pure of heart...

Familiarity breeds contempt. You have heard this saying time and again. Let us reflect on this saying with the Lord.

In the town where Jesus lived, His neighbors were so familiar with Him. They knew His father was a carpenter and they knew that Jesus was one, too.

Thus it was not easy for them to accept the transformation of Jesus- from a carpenter who got paid for practicing his trade, to a prophet who performed miracles for free.

To the people in His town, Jesus was just like any one of them- simple and ordinary. And as such Jesus could not be the prophet, much less be the son of God.

But while Jesus was like all of us in everything, He was not an ordinary mortal. Jesus was sinless. There is something beyond the ordinary in Him- something which His own neighbors failed to see.

What is the difference? It is one word: PURITY. Purity of heart. It is only the pure of heart who can go beyond the ordinary, to see the Divine.

Only the pure of heart can see the work of God in every flower.
Only the pure of heart can see the work of God in the street children.
Only the pure of heart can see God in the simplicity, in the ordinariness, in the routine of day-to-day life.

Without purity of heart, life becomes boring, life becomes burdensome. Life becomes very heavy for us. But if we are blessed with purity of heart, we can look and see that beyond the ordinary is Jesus Christ.

We will ask the Lord today, as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, for this grace- for purity of heart so that we may be able to look beyond the ordinary and see the wonders of God's being.

Let us pray to the Lord for a purity of heart so that we can look beyond the ordinary and see the beauty of God's love for us.

Beyond the ordinary is the love of God made present in all of us.

gossip...

One of our favorite pastimes is gossiping and faultfinding. It is very easy for us to say that the other people are worse than us, that other people are more immoral than us. Some of us even think that other people are more savage than we are...

If you are tempted to consider yourself better than others as to pass judgment on them, let me just ask you a few questions.

The first question is this: Do you know the whole story? Can you read hearts?

Second question: Are you sure that when faced with the same crisis and temptation, you will not fall? Shouldn't you rather be grateful that the same temptation was not yours? Shouldn't you rather humbly tell God that if the same crisis were yours, you would have been a worse case?

Lastly, do you believe in the grace of God? If you do, how come you have closed yourself by passing judgment on others so easily?

If you still believe in the grace of God, you must believe that the worse sinner can still be converted.

Let us pray for one another that God may give us the grace to control our tongues and be compassionate to one another rather than indulge ourselves in the acts of gossiping...

Bless us all!

alive, alive...

Here is another miracle by the Lord. Again, the evangelists are saying that as soon as the miracle was done, the Lord strictly forbade them to tell anybody about it.

Does that strike you? Whenever there is a miracle in the Gospel, it is always followed by the Lord's admonition not to tell anybody about it.

Did you ever wonder why the Lord forbade the benefeciaries of the miracle to tell anyone about it?

It was not due to a false sense of humility. It was not because the Lord said, "It's embarassing" nor " "I might become famous overnight". Neither was the miracle only a private affair between the Lord and the deaf-mute man, as in stated in Mk. 7:31-37, but the healing was a public affair. Everybody saw it performed.

But why did the Lord forbid those who witnessed the miracle to tell anybody about it?
The Lord was afraid of the wrong publicity.

Pleae remember that the people did not follow the Lord's advice. They went right ahead and told people about the miracle. But what the people preached was that the Lord was a healer, a wonder worker and a good speaker.

The Lord did not like that because He came not only to heal, not only to be a wonder worker and not only to be an eloquent speaker to be admired.

The Lord came to make God present in our midst.

The people missed that. They only saw the Lord as a miracle worker and they rushed to Him because of the wonders He performed.

A healing or a miracle is only a means to an end. What is the end? What is the goal? The Lord wants us to realize that the love of God is right here in our midst.

That is why, although healing is important, it is not the most important mission of the Church.
Although preaching is important, it is not the most important mission of the Church.

The most important mission of the Church is to make God present in the world.

May we become witnesses of God's presence in our midst in all the days of our lives!

Blessings to us all...

Padre Pio's incorrupt body!...

Padre Pio, a humble Capuchin priest from San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, was blessed by God in many wonderful and mysterious ways. The most dramatic was the stigmata. Padre Pio bore the wounds of Christ for fifty years!

Among his other gifts were perfume, bilocation, prophecy, conversion, reading of souls, and miraculous cures. People are still being cured through his intercession in ways that cannot be explained by medicine or science.

More important, if less spectacular, are the spiritual healings that take place in all parts of the world! Padre Pio is a powerful intercessor!!

The following quotes of Padre Pio tell how he looked after and loved his spiritual family:
'I love my Spiritual Children as much as my own soul and even more.'
'Once I take a soul on, I also take on their entire family as my spiritual children.'
'To my Spiritual Children, my prayers for you will never be lacking.'
'If one of my spiritual children ever goes astray, I shall leave my flock and seek him out.'

Padre Pio's incorrupt body!
To see him resting so peacefully it's hard to believe that he died 40 years ago!





















Prayer to Padre Pio:

Beloved Padre Pio, today I come to add my prayer to the thousands of prayers offered to you every day by those who love and venerate you in Jesus' name.

They ask for cures and healings, earthly and spiritual blessings, and peace for body and mind. And because of your friendship with the Lord, he heals those you ask to be healed, and forgives those you ask be forgiven in Jesus' name.

Through your visible wounds of the Crucified Jesus, which you bore for 50 years, you were chosen in our time to glorify the crucified Jesus. Because the Cross has been replaced by other symbols, please help us bring back the veneration of the wounds of Jesus Christ, for we acknowledge His Precious Blood as true a sign of salvation, cleansing and purifcation.

As we lovingly recall the wounds that pierced your hands, feet and side, like beloved Jesus Christ, we not only remember the blood He shed as you also shed in pain, along with your smile, and the invisible halo of sweet smelling flowers that surrounded your presence, certainly the Scent of The Lord, symbolic as the perfume of sanctity.

Padre Pio, may the healings of the sick become the testimony that the Lord has invited you to join the holy company of Saints. In your kindness, please help me with my own special request: (mention here your petition, and make the sign of the Cross).
Bless me and my loved ones. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Body of Christ...

Corpus Christi (Latin for Body of Christ) is a Catholic feast in honour of the Holy Eucharist. Within the Roman Catholic Church, the feast is offically known as the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.

The feast is assigned to the Thursday following Trinity Sunday, mirroring Maundy Thursday, the Thursday of Holy Week on which Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper.

In most English-speaking countries, the Feast of Corpus Christi is transferred to the Sunday after Trinity Sunday by the National Episcopal Confrences. At the end of the Mass, it is customary to have a processions of the Blessed Sacrament (often outdoors) followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

Corpus Christi is primarily celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church, but it is also included in the calendar of a few Anglican churches, most notably the Church of England. The feast is also celebrated by some Anglo-Catholic parishes. In Roman Catholic parishes that use the Mass of Paul VI, the feast is known as "the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ".

In the Church of England it is known as "The Day of Thanksgiving for the Institution of Holy Communion (Corpus Christi)" and has the status of a Festival. It is also celebrated by the Old Catholic Church and by some Western Rite Orthodox Christians, and is commemorated in the liturgical calendars of the more Latinized Eastern Catholic Churches.

Seeing Jesus in one another…

As a boy, I had the bad habit of suspecting people wrongly, of accusing them unjustly, of branding them as bad, or putting them to boxes.

My mother detested that kind of attitude. Being fair, she encouraged me to be open-minded and took at the goodness in people.

Whenever I would suspect people, accuse them, or put them in boxes, as a way to stop me, my mother would say, “it takes one to know the other.”

A thief will be angry at his fellow thief. If you are angry at certain people, perhaps you see something of yourself in them. It takes one to know another. In the same way, that it also takes a good person to recognize another good person.

In Luke 9:7-9, Herod the Tetrarch, whom we read in the Gospel, could not recognize Jesus because, indeed, it takes one to know another. It takes another Jesus to know another Jesus.

Herod did not have enough of Jesus in his heart. This is why he could not recognize Jesus even when Jesus came face to face with him. It takes one to know another.

If we are unable to recognize Jesus in one another, could it be because we have not yet discovered Jesus in our hearts?

If we have not yet seen the face of Jesus in one another, could it be because we are not with Jesus?
This is why we cannot recognize Him in one another.

I pray to God that we may have just a little bit of Jesus in our hearts, so we may see Jesus in one another. If only all of us would have Jesus within us, just a little bit of Him, then there would be stronger unity, and life would be much better. Life would be easier, because we would be able to see Jesus in one another.

As you pray for me, please pray for my community here at the canyons of Chama so the monks will not fall into Herod’s situation. So that when Jesus comes in another person, we may recognize Him. Its takes one to know another!

It takes another Jesus to know another.
May we be Jesus for one another!…

Blessings to us all.

unconditional love...

The first thing that comes to my mind whenever I read lines from ancient famous love prose and poetry, is the thornbird.
This simple bird sings a wonderful song only once in its lifetime- before it dies.

When the bird has decided to sing its song, it chooses the best tree and its highest branch and sings its song as beautifully as it can until it breathes its last.

The priests are the second thing that comes to my mind. They could easily choose the married life. They could get employed or probably earn millions. But because of their love for God, they choose to serve Him and no one or nothing else.
They surrender themselves to God by obeying His laws as directed by their superiors.

The third that enters my mind is Jesus Christ. Jesus was like the thornbird with only one song to sing- the song of His love and life. It was the power of love that made Him offer Himself for our salvation. Jesus was ready to sing His song of love and lay down His life for His friends from the start to the end.

The thornbird may miss the chance to sing its song if it gets shot. The priest may choose another path, a married life. But Jesus will never forsake His people as He is always ready to die for them.

Bless us all!

the road to Emmaus...

And behold, two of them went, the same day, to a town which was sixty furlongs from Jerusalem, named Emmaus.

And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that while they talked and reasoned with themselves, Jesus himself also drawing near, went with them.

But their eyes were held, that they should not know him. And he said to them: What are these discourses that you hold one with another as you walk, and are sad?

And the one of them, whose name was Cleophas, answering, said to him: Art thou only a stranger to Jerusalem, and hast not known the things that have been done there in these days?

To whom he said: What things? And they said: Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in work and word before God and all the people; And how our chief priests and princes delivered him to be condemned to death, and crucified him.

But we hoped, that it was he that should have redeemed Israel: and now besides all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. Yea and certain women also of our company affrighted us, who before it was light, were at the sepulchre, And not finding his body, came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, who say that he is alive.

And some of our people went to the sepulchre, and found it so as the women had said, but him they found not. Then he said to them: O foolish, and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken.

Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures, the things that were concerning him. And they drew night to the town, whither they were going: and he made as though he would go farther.

But they constrained him; saying: Stay with us, because it is towards evening, and the day is now far spent. And he went in with them. And it came to pass, whilst he was at table with them, he took bread, and blessed, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him: and he vanished out of their sight.

And they said one to the other: Was not our heart burning within us, whilst he spoke in this way, and opened to us the scriptures? And rising up, the same hour, they went back to Jerusalem: and they found the eleven gathered together, and those that were staying with them, Saying: The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way; and how they knew him in the breaking of the bread.

Luke 24:13-35 (Douay-Rheims Bible)

The groom…

People get married for varied reasons. Nowadays, it is not seldom to come across newspaper ads or online ads of men from different faraway lands looking for wives.

A friend told me that he came across one such ad online which said,
“Looking for: A pretty 30-year old lady, single, to be my wife. She must be a good cook. She must know how to clean the house, wash clothes, and sew. Most of all, she must be rich and must have a house and lot. P.S. It would matter a lot if she can send me a picture of the house and lot.”
That ad is not a marriage. That is business.

Some people enter into marriage because they are financially capable. That is why you come across young couples who say, “I will not get married because I do not have enough money.”

Some people get married to protect their political dynasties in their localities. They make sure they marry somebody who comes from the same political party, otherwise, they destroy the dynasty.

Some people get married in order to solve the problematic situation of pregnancy.
The Lord tells us today that all these reasons for getting married are wrong!

We must enter marriage for only one reason: that we are willing to be united and are willing to be considered one body, one heart, one soul.

It is striking that God compares His relationship to us to a marriage!
In the First Reading from the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord says we are like a pretty girl He has chosen to be His very own.

We are pretty not because of ourselves, but because God made us pretty and beautiful.
But the beautiful reality is this: That God got married to us not for political reasons, not for business deals, not because we are pregnant, not because God wants sex, but because God wants to give Himself to us.

What kind of marriage do we actually have with God?
Why do we go to Church? Is it because going to Church will assure us of blessings? That is called bribery not worship!

We are God’s spouses because we want to give something to God and that gift to God is ourselves.

Are you ready to renew your marriage with God, your Bridegroom?

Complacency…

Complacency is self- satisfaction. It is the kind of self-satisfaction that makes us blind to the deficiencies and dangers in the road of life.

People who are complacent take things for granted. They are happy with their present situation and have no desire for progress. The Lord certainly does not want us to be complacent, to take things for granted, or to be self-satisfied.

How does the Lord deliver us from complacency? How does the Lord deliver us from the blindness of self-satisfaction?
Well, He does it in at least two ways:
In 1Thessalonians 4:1-8, the Lord sent St. Paul to the Thessalonians to warn them against complacency.
Paul said to the Thessalonians, “You were called to holiness. You belong to God. So, live up to your dignity as God’s children.”

God was using St. Paul to put the Thessalonian community in the right place. God was using human beings as a reminder to people not to become too self-satisfied.

When we are complacent, when we take things for granted, when we become negligent, sometimes the Lord sends a friend to remind us of our priorities.

He may send a mother, a father, a friend or somebody else to remind us about what we should do and what we should not do.

But sometimes, He does not send friends to remind us. Sometimes, the Lord does not send parents or relatives who will counsel us.
Sometimes, to prevent us from becoming complacent, the Lord sends or allows crisis to come into our lives.

In the Gospel of Matthew 25:1-13, there is crisis in the lives of the ten virgins or ten bridesmaids. This crisis is caused by the Lord to prevent them from becoming self-satisfied. It is used by the Lord to jolt them and shock them, so they will recover their senses and return to their priorities.

We can all be victims of complacency. Sometimes, the Lord reminds us with a gentle tap onn the shoulder from a friend. Sometimes, the Lord encourages us and delivers us from negligence with the kind of words of a relative or an officemate and friend. But sometimes, the Lord shocks us and jolts us out of our complacency by sending and allowing an illness, a difficulty or a problem.

human passions...

All of us have our own passions. Human passion is a force and energy. The Apostles, St. james and St. John were very passionate men who loved the Lord intensely and wanted to stay as close to Him as possible.

They made sure of this by sitting at His right and left. Unfortunately, their passion was tainted with ambition. The Lord had to purify their passion into pure love without ambition.

Passion is a positive energy. You do not destroy it, but rather, you purify it.The Lord saw it through James. He said, "James, you love me so much which is why you want to sit at my right. Unfortunately, you are ambitious. Let me purify your ambition, but I will not take away your passion."

Do you ever meet people whom you do not quite like?
Could they have a positive passion in them which you feel is tainted with something impure?

The Lord tells us, "Do not throw out people because they have negative characters. Rather, see the positive passion in them, purify it and allow the good to come out."
When the good comes out, we are able to make saints.

St. James was like that. He was passionate, but his passion was tainted with ambition. The Lord purified it and James became a passionate lover.

Let us pray that our passions be purified.

let us pray that we be patient with other's tainted passions.

good and bad...

In Luke 18:10, we learn from the Pharisees how to obey the Commandments.

They tell us how not to steal; how to keep the Sabbath holy; how to fast and sacrifice; and how to pray.

The Pharisees were exemplary in this, and therefore, not condemned for it. But they were condemned for being conceited and proud.

On the other hand, we cannot make the publican or tax collector our model because he was extorting money. His business revolves around extortion. He was dishonest, abusive and did not follow the Commandments.

We cannot certainly follow the publican in this manner.

However, we should follow the publican in his humility. He recognized that he was nothing before God and this pleased God.

Therefore, we see that the Pharisee is not to be completely condemned and the tax collector is not to be completely followed.

There is no one sinful that he could not be forgiven.

There is no one so good that he need not be prayed for.

We all need to be prayed for, as we are all sinners.

There is good in everybody, there is sin in everybody.

Let us pick-up the good, let us forget the bad.

Blessings to us all...

from the heart...

The question that needs to be asked is, "Was not the act of the widow in Mt 12:42 an irresponsible gesture?

The widows was not planning, nor did she have any foresight. The Lord would have understood is she kept the two copper coins in her pocket, and said to Him: "Lord, I am just practical. I have to prepare for tomorrow. I may have nothing to eat."

From our point of view, the widow's gesture was impractical, foolish, and not one from the mind of a smart planner.

But you see my dear friends, brothers and sisters, all our questions are questions of the mind. The reason we do not understand the widow is because her behavior was not one from the mind.

It was one from the heart.

When we do things from the heart, we are not afraid to be crazy and impractical.

When we do things from the heart, we are willing to act extravagantly and without self-consciousness.

When I call the widow's gesture one from the heart, I do not only mean it was a gesture of emotion or feeling. Actions from the heart, are actions from the soul, right within, with or without emotion. That is why the widow was praised.

For the rest of our lives, we will be asked to make decisions.

If we could put more heart, more soul, into our decision-making, and less of analysis, planning and foresight, then we will hear the same blessing , addressed to the widow, addressed to us.

When was the last time we acted , not from the mind, but from a loving heart and soul?

Bless us all...

leave the past...

Last year, the father of a friend of mine died and so my friend requested a vacation leave from his work for a week following his father's burial. But his work manager ordered him to go back and return for work the day after the burial.
Though his boss appeared unfair and inconsiderate, there was much wisdom in his instructions.

The longer we grieve over the death of a loved one, the longer we suffer.

The boss was telling my friend he would find his father alive and with him in his work.

Peter did the same thing when he chose to fish immediately after the Lord died rather than have a nine-day novena. He began to do what he normally did, and in it, discovered God again in the ordinariness of his life.

Perhaps, our trouble is that we linger too much in the past. A happy event takes place, we linger on it. Something sad happens, we linger on it. We live in our yesterdays.

But the Lord is not in yesterdays or tomorrows, but in the present.

If we continue to live in illusions of the past and the fantasies of tomorrow, we will miss the presence of the risen Christ now at the present moment.

Let us start all over again. From the mistakes we have committed, God has forgiven us. Let us leave behind our past pains, hurts and wounds.

There is certainly a gateway to going back to life and be whole again from the brokenness and death of our lives caused by our past hurts, pains from wounds and traumas inflicted to us by our family members or loved ones.

From past sins we have committed, God has forgiven us. So, we must go on and forget the past. Let us trust in the mercy of God and go on with the ordinary things we normally do and we will discover God is there with us and for us.

Blessings to us all...

confrontations...

David committed adultery. David was also responsible for the death of the husband of Bathsheba. The Lord wanted to confront david about the adultery and the murder. The Lord chose Nathan to confront David about his crimes.

It was a difficult task and mission.

Using the story in the first Reading, 2 Sam 12:1-13, Nathan baited David into his trap. David said: "That man should be killed." And as in drama, nathan said: "You are the man!" Immediately, David asked the Lord for repentance. He asked the Lord for forgiveness and pardon.

We are all being called to be like Nathan. When we confront sinners with their sins, it is not enough that we condemn. Look at what Nathan did to David. He condemned the sin of david and yet David never lost in the mercy of God.

The two should always go together. Confrontation against sin with the offer of mercy.

The problem with us is that some of us are so good at confronting sins and when we do so, we tend to be so self righteous that we fail to offer any mercy.

On the other hand, we come across people who are so merciful that they actually tolerate evil and they actually nod at evil. That is not mercy. That is weakness.

Today, let us learn from Nathan. Let us call sin as sin and evil as evil. But when we confront sin and sinners, let us not be wanting in mercy. When we are merciful, let us not be wanting in courage.

Today, we ask the lord for the grace to take courage in confronting sin as sin but also the Lord's mercy so that we may offer the same pardon to those who have sinned.

Jealousy…

Saul and David could have been the best of friends. Both of them were Israelites chosen by God. Both were good and handsome. But Saul and David did not become good friends because Saul was jealous.

So many relationships, friendships, marriages and families, communities (Religious or non-Religious) are destroyed and cannot prosper because of that one vice called jealousy.

Jealousy does not mean suspicion. It means being unhappy when someone is praised or admired and is given recognition. Jealousy means being discontented when other people are contented. Jealousy means being unhappy and sad when other people are more blessed. The reason why the friendship between Saul and David did not prosper was because of jealousy.

Jealousy is actually a sign of selfishness. But more than anything else, jealousy leaves the jealous person miserable. The one who is jealous is insecure, always afraid and will not be able to discover true happiness. David discovered it. Saul failed because of that one vice called jealousy.

When somebody receives attention or a privilege we do not receive, what should our reaction be? Should we say: “Why not me?” But shouldn’t we say: “Thank God for the privilege given to this him or her.” If your first reaction is: “Why not me?” then be warned and be careful. Because you are on the road to unhappiness , you will be miserable because you are a jealous person.

Let us ask God to bless us, and be thankful, and be contented of the blessings we received from Him rather than look at other’s blessings and ask ourselves: “Why not me?”…

Blessings to us all…