Journey with the Bible - 12/9/2011

Today’s Reading  - http://usccb.org/bible/readings/120911.cfm

It’s been a rough week, though I am glad it’s Friday, I am also joyful for the sufferings, for I know that I am being sanctified by it. And at the end of it, I will see the glory of Christ.

Today, I asked the Lord, if He wants me to write, He should give me free time. But God has other plans; He wants me to write even through my difficult times. I’m still smiling, can you see?

I was reading an excerpt about Padre Pio online. He said there was a man, tall, very good looking, and dressed properly, came in to go to confession to him. He was quite amazed because this man told him all the extremely bad things he had done and in great detail, but to each sin he commits, he immediately justify them always with extreme ability and politeness. According to Padre Pio, he would make it, as if every sin he committed is justified. It is as if it is not a sin anymore. After a while, He then realized it was the devil himself, and Padre Pio told him to glorify the name of Jesus and of Mary, and then he vanished...pretty scary huh? Anyways the Psalm for today says:

Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.

When I was in high school someone told “Tell me your friends, and I will tell you who you are”. It is true, your values and sometimes the way you think can be influenced by the people you hang out with the most. If you hang out with people with vices and those who are in to the mindset of the secular world and if you are not strong in your faith, it is most likely that you will be persuaded by them. Just as the devil can justify his sins with extreme ability and politeness, it is the same manner with the people you hang out with that are living with the world. Eventually, they will tell you and influence you by saying…”Yeah! Everyone is having premarital sex, so it’s accepted”, “Everyone is cohabitating it’s the norm”, “Everyone is using contraception or abortion, it helps the society”…and so goes with drugs, yoga, occult, pornography, addiction, inappropriate movies and tv shows, obsession with gadgets, internet, vanity, shopping addiction.. etc.. Can you see the same pattern here that the devil used with Padre Pio? These sins are real! Very real! But the world is making it sound like its normal! So be very careful with what you hear and more importantly discern with the Holy Spirit.

No wonder we can’t see Jesus clearly in our lives, we are so blinded by all these sins before us that the world makes it sound so normal. In the gospel today, Jesus said

We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,
we sang a dirge but you did not mourn."
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said,
"He is possessed by a demon."
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said,
"Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'

How many times have we missed Jesus in our lives? When someone gives birth (Breath of Life), there’s Jesus…When someone passes away (Mercy and Eternal Life), there’s Jesus…When someone says to you “How are you?” (Love), there’s Jesus…When someone tells you that Jesus loves you…there’s Jesus. How can we miss Jesus in our everyday lives? Sometimes we make it so complicated to see God. Sometimes we complain so much and say “I can’t see God!”, “I don’t feel God in my life”, “my husband or wife or children is annoying me all the time”,  “I just got cutoff by some driver”, “work is so hard”…Have you ever wondered why you can’t see God in those times? Try to evaluate you prayer life, your knowledge of God, your works and your deeds. First reading says:

If you would hearken to my commandments,
your prosperity would be like a river,
and your vindication like the waves of the sea;
Your descendants would be like the sand,
and those born of your stock like its grains,
Their name never cut off
or blotted out from my presence.

But wisdom is vindicated by her works

So what is the trick? “Listen to His commandments; acknowledge even the simplest things in life”. If you follow the voice of God and not the voice of this world, your name will always be before God. Just by breathing alone is a miracle, how much more if you were healed or have seen a miracle? Would you believe? Let us not miss Jesus in our daily lives anymore…Gospel says “But wisdom is vindicated by her works”. When we see the works of God, even the smallest thing, like the rising of the sun…let us acknowledge His presence in our lives, and obey His commandments.

Jesus loves you!