"For God so loved the world..."

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 3:13-17.
No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.


Commentary of the day
Pope Benedict XVI
Homily the Paschal Vigil, 07/04/2007 (©Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

"He gave himself up to death and by his resurrection he destroyed death and restored life" (Eucharistic Prayer IV)

In the Creed we say about Christ's journey that he «descended into hell»... The liturgy applies to Jesus' descent into the night of death the words of Psalm 23[24]: «Lift up your heads, O gates; be lifted up, O ancient doors!» The gates of death are closed, no one can return from there. There is no key for those iron doors. But Christ has the key. His Cross opens wide the gates of death, the stern doors. They are barred no longer. His Cross, his radical love, is the key that opens them. The love of the One who, though God, became man in order to die – this love has the power to open those doors. This love is stronger than death.

The Easter icons of the Oriental Church show how Christ enters the world of the dead. He is clothed with light, for God is light. «The night is bright as the day, the darkness is as light» (cf. Ps 138[139]12). Entering the world of the dead, Jesus bears the stigmata, the signs of his passion: his wounds, his suffering, have become power: they are love that conquers death. He meets Adam and all the men and women waiting in the night of death. As we look at them, we can hear an echo of the prayer of Jonah: «Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice» (Jon 2:2).

In the incarnation, the Son of God became one with human beings – with Adam. But only at this moment, when he accomplishes the supreme act of love by descending into the night of death, does he bring the journey of the incarnation to its completion. By his death he now clasps the hand of Adam, of every man and woman who awaits him, and brings them to the light.

My Reflection:
God really really loves mankind. But am I responding to His promise? How can I contribute to the society especially now that we are in the modern age of technology wherein people are so much focused on earthly things. I know that God has a special plans in my life. All I have to do is to die in myself so that others may live. Doing this blog makes me an instrument to propagate His Good news of salvation.

Will you follow Him also?
Pray for it...

Blessed are you who weep now

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 6:20-26.
And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.
But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.

Commentary of the day
Isaac of Stella (?-c.1171), Cistercian monk
Sermon 2 for All Saints, 13-20

"Blessed are you who weep now"

"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Mt 5:5). By this saying the Lord wants us to understand that the path of joy lies in tears. It is through desolation one goes to consolation; in losing one's life that one finds it; in forsaking it that one possesses it; in hating it that one loves it; in despising it that one keeps it (cf. Mt 16,24f.). If you would know and have the mastery over yourself, enter within yourself and do not seek yourself without... Return to yourself, you sinner, return to where you are, to your heart ... Will not the one who returns to himself discover himself to be far away, like the prodigal son, in a region of unlikeness, in a foreign land, where he sits and weeps at the memory of his father and his native country? (Lk 15,17) ...

"Adam, where are you? "(Genesis 3,9) Perhaps still in the shadows, so as not to see yourself, you are sewing leaves together in a vain desire to cover your shame, looking at what is around you and what belongs to you .. Look inside, look at yourself ... Return within yourself, you sinner, return to your soul. See and weep for this soul subject to vanity and restlessness who cannot set himself free from his captivity ... It is clear, my brethren, that we live outside ourselves, we are forgetful of ourselves whenever we fritter our lives away in empty pursuits or distractions decked out with trifles. That is why Wisdom is more concerned to invite us to the house of repentance than the house of feasting, that is to say to call back into himself the man outside himself, saying: "Blessed are they that mourn" and in another passage: "Woe to you who laugh now."

My brethren, let us groan in the presence of the Lord whose goodness moves him to forgive; let us turn to him "with fasting, weeping and mourning " (Joel 2,12) so that one day his ... consolation may delight our souls. Blessed indeed are those who weep now, not because they are weeping but because they shall be comforted. Weeping is the way, blessedness the consolation.

My Reflection:
Today's gospel reminds me of just being faithful to God and do good deeds for me to become a better person and becoming an instrument to His plan.

Yet it is very hard because we are surrounded with ungodly environment. It is up to us to create an atmosphere of peace and abundance.

The formula? Pray and have a personal relationship with Him. Be Blessed!!!

"Do not be afraid."

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 5:1-11.
While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch."
Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets."
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man."
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."
When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.


Commentary of the day
Saint Antony of Padua (c.1195-1231), Franciscan, Doctor of the Church
Sermons for Sundays and Saints' days

"Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men"

«At your word I will lower the nets.» It is at the command of divine grace and supernatural inspiration that the nets of preaching are to be spread out. Otherwise the preacher wastes his time in lowering the lines of his words. People's faith is won, not by carefully composed speeches but the grace of a divine vocation... O fruitful humility! When those who so far haven't caught a thing put their trust in Christ's word, they catch a great number of fish...

«At your word I will lower the nets.» Whenever I lowered them on my own I wanted to keep what belongs to you for myself. It was myself I was preaching and not you; my words, not yours. That's why I caught nothing. Or if I did catch something, it wasn't fish but frogs, only good for croaking my own praise...

«At your word I will lower the nets.» Running out the net at the word of Jesus Christ means not attributing anything to oneself but all to him; it means practising what one preaches. Then a great number of fish will be caught.

My reflection:

As I was reading the gospel for today, I can't help myself to be on Simon's shoes. Everyday in my life, I am filled with worries and doubts about my life, my family, my friends, my church and our priest. But that was before until I really feel the presence of God when I attended the CLSS (Catholic Life in the Spirit Seminar)

And to this day, there are doubts but faith overcomes them.

GOD is Good! All the Time!

Note: The Gospel and commentary comes from the Daily Gospel.