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. 

Why HB 5043 Should Not be Passed

The Light of Life by Nellie Edwards from www.unbornwordoftheday.com

HB 5043, popularly known as the RH Bill is filled with data that is misleading to the public. The pro RH congressmen would promote its merits, but there are clearly more demerits if you study this bill closely.
Alliance for the Family Foundation Philippines released a position paper showing 12 clear points why they are against the RH Bill. Every Filipino should read this especially the parents who are aiming to raise their children in a stable society. The Foundation sees the RH Bill as something like using gasoline to put out a fire. It worsens our problems instead of solving them. Here are some of their points worth thinking about:
1. The negative impact of an ageing population on our economy. More old people with less young people to work for and support senior citizen's needs.
2. Government emphasis on population control as the solution instead of taking care of medical needs of the sick.
3. The imposition of fines or imprisonment on those opposed to the implementation of this bill. This violates the freedom of conscience and right to excersise your religious principles.
4. Even contraceptives and devices that are believed to pose health risks in women will be classified as "essential medicines". (Why did they put the word "health" in this bill in the first place?)
5. It does not protect the family which is safeguarded by the constitution because it allows anyone to avail of "RH services" such as vasectomy or ligation even without the consent of the spouse thereby putting a strain on the relationship.
6. It violates the rights of parents because it allows an abused pregnant minor to avail of "reproductive health care services" even without parental consent.

In their position paper the 12th point states:

"HB 5043 ignores the mandate of Section 12, Article II of the Constitution, which provides as follows:

Sec.12.The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception.

This provision leaves no room for the State or any of its agencies to get involved in any family planning program that promotes CONTRACEPTIVES that endanger the health of the mother and the life of the unborn from the point of conception."

We should question P-Noy's support for this bill as it violates some provisions of our constitution which he swore to protect. 

Contraception and Broken Relationships

The debate on the Reproductive Health Bill (HB 5043) is raging nowadays. I was surprised to learn that some friends who don’t give a damn about current issues suddenly have comments on their facebook pages on this bill.

I am against this bill because I never believed in contraception in the first place. There are moral and practical reasons why the Catholic Church is opposed to this, sadly it has been overlooked, misunderstood, or worse seen with indifference.

First I would like to focus on the practical reasons why contraception has negative effects on society. We all know that human beings are by nature prone to do what is forbidden because sometimes (admit it) it feels good. That is why we have laws that punish wrong doing, we call it deterrents. It makes you think twice if you are tempted to break the law for immediate gain. Deterrents promote discipline. Just imagine what will happen to society if we take away the jail terms for robbery? Occurrences for this crime will sky rocket. 

Sexual sins are more tempting. Throughout history, men have been tempted to commit adultery. And the deterrent that is keeping him from committing this sin is fear of pregnancy. With the entry of contraception, this deterrent is now out of the way. The possible result is an increase in men entering adulterous relationships. Even teens are apt to engage in pre-marital sex and be unfaithful to their partners. As more of these sexual sins occur, more broken relationships take place in our society. Broken relationships destroy the family, the basic unit of society. And the victims who are affected most are the innocent ones—the children. Children who were raised in a broken family tend to be less balanced and secure than those who grew up with their families intact. One of the main reasons is the absence of both parent’s love and affection. With the parent’s hurting because of their own broken relationship, they tend to neglect the needs of their children. Of course this is not often the case, but it is more the rule than the exception.  Our constitution recognizes that the family is sacred (sec. 12 art II). Contraception clearly attacks the harmony of marriages which is the foundation of a family. Our government by supporting a bill that promotes the spread of contraception is violating the very laws it has sworn to protect. Those who are pro contraceptives will argue that it actually helps the relationships of married men and women because it improves their sex life. No need to wait for non-fertile periods to have sex. No need to practice self control (this is actually a problem that could be discussed in another post). With this argument in mind, we need to ask a question. Isn't it easier to enter an adulterous relationship with contraception as your "safeguard"? 

It is a fact that contraceptives are not 100% effective (it has a failure rate—check out the condom boxes). With the rise of unfaithfulness and sexual sins, it follows that there would be an increase in unwanted pregnancies. What does this lead to? There is a high probability that abortions would also increase. It’s true that not all who get pregnant “accidentally” would resort to abortion. The point is couples who resort to contraception are closed to the possibility of new life when they have sex, which is why if a pregnancy occurs unexpectedly, they are more inclined to considering abortion.

It is not really hard to see why a contraceptive mentality can wreak havoc on our society. It’s really an escalation of problems which start from the the weakness of human beings and the tendency to give in to temptations. Contraceptives make it easier for us to yield to temptations thereby leading to negative and serious social consequences.