Category: Gospel Reading

After saying this, Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, the hour has come! Give glory to your son, that the son may give glory to you. You have given him power over all humanity, so that he may give eternal life to all those you entrusted to him. For this is eternal life: to know you,  the only true God, and the one you sent, Jesus Christ.  I have glorified you on earth and finished the work that you gave me to do. Now, Father, give me, in your presence, the same glory I had with you before the world began.

I have made your name known to those you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you give them to me, and they keep your word. And now they know that whatever you entrusted to me, is indeed from you. I have given them the teaching I received from you, and they accepted it, and know in truth that I came from you; and they believe that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those who belong to you, and whom you have given to me. Indeed all I have is yours, and all you have is mine; and now they are my glory. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I come to you. Holy Father, keep those you have given me in your name, so that they may be one, as we also are.

POINT OF REFLECTION

When Jesus said “the hour has come!” is a simple declaration that life on earth is all about worries and insecurities. Though Jesus is not for the world, he has come into the feeling of being in the world to show what the world truly gives us. Security in this world is a dream. All gather material riches for security but later realize that no amount of money could buy security.  Life is indeed insecurities in itself. Insecurities corrupt personal trust.  No person in this world has kept a complete trust within. Not even have a complete trust unto him.

Our left hand doesn’t even have a complete trust of our right hand, for any moment, the right might hurt the left unexpectedly. But the reading of today is interestingly on top of this odd. It teaches us how to handle insecurities and to live a life in complete trust to the Lord. Our worldly attachment builds up worries that often weaken our spirit and eventually loosen our connection to the Lord.

Life is better lean to the Lord. The way to do it, is by loosening your grip on the world and tightening unto the Father.   Life is a tale of infinite dependency. If you try to figure it out, God is the on the extremes like a sword that cut  the string of dependency. Trust is simply giving up insecurities and worries of this life for if you do, worrying is planning silently how to die early.  Giving up everything is like giving up the world of insecurities and worries by completely surrendering to the will of the Father as Jesus did.

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MAY 23, 2020

JIHN 16: 23b-28

When the day comes you will not ask me anything. Truly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. So far you have not asked for anything in my name; ask, and receive, that your joy may be full.

I have tough you all these things in veiled language but the time is coming when I shall no longer speak in veiled language, but will speak to you plainly about the Father. When that day comes, you will ask in my name; and it will be necessary for me to ask the Father for you, for the father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and you believed that I came from the Father. As I came from the Father, and I have come into the world, so I am leaving the world, and going to the Father.”

POINT OF REFLECTION

In the beginning, man was born out of sinfulness. No single person at child birth comes with the Holy Bible. No one by birth, becomes Christian unless he/she is born again. A person must be baptize in water the way John the Baptist did and later be baptize by the Holy Spirit as Jesus baptized his disciples and followers. His disciples and followers were made to grow in faith starting from the first level ( familiarity, accommodation and adoption), second level (familiarity, accommodation and adoption), third level and soon with the same process of familiarity, accommodation and adoption) until he/she became a full grown Christian.
In other words being Christian is not a “one shot” transformation. It happens by stages perfected with appropriate processes. Going into a “mad rush” is like a seed sown in a shallow soil on top of a rocky ground, it is quick to sprout but will eventually wither and die under adverse condition.

Even during Jesus time with the disciples, his teaching was organize according to the level of difficulty when he said “ today I taught you with a veiled language, but time will come I shall not speak in veiled language but plainly speak about the Father.” His speaking in veiled language does not mean hiding something from us, instead, waited for the right time for us to be able to respond correctly about the truth of the Father with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

If we believe that there is no single rock left unharmed by the gradual pounding of water droplets from up high then, there would be no single reason for unbeliever to be still with the power of our prayer. When we go for evangelization, pray hard for the one whom you would be evangelizing, for God will make it happen for you.

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MAY 22, 2020

JOHN 16: 20-23

Truly, I say to you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. A woman in childbirth is in distress because her time is at hand. But after the child is born, she no longer remembers her suffering because of her great joy: a human being is born into the world. You feel sorrowful now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice; and no one will take your joy from you. When that day comes you will not ask me anything. Truly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.

POINT OF REFLECTION

The works of evangelization is not easy. Disciples task of carrying out the works of Jesus after crucifixion was very challenging. Mixed emotions were with them when they went out to proclaim the gospel. At the end of the day, success or failure would be a thing. They took neither success nor failure of themselves for they knew that what has been done was the will of the Father. Great was their trust in the Lord that until today, we enjoy the fruits of their labor. The joy of accepting Jesus as our savior.

We become Christian believers of today because of their works from generation to generation. They worked objectively for the kingdom in heaven without faltering their ways amidst trials and difficulties.

Their accomplishment is the standing monument that reminds us how good they were as worker of the vineyard. This should not be put into oblivion even with fast changing time. We need to have a rekindled spirit to sustain Christian dominion all over the world. Salvation is universal. Everyone is called to enjoin through Jesus.

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MAY 21, 2020

JOHN 16:16-20

“A little while, and you will see me no more; and then a little while, you will see me.” Some of the disciples wondered, “What does he mean by ‘a little while, and you will not see me; and then a little while you will see me’? And why did he say, ‘ I go to the Father’?”

And they said to one another, What he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand.”

Jesus knew that they wanted to question him; so he said to them,” You are puzzle because I told you that in a little while you see me no more, and then a little while later you will see me. Truly I say to you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.

POINT OF REFLECTION

The disciples were puzzled when Jesus said “ in a little while you will see me no more, and then a little while later you will see me.” Truly, Jesus physical presence with the disciples took only a while. Yes, Jesus time on earth was flitting too fast unnoticed but just enough for his disciples’ formation.

While He promised them to see him later in a little while, was a plain declaration of passing his works to his disciples.

This was then a harsh reality among them which caused them the test of courage, persistence and faithfulness to willfully do what Jesus had told them to do in his momentary absence.

Though the exact phrase was “ a little while” which signifies a short period in God’s time, does not mean the same with man’s time. God will return in a later time but could mean a century or two for humans. This is for us, Christian followers, a lifetime labor for the promotion of God’s kingdom.

In finality, life is not about man’s advancement on material things but a preparation for the greater glory in heaven.

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MAY 20, 2020

JOHN 16: 12-15

I still have many things to till you, but you cannot hear them now. When he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into the whole truth. For he will not speak of his own authority, but will speak what he hears, and he will tell you about the things which are to come. He will take what is mine and make it known to you; in doing this, he will glorify me. All that the Father has is mine; for this reason, I told you that the spirit will take what is mine, and make it known to you.

POINT OF REFLECTION

The gospel of today is our absolute guide towards discipleship. Believing is about witnessing. No one can be called Christian without professing faith unto Jesus by way of proclaiming God’s word.

The works of the twelve disciples after Jesus crucifixion, were very difficult most especially among Pharisees and unbelievers other than the Jews. The risk was very high and entry discussion seems unproductive. But disciples ,most particularly, St. Paul boldly preach the Good News of salvation with no fear.

According to St. Thomas Aquinas “ truth has nothing to fear”. Disciples continued to do the preaching of the Good News for with them was the Holy Spirit. They have spoken the plain truth for the truth comes from the Holy Spirit. They did not even mind who would respond and who wouldn’t respond to this royal invitation . Jesus had told them, that the Father has chosen His own and that, what the Father has owned is equally owned by the son.

Preaching is searching for those who were out of the right way. It is therefore, a voice on the dessert for redirection unto the Father. The voice was the truth from the Holy Spirit.

Preaching before was physical. Preaching today could be both physical and virtual. The new tenor comes along with the new normal phenomenon by way of technology. Though our time was not their time, the God of yesterday is the same God today and tomorrow.

Preaching today and tomorrow cannot be in the same way as before but the truth will always be the truth throughout the ages with the Holy Spirit. Let us all hold to the fact that the “ the truth has nothing to fear”. Christian obligation is to speak for the truth from the Holy Spirit for the truth will set us free from the bandage slavery because of our sins.

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