Jan 1, 2019 | Daily Devotions
Numbers 6, Galatians 4, Luke 2.16-2
This is how God wants you to be blessed this year, ‘May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace’. May you receive the Good news like the shepherds that watched sheep by night. I call upon the name of Lord upon you and your family for a special blessing.
The appointed time has come, the time for your freedom, victory, success, transformation, perfection, healing, salvation, consolation, comforting, fruitfulness and greatness. I declare it a year of joy, peace, love, strength and testimonies in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
Happy New Year to you and your family!
Dec 23, 2018 | Homily
Sunday of the Fourth Week of Advent, Yr. C, Lk.1:39-45-45
“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” Luke 1:45.
God chooses the poor and the weak to fulfill his plan. In the first reading, Micah tells us that the Lord will behave just as he always did. He will not have the Savor of the world come from a great city like Jerusalem, but from a small village, Bethlehem. He will not be from a rich powerful family, but from a poor one, just as with David at the beginning of the kingdom.
The gospel shows how this prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus, the son of Mary. She, too, is of the poor, one of those who goes unnoticed by others. The second reading invites us to be ready and obedient as Jesus was so that God can manifest his love through our weakness.
On this Sunday, therefore, we are given our Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph to reflect upon. Though Mary was perfect and Joseph was a deeply virtuous man, they were fully human. He walked through Mary’s pregnancy and Jesus’ birth with every human emotion and experience.
Joseph was faced with an extraordinary mystery as he discovered his wife was pregnant. He knew her to be a woman of exceptional virtue and holiness. This made Joseph, however, reconciled with her surprise pregnancy. In his predicament and situation, the angel appeared to him in a dream, he accepted the angel’s message without questioning.
On the other hand, Mary was also invited by God to face her pregnancy in faith. Her perfect response was “Let it be done to me according to your word.” She could not explain nor understand what was happening but, nonetheless, she knew deep in her soul that God was in charge leading all things to his glory.
Hence, both Mary and Joseph are wonderful models of faith and obedience to imitate and follow. They were obedient to the will of God despite that God’s will drew them into an incredible and unfathomable mystery. They were first-hand witnesses to the salvation of the world, the greatest act ever known.
Above all, they both embraced this mystery and accepted it in faith. We ask Mary and Joseph to pray for us that we may have the faith they both lived and help us to respond generously to God and trust in all that God had spoken and will speak to us just as they did through Christ our Lord, Amen.
“YOU ARE THE LIGHT”
Dec 17, 2018 | Daily Devotions
Matt 1.1-7
Looking at the family root or the genealogy of Jesus Christ, two or more things are obvious. This is the genealogy of the Son of God, yet it was not a perfect family root; in this lineage we see Solomon, the son of David’s wife whose husband he killed after committing adultery with her.
We see Obed, whose mother Ruth had to use seduction of Boaz to enter into the lineage. Again, we see the greatest of people, Solomon is still considered the wisest king ever, David is still regarded as the greatest king of Israel and the giant killer.
There are pros and cons in the genealogy, yet Jesus came through that imperfect and crooked genealogy. There are people who are still blaming their forefathers, their family roots, family foundations, etc.
No matter how wrong or right you are, you must know that there’s no family with perfect root. By faith and hard work, you can change the history and story of your family. By encouraging your family members and supporting instead of fighting each others, you can raise giant killers and wise rulers.
Stop blaming your family root, you are rooted in Christ, you have the One Who purifies all that is impure. Without faith and character, no amount of family liberation and healing of root can save you.
You must be rooted in Christ, be positive and encourage and support your family, then, the Lord of all powers and mights will raise, heal, and liberate you in His love and power through Christ our Lord.
A CHRISTIAN IS NOT AN ORDINARY PERSON.
Dec 15, 2018 | Daily Devotions
Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11. Matthew 17:9-13
Have you ever asked for something in prayer, you have no enough patience to wait and even when it is granted; you fail to understand or know that your request has been granted? This is the is the situation in the Gospel. The Israelite had waited for the Messiah, but when He showed up only very few could recognize Him. They also failed to recognize his Precursor, John the Baptist, hence they did not see the connection between him and Elijah. WHEN WE EXPECT GOD TO ACT IN A PARTICULAR WAY, WE TEND TO LIMIT THE MIGHT OF OUR GOD. BUT GOD CANNOT BE LIMITED. HE IS A GOD OF SURPRISES.
We are called to persevere and keep trusting in the promises of our God. Perseverance is the refusal to quit trusting God no matter what the condition or what you are passing through. DO NOT LOOSE HOPE, YOUR MIRACLE IS ON THE WAY. May God help us to always trust Him even when it seems meaningless to do so.
A CHRISTIAN IS NOT AN ORDINARY PERSON.
Dec 14, 2018 | Daily Devotions
Isaiah 48:17-19. Matthew 11:16-19
Jesus berates the crowds listening to Him about their non-commitment to His message nor to that of John the Baptist. Thus, they denied themselves the messages of salvation that the Saviour has brought and shutting themselves out of the kingdom. The failure of the crowds to accept the teachings of Jesus was partly because of their conception of Jesus. They see Him as a mere prophet, who came eating and drinking with sinners. They have no spiritual eyes to see that Jesus is more than a mere prophet. We also fall into the same mistake sometimes by what we see in others and say about them. Some people see nothing good in others no matter what. Some people see good in others but call it bad, some people see good but will never admit it because of pride and selfishness. The verdict of Jesus on our own generation will even be more startling. We are a generation that have made progress in all aspects of life, in sciences and technology; but we have not made the same progress in spiritual matters. We have reduced everything to the level of competing with God. We are now devising means and policies of changing the eternal moral laws to suit ourselves and our lifestyles. INDEED, WE ARE A GENERATION HEADING FOR DESTRUCTION CREATED BY OURSELVES. Let us ask St. John of the Cross whose feast we celebrate today to intercede for us and help us to make a radical U-TURN in following Jesus as he did in reforming the Carmelite Order during his time in Spain. He is also considered one of the great mystics of the Church and known for his writings. May God give us the grace to see and appreciate the good in others. Amen. God bless you and enjoy your weekend*.
A CHRISTIAN IS NOT AN ORDINARY PERSON.
