra.

KNOWING JESUS , KNOWING OURSELVES

SABBATH

In order to know who we are in God’s eyes, we need to first get to know Jesus as it is in and through Him that we exist on at least two levels. God created the world in the beginning through His word — He spoke and it came to be. Jesus is the Word of God. It is through Him that all things live and move and have their being. Secondly, we have been saved by the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. We have been recreated in Him. We owe our lives to Jesus twice. In a sense, it is even more often than this. Each time we receive His forgiveness for our sins, we move from the realm of sin and death into His presence, a place of truth and holiness and life. When Jesus asks His disciples as to who people think He is, what He is really doing is challenging them to make a choice. He wants them to know who He really is to them because when persecution comes, this will be a very large determining factor whether or not they will remain faithful to Him. Our Christian life is full of difficult and challenging situations. It is imperative that we know who we are in God’s eyes to be able to combat the temptations of sin. It is equally important to understand our identity in Christ as the world will make all sorts of offers to us about fame, wealth and so on. Only if we are firmly rooted in our faith will we be able to resist them until the end. Sin has a way of persisting in its goal and if we are at all uncertain of who we are in Christ, then it will take advantage of that uncertainty. So, it is worth taking the time to get to know Jesus through prayer, the Scriptures and the inspiration of the lives of saints if we want to protect ourselves from the dangers of sin and also to give our knowledge and experience a better foundation from which to share the Gospel. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL Reflection Question: Am I sure of my identity as a disciple of Jesus or do I still have to grow in this? Holy Spirit, help me to surrender more and more each day to the truth of my identity in You so that I will be able to stand firm when trials and difficulties come my way. St. Raynerius of Spalatro, pray for us.