FULFILLMENT OF GOD'S PROMISE

The Israelites learned to be faithful to God the hard way; through their mistakes and infidelity to Him. Once they made a calf in Horeb to worship in place of God (cf Exodus 32:7-14). They exchanged their glory for the image of a grass-eating bullock. They forgot the God who had saved them, who had done great deeds in Egypt. God's wrath almost destroyed them if it were not for Moses’ plea for mercy and God's favor to His people.  So the Lord relented in the punishment which He had threatened to inflict on his people because God so loved the world (John 3:16). They experienced God's mercy and love the hard way. Consequently, that made them cautious not to transgress the Lord, lest they endanger again their status as God's chosen people and receive His wrath.

Pastor Rick Warren said that God's love is like an ocean: You can see its beginning but not its end. For us to experience that love fully, we have to leave the shore, cut the tie of our sail and venture into the unknown. With trust in God, everything will just be fine. It might not be an easy ride but it will surely be worth it. We might be tempted to stay in the security of the shore and not dare to entertain anything that may change the status quo nor try new things for fear that we may transgress the Lord. When Christ brought the message of the love of God to the Jewish people, they held Him in no esteem for He seemed to be a threat to their religion (cf John 5:31-47). Though all testimony they had gathered from John is true, they still denied that He is the Son of God. The wonders He had made in their midst were concrete testimony of His divinity. As they read the books of the prophets, they would realize Jesus as the fulfillment of these prophecies. They did not accept Him, for they held fast to the beliefs Moses handed over to them. But they were mistaken, not knowing that Christ is the fulfillment of Moses’ instructions. Can we blame the Jews for not believing in Christ? The words and miracles of Christ surely moved many of them, but others held some reservations. They were afraid to offend the God of Moses, Isaac, and Jacob. Their excess fear of God caused their failure to grow in their faith to be more trusting in the Lord rather than relying on themselves again. 

Faith in God empowers us to know Him further, to experience His love further, in ways beyond our imagination. Do not be afraid of the new things God presents to us. Without us knowing, these new things may be the fulfillment of the promises of God in our life which we all long for. 

TRUTH PERSISTS

At face value, telling a lie is easier than telling the truth. The truth may be too difficult to be accepted by some, for it hurts. The truth may not be compatible with the values the world demands. People may expect one thing from us which we cannot deliver to them. Consequently, to please them, we tell them what they want to hear and not necessarily what is real. We tell fantasies to please the world. Later, one would realize that conveying a false statement is far more difficult than simply living by the truth of one’s life. Deception gives birth to dishonesty one after another while telling the truth liberates us. Though it may not please the world and its demands, surely, the truth will please the Father in heaven.

In the book of Daniel, Susana was completely trapped whether to give in to the malicious advances of the two elders or remain pleasing to the world. She said: "If I yield, it will be my death; if I refuse, I cannot escape your power." She was in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. But she was quick enough to realize that there was a third option: to remain truthful before the eyes of God.  She said: "Yet it is better for me to fall into your power without guilt than to sin before the Lord." She had full trust in God who knows what is hidden and is aware of all things before they came to be, and from whom she would have her vindication.

We may find ourselves in the same predicament Susana found herself in. We may be walking in a dark valley that desires lies more than the truth. But we should fear no evil threats in telling and living by the truths of our lives, for God is at our side.  Jesus, after all, is the light of the world: “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12-20).

When pressed by the Pharisees and the scribes to prove His credibility by soliciting testimony from others, Jesus presented the Father as one who can testify for Him. But no amount of truthful testimony can convince the Pharisees and scribes, for evil intents cloud their minds from seeing the Lord; evil intents that aim to preserve their status as privileged ones, aggravated by their love for the treasures of the temple. They would insist to believe the lies they themselves created, to the extent of crucifying Christ. But the truth about the Son of God will surely persist.    

In a world that may prefer lies more than the truth, choose to be honest, for we are here not to please the world but the Father who knows everything about us. In return, God will be truthful to His promises to us: to be with us in this valley of tears and darkness.

AWAY FROM THE SLAVERY OF SIN

Once there were two monks on their way to a neighboring monastery. At one point in their journey, they had to cross a river with a strong current. As they were preparing to cross, they noticed a beautiful lady sitting by the riverbank. It was evident in her face that she desires to cross the river too. But due to the strong current, she could not do so. The lady eventual approached the two monks and asked them if one of them could help her cross the river. The two monks looked at one another, recalling that both of them had taken a promise that they would never touch a woman in their lives. After a few moments, without any words, the elder monk carried the woman to the other side of the river and continued on their journey. The younger monk was in disbelief on what the elder monk did. An hour passed, the younger monk was still indignant on how the elder monk broke their vows by carrying a woman, though he did not confront him. When they were at the gates of the neighboring monastery, the younger monk mustered all his courage and confronted the elder monk about his transgression to their promise not to touch any woman. The elder monk replied, "My brother, I set the lady down on that riverbank, why are you still carrying her in you?"       

How many times have we been slaves of the past? We commit mistakes and sins in our life and they carry with them burdens and punishments. But these mistakes can burden us only for as long as we carry them in us. These sins and burdens cannot enslave us as soon as we learn from our mistakes, move on to the present and not dwell on the past. This is what God wants for us; not to be enslaved by the sins of the past, but to be liberated by living in his grace in the present.

God said through the prophet Isaiah: “Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (cf. Is 43:16-21). If we keep on living in the past, we shall surely miss the present and the blessings it brings to us from God. Consequently, we shall fill ourselves not with joy, but resentments and regrets. The Lord has done great things for us; we should be filled with joy. The coming of Christ in our lives is the greatest possible moment in our life when a new life dawns upon us. 

Through Christ, everything can be considered loss (cf. Phil 3:8-14). As St. Paul said: “For [Christ's] sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him…” But the new life Christ offers us may not find a space in our hearts if we keep on holding to the past and remain enslaved by sin and death. St. Paul continues: “…Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.” Moving on from our past means moving towards the new life Christ gives to us. Would you rather be liberated from sin and live life anew, or continue to be haunted by your past and be enslaved by your sins?

How shall we move on from the slavery of sin and move toward the liberation brought about by the new life Christ offers us? In the gospel, Christ allowed the Pharisees and the accusers of the adulterous woman to examine themselves. “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he bent down and wrote on the ground (cf. Jn 8:1-11). As he posed that challenge to them, He fell in silence. And one by one, the accusers left the adulterous woman and moved on with their lives. Examination of conscience is the key for us to weigh the important things in our life; those things that are worth holding on to. And self-examination should be accompanied by silence, not just in ourselves, but even that of God in our life. Silence allows us to listen to ourselves, to the words we utter, and the activities with which we commit ourselves to.   

In this prayerful self-examination, we can finally liberate ourselves from our painful past and stop punishing ourselves by repeating a thousand times our sins and mistakes. God will not condemn us in our recognition of our shortcomings. As he said to the adulterous woman: “Neither do I condemn you."

Though Christ could have cast a hundred stones at her since he was righteous and without sin, he did not. He showed mercy and charity. And lastly, He encouraged her: "Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” As if he was saying, “move on with your life, move into a new life, and be no slave of sin anymore.”

Look at what is in front of you; look at what Jesus offers you today. With God by our side, everything else becomes a loss and rubbish. Don't embrace nonsense. Choose God instead. It will not be easy. You will be drawn to enter your old life again. You may be tempted to commit mistakes and sin and be enslaved again. Enslavement in sin starts with something good. Satan will not tempt us to sin through an ugly and terrifying way. No one will be allured by such manner. Temptations and sins begin with something beautiful until Satan corrupts and manipulate these beautiful things we seem to enjoy and leads us into slavery. This is the trap of Satan.

Forgive yourself. Don’t carry the burdens which Christ has already lifted up for you. Do not be stuck in the past. Learn from it and move on. That's it.

Continue to pursue God in our life. Be free and liberated from your sinful, sad, past towards a new life where Christ is leading us. You will be surprised, for God will lead us to that new life, away from the slavery of sin.

LOVE GOVERNS ALL

It was reported in one of our department meetings that there were some ambulant vendors within our campus. They were selling lunch to our office staff. Upon knowing this, we issued a memo prohibiting them from doing such business on our campus. We did so, not because they would unjustly deprive our food concessionaires in the canteen from having potential customers, but in order to protect the persons within our campus. Our personnel may be exposed to the danger of food poisoning since we have no supervision over the food preparation of these ambulant vendors. The laws are set to protect and promote the welfare of persons rather than to accuse them.

In the Gospel, Christ spoke about the fulfillment of the laws and the prophets. But he did not mean the fulfillment of the 613 laws the Jews and Pharisees had made out of the 10 commandments of God. These 613 laws that gave emphasis on the rigorous fulfillment of the 10 commandments have overburdened the people, so much so that they missed out the spirit of the laws of God. Christ summarized the 10 commandments of God into two laws governed by one ultimate law: Love of God and love of neighbor ruled by the law of Love. As Christ preached about the fulfillment of the laws and the prophets, He was pertaining to the introduction of love which was rather missing in the Jewish laws. Love is the rightful intention and spirit of the commandments of God. Love is greater than any precepts man can craft. This love is what Christ wanted to fulfill. He did so through His passion, death, and resurrection: the greatest expression of God's love for man, setting for us the ultimate law of love that should direct our life.

As children of God, we are to abide by the commandments of God and keep our neighbors and members of our community in doing so. We are a church, a community, and a family after all, who swore to keep each other. But how do we fulfill the laws and the commandments of God among us? Are we the rigorous type of people who make sure the laws are observed to the letter? Do we desire to implement the laws so that we may prosecute those who break it, or because we desire to protect them or to love them? Christ is our model and inspiration. He desires that the spirit of the law be fulfilled; that love may reign between us, lest we become like the Pharisees. Christ’s act of perfecting the law of love through His paschal mystery should strengthen us in fulfilling the law given to us; in fulfilling our mission as children of God. This is possible if we take Christ as the head of our body; of our community. This is possible as we take love as the ultimate law that will govern our life and our community.

THE BEST IS YET TO COME

One of the dogs in our convent named Migo has little faith in everyone except its master. It is kind to me and approaches me every time I have treats for it. But without pandesal in my hands, it will not approach me no matter how I persuade it. Without the assurance of treats in sight, Migo doubts my intentions.

Doubt is the opposite of faith. We doubt something or someone when we cannot give our trust to it or when we lose our confidence in it. And sometimes, we even doubt something that seems to threaten the good things in our life. When we think that what we have is already the best in the world, we treasure it. When something new comes in our life that seems to be better, we tend to doubt it as it shakes the status quo. Worse, we deny it access to our life, even slander it so that we may keep the best thing we already have.

When Jesus did wondrous things; expelling demons, feeding the hungry, forgiving sins, curing the sick, some people doubted Him, even accused Him of being an agent of Beelzebul (Lk 11:14-23). They doubted Jesus because His presence threatens the status quo and shakes the foundation and ground on which they had been standing as self-righteous men. Jesus brought and offered better things to them; better than the one they already had. If only they had faith in Him, if only they listened to Him, they would have enjoined the fullness of life in Christ: free of doubt, filled with faith and joy.   

How shall we deal with doubts? The prophet Jeremiah counsels us as he relays God’s message to us: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper. (Jer 7:23-28). In times of doubt, would we dare to see where God is leading us? God was rejected by many. They obeyed Him not, nor did they pay him heed. They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts and turned their backs to Him. Will we do the same? If today we hear his voice, harden not our hearts. Doubt God no longer. Let go of the good things you have, and let His better plans take place in your life. 

We, even as religious and priests, experience doubts. There will really be seasons in our life as religious when the well runs dry, when one feels taken for granted, when one begins to ask if his efforts are in vain, when one battles with bouts of loneliness, when one doubts the future ahead of him. The words of Archbishop Soc Villegas, during our ordination to the Diaconate, were reassuring: “The Lord who called us will be the same Lord who will renew us, refresh us and reassure us. When the time comes when it seems you have run out of miracles in your life, when you feel tired, torn and bruised, when there is no more wonder in the face of mystery, when you feel like giving up, come over... We will grow old together serving the Lord." Trust Jesus. The best is yet to come.