Ginintuang Jubileo

Homily of Most. Rev. Archbp. Luis Antonio G. Tagle, D.D., S.T.D. during the Golden Jubilee Mass of the Diocese of Imus at Imus Cathedral.


Nahipan na po ang tambuli, nabuksan na ang banal na pintuan.
Mga minamahal na kapatid sa Diyosesis ng Imus,

Ginintuang Jubileo na nga.

Mapalad ang mga mata natin, nakita natin ang oras na ito.
Mapalad ang ating mga tainga, naririnig natin ang mga himig, ang mga panalangin, ang kampana.
Mapalad ang ating mga katawan, nadarama ang presensya ng libu-libong tao na ibig salubungin ang bagong araw na ito.

Mga kapatid, lalo na po doon sa mejo may kalayuan na hindi makaupo, "nakikita nio ba kami?", "nararamdaman nyo ba si Jesukristo? "

people: "Yes"

Jubilee na nga...

Aaminin ko po sa inyo, hindi ko po alam kung ano ang laman ng aking isip at kalooban, kaya pasensya na ho kayo kung parang walang magiging direksyon ang aking pagbabahagi.


Limampung taon bilang diyosesis, parang napakaikli kung ikukumpara sa napakalawak na kasaysayan ng Cavite at ng pagdating ng pananampalataya kay Kristo dito sa ating lalawigan. Kaya hindi po natin dapat ilayo at ihiwalay ang limampung taong ito sa mas malawak na kasaysayan ng pag-asa, pighati, pakikibaka at tagumpay ng ating mga ninuna sa pananampalataya at mga ninuno dito sa pagiging makabayan.

Wala ang limampung taong ito kung huhugutin ito ng walang kaugnayan sa mahigit 400 taon ng pagsibol, pagunlad, at pamumunga ng pananampalatayang kristyano dito sa pinagpalang bayan ng Cavite.

At ayon po sa unang pagbasa, Tuwing 50 taon sa kostumbre ng mga hudyo, hinihipan ang tambuli upang maging hudyat na taon na ng paglaya.
Paglaya sa kaalipinan.
Paglaya sa kasalanan.

Kaya nga ito'y taon ng Panginoon, dahil lahat ng sumisiil sa buhay at sa pagkatao ay pinupuksa sa pagbabagong loob, sa pagbabalik sa panginoon. At pag bumabalik ka sa panginoon,
babalik ka sa kapwa,
babalik ka sa mga dukha,
babalik ka sa kapos palad,
babalik ka sa lipunan,
babalik ka sa kalikasan.
Upang ang lahat, sabi ng ikalawang pagbasa, ay mapag-isa sa panginoon. Hindi na hati-hati, hindi kanya-kanya, napalaya na, kaya ang kabutihan, ang Diyos, ang pag-ibig ang namamayani kya magiging isa ang lahat.


Sa atin pong pagtanaw sa ating kahapong kay yaman, napakarami po tayong nakitang magagandang bagay na ginawa ng diyos at ng ating kapwa at nakita rin natin kung saan tayo kailangan pang lumaya. Ang mga bagay na kailangan nating ihingi ng tawad. At itong taon ng Jubileo, lalo na po sa pagbibigay sa atin, sa mga piling simbahan, ng plenary indulgence,
 kung tayo po ay magsisisi,
kung tayo po ay mangungumpisal,
kung tayo ay magdarasal,
talagang lalaya tayo.

Biruin ninyo kung ang kulang-kulang 3 milyong katoliko dito sa Cavite, sa buong taong ito ay magiging malaya sa kasalanan at mangangako na isasabuhay ang diwa ng Jubileo, ang Cavite ay magiging paraiso. Bababa ang langit, nandito na sa Cavite. Tunay nga na ang pananahan ng Diyos ay matatagpuan natin dito sa ating mga bayan kung tunay tayong mgpapalaya sa Diyos sa taon ng Jubileo.


Pero ang Jubileo po ay hindi lamang pagbilang ng taon.

Sa ebanghelyo, nakita natin si Hesus, puspos ng Espiritu Santo, taga Nazareth.

Isang bayang maliit at minamaliit. Siguro ho ay nakita nio sa ebanghelo ng sinabihan si Nathanael na "nakita na namin ang mesiyas"
"sino?" ika niya,
"Si Hesus na taga Nazareth", ang sagot agad ni Nathanael ay, "Mayroon bang mabuting manggagaling sa Nazareth?"


..............
.............


Anong mabuting manggagaling sa Nazareth?

Subalit doon, babae na taga-Nazareth at sa kanyang anak ibinuhos ng lubus-lubusan ang Espiritu Santo at siya si Hesus ang naging Jubileo.

Ang Jubileo ay hindi lamang taon sa kalendaryo, para sa atin, siya ay ang buhay na panginoon, Siya na nagsabi, "Ang Espiritu ay nasa akin" kaya magdadala ako ng mabuting balita sa mga dukha,
paglaya sa mga bihag,
at taon ng pagpapala na nagmumula sa Diyos.

Sa landas ni Hesus matatagpuan ang Jubileo.
Si Hesus po ang ating daan, sagisag ng "pinto" na ating daraanan.
Siya ang daan patungo sa buhay,
Siya ang daan patungo sa katotohanan,
Siya ang ating kalayaan.

Kaya po ang taon na ito ay hindi magiging ganap na Jubileo kung hindi po tayo, bilang isang Diyosesis, bilang isang probinsya ng Cavite, ay muli, muli't muling tatahak sa kanya,
papasukin siya,
papasukin ang kanyang isip, puso at pagkatao,
papasukin ang kanyang Espiritu,
papasukin ang kanyang misyon.
At lahat tayo ay magiging daan ng paglaya.


Sa pagdaan po natin sa landas na si Hesus, tayo'y magkakarakol, sa tulong ng mahal na ina na napuspos din ng Espiritu Santo at nagsilang kay Hesus na Jubileo. Si Hesus na nagsabing, "Lahat ng ito'y natutupad sa pakikinig ninyo sa akin",
ang babaeng ito ng Jubileo,
ang babaeng nagsilang kay Hesus,
ang ating ina.

Hindi po tayo maliligaw ng landas kung tayo lamang po ay magsasabuhay ng tunay na diwa ng Jubileo.

Lalaya ang mga bihag.
Ang dukha, makakarinig ng mabuting balita mula sa pusong malaya na umibig tulad ni Hesus.


Mga kapatid,
Ang tambuli ay nahipan na, tayo po ay mag-KaRaKol, masaya, masigla, JUBILEO na.

He is No Longer Ours

"We must accept the fact that at this very moment he is no longer ours."

Ito na yata ang isa sa pinakamalungkot na narinig ko ngayon na may kaugnayan sa pag-alis ni Bishop Chito sa diocese of Imus bilang tugon sa itinalagang bagong tungkulin sa kanya ng simbahan bilang Archbishop ng Archdiocese of Manila.

Masaya kaming mga cavitenio pra sa aming mahal na obispo, pero kasabay nito ang lungkot na amin ding ndama dahil siya ay aalis na sa aming diocese. 

Next month mgcecelebrate ang diocese of Imus ng kanyang Ginintuang Jubileo, 50 taong anibersaryo ng Imus bilang isang Diyosesis. Ang tema ay, "Tena't Mag- Ka-Ra-Kol" Ka-hapong kay yaman ating gunitain, Ra-dikal na pagsunod kay Kristo, Kol-ektibong pagkilos. Konseptong binuo at pinlano kasama si Bishop Chito. Mula pa nuong 2009 pinaghahandaan na ang dakilang jubileo ayon sa nasabing tema. Pero ngayon na isang buwan nalang ang nalalabi pra sa pinakahihintay na araw, opisyal na inannounce mula sa Vatican ang pghirang sa aming Obispo bilang bagong arsobispo ng Maynila. 

Hindi inaasahan ang mabili na paganunsyo ng balita. Kung kelan sasapit ang panahon ng pagsasaya, saka naman ibabalita na kami ay mawawalan ng obispo. Madami ang nagsabi, "Sana sa susunod na buwan o taon nalang". Pero galing nadin mismo kay bishop Chito, "Iba kumilos ang panginoon", our ways are not His ways. Sabi nga ng isang pari matapos silang ipatawag ni bishop the day after the announcement, "kung tayo nalulungkot, c bishop napahagulgol". 

Hindi naging madali sa kanya ang pagtanggap sa tungkulin, alam niyang ito ay napakalaking responsibilidad pero dahil sa pagmamahal niya sa Diyos at sa simbahan, tinaggap niya ito. Sa buong Diyosesis ng Imus na kanyang minahal at pinaglingkuran, matuwa tayo para sa kanya, ibahagi natin siya sa iba dahil malaki ang misyon niya sa simbahan. 

Paano magdiriwang sa ganap na katuwaan ang Diyosesis kung alam nating tayo ay lilisanin ng pinakamamahal nating obispo? yan ang tanong na tanging pagtitiwala sa Diyos lamang ang makakasagot. Tunay ngang bishop Chito is no longer ours.

Ngayong Archbishop na siya hindi malayo na magiging Cardinal siya, at pag nangyari iyon my posibilidad na siya ay maging Santo Papa, hindi ko sinasabing magkakatoo yan pero kung iisipin natin, Bishop Chito is the best candidate to papacy that the Philippines has to offer. Isipin nalang natin bilang isang Diyosesis na ibinigigay natin sa Maynila, sa Pilipinas at sa buong mundo ang the best bishop.

Sa kabila ng ligaya at lungkot, DIYOSESIS NG IMUS, MAGBUNYI KA!

Dominus Est

"Pope names Tagle as new Manila Archbishop"

Yan ang unang linyang nabasa ko ng mgopen ako ng facebook ngayong gabi (Oct. 13). Balitang hindi naman nakakagulat dahil ilang linggo nang my kumakalat na usapin tungkol sa nasabing balita. Unang reaction na nasabi ko, "Ah, inannounce na pla officially". Pero ang hindi ko inasahan ay mabilis itong nagkatotoo. Inasahan ko na lalabas ang balita matapos ang Golden Jubilee celebration. 

Ilang linggo na din nung una akong malungkot ng marinig ang balita, pero ngayon mas malungkot dahil totoo na ito. Pero bakit nga ba nakakaramdam ng pagkalungkot ang isang tulad ko kaysa sa magsaya? Malamang hindi lng nmn ako ang ma mixed emotion sa balita na yan, marami ding iba lalo na sa mga taga Cavite, mula sa mga kaparian hanggang sa mga layko na nakasaksi sa kanyang galing at kababaang loob sa kabila ng kanyang katanyagan. Prang nawalan ng kinagisnang ama ang buong diyosesis, pero kalakip nito ang pagtitiwala sa plano ng Diyos para sa ky bishop at pra sa buong lalawigan.

Isang malaking hamon at katungkulan ang ibinigay ngayon sa kanya ng Santo Papa at ng simbahan, pero alam nating lahat na sa kanyang pagmamahal at pagtitiwala sa Diyos makakaya niya ito.

Kung titignan mo ang kanyang credentials, talaga namang kahanga-hanga ang taong ito. Pero sa kabila ng lahat ng yan, makikita mo sa kanya ang kanyang kababaang loob, pagkamasayahin, pagiging malapit sa mga tao at mdarama mo ang kanyang pagmamahal sa simbahan. "Dominus Est", yan ang motto ni bishop Chito, nagpapakita na ang kanyang mga natamo ay kinikilala nia bilang biyayang dahil sa Diyos at galing sa Diyos. Ang Diyos ay talagang hinahayaan niyang kumilos sa kanyang buhay, kaya naman marami ang nabibighani kapag siya ay nagsasalita na at natutuklasan ng marami ang ganda ng salita ng Diyos. Sa kanyang pagiging arsobispo, mas marami ang mkakapakinig sa kanya at mas marami ang mapapalapit sa Diyos dahil sa kanya.

Sa iyong pag-alis sa Diyosesis na iyong minahal at pinaglingkuran, baunin mo ang panalangin at suporta ng sambayanan ng Diyosesis ng Imus para sa iyong bagong tungkulin. Alam naman ng lahat na mas malaki at mas malawak pa ang iyong gagampanang misyon sa simbahan.Gabayan ka nawa ng Espiritu Santo sa lahat ng iyong gagawin. 

Damhin mo at baunin ang pagmamahal ng buong sambayanan na iyo ding minahal.

Tulad mo masabi din nawa naming, "It is the Lord!"

Happy TEACHER's Day

Happy World TEACHER's day...

Sa araw na ito nais ko pong magpasalamat sa mga taong my espesyal na lugar sa aking puso. Ang mga taong naghasa at nagbigay ng napakaraming kaalaman sa aking isipan. Mga taong nagpadama sa akin na pwede akong pagkatiwalaan. Mga taong naniwla sa aking kakayahan.

Isang kahanga hangang propesyon ang pagiging guro. Hindi matatawaran ang kanilang naiaambag sa buhay ng isang mag-aaral. Lahat ng kanilang itinuturo mula sa pinakamaliit na detalye hanggang sa pinaka malaki ay may mahalagang bahaging ginagampanan sa paglinang sa isip ng bawat mag-aaral. Ang pagiging guro na ata ang isa pinakamahalagang propesyon na mayroon ang ating mundo. Isipin nlng natin kung wala sila? Sino nalang ang magtuturo sa atin? Paano natin mararating ang ating mga pangarap kung wala ang mga guro.

Minsan, nagagalit man tayo sa kanila dahil sa mga pinapagawa nila sa atin pti na ang paraan nila ng pagdidisiplina, darating ang panahon na malalaman natin na tama sila at maiintindihan natin kung bakit nila tun ginagawa.

Para sa akin ang pagiging guro ay hindi lamang propesyon kundi isang bokasyon. Dahil sa mga guro ibinigay ng Diyos ang katungkulang hubugin ang bawat magaaral upang pagdating ng panahon maisakatuparan ng bawat tao ang kanya kanya nating tungkulin ayon sa plano ng Diyos.

Marami p ako gusto sabihin pero jan nlng muna... :)

Isang pagsaludo at maligayang pagbati pra sa aking mga guro,

Ms. Jeanny Garcia
Ms. Emilyn Donor
Mr. Richard Arocha
Mr. Ryan Castillo
Ms. Deb Nuque
Ms. Rocelle Uriarte
Mr. Ramil Espiritu
Mr. Cris Espiritu
Mr. Bantados
Sir Bunag
Ms. Sophia Poblete
Mr. Roby Sardon
Mr. E. Barco
Mr. Tamaca
Mr. Maderal
Ms. Bautista
Mr. Samac

at ang pinaka pinanghihinayangan ko dahil hindi ko xa nging teacher.. haha
Titser Allen Saraza

Pati na rin sa mdami ko pang naging guro na hindi ko naisulat at sa mga guro sa buong mundo..
Maraming Salamat sa inyo!!!!
Happy Teacher's Day po sa inyong lahat.



May the Lord bless you with so much joy in teaching and give you more knowledge to share. May all of the teachers in the world imitate Jesus as a teacher who always teach with love and always believe on the capacity and skills of His students.


With Love,

Ash

Hope in God

If we look at a dictionary the word HOPE means:"to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence."

Most of the time, we are hoping for positive things to happen. Like passing an exam, winning on a raffle, for a good relationship and many things that we desire.

But hope in God is not as easy as hope in other things. And most of the time we misuse this word by using the word hope instead of 'wish' or a mere human desire.

In hoping, God must be our focus. We hope in God and we depend on God who is faithful and whose promises are true. The problem is, in the bible this god who promises makes absurd promises. This God who is dependable and who is the focus of our hope promises a lot. But the promises of God are quite absurd and ridiculous.

For example, his promise to Noah, to build an ark, gather pairs of animals and the humanity will start again in you. Another example is his promise to Abraham, God said that He will be the father of a multitudes of nation. How absurd. Why? because Abraham and Sarah in their old age doesn't have even a child. After Sarah gave birth the Lord asks them to offer their son. What an absurd request. But they still trust and believe in God's promises.

They follow everything God said, Why? because they trusted the one making the promise even of the promise looks absurd. That must be our attitude to God. Even His promises looks absurd, I will abide because You said so. I don't look at the absurd content of what you are saying, I am looking at You, the one making the promise.

Only a person of Hope can say YES in an absurd promises. Only a person of Hope can say "I go beyond  promises because there I see God. And it is God that I am holding on to not just the content of His promise."

Hope is real when found in God.

And so, what is the foundation of hope?
Faith in God.

A person who does not have faith in God will not have real hope because the object of hope is God.
A person who has deep faith in God will not loose his/her focus on God no matter what happens.

Let Jesus be our example, let us learn to his sacrifice and self giving by hoping and trusting to the will of the father even if the cost is his own life.

"Let Your will be done, not mine"




God Loves You.

Ash

Ugaliin ang Sumamba sa Diyos

I have read something earlier that somehow makes me think about those people saying that they don't have a God or they do not believe in god, agnostics or maybe atheists.
I cannot imagine how those kinds of conclusion came into their mind. Are they living with a family without religion? Or its just that they hate the church so much?

I am very thankful that I have seen a video that somehow enlightens me.

It says:

Sabi ng isang kanta: "Puso kahit hindi turuan, matututunan din ang magmahal"
ang sabi ko naman, "Puso kahit hindi turuan, hinahanap din ang sumamba".

Kahit ang mga taong indeperente sa relihiyon o nagpapanggap na wala silang pinaniniwalaang Diyos ay may nararamdamang udyok sa puso para sumamba.

Nilalang tayong lahat na may pagnanais na makaugnay ang dakilang Diyos.

Balewalain man natin ang pagnanais na ito, hindi maitatangging hinahanap natin ang Diyos, ang nakahihigit sa atin, upang makalaya tayo sa kakitiran at karupukan ng buhay sa lupa.

Subalit sa ating panahon, mayroon tayong bagong kinamimihasnan.
Una, ang pagsamba sa maling diyos tulad ng pera, cellphone, katanyagan, karangyaan, pasarap sa sarili, bisyo at iba pang huwad na diyos. Subalit lalong gumugulo ang kalooban sa pagsamba sa diyos-diyosan.

Ikalawa, para magmukhang moderno at progresibo, umiiwas sumamba sa diyos. 'Corny eh', 'makaluma', 'scientific', 'conservative daw ang pagsamba'. Subalit ang pagsamba sa Diyos ay kaganapan ng ating pagkatao.

Iwaksi na ang yabang, huwag mahiyang sumamba sa tunay na diyos.

manalangin tayo,

O Diyos turuan mo kaming sumamba sa iyo, sambahin nawa ang ngalan mong dakila. Amen

- † Most Rev. Luis Antonio G. Tagle, DD, STD
   Bishop of Imus
   Kape't Pandasal episode on Sept. 20, 2011

A Search for God

Where is the best place to find God?

This last weekend, I went to a retreat house for an individual retreat. I went there alone bringing my clothes with me and other things for my personal hygiene. I left my home, I left my common world behind to find a place where I can find peace and silence. To spend time in prayer, to know God more and to discover my purpose and my vocation. 

When I came there, I was welcomed by some friendly nuns. I thought it was Jesus welcoming me in his sanctuary. I love the place, its very quiet and peaceful. A perfect place to spend in prayer and to talk to your inner self. 

I spent most of my time there inside the prayer room even if I wasn't praying. Only me and the blessed sacrament alone. 

I imagine Jesus asking me, Why you are here? You supposed to be praying.

and my answer would be, I am here, simply because you are here.

A time spent with God will never be a wasted time, even if I am only sitting there doing nothing. And then I realize something, I am not the one talking to Jesus, but it is Jesus who was talking to me and there is nothing I could do but to just sit there and listen to Him. I listen not with my ears but with my heart.

It is not I who was looking for Jesus, but is Jesus who was looking for me.

Spend some time with Jesus, He also wants to talk to you. Search for him in the most simplest place that you can ever imagine. In your room, in your office, in the church, anywhere. just seek and you will find him.

We must consider all the time we spent with Jesus as the greatest moments of our lives...

...

And so the time came and I need to go home. During those 2 days and 1 night at the retreat house I felt like home. With the RVM sisters who guided me and with Jesus who invites me to come to his peaceful sanctuary in Tagaytay. I am now ready to face new challenges because Jesus is my teammate and we can do all things together. In the midst of every trial the only thing we need to do is to be calm and listen to the voice of our God saying, "Be still and know that I am God". 

I have learned many things on the retreat, especially about my personal purpose why I decided to take a retreat. It is personal and I don't want to share it right now.

What i just shared to you is only one of the many many ways of encountering Jesus. 

I found Jesus in that place, but there is one place that you can find him without moving where you are right now. I will ask the question again, Where is the best place to find God?

The answer is on our heart. You can go to many place and search for him, but you will never find Him if you will not look into your heart first. He is with us, He is Emmanuel.

I found Him. no wonder He said "seek and you shall find".

But in the moment that you found him, don't ever think that it was us who found God. It was not us look for him first, but it was He who search for us.

May your life be truly blessed,

Ash

TAO TAYO!!!!!

"Nobody is perfect"
"Sorry, TAO lang nagkakamali"
"Sorry, TAO lang natutukso"

Yan ang mga salita na karaniwang nating naririnig kapag my mga kaibigan, kapamilya, kaklase, kasama sa trabaho at kung sinu-sino pang tao na nakakaranas ng pagkakamali. Pag ganyan nga naman ang marinig mo papalag ka pa ba? Syempra maiisip mo TAO ka din at minsan nagkakamali ka rin naman.

Pero, hindi kya ginagamit lang natin yang excuse sa mga bagay na hindi natin maamin na kya natin ginawa ay dahil sa sarili nating kagustuhan? Dapat ba pag humihingi tayo ng patawad sa mga taong nasaktan natin ay lagi nating sabihin ang mga salitang yan? Ibig sabihin ba ay ang pagiging TAO natin ay nagbibigay sa atin ng lisensya para magkamali? Eh kung ganyan lang din naman pala eh magkamali na tayong lahat, tutal pede naman nating sabihin na TAO lang tayo....

Totoo naman na tao tayo,nasasaktan, natutukso, pero wag naman natin gawin itong excuse sa ating pagkakamali. Dahil aminin man natin o hindi, dumadating sa punto ng buhay mo na ginusto mong gawin ang pagkakamaling iyon. Sana lang sa bawat gagawin natin matuto tayong isipin ang mga magiging bunga ng bawat ikikilos o sasabihin natin. At kung hindi man natin maisip ito, sana matuto tayong tumanggap na nagkamali tayo dahil sa dumating sa punto na ginusto nating gawin ang mga bagay na iyon, hindi dahil sa TAO lang tayo.

Ang mga TAO ay binigyan ng kakayahang magdesisyon. Gamitin sana natin ito ng maayos at maging responsable tayo sa bawat gagawit at sasabihin natin. At ang mahalaga ay matuto tayo ng mga leksyon sa bawat pagkakamali natin.

Gamitin natin ang ating pagiging tao para panindigan at panagutan ang anu mang ating nagawa...

Para sakin mas magandang isipin natin ang kahinaan ng pagiging tao sa oras na tayo ay magpapatawad. Kapag may UMAMIN at humingi ng tawad sa atin, pde nating isipin na siya ay tao din na may kahinaan at may karupukan. At dahil dito sana matuto tayong magpatawad.

Gaano kagandang mabuhay sa mundo na ang lahat ay marunong tumanggap ng pagkakamali at ang lahat ay marunong magpatawad..

Kung sasangayon kayo o hindi, nasa inyo yan. Ito ang aking opinyon dahil tao ako.


Ash

No one, Except Jesus

First of all let us thank the lord for the predicted rupture did not happen.
It is not the first time that someone predicted the day of rupture.

It is good that today we must listen to our lord who says, "I am the way, the truth and the life".

Let me ask you a question, What do you think would be the best thing that will happen to you when you are lost to some place and you are looking for a right direction?

When you are lost it is right to ask for direction not only to one person. Why? Because sometimes the one you asks did not know also the right way. But you are lucky if the first person you ask will say, "I know that place" but is better if someone answers, “I have been there" and the best answer you can get is when someone says, "I live there, I am going there and you can come with me to be there". That is the best answer you can get when you are lost.

My friends, if you are asking for the right direction, Jesus can claim everything that we said to be the best answer. When he said to his disciple that he is going, He does actually mean that he will go away instead he really wants to say that he will be going home. He is returning to his father. And he will not face the father only as a god but the word of the father incarnated, a god who became a man. He will go home with a very beautiful promise, I am going home just ahead of you, I will face my father and your father. I will stand as your intercessor before our father in heaven. He is our greatest intercessor. Why? Because he had experienced all of our pains and sufferings.

When Jesus claims that he is the way, truth and life, it is because he has the right to everything. He does not only show us the right way but the way to where he came from. He cannot only teach us some truth but all truth about the father because He knows the father. He have done all of these for us to be a part of his life.

If we look to every religion in the world like Muslim, Buddhist and many other religions, all of them teach about the way to God, the truth about everything and about life at its fullness. But this is what I want to ask, of all the teachers about this God, Whoever has claim that He and the Father are one? Whoever has claim that he was before Abraham? Whoever as a teacher claims that he is the son of God and literally means it?

No one except Jesus.

We have to rejoice in these, that truly in Jesus can be found the right way to the Father, the right way of living life and the truth about everything.

The beauty about this God is that he leads us. Recently I was shock when a bishop said; all of those who are pushing to pass the RH bill are just Christians only by name. For me it is only this, that all of us now that in the crisis of this issue must know and have a deep understanding about the issue for us to decide correctly. Let us know why the bishop says something like that, know why they are pushing against it and somehow getting angry because they are not being understand. It is an invitation to us. God will not permit his people to be deceived. He will not permit that his bishops will lead us to something that is not right and not in the truth. He will not permit that his church goes to something that will harm its people.

Today, the challenge is to asks ourselves, Do we truly believe in Jesus as the way, as truth and the life?
Then if we do, let’s ask him that through the church he may guide us as the way and the truth of our lives.

In the mass, when a priest raises the chalice and the bread and declares what we called doxology, “Through Him, With Him and in Him...." and all of the people will answer the great Amen. Why? Because it means that when the priest said that all of these are created Through Jesus and we will return to the father through Jesus and with Jesus who will accompany us and in Jesus whom we can find the eternal life. We answers, Amen, that is true, that is what we believe in.

Friends, today let us declare Jesus as truly the way and the truth and the life. The sure way that leads to the father, the only truth we must proclaim and believe in and the life for all of us.



May your life be truly blessed,


Ash




(reflections from the homily of father mario)

Hear His Voice

Some of us have our own pets, Pets that we take care of, pets that we love, pets that became a part of our lives.

Our pets, especially cats and dogs are very good in recognizing its master. They know and they feel the love and attention given by their master. They can easily recognize the voice of the master.

When Jesus tells us today that He is the shepherd and the sheep knows his voice, it is like us being the master of our own pets and our pets knows our voice.

Hearing his voice is just a result, because we experience the goodness of Jesus our good shepherd.

When He said, my sheep listens to my voice; he means that because the sheep heard his voice they also want to obey his commands.

My friends, the question that we must asks to ourselves today is, "Do we hear the voice of our shepherd? And do we follow him because we experience his goodness and love in our lives?"

In this world, there are so many voices that call us. And we need to choose from all of these voices, which is from our good shepherd. Most of the time, the voices of others are sweeter and attractive than the voice of Jesus. It is easy to accept the invitation of this world and not to the invitation of Jesus, because the moment you know Him you will witness not only his power and glory but also the crucified Jesus. And we are fearful about the life of sufferings and trials of a person who is willing to serve the lord. But the lord promise that whoever is willing to hear him and to obey him, there is eternal life awaits us, a life that is full, a life in abundance.

In our office, school and even at home, when decisions are needed to be made. Ask Jesus to help us and we must listen to what He will say.

When we have a project or something, we must consult the Lord. He wants to be a part of everything that we do. He wants to a part of every decisions that we make in our life.

Today, He also declares himself as the gate where we can find answers to our problems and where we can find a life that is full. But more than that, he asks us to be a sheep who recognize his voice, who listen to him and who follow him. We can only do that if there is a personal experience between us and our God of love.

It feels so sad when there are Christians only by name. Christians who were baptized, goes to church the personal relationship with God is not growing. That is why in times of trials, they can here so many voices that they don't recognize which voice is coming from Jesus.

Friends, the lord invite us to have a personal relationship with him. Let us know him more intimately and let us experience his love and care. Let us have moments of silence with him. Go to him in our moments of difficulties. It is then we will see that He is the gate that in the end will bring us to everlasting life.

In our country today, the Philippines, One of the most talks about issue is the Reproductive Health Bill.

The bishops of our country will not speak against it if they know that it will bring so much good to us. If our bishops and the church stand against it, it is because after they have read the bill and after the study that they make, the feel that it is not something that will bring goodness to our society.

Hopefully, before we speak, before we make our own commentary, as a member of the church and as a citizen of this country, let us read the bill, study it, and have a deep understanding for it. Then we might realize that the voice of Jesus can be heard from the voices of his shepherds in our country.

My dear friends, many times that most of us do not know the issue. Maybe that is our assignment, to know, study, and have a deep knowledge about the issue for us to hear and recognize the voice of our shepherds and the voice of our chief shepherd, Jesus. Who only desires our good and to bring us to eternal life.

May your life be truly blessed,

Ash






(inspired by fr.mar)

Hopeless Moments

Do you have some moments in your life that seems to be very hard to accept and to understand?

I think all of us have that kind of moment.

Moments of disappointment in spite of doing the best that you can.
Moments of hopelessness, moments of despair, moments of seeming total defeat.
There are times that we feel that hope is moving away of you, and your faith gets weaker and weaker everyday. You can feel pain in your heart because of the defeat that you experienced. You can feel disappointment because thing does not go according to your plan.
With these moments we ask, "Where is God?", moments that we could not just understand.

Probably that is feeling of the two disciples going to Emmaus.
For three years they follow Jesus, they took pride of being followers of this one who is great, speaking with authority and with power from above. They knew in their heart that he was the anointed one, he was the one who will save Israel, and then the last thing they saw of him was hanging on the cross, dying a death of a criminal.
becaus of his death they chose to walk away from Jerusalem just to be away from it all.

But it is good to know that even they were the one who walks away, even they were one who escapes from this seeming total defeat of their lord, Jesus did not get angry to them but he follow and accompany them in their road to Emmaus. In their moment of great depression, here is Jesus walking with them. There is Jesus telling to them that all of these are needed to happen but still in the end God will be victorious. That all of these needed to happen so that the love of God for this sinful world may be proclaim.
As he continue to explain to them, their hearts were aflame because they recognize his presence in his words and when Jesus broke the bread, that was then when they realize it is Jesus the eucharistic lord.

Friends, there is a story about pope Benedict.
Benedict XVI was previously known as cardinal Ratzinger. He is very close to John Paul II. And when John Paul II in his moments of so much weakness because of parkinson's disease, he still celebrates a mass even that the words he says can hardly be understood. We can realize at that moment that this man is over spent for God. It was in that moment when he told cardinal Ratzinger, "Stay with me up to the last moment".
And so when cardinal Ratzinger was chosen to be pope it was not easy for him to instantly accept the papacy because at that moment he is already 78 years old but with faith in God he accept. When he became pope, that is the moment when he says, When you are the pope you can see all the depravity of all man, man in his worst. But you would also see the glory of God and in this journey of god almighty and weak man, the mighty and power of God will still be victorious. It will still be the glory of God that in the end will be victorious against the weakness of man.

Today, we ask God to be with us, to be close to us. And he is close to us if only we could recognize that he speaks to us through his words and he is truly present in the holy Eucharist.
We ask God to make us feel that presence in our moments of despair and moments that he seems to be away.

Today as we ask God to make us feel his presence, I would like to say thank you to God for the gift of mothers.
There is someone who says, "Since God cannot be physically everywhere, He created mothers."
Because of their care, sacrifice and love we can feel the care, sacrifice and love of our God.

For all the mothers, Thank you for your love.


May your life be truly Blessed,

Ash

Peace be with you!

Sino nga ba ako?

This past days, ngiisip ako tungkol sa sarili ko, iniisip ko ang role ko sa mundo, pra saan ba at nandito ako?

Sa mga nakakakilala sakin, na sana nga totoong kilala nila ako. Ako ay isang taong moody, taong mhirap pkisamahan, minsan masayahin minsan sobrang tahimik, laging magisa, mainitin ang ulo. May nagsasabi din na mabait "daw" ako, matalino dn daw, at pde mpgktiwalaan. Yung mga positive n sinasabi nila about sakin, hindi ko agad inaacept, iniisip ko lang na sana mapatunayan ko nga sa sarili ko na totoo ang sinasabi nila.

Sa pagkakakilala  ko sa sarili ko, Alam kong bugnutin ako, suplado, madaling mairita sa mga bagay o mga nangyayari na hindi ako komportable, di ako magaling sa pakikipagkaibigian pero marunong akong makipagkaibigan, mahal ko ang aking mga kaibigan. Tahimik ako lalo na kung wala ako sa mood makipagbiruan. Di ako nakikisalamuha sa mga tao dito samin, sa totoo lng wala nga akong kaibigan dito sa lugar namin. 

Sa kabila nang lahat ng iyan, Isa lang ang sigurado ako, na kahit totoo marami akong katangian na hindi magugustuhan ng maraming tao, totoo mahirap ako intindihin at pakisamahan, pero alam ko na sa kabila ng lahat ng ito ako ay mahal ng aking Diyos.

Sa kabila ng aking katahimikan, marunong akong magbiro.

Sa kabila ng aking kasungitan, marunong akong tumawa.

Sa kabila ng aking pawang kawalan ng pakialam, marunong akong magalala at makiramay.

Sa kabila ng aking galit, marunong akong magpatawad.

At sa kabila ng aking mga dinaranas, marunong parin akong magtiwala at magmahal.

Marahil iba iba ang pagkakakilala ng mga tao sakin, depende kung gaano ako kalapit sa kanila at kung gaano sila kalapit sa akin. Pero di natin maiiwasan na may mga pagkakataon na kung sino pa yung naging malapit sayo, kung sino pa ung ginagalang at nirerespeto mo,kung sino pa yung pinagkakatiwalaan mo, kung sino pa yung taong minahal at pinapahalagahan mo, sila pa ung taong magiisip nang masama tungkol sayo. Pag uusapan ka na bka may gawin kang ganto o gnyan, pg iisipan ka na prang isa kang kriminal na dapat katakutan.

Hindi na bago sakin na mging iwas ang tao sakin dahil nga sa personalidad na mayroon ako. Halos parepareho ang impresyon ng tao sakin sa tuwing may unang beses na mkikita ako. 

Dahil jan. paunti unti ay pinipilit kong baguhin ang aking sarili at alisin ang mga pangit kong ugali. Unti unti ay nagagawa ko naman pero minsan ay ndi maiwasan na bumalik ang ugaling hindi pa tuluyang nawawala.

Minsan naisip ko, ang dinadanas ko ay naranasan ni Hesus, maging ang kyang mga alagad na malapit niyang nging kaibigan at nkasama ay tinalikuran siya pagdating sa krus, yung mga taong sumalubong sa kanya pagpasok sa Jerusalem ay sya ring mga taong sumigaw at humiling na ipako siya sa krus.

Marahil ito ay hamon sa akin, upang tularan si Hesus, na sa kabila ng pagtalikod at pagtatatwa ng knyang alagad, nang oras ng knyang muling pagkabuhay tinawag pa rin niya silang mga kaibigan at kapatid. At ginusto niya na mkipagkita sa kanila sa Galilea. Sa Galilea na kung saan una silang nagkita. Handa si Hesus na mgumpisa silang muli ng knyang mga kaibigan. Ito ang tingin ko ay hamon sa akin ng Diyos na makita ko ang katotohanan, ang katotohanan na kung ano ba talaga ang tingin sa akin ng mga tao. At sa katotohanang ito ay matutunan kong magpatawad at patuloy na magmahal at magsimula muli sa kanya kanyang version namin ng Galilea.

Ipinagdarasal ko, na sana sa mga taong ngiisip ng masama sa akin. Sana biyayaan din sila ng Diyos ng kakayanang magsuri muli, balikan at matuto sa nkaraan at mula doon ay matutong mgsimula muli ng panibagong pakikipag kaibigan. Pinagdarasal ko rin na biyayaan ako ng Diyos ng kakayanang magmahal pra sa mga taong nagiisip ng masama pra sa akin.

Sa mga tao na ngiisip ng masama at nksakit sa akin, hindi ko kayo kilala pero ang masasabi ko lng, bago kyo mgisip ng mga mssmang bgay n pede kong gawin, gusto kong mlaman niyo na iisa ang ating Diyos, kung di nyo man po ako lubusang kilala sana kilala ninyo ang ating Diyos dahil naniniwala at nagsisikap din akong sumunod sa kanya. Para nmn maisip ninyo kung kya ko ba talagang gwin ang mga bagay na iniisip nyo.  Marunong po akong mgpatawad at inaanyayahan kita na bumalik at magsimula muli sa ating Galilea kung saan tayo unang ngkakilala.

Sa mundong ito maraming klaseng tao tayong makikilala, May mga taong tunay na magmamahal sa atin, may mga tao din namang nandyan pra tayo ay ibagsak at pgisipan ng masama. Pero ang mahalaga malaman natin na sa bawat taong ating makikilala, sila ay may dalang biyaya galing sa Diyos, maaring hindi ito sa anyo na kaaya-aya pra sa atin pero ang biyaya ay nandyan parin. Matutunan dn sana nating makita gamit ang ating mga mata ng pananampalataya, na katulad mo at katulad ko ang mga taong yan ay nilikha rin sa wangis ng ating Diyos.

Makita sana natin ang Diyos sa bawat isa.

May your life be truly blessed,

Ash

PAID in FULL

When we are in debts, the word that we would like to hear or to read is the words that says, "PAID".
It means that your credits were gone and it is fully paid.


One of the last words of Jesus on the cross were "It is finished", consumatum est in latin. These are the words that tells us that His mission on earth was done. But if we look at that words in the context of a tax collector, that might mean, fully paid.


Today when Jesus appears to the apostles and show His wounds in his hands and on his side. It is like Jesus telling to them, "All your sins or all your debts are fully paid".
But Thomas did not believed that Jesus appeared to the other disciple, Thomas wants to see a proof he wants to see a certificate of full payment. In the next few days, Jesus appears again and show to Thomas His wounds, for me it is like Jesus saying, "Yes Thomas it is true, PAID IN FULL, and here are my wounds as a receipt and as certificate of full payment".


Pope John Paul II declared eleven years ago, On the Jubilee year 2000, The holy father in front of the whole church declared that sister Faustina Kowalska as a saint. And by this declaration the church also declares that her diary and all its contents are true.

One of the entry on the diary that Jesus said to sister Faustina goes like this,
"I desire that on the feast of the compassion and mercy of God may be the refuge and shelter of all souls. On that day, the very depths of my mercy are going to be open. Let no soul be afraid to come and ask for my mercy even if their sins are that great. And I desire that on the sunday after easter will be the day of the divine Mercy "


When the pope declared sister Faustina as a saint of God he also declared this day as the feast of God's Mercy, He is the king of Mercy for the whole world, He is the one that declared your debts are Paid in Full.


It is also great that after eleven years, today Pope John Paul II have been beatified.


It is like God saying, truly now I will say to you that the mercy of God is for real, that the mercy of God of for everyone who can accept their sinfulness and can confess the need of His mercy, and also to be merciful to others.


When we look at the image of the divine mercy, We will notice that it is not the crucified Jesus instead it is the Risen Lord, the resurrected image of Jesus. We will also notice that it is like Jesus have entered a door and two rays coming on His heart symbolizes the blood that have been poured out and his mercy for humanity.  His hands are in the form as if He shows his wounds. The image of the Divine Mercy is like the image of Jesus in the Gospel, when he appeared to his disciples saying I come because I paid for all your sins and I have conquer even death. But then Jesus added, Now I give you the ministry, Go and forgive the sins of humanity.


Friends, It is a day of thanksgiving in front of the great compassion of the God of Mercy.
Today truly we can say to all the rest of the world, "Jesus We Trust in YOU".
As our responsorial psalm says, Give thanks to the lord for He is good, and His love is everlasting.


As we celebrate the Divine Mercy, let us not forget, "There is no sin greater than the Love and Mercy of God"


We continue our life knowing that in this God can be found the refuge of the sinful humanity.


May your Life be truly blessed,

Ash






(inspired by Fr. Mar)

He is Risen!

Happy Easter Everyone!!!



After 40 days of preparation, we are now celebrating and at the same time entering the season of easter.
This season, we remember Christ's Resurrection.


This past weeks we are in the mood of sadness because we remembered the passion and death of our lord.
His great sacrifice,
His passion,
His agony,
His death...

This are the things that we focused during lent.
Jesus' immeasurable love for us.
He loves us so much, that He sacrifice even His own life on each and everyone of us, even though we are not deserving of such sacrifices.

..............................................................................

The Victory

The whole world now celebrating the MOST important celebration of the year.
The church have lots of feast celebrated every year, but this occasion is the feast above all the feast.
The center of our faith, It is more important even than Christmas.

Jesus' Triumphant victory over death,..
manifested that He is the Lord..

The fulfillment of the scriptures,..

From the darkness of death here comes our light.. The light that we will see in Jesus.


In all the masses of the church, the easter vigil is the longest and most dramatic.

Why dramatic??

The mass starts not inside the church, but outside.
Outside there will be a bonfire.



The fire will be blessed, and from that fire the "paschal candle" will be lightened.

The paschal candles symbolizes Jesus as our light that defeats that darkness.

From outside the candle will be brought inside the church, the priest holding the candle will stop 3 times and will say, "Christ our Light" or "Light of Christ" and the people will response "thanks be to God".

all of this happening while all the light of the church turned off, the only light you will see is the fire from the paschal candle. from that fire the people will light their own candle.

How beautiful it is to see that slowly the fire of the candle passed to each people to light their own candle.
Its like the light of Jesus will light up the whole church.

At the altar, the priest will sing the 'Exultet' or the easter proclamation.

After this the liturgy of the word begins, the candle of the people needs to be blown while the light still off and the darkness covering the whole church...

7 readings and 7 responsorial psalm....

after all this reading the Gloria is sung for the first time since the beginning of lent, at the same time the light of the whole church will now turned on. Symbolizing that Jesus conquers and reign victorious over darkness and death...

And the celebration will go on, we also renew our baptismal vows during this mass....
........................................................................

That is how dramatic it is..

Some will ask why??

Why we need to do this?

If someone will ask me that question, i might probably answer him. Why not??


We are celebrating our salvation, The victory of our champion, Jesus.
This is the center of our faith, that Jesus is alive, risen from the death.

-

The story of Jesus in this world does not end in passion and death.
Remember He is risen.

There is a famous saying," In every good Friday there is an easter Sunday".

In everything that you've been through, all the problems, trials and things that you might face.
do not forget there is a resurrection.

Jesus is our light,
Jesus is our life,

We must reflect the light coming from Jesus, so that this world will not always see darkness but light,
The light that guides us,
the light that defeats the darkness of evil.

So with all the trials, problems, anxiety, believe that the story does not end there,
Have faith that like Jesus our Lord, we will have our own resurrection in our life,
and like Jesus, our story will also end up VICTORIOUS!!

May your life be truly blessed,

Ash

Unconquerable Love

Lent is the time when the church changes its color into purple.

Its is also the time when flowers are not permitted to be in the altar, the church also does not allow us to use loud instruments and does not allows us to sing the alleluia and the gloria.

In spite of all of these that the church removes all the symbols of happiness, the church still calls this season as the season of Joy. The joyful season of Lent.

When we said Lent, that is a german term which means spring time.

A new hope, a dawn of a great future.The coming of something that is beautiful and wonderful.

Cuaresma is comes from the word cuadragesima and cuarenta which means forty days, and in the bible when we said forty it is a time of purification.

During the time of noah, the rain falls on forty days and forty nights, as if to kill every creature in order for a new beginning to come.

It is a days of purification and reparation.

Days of destroying the old so that something new may be built.

Lent starts during ash Wednesday, but if you notice before, the formula that the church use was "Remember man that you are dust and to dust you shall return".

It emphasized that we are just a dust, it emphasized that we are sinful and unworthy in front of God.

But that has been change, the formula we are using now says, "Turn away from sins, and believe on the good news." which means truly we are dust, truly we are sinful, truly we are nothing but we are so much valued be God that He has given his likeness to all of us, and more than that, because of you His beloved Son offers His life.

Forty days wants to tell us, Hey, you are not just an ordinary, you are not cheap, you are now a child of God. You can now claim the Lord as your father and you are an heir of His kingdom.

What is the good news of lent?

.. The good news is that we still have hope..

During Holy week, the liturgy that was emphasized was the Palm Sunday, when actually the church calls it Passion Sunday, and I will tell you why. Truly we remembered how he was welcomed with palms into the city of Jerusalem but the church also wants to tell us that it is the day that we read the Passion of Jesus. The pain and the suffering that He embraced for us sinners. But I think what we should remember is this, that even as we remember the pains He had to go through, we should remember the love that pushed Him to embrace all of these.

Passion Sunday can be defined as two things:

Passion, suffering and pain of Jesus and

Passion as a tremendous love that pushed Him to claim the punishment that should be ours.

Thats why as we enter into the Holy week, It begins in telling us of what this God can do for us. We should be amazed by all these, that sense of thanksgiving, that sense of saying "Lord, we are nothing without You".

That is why when we said Holy week, it is the days most solemn to the church.

On Maundy Thursday, we celebrate two things the anniversary of the priests and the feast of the institution of the Holy Eucharist. Because on that day during the last supper which we commemorate in the mass, Jesus in a   manner that is not bloody, decided to offer Himself. When He took the bread and said It is my Body and when he took the cup and said It is my blood, that is an offering of Himself but not in a bloody manner, that he will be fulfilled the next day during good friday on the cross when his body will be broken and when His blood will be poured. We must see the connection between that Maundy Thursday and the Good Friday.

When Good Friday comes, We dont have a mass but we have what we called the Veneration of the Cross. Why? Because during the early times the cross symbolized defeat and too much punishment but Christ went through that not because of anything else but because He can accept anything for you and for me.

That is why on the day of Good Friday, we kiss the cross and not only we kiss the cross, on that day all catholics kneel and genuflect before the cross to say "Lord this is the symbol of your unconquerable love for us" it is also the symbol of the victory of love. The cross becomes not a symbol of defeat but a symbol of unconquerable Love.

and on the evening of Saturday, we will remember all of what He did that we think is defeat, in the day of black Saturday we will be told, He conquers not only darkness, He conquers not only sin, He conquers even death. 

May your life be truly blessed,

Ash

inspired by fr. Mar

When the Purple turns Red

After 5 weeks of preparation, now the Holy week comes again..


With the same message every year...

Holy Week begins with the sixth Sunday in Lent.  This Sunday observes the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem that was marked by the crowds who were in Jerusalem for Passover waving palm branches and proclaiming him as the messianic king. The Gospels tell us that Jesus rode into the city on a donkey, enacting the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, and in so doing emphasized the humility that was to characterize the Kingdom he proclaimed. The irony of his acceptance as the new Davidic King (Mark 11:10) by the crowds who would only five days later cry for his execution should be a sobering reminder of the human tendency to want God on our own terms.

Traditionally, worshippers enact the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem by the waving of palm branches and singing songs of celebration. Sometimes this is accompanied by a processional into the church.  In many churches, children are an integral part of this service since they enjoy processions and activity as a part of worship. This provides a good opportunity to involve them in the worship life of the community of Faith. In many more liturgical churches, children are encouraged to craft palm leaves that were used for the Sunday processional into crosses to help make the connection between the celebration of Palm Sunday and the impending events of Holy Week.


From the usual color of lent which is purple..


The color of the church will now turn into RED.


Red symbolizes the blood of Jesus.


The blood that shed for us..
The blood that He offers for us..
The blood that saves us..
The blood that symbolize His unending love for us, His sacrifice for our salvation.


Let us make this week meaningful, and be thankful to the Lord, for all things He has done for us.




Tomorrow, as we remember the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
.


Let us pray for each other and let Jesus enters your heart triumphantly.


May Your life be truly Blessed,

Ash

The Choice of LOVE

Matthew 5:38-48




If you read that part of the gospel, that is the part where most of us do not want to read.
This is the part where we want to skip. Why? because the Lord is telling us a command that is very hard for us to obey.


But on that part of the gospel, there we can measure how far and how deep we are as a Christian? 


To love a person that is lovable, that is easy.
To like a person who has a qualities that you like, that is easy.
everybody can do this things.


Jesus is telling us that being a Christian does not depend on this;
That you love those people who loves you.


Jesus wants to say, you are unique from others, you are my follower because you learn as a Christian to love your enemy.


that is a very hard thing to do.


To love a person who hurts you,
To pray for a person who persecutes you
that is what God is asking for us. but that is not an easy thing to do.




What if, suddenly there was person who spreading a rumour about you and tells everybody that you are doing a bad things? 
What if that person is one of your friends?
What if that person is the one you never imagine to back stab you?
What will you do?


That is the moment, when we feel good hit a person with full forced punch on his/her face.
That is the moment when we feel good to take revenge. You can do all of these.


But the Lord is telling us,
The one who is being hurt,
A Christian who is truly my follower, at a moment when he/she was hurt, it is not his/her right to take a revenge. 


It can be his choice. 
But the other choice is the choice of Christ.
In a natural way, human would choose to take revenge.
A choice that one can make is to say, a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye.


Today God tells us, you want to be my follower? 
Choose the way I have chosen.
The choice of Love.

It is easy to forgive a person who hurts you, but to forgive and to love him also that is so hard.
But Christ is telling us today, that is My way.
That is the Christian way.
That is a choice a follower of Christ must make.


Pray for that person who hurts you,
talk to him, and ask to the Lord to bless that person.
ask to the Lord that his mind may be enlightened.
ask also that both of you must learn how to be humble and to admit your own weaknesses.
So that you can both move forward.


These are choices that a Christian must make, in a world where violence is the name of the game.


The world says, Take revenge.


But Christ says, What will make you different from the rest of the pagan world if you only love those who loves you?


Today, we ask the Lord for that great gift.
No wonder He said, Be perfected as your heavenly Father is perfect.


When it reach to the point that a person can not only forgive but to love also, you have become like your Father in heaven, who makes the rain to fall both on the just and the unjust.


We ask for that grace, it is a very special one.
It is a grace that makes John Paul II reach out to the one who almost kill him and say, I forgive and I pray for you.


It is what we dream to have one day in our hearts.










May your life be truly blessed,


Ash










(inspired by Fr. Mar)