Stewards of God's Creation

Scripture: Matthew 21:33-43
33 "Hear another parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; 35 and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them. 37 Afterward he sent his son to them, saying, `They will respect my son.' 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, `This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.' 39 And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" 41 They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons." 42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: `The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? 43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it."

Reflection:  God gave us a world that has everything we need. And He gave us the wisdom and talent to harness all the resources of His creation for the betterment of our lives. This shows great trust on the part of God to make us stewards of His vineyard--- caretakers of His creation. But God sees that we abuse the trust and freedom He has given us. This resulted in much destruction, suffering, and injustice. To make things right, God sent Jesus His Son. The Son's mission is not to condemn, but to make us realize the things we have done wrong, and show us the Way to fix our mistakes. In the hardness of our hearts, we rejected the Son and continue in our evil ways.

Thank God, He does not lose His trust in us. He continues to be patient, and calls us to follow Jesus. But there will be a time for God's Justice when on the day of Judgement He will likewise reject those who rejected Him. That time is coming.

Now is still the season for God's mercy. Let us not waste this great opportunity and blessing. While there is still time, let us hear the Son and embrace His ways. Let us be good stewards of life and creation which God has lovingly given to us. When the time of Judgement comes, we hope to hear God say: "Come to me my beloved children, you have become a faithful image of my Son."

Our Bodyguards... The Guardian Angels

October 2 is the feast of the Guardian Angels. God in His Infinite Love and Goodness gave them the task of guarding us day and night 24 hours a day 7 days a week. They are at our side round the clock, guiding, protecting, and praying for us. The protection does not only apply to our spiritual life, but to our physical well being as well.

Guardian Angel by Bartolome Esteban Murillo
From christianimagesource.com

I remember an experience when my friend and I had a car breakdown at around midnight. Because of the hour, no car repair shops were open and certainly no mechanics were around. As we were checking the engine not sure of what we would do next, a stranger approached us and offered to take a look. After he finished tinkering with the engine, he asked us to start the car and it worked! We were so happy that we are not about to be stranded till morning, so we decided that we should pay him for his services. To our surprise, he refused and said its ok. As we were about to ride the car, we looked back to see where he was going, but he was nowhere to be found. We looked around some more but there was no trace of him. It was really odd for him to disappear so quickly because only a few seconds ago, he was right there. Even if he ran, which is unlikely, we would still have seen him. We also didn't see any vehicle which he could have rode.  My friend and I considered this as an encounter with our guardian angel. Or if it wasn't an angel, still that man was heaven sent. 

Let us not forget to thank our Guardian Angels everyday for faithfully carrying out their God given mission for us. In times of temptation or trouble, rest assured that God's angels are there, ready to help. Call on them. 

The Cost of Being a Disciple

Scripture: Luke 9:57-62
57 As they were going along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." 59 To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." 60 But he said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61 Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." 62 Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

Reflection: It is a great challenge to follow Jesus. Many obstacles and distractions stand along our way to Him. Jesus knows this, but He is calling us anyway. His call comes with a warning though: that we should give up all that may cause us to place God as second priority. If God is not the most important person in our lives, then we are not true disciples. It really is a demanding call, but then God deserves to be number one in our lives. Jesus has given us all He could give, even His life until He has shed the last drop of His blood.Even to this day, Jesus continues to give Himself to us in the Blessed Sacrament, His Real Presence.

When God calls, He does not force us to follow Him. But He gives the grace and strength to us so we could respond positively. Loving God and being His disciples would require much from us, but we are assured that we will be filled with grace and strength to follow through and be true disciples. Love always requires sacrifice. Jesus showed that His Love made Him undergo the ultimate sacrifice... that of laying down His life for us. We may not be required to die for God, but to live for Him. Living for God will require us to give up any person, addictions, bad habits or any situation that is blocking us from God, and this will hurt. But again, we are always assured that it is God Himself who will give us the grace and strength to love Him as we should.

If we decide to say yes to God's call, it would be the best decision we will ever make. It is a decision that has eternal consequences, eternal life with God.

God seeks me...a sinner

Scripture:  Matthew 9:9-13 
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. 10 And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  12 But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  13 Go and learn what this means, `I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

The Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt

Reflection:  We are in great need of God's mercy. All of us are sinners and have offended God more often than we please Him. What a relief that God not only loves us but longs to bestow His mercy and forgiveness on us. The greater the sinner, the greater His mercy. No sin is too big for God to forgive, if only the sinner would run back to Him. 

I personally find comfort in the fact that Jesus' disciples are men who have many faults. That means that there is hope for us who have fallen and made mistakes. St. Peter, the head of the apostles had a quick temper and was too impulsive. He did not think before he act and often says or does things he would regret later on. He even denied Jesus three times. But Jesus made him the "the keeper of the keys" to God's Kingdom. That shows that Jesus trusted Peter regardless of his faults and weaknesses. Jesus can see beyond those and saw that Peter's love for Him would prevail in the end. St. Matthew who was a tax collector, the equivalent of today's corrupt politicians or even worse, was also called by Jesus via two words only: "Follow Me." That was enough for Matthew to turn his back on his riches, gave away all that was not rightfully his, and live a new life as God's follower. 

Jesus truly sees the good in us no matter how much we have failed Him in the past. He sees our hearts and our capacity for goodness and love. May Jesus help us to believe in ourselves as He believes in us. Let us not give up on ourselves because God surely does not. 

Who is your family?

Scripture:  Luke 8:19-21
19 Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him for the crowd. 20 And he was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you." 21 But he said to them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it."

Reflection: We are all called to love our families and relatives, but we should not stop with them. The whole human race is God's children, and He calls us to love everyone outside our own families. All human beings are created by God and belong to Him as His children. Most of the time it is difficult to love and care for those who are not your family. But God desires that all His children, regardless of race or religion be in a loving relationship with one another and with Him. Always remember that Jesus died for each and everyone of us, without thinking if you are a Jew or Gentile, Christian or Muslim, black or white. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, we are all given the right to belong to God's family.

The right to be Children of God is offered to us, but we need to accept it. God does not force anything on us, he just invites and wait for your acceptance. How do we accept His offer? By being faithful to Jesus His Son and striving to please the Father in all we do just as Jesus did.

Called to be God's flashlight

from www.givingblessing.com

Scripture: Luke 8:16-18
16 "No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a vessel, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, that those who enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is hid that shall not be made manifest, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light. 18 Take heed then how you hear; for to him who has will more be given, and from him who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away."

Reflection: God is the origin of love. And His love is light to all the world. In God's goodness, He calls us to be bearers of His light. Just like a friend who always wants to do things together with his best buddy, God calls us to be His coworkers in bringing light to a world darkened by sin. We know we are unworthy, but who is worthy? Only God can make us worthy. And He is so gracious to invite an unworthy sinner like us to join Him in His work of spreading love.

May God give us the grace and strength to be his light bearers. And love bearers.

Why the Church Frowns on Contraception

The Catholic Church has received a lot of criticism from the public due to its stance against contraceptives. Priests and Bishops have been criticized as having no credibility on the subject of sex since they are celibate, unmarried men. It may seem that religion and sex are two subjects that have nothing to do with each other. But is this really the case?

In the book of Genesis when God told Adam and Eve to “go forth and multiply”, He was practically telling them to have sex.  We can say that it is God who invented sex and marriage and has given it as a gift to man and woman--a way to teach them how to love as He loves. If we are to follow God’s plan of love we will see that sex is not an activity to indulge in selfish pleasure, but an act of giving ourselves.  It is also God’s way of making couples participate in bringing new life into this world.  We know that this is God’s design because love is His essence, and everything that he does, and every purpose that He has, begins and ends with love. This is the reason why the Church treats sex and especially marriage as sacred and will do everything in its power to keep it the way God has intended it. As sex is a divine creation, it should be considered a religious matter.  

Contraception blocks this plan of God. It disrupts the natural order of things, from procreation to the functions of a woman’s body. Anything that blocks nature cannot be good because nature itself is God’s design. Christopher West explained in his article that contraceptives were not invented to prevent pregnancy but so that man does not have to control his sexual desires.  We already have a method which is 100% safe and effective at preventing pregnancy and that is abstinence from sex.  But abstinence requires self control especially control of one’s desires, which is difficult to do. So contraceptives were invented so that men and women do not have to control their desires. 

When you love, there will be many instances when you need to practice self discipline.  Caring for another person requires you to forget your selfish desires and put the welfare of the beloved first, even if it's difficult. If self control is taken out of the equation, selfishness will prevail. A relationship where both couples are concerned only with their self interests is bound to fail. Selfishness leads to using other people for your own benefit. With the promotion and widespread use of contraception humans tend to  indulge their desires instead of control it, leading to lust instead of love.

This is why the Church strongly opposes contraception. It is contrary to God’s plan to teach us how to love like He loves. Contraception promotes self indulgence, and self pleasure, which makes humans see another person as an object to be used for his own benefit.