Choice

   

  Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

04 September 2022 

 

First Reading: Wis 9:13-18b

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17

Second Reading: Phmn 9-10, 12-17

Gospel: Lk 14:25-33

 

Reflection

By: Grace Madrinan

 

I would be completely lying if I said that I am not taken aback by the Gospel for today especially when I read the first part. "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." I love my family, why would I hate them?

Then I realized that I should not take this to context and focus on the message. Good thing is, the succeeding verses make it clearer, "In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:33)."

God does not say to hate our family. In fact, He said, "Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you (Exodus 20:12)." But if your family is preventing you from doing the right thing, or worst, forcing you to do wrong, then we must choose to follow God.

Did God say renounce all possessions!? At first, it felt as if God was asking us to sell our possessions and live with the poor. But I believe He meant to ask for our loyalty and undivided attention. We must choose God over everything. And we can start with small things. Do we choose to pray before we open our mobile phones in the morning? Do we choose to go to Mass before we go to the mall? Or did we miss Mass because we binge watched on Netflix the night before?

Who says following God is easy? In a world full of distractions, following God requires mindfulness to constantly do the right thing. But like any other relationship, we are given the choice. I hope at the end of the day, we choose to follow God.

"Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that You are the Holy One of God." - John 6:68-69

Prayer

Father God, forgive us for our shortcomings. We are usually distracted by fleeting things. Teach us to constantly look up to You and choose to follow You all the days of our lives. In Jesus' Name, we pray. Amen.

Water Love

4th Sunday In Ordinary Time 31 January 2016

First reading   Jeremiah 1:4-5,17-19

In the days of Josiah, the word of the Lord was addressed to me, saying:

‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;

before you came to birth I consecrated you;

I have appointed you as prophet to the nations.

‘So now brace yourself for action.

Stand up and tell them

all I command you.

Do not be dismayed at their presence,

or in their presence I will make you dismayed.

‘I, for my part, today will make you

into a fortified city,

a pillar of iron,

and a wall of bronze

to confront all this land:

the kings of Judah, its princes,

its priests and the country people.

They will fight against you

but shall not overcome you,

for I am with you to deliver you –

it is the Lord who speaks.’

Psalm                                                                            Psalm 70:1-6,15,17

               

Second reading                                                          1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13

Be ambitious for the higher gifts. And I am going to show you a way that is better than any of them.

  If I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without love, I am simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. If I have the gift of prophecy, understanding all the mysteries there are, and knowing everything, and if I have faith in all its fullness, to move mountains, but without love, then I am nothing at all. If I give away all that I possess, piece by piece, and if I even let them take my body to burn it, but am without love, it will do me no good whatever.

  Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.

  Love does not come to an end. But if there are gifts of prophecy, the time will come when they must fail; or the gift of languages, it will not continue for ever; and knowledge – for this, too, the time will come when it must fail. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophesying is imperfect; but once perfection comes, all imperfect things will disappear. When I was a child, I used to talk like a child, and think like a child, and argue like a child, but now I am a man, all childish ways are put behind me. Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror; but then we shall be seeing face to face. The knowledge that I have now is imperfect; but then I shall know as fully as I am known.

  In short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love.

Gospel                                                                       Luke 4:21-30

Jesus began to speak in the synagogue: ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’ And he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips They said, ‘This is Joseph’s son, surely?’

  But he replied, ‘No doubt you will quote me the saying, “Physician, heal yourself” and tell me, “We have heard all that happened in Capernaum, do the same here in your own countryside.”’ And he went on, ‘I tell you solemnly, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country.

  ‘There were many widows in Israel, I can assure you, in Elijah’s day, when heaven remained shut for three years and six months and a great famine raged throughout the land, but Elijah was not sent to any one of these: he was sent to a widow at Zarephath, a Sidonian town. And in the prophet Elisha’s time there were many lepers in Israel, but none of these was cured, except the Syrian, Naaman.’

  When they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of the town; and they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him down the cliff, but he slipped through the crowd and walked away.

Reflection

By Anabelle Payod-Balla

There is a saying that "Familiarity breeds contempt." But let me add, "only if we allow it." We have also heard this line before, "The grass in greener on the other side." But there is a new version of this that says, "The grass is greener where you water it."

It is what we think and what we do that determines the outcome.

Why was Jesus not accepted in His home town? Is it because of His background as son of a carpenter? Or it is because of people's perspective of Him? The people have chosen to look at Him as a son of a carpenter rather than Someone who heals the sick, who casts out demons, who makes the blind see and the lame walk.

I remember the beautiful sermon from the wedding I recently attended. It was said that in marriage, what matters is not the love that the couple found in each other, but how much love they put into their relationship each day.

We need to water love to make it grow. It will not grow in itself. Same with faith, we need to feed it to make it grow stronger. We can also get to know better our loved ones, be more familiar with them and grow our love for them, not hate them. We can deepen our knowledge of God and the more we know Him, the more we can love Him.

We have a choice to love, to water love.

Prayer

Father, thank You for giving us the freedom to choose. Help us to choose wisely. To love more, to strengthen our faith, to get to know You better and to stay close to You always. In Jesus' Name, we pray. Amen.

Choose Me

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time Sept 28
First reading                                        Ezekiel 18:25-28
The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘You object, “What the Lord does is unjust.” Listen, you House of Israel: is what I do unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust? When the upright man renounces his integrity to commit sin and dies because of this, he dies because of the evil that he himself has committed. When the sinner renounces sin to become law-abiding and honest, he deserves to live. He has chosen to renounce all his previous sins; he shall certainly live; he shall not die.’

Psalm                                                Psalm 24:4-9

Second reading                               Philippians 2:1-11

If our life in Christ means anything to you, if love can persuade at all, or the Spirit that we
have in common, or any tenderness and sympathy, then be united in your convictions and 
united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind. That is the one thing 
which would make me completely happy. There must be no competition among you, no 
conceit; but everybody is to be self-effacing. Always consider the other person to be better 
than yourself, So that nobody thinks of his own interests first but everybody thinks of other 
people’s interests instead. In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus:

His state was divine,
yet he did not cling
to his equality with God
but emptied himself
to assume the condition of a slave,
and became as men are;
and being as all men are,
he was humbler yet,
even to accepting death,
death on a cross.
But God raised him high
and gave him the name
which is above all other names
so that all beings in the heavens,
on earth and in the underworld,
should bend the knee at the name of Jesus
and that every tongue should acclaim
Jesus Christ as Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

  

Avoid anything in your everyday lives that would be unworthy of the gospel of Christ.

.

Gospel                                          Matthew 21:28-32

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people, ‘What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He went and said to the first, “My boy, you go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not go,” but afterwards thought better of it and went. The man then went and said the same thing to the second who answered, “Certainly, sir,” but did not go. Which of the two did the father’s will?’ ‘The first’ they said. Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you, a pattern of true righteousness, but you did not believe him, and yet the tax collectors and prostitutes did. Even after seeing that, you refused to think better of it and believe in him.’

Reflection

By Theresa Ballo

What would you rather choose, to be right than happy or to be happy than right?

This question was posed in one of my meetings with my Care Group (a weekly support group). Without a blink I answered, being right than happy. It was never easy making that choice. I guess it was just how I was raised. It resulted to a number of disadvantages and advantages, to rock bottom nights and silver linings. However, there were instances too in life when decisions have to be made right away. In which, most of the time, I made careless mistakes. More so, when I chose not to mind the consequences of my actions and guilt creeps in afterwards, I feel shame when talking to God or even receiving Jesus in Holy Communion.

Aside from change, making a choice is also one of the constant realities in life.  The Gospel for today, talks about these two beautiful words, change and choice. Jesus tells a story of two imperfect sons to show the way of God’s kingdom. The “rebellious” son told his father that he would not work for him. Yet afterwards, changed his mind and did what the father commanded him. The “good” son said he would work for his father, but didn't carry through. Now, is one of them a good son? A choice was made in the story, a change of heart from sinfulness to righteousness and from righteousness to sinfulness. Jesus gives us a clear reminder, good intentions are not enough. Likewise, promises don’t count unless they are performed.

Thus repentance matters, the first reading mentioned that when someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies, it is because of his iniquity that he must die. But if he turns away from wickedness and do what is right and just, he shall be saved. The road to holiness is a continuing process. God doesn't want it to end to low note when you have received Him already in the first place. That after a couple of misfortunes, drowned themselves to bottomless pit, feels unworthy and turned their back to God’s grace. Better are the worst sinners, represented in the Gospel by tax collectors and prostitutes, who after acknowledging their sinfulness and receiving Jesus as savior, resolve to live new and transform to become witnesses.

Salvation is a daily walk with God. Actions always speak louder than words. It is with God where we can find the greatest treasure in humanity – peace, joy and life with Him in His kingdom. Receive the bountiful grace He offers. Choose to live by the truth, choose Jesus, and you will be happy.

Prayer

Lord Jesus,

Open my heart to receive You in my life. Change my toxic thoughts that I may only desire those that are pleasing to You. Give me courage so I can respect and choose to follow Your will and  empower my spirit with joy and perseverance to carry it out wholeheartedly. For all that has been Lord and for all that will be, I thank you Lord. Amen.