Author: Roger

Doctor in Development Education ( Dev. Ed. D.), an all time educator as School Head and HEI Instructor.

MATTHEW 16: 13-19 GOSPEL READING AND REFLECTION (June 29, 2020)

by Roger, posted in Gospel Reading

After that Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi. He asked his disciples, “Who do people say  the Son of Man is? They said, “For some of them, you are John the Baptist; for others Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the Prophets.”  Jesus asked them, “But you, who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “ It is well for you, Simon, Barjona, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.  And now I say to you; you are Peter; and on this Rock I will build my church; and never will the powers of death overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heavens: whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven.

POINTS OF REFLECTION

The world is full of trials and tribulations that even faith in God does not spare believers from their hardship of this life. It even hinders active engagement to the Father because of divided attention brought about by worldly worries. However, as Jesus said to Peter that “ It is well for you, Simon, Barjona, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.”  Jesus reminded us that to know Him is not more of man’s effort but by the grace of the Father in heaven. If you have known God by this time, it is not to anybody’s credit but instead a divine blessing that you must be thankful of.

The blessing of wisdom is a divine gift. A gift that will strengthen believers special from the rest of the people for, faithful find an invincible joy, happiness, tranquility, calmness and peace in adversities as a product of their indestructible faith in him. This is the gift that Christians, apostles, martyrs and the cloud of witnesses have on their steadfast of faith. It is this kind of faith that allows Christian community to grow in numbers throughout the year amidst too much persecution.

In totality brothers and sisters, it is not right to say that believers are free from trials and hardship of the life. Faith must be tested with trials and tribulation before God bliss us the wisdom of knowing Him. It is God alone who can reveal himself in us in perfect timing.

Views: 107

UNDERSTANDING FEAR

by Roger, posted in Positivity
  1. CIRCUMSTANCES

Happy is always afraid of crowded places, or situations where she could be potentially embarrassed or panicked. Having been a shut in NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) her teenage days, she has developed agoraphobia. Due to that, she couldn’t bear to go outside her house but she had to as she has office work. All she does is play games and watch anime during her free time and is not socially active. Her grandmother is worried about Happy’s situation. 

  1. STORY RESOLUTION

Happy was buying groceries. She was in line for the counter when she noticed a brand new lip balm beside her cart. She looked at the lip balm for a minute and then decided to buy it for personal purposes. She happily put it in her cart.

The person in front of her was finally done, it was her turn. She took out all the things in her cart and the cashier started to scan all the items. The bill was 44.7 dollars. Happy took out her coin purse. She handed the money to the cashier. 

“Maam, you need five more dollars.” The cashier said gently. Blood rushed towards Happy’s face. She was embarrassed. She looked inside her coin purse but there was only a single cent in her coin purse. 

“uhm, take out the ketchup please.” The cashier smiled and took out the ketchup. 

“You still need three more dollars ma’am.” The cashier said again. Happy’s mind was in shambles. She was so embarrassed! She looked around and saw that the person next to her was looking at her intently. 

“Excuse me, miss, hurry up. We don’t have all the time in the world.” The next person said rudely. Happy felt like crying. Oh God, what should she do? She was in a panic that she staggered a bit. 

“Come on miss.” The other customers started complaining also. 

Happy closed her eyes to prevent the tears that are about to fall from her eyes. Then she had an idea. She looked at the monitor and saw what was the most expensive item in her cart. It was lip balm! 

“M-miss cashier, take off the lip balm please.” The cashier nodded and smiled. 

“That would be 25.7 dollars maam.” She quickly paid the bill and ran out. 

“Humph, buying groceries yet have no money.” she heard. Happy lowered her head in shame. This was why she hated society. 

When she arrived at her house, she immediately ran off to her room. Happy’s room was completely dark. Only the night lamp was on. Happy quickly turned on the TV and watched anime. She immediately calmed down. Her previously palpitating heart was now calm. As expected, only anime was her comfort.

The next day, Happy got up from being seated and stretched her limbs. She binge watched an anime series the whole night and didn’t get even a wink of sleep. 

She took a bath and put on her work clothes. She rushed towards her workplace. To be honest, she didn’t like her work. Encoding might seem to be an easy job at first, but there were too many files to be encoded for her. The stress of being pressured by her higher ups are piling up in her brain. 

“Why are you late?”

“Encode this. I want it this afternoon.”

“Make. a powerpoint for the presentation of your group. Tomorrow is the deadline.”

“Give the report to me at nine A.M.”

Blah blah blah…

Happy panicked. 

“Where’s the report I asked last week?”

“Did you submit the manuscript today?”

‘Please… Let me rest for a bit…’ she thought. The workmates who nagged her kept on nagging. It’s her phobia again. This damned phobia always gets the best of her. 

“Could you guys at least give her time? Or else I wouldn’t hesitate to report your negligence to the higher ups.” Chase, her office mate said to the others. Happy looked up at Chase. Her head blanked out for a minute.

“What could you report?” one of the office mates asked, snickering at Chase. 

Chase pointed at one woman who had a red lipstick, “seducing the department manager for more bonuses,” Then Chase pointed at one man, “negligence of work.” 

Both were startled. 

With a ‘humph’, both walked out. The others got a glare from Chase, then they also retreated. 

Happy lowered her head in shame. “Thank you.”

Chase smiled. “It’s okay to have fears, but don’t let them ruin your life.” Chase patted her shoulder and walked away.

She stared at Chase’s back for a while. His words sank in her heart. She clenched her fists. She must conquer this fear !

The following days, she worked diligently. Not missing a single file. Always on time for work. Confident towards her presentation. The buzzing feeling of her phobia gradually went off. Because as soon as she felt her fear rising up again, all she needed was to remember Chase’s words of encouragement.

  1. LESSON TO LEARN

All of us have fears. Some fears are not useful, but some are. By conquering your fear, you’ll achieve a more blissful life. As for Happy, conquering her greatest fear is the best goal to achieve. Not only did she have a good life, but she also had achieved a comfortable life wherein one can do whatever she/he wants.

Views: 118

WHEN THE WORLD TURNS BACK ON YOU

by Roger, posted in Positivity

A. CIRCUMSTANCES

Tom, a bully always picks on the weak. He never listens to his parents. His parents decided to transfer him to a school where he couldn’t go rampant. But will his aggressive nature calm down at a new school?

B. STORY RESOLUTION

Tom smirks as he enters his new school. New environment, new weak students, new bullies. He couldn’t wait for another victim.  As he strode towards his classroom, he spotted a girl wearing glasses looking down on her books. Tom smirks. He found his new victim to bully. 

As soon as class started, Tom looked at his surroundings. There were all kinds of students. A jock, the cheerleader, the nerd girl he saw earlier, the popular group of students, the silent group and the naughty ones. Tom was puzzled. Why didn’t anybody pick at the nerd girl? In his old school, everybody would pick the nerds until they cry. Then he decided. He would make a change at this school! He would bully the weak here and be the king at this school!

Some students approached Tom and made friends with him. Tom felt that they were his match so he didn’t bully them. He made new friends immediately. 

“Hey, why don’t you guys bully that girl?” Tom asked his new friends and pointed at the nerd girl. His new friends looked at one another. 

They were about to answer Tom’s question when the teacher arrived at the classroom. The teacher let Tom introduce himself and then let him sit down at the vacant chair. 

Although out of the class, Tom was eyeing the nerd girl. She was scribbling something in her notebook and occasionally smiling to herself. Being a thirteen year old bully, this behavior triggered the bullying ideas of Tom. 

The class ended, it was time for lunch. Tom went out with his new friends towards the cafeteria. They were laughing and enjoying their lunch when Tom saw the nerd girl entering the cafeteria on her own while hugging a notebook. Tom grinned. 

He looked at his newly found friends and said, “look at what I’m gonna do guys. It’ll be fun.”  His new friends were puzzled but nevertheless, stayed silent and watched his actions. 

The nerd girl sat on a corner. She didn’t order anything from the counter and just directly sat on the table. She once again scribbled something on her notebook. Nobody was paying attention to her. 

Tom sneakily went behind her back. Then suddenly, he grabbed the notebook from the girl and raised his hand so that the girl couldn’t get her notebook. 

The girl shouted in surprise. All the students in the cafeteria looked at the two. Tom smirked.

“Haha! I have your notebook. Whatcha gonna do?” He said teasingly.

“Give! Give!” The girl desperately reached out her hands to get her notebook but Tom was a head taller than her. 

Tom opened the notebook and saw unreadable texts in it. He laughed loudly. 

“What, you can’t write? How old are you? My God, are you stupid?” Tom said laughingly. Whispers started to circulate in the entire cafeteria. 

The nerd girl started to cry. 

“Awe, the stupid started to cry. What a crybaby.” Tom teased and took out his tongue. 

Tom’s friends stood up. “Stop it, Tom!”

Tom looked at his friends, “why? Isn’t it fun to see another cry? And look, she’s so stupid all she could do is cry and scribble.” And Tom smirked. 

The girl’s cry started to get louder and louder. 

“Stop bullying her!” Someone from the other groups said. 

With a ‘heh’, Tom said, “what are you gonna do if I don’t stop?” 

“How cold are you? A mere transferee started bullying a girl on his first day!” A senior student said.

The cries of the nerd girl was heard by the teachers, so the teachers immediately went in the cafeteria. They saw the scenario by themselves. And one of the teachers who came was Tom’s homeroom teacher. 

“What happened to Danielle?” A teacher asked. Another teacher calmed Danielle. 

A student immediately reported to the teacher about what happened. 

“Who’s Tom?” 

Tom raised his hand. He felt that he didn’t need to be felt threatened. So he wasn’t nervous. 

The teacher was serious. “Come with me to the office. Miss Garcia, please call Danielle’s parents.” 

Tom looked at his friends with a smirk but his newly found friends were frowning at him. They turned around and continued eating. Tom was surprised by their behavior. Didn’t they enjoy what happened? 

Once the teacher and Tom were in the office, Tom was immediately scolded by the teacher. But Tom had a poker face. 

 

“So what if I bullied her? It’s not like I can traumatize her. Psh.” 

The teacher was about to say something when a man and a woman entered the office. They were both wearing business clothes. They looked noble. 

“Mr and Mrs Lee please sit down.” the teacher calmly said.

“I thought this wouldn’t happen to my daughter again, Mr Stephan.” the man said. Tom’s heart was beating fast. This was the nerd girl’s parents? 

The teacher bowed slightly as if apologizing. “I am so sorry Mr. lee. It’s a new student that bullied Danielle. I am about to explain her situation to him right now.” 

“Go and explain. I will sue this boy for bullying my daughter. Just let his parents talk with my lawyer.” With a ‘whoosh’, Mrs Lee turned around and left. Only Mr. Lee was in the office.

“We will wait for his public apology.” then Mr. Lee also left, following his wife. 

The teacher looked at Tom. 

“Boy, you probably don’t know but Danielle has Autism and Dyslexia. Her parents carefully placed her here in this school as to protect her from being bullied. She can’t read. She also has a traumatic past about being bullied. And you just triggered her trauma.” the teacher sighed. Tom felt guilty. “Go and tell your parents about the public apology or else your family will be dragged down by you. Mr. and Mrs. Lee is one of the leading businessmen in the industry and probably they won’t let you off.” 

Tom went home trying to escape what he had done in the school. How should he explain this to his parents? He decided he wouldn’t say anything to his parents.

The next day, all Tom could see are the glares from his schoolmates. They haven’t forgotten what he had done yesterday. 

When class was going on, Tom’s parents called the school. Apparently, a warrant of arrest came in stating that Tom should be invited into the precinct. Tom’s parents were fired by their employers and they were sent to the streets. Now Tom really regretted what he had done. 

 

REALIZATION

Life oftentimes is unfair. It might not always be in our favor. Worst,  could drag anyone down into the helpless ground unnoticed. After all, life recompense like the saying that goes “What you give to the world is what you receive from the world.” 

 

Views: 89

WHEN SOMEONE NEARLY BROKE HER HEART

by Roger, posted in Positivity

A. CIRCUMSTANCES

Berated, laughed at, bullied and thrown away by the people around her. Bertha who had a huge birthmark on her face faced humiliation all her life. Her parents didn’t took notice of her everyday life. So, she lived like a clown. At school, she is always  alone because no one would make friends with her.

B. STORY  RESOLUTION

“Look, its Bertha the half. Haha.”

“I bet she still  with Andrew.”

“Like, eww. Does she still think Andrew likes her?”

“Of course not! Everyone knows Andrew just used her for school projects.”

Bertha lowered her head. Yes, she knew that Andrew, her boyfriend, is just using her. But what can she do? Only Andrew took notice of her even if it’s just using her. 

Bertha walked towards the school’s soccer field, where Andrew was practising soccer for a tournament in the upcoming month. She saw Andrew. She smiled lightly and was about to walk up to him when the cheerleader approached Andrew and planted a kiss on his lips. Bertha froze on the spot. Why? She thought. Why did she needed to be so ugly? Just why?! Tears started to stream down her face. She turned around, walking briskly towards the school gate. She wanted to go home. 

Wiping the snot and tears away from her face, she bumped into a person. Bertha fell on the ground but she did not looked up. Tears were still spilling from her eyes. 

“I am so sorry, miss! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Let me check.” The person was genuinely concerned about Bertha. But all she could hear is the disdain brewing inside her head. 

“Please… Just leave me alone…” Her voice was like an angel descended from heaven. And at that moment, the person felt like he needed to help this helpless girl. 

He offered his hand towards Bertha. She was surprised, and she unconsciously looked up. The person was smiling to her. 

“Come on now. Get up, it’s dirty on the floor. A person as pretty as you shouldn’t be crouching like that.” The person said. Bertha was dumbfounded. She? Pretty? Did she heard it correctly? 

“I’m sorry. You must be mistaken. Im ugly. I do not deserve to be praised.” She said in a low voice. 

The person was still smiling. “No matter how big your birthmark is, or how ugly you feel you are, remember, there is always a person who could appreciate your beauty. No matter the race, or how many freckles you have in your face, or how fat you are, somebody will appreciate you.”

As if in a daze, Bertha unconsciously teared up. But she held her tears up. Yes! She shouldn’t be insecure! She’s a beauty. A one of a kind at that. 

The very next day, Bertha didn’t hung her head low. Now, she walked full of confidence. Those who looked down on her, showed a surprised face but still berated her. But that person’s words filled Bertha’s heart. She would be insecure, yes that wouldn’t go away but by remembering that someone has finally acknowledged her, her confidence would shot up. 

And as for that boyfriend of hers, he didn’t deserve her. A man using a girl is as good as a trash.

REALIZATION OF THE STORY

As Bertha thought back at those miserable days where she was in her miserable state, she realized was not how it seemed. Her life must go on. She should enjoy her life, and think positively. Remove all the negative thoughts and do not think about how others think about you. 

Views: 81

MATTHEW 10: 37-42 GOSPEL READING AND REFLECTION (June 28, 2020)

by Roger, posted in Gospel Reading

 

Whoever loves father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me.  And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me, is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life. for my  sake, will find it.

Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes him who sent me. The one who welcomes a prophet, as a prophet, will receive the reward of a prophet; the one who welcomes a just man, because he is a just man; will receive the reward of a just man. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, because he is my disciple, O assures you, he will not go unrewarded.

POINTS OF REFLECTION

This Bible reading showed us that life could in two options. These options could be an earthly life or life in heaven.

Verses 37-39 (1st paragraph) warn us that choosing a life in the light of this world would not lead us any further beyond this life. It falls on the saying that goes “ones soul’s belong where one’s heart belong.” Meaning, life would be in great trouble if we fixed our eyes on this world alone for this world has nothing to offer but temporal life.

Verses 40-42 (2nd paragraph) encourage us to offer our everything to God for a reward will be kept in heaven for us beyond this life. Keeping sight off from oneself is like searching for life unto Jesus. Offering our whole self to him is sharing our lives to others in their struggles with Jesus.

Remember, brothers and sisters life is not better off from Jesus. Heap of rewards  are in heaven in exchange of  doing good  to the least of our fellow.

PRAYER

Lord, let me give of myself completely to you and to the people I love and serve.  Let me not count the cost for loving you and your people for by doing, is reward in itself.

Views: 52

MATTHEW 8: 5-17 GOSPEL READING AND REFLECTION (JUNE 27, 2020)

by Roger, posted in Gospel Reading

When Jesus entered into the Capernaum, an army captain approached him, ask his help, “Sir my servant lies sick at home. He is paralyzed and suffers terribly.”Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” The captain answered, “I am not worthy to have you under my roof, just give an order and my boy will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers. And if I say to one, ‘Go!’ he goes; and if I say to another, ‘Come!’  He comes; and if I say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was astonished; and said to those who were following him, “I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel. I say to you, many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven; but the heirs of the kingdom  will be thrown out into extreme darkness; there, they will wail and grind their teeth.” Then Jesus said to the captain, “Go home now. As you believed, so let it be.” And at that moment, his servant was healed. Jesus went to Peter’s house and found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with fever. He took her by the hand and the fever left her’ she got and began to wait on him. Toward evening, the brought to Jesus many people possessed by evil spirits; and with a word, he drove out the spirits. He also healed all who were sick, In this way, what was said by the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled: He bore our infirmities and took on himself our diseases.

POINTS OF REFLECTION

The encounter of the captain and Jesus was a wonderful encounter of faith culminated with a genuine trust unto him. When the centurion said “my servant lies sick at home paralyzed and suffer terribly” is the same us our lives most especially in this trying time. We need a captain who can facilitate a wonderful encounter of faith to fetch us out of this difficult situation. But wait, who do you think are these captain representative of us now?

Brothers and sisters upon birth, we can be either a servant (boy) or a captain. If by assessment failed to be a servant, then be a captain. Knowledge of our Christian duties and responsibilities is important to be able to align our actions to the will of the Father.

To be a servant is not easy for a servant is the subject of pain and sufferings however, there is no need to worry about because a captain will come to facilitate the greatest encounter of faith unto Jesus. The very least the servant would do is to offer the whole of his life to Jesus for healing. Being the captain, should continue to facilitate meaningful encounter by proclaiming the gospel of the Lord unto the sick majority.

Views: 89

Learning Continuity Plan

by Roger, posted in Education Updates

Running an institution in this new normal situation is not easy. Learning communities serve as the change venues of life to effectively adjust to the new demand emerging from the current situation. Education is  change for the better. The new situation that we have now is not getting any better day after day instead stuck in fear locking down institution and homes for safety.  But for how long we could sustain if we will not do something out of this situation? No matter what, life must go on by just  playing an excellent scape of this difficult situation day after day.

 

As educator, we work for change. A change process that will augment the present status of life into something better. Yes! forcing a dramatic change is not possible at this time but a carefully planned transformational change would matter in a couple of months? or years perhaps? Depending on various adaptations so desired in this new survival set up.

Hence, the Department of Education in her efforts to serve the Filipinos, device the so called Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan to ensure uninterrupted services to our valued client in a safe and secure way  through careful planning   base on research findings and recommendations using the available resources and technology of our learners.  It is our hope and prayers that school stakeholders, internal and external, will  join hands  together  to support  the school Learning Continuity Plan (LCP) to be implemented this coming August 24, 2020.

Presented here is the Learning Continuity Plan  (LCP) of  Mulao National High School for School Year 2020-2021.

 

Hover on top of the LCP cover and click to view…

 LEARNING CONTINUITY PLAN

 

 

Views: 83

PEACE

by Roger, posted in Words To Live By Grace

 

“GO PLACIDLY amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.”      Desiderata (By Max Ehrmann © 1927)

For today’s topic let us talk about PEACE anchored on the first three stanzas of the poem Desiderata by Max Ehrmann.

Peace has been defined by the Merriam- Webster Dictionary as a state of tranquility or quiet, freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions, harmony in personal relations and even used interjectionally to ask for silence or calm or as a greeting of farewell. In this topic, let us define peace in the context of the Max Erhmann’s Desiderata.

Peace is Silence. Peace is the absence of noise. It is the absence of chaos. It is the stillness of things. Nowadays, this kind of peace is something that is difficult to find. We have been constantly bombarded by noise – from the people around us, to the things that we have with us and even the beating of own our heart. Everything around us is noise. They are disturbing us that we are starting to forget the beauty of silence – the beauty of a minute of peace.   And most importantly we forget to listen. It is only in silence that we can hear and listen to what the world is telling us, to what our own heart is telling us and to what the Lord Almighty telling us. It is only in silence that we can achieve the real essence of peace.

Have you listened to the silence? Have you achieved peace?

Here are my five ways to achieve silence and achieve peace:

  1. Be in good terms with yourself.

Accept that you are not perfect. You have flaws and imperfections. You can have mistakes. You have limitations. By accepting this, you can avoid being harsh to yourself. You can accept what you have and what you can’t have. Just simply love yourself a little bit coz nobody else can except you.

  1. Be in good terms with people.

Being in good terms with everybody is as much as possible to treat everyone well. Avoid hurting people. Be courteous. Don’t raise your voice. Control yourself especially your anger. Don’t speak hurting words. Don’t take revenge. Be kind.

  1. Be in good terms with your things.

You have been working hard to have the things that you have now and yet you have seen that a new version is out in the market and yours become old. You want to have the latest fashion, the latest version. These things are stressing you to work more. Why not take good care of the things you have now so that its utility will be maximized.

  1. Be in good terms of your past.

You might not have the most wonderful past. You might have been hurt and broken. You might not have achieved all your plans but then look at you now. You are a product of your past and yet you are given the chance to become better than you in the past. You are in your tracks toward a better version of yourself. So say thank you to the past. Don’t live there. Move on.

  1. Be in good terms with the Lord.

We have the most loving and forgiving God. He knows everything about us. There is  nothing to hide, nothing to own as our own. We are created by God. Everything about us is already written by Him. So no matter what you are now He is just a prayer away. Go back to Him. He has the most unconditional love.

 

Views: 143

MATTHEW 8: 1-4 GOSPEL READING AND REFLECTION (JUNE 26, 2020)

by Roger, posted in Gospel Reading

When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowd followed Him. Then a leper came forward. He knelt before Him and said, ” Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean.” Jesus stretch out His hand, touched him and said, ” I want to, be clean again.” At that very moment, the man was cleansed from his leprosy. Then Jesus said to Him, ” See that you do not tell anyone, but go to a priest, have yourself declared clean, and offer the gift that Moses commanded as evidence for them.

POINTS OF REFLECTION

When the leper said, ” Sir if you want to, you can make me clean.” this was a declaration of a fully trusting heart. It is also an expression of genuine faith unto Jesus. This is also the same trust and faith that move Jesus wanting to clean the leper. It is in the same that led Him to stretch His hands into an act of cleansing the leper. Brothèrs and sisters, our trust and faith would truly touch God’s compassion. His wants and responses of answering our needs and perhaps some of our wants, not inimical to us in search for His kingdom, could be touched by the quality of our faith.

When Jesus said ” go to the priest and have yourself declared clean and do some offerings as Moses had commanded,” encourages us to do our witnessing not in private but in christian assemblies and offer gifts of thanks giving by helping those who are in dire needs just around the community.

Yes! Brothers and sisters faith can move mountain but only when it is truly alive in the display of one’s work.

Views: 51

MATTHEW: 7: 21-29 GOSPEL READING AND REFLECTION (JUNE 25, 2020)

by Roger, posted in Gospel Reading

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord! Lord! will enter the kingdom of heaven, but  the one who  does the will of  my heavenly Father.  Many will say  to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not speak in your name? Did we not cast out devils and perform many miracles in your name?’ Then I will tell them openly, ‘ I have never known you;  away from me, you evil people!’ “Therefore, anyone who  hears these words of mine, and acts according to them, is like a wise man, who built his house on rock, The rain poured down, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house.  But it did not collapse, because it was built on rock, But anyone who hears these words of mine, and does not act accordingly, is like a fool who built his house on sand, The rain poured, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house; it collapsed, and what a terrible collapse that was!” When Jesus had finished this discourse, the crowds were struck by the way he taught, because he taught with authority, unlike their teachers of the law.

POINTS OF REFLECTION

According to St. James, “Show me your the faith without work and I will show you my faith with work.” Brothers and sisters, word is powerful when it hails from the Bible for it is no ordinary word but the word of the Lord.

Word in the human context is usually cheap. It may sounds good but most of the time not because many of these words may not translate into appropriate actions that produces a positive change of a person. Furthermore, spoken words stir up various feelings and emotions but it will remain less in value not until these words  boil down into concrete action and meaningful change into ourselves.

Faith is an imprint of the words from the Bible which gradually shaped our hearts into becoming faithful to the Lord by following the ways of Jesus as the gateway of salvation.

Finally, word in the human context is cheap but the word of the Lord is powerful like a double edged sword that could create a cut in our person being undesirable to Him and to the fellow Christians.

Views: 53