Journey with the Bible - 12/12/2011

Today’s Readings - http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121211.cfm

Aside from my daily readings and bible readings, I also do a lot of short readings on the lives of the saints. These are real people that lived on earth, and devoted their life to the heart of Jesus and to the true meaning of the gospel. And they speak volumes when you know that they have lived on earth and that there are substantial evidence to their existence. Some of them even have incorrupt bodies.

The main theme today in the readings is the word “body” or “our body”. God in His abundant love for us, though we are sinful, wants to remain in us and it’s manifested since the beginning of time. The first reading says:

Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion!
See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.
Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,
and they shall be his people,
and he will dwell among you,
and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,
and he will again choose Jerusalem.
Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD!
For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling.

He loves us so much that He wants to be with us all the time. He wants to dwell in our hearts. But God is all pure and holy. He cannot dwell in us, if we harbor sin (evil) in us. God and sin cannot co-exist in one body. And this is why God has chosen Mary, because of her pure state (virginity) and was conceived without any stain of sin. Because the Holy Spirit cannot dwell in her if she has any traces of sin. Because remember God is all pure and holy, and so the Blessed Virgin Mary must be pure and holy too. Since God knows us, even before we were born, He must have known that Mary would lead a good life in accordance to God’s will, and so she was chosen. But here’s the best part, because she still has “free will” she could have chosen to say “no” to God, but instead she obeyed God and the power of the Most High overshadowed her.

You see, Mary is the perfect example for us to follow. When you yield to the Holy Spirit, miracles can happen in your life:

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end..

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you

Now let’s go back to the theme of the day “our body”. The Holy Spirit could not have been able to overshadow Mary if she has any traces of sin, and so God through His knowledge of time and space knows that Mary would lead a good life, through the Immaculate Conception, she was free from original sin. She has to be clean, she has to be holy and she has to be pure in order for God to rest on her. So in the same manner with us, in order for the Holy Spirit to take a foothold in our bodies and spirit, we must be pure, we must be holy and we must renounce any sin that we are attached to. Let us ask ourselves, how many times have we defiled God in our bodies? Through our eyes? Our mouth? Our ears? Our stomach? Our feet? Our hands? Our skin? Our reproductive parts? Our minds? Our hearts? Let’s go through some of examples…Our eyes…How many times have we looked at other people and judged them? Looked at them with lust? Looked at them with disgust? Watch pornographic movies and inappropriate movies and TV shows? Our mouth…How many times have we cursed other people? Used foul language? Did you know that the devils favorite word according to exorcists is the “F” word? Why then do we use that language if we consider ourselves as children of God? That “F” word is so prevalent today even in social media (e.g. “WT_”, “LM_AO”, “ST_U”…etc), and is being used nonchalantly. Even using the name of God in vain in words and text...such as "OM_". Our ears…have we allowed ourselves to listen to explicit lyrics and music? Have we allowed ourselves to listen to false teachings? Our stomach…Have we involved ourselves in gluttony? Our hands…Have we hurt or hit someone? Have we used our fingers to type any hurtful words or letter to others? Have we used the “F” word or any curse words as part of the sentences or words that I typed? Our skin…He we imprinted anything our bodies and considered it works of art? (see Leviticus 19:28)…it’s forbidden to imprint anything in our bodies. Our reproductive parts…have we abused them, manipulated them, or used them in any other manner that is contrary to the design of God? I am sorry but I will be explicit here…that includes premarital sex, masturbation, fornication, sodomy, altercations, birth control pills, tubal ligation, abortion and any other forms of contraception…and list goes on. Our minds and hearts…Have we allowed hatred, anger, harboring grudge, forgiving half-heartedly and so on.

You see why the Holy Spirit could not dwell in us, even if He wants to. Because we have allowed evil to enter through us, through the portal of sins. We are acting like gods, we are back to the garden of Eden all over again. When God said “Don’t do it”, we do it anyways, we throw our fists at Him.

So today let’s close our eyes, and ask Jesus to walk with us in our lives and our past, to ask for healing and forgiveness. Come to the throne of mercy at the Sacrament of Reconciliation, ask forgiveness from others. And let’s ask God to convert us every day from now on, and be like Mary. And embrace the power of the Holy Spirit in our life every day.

Our Lady of Guadalupe...Pray for us.

Jesus loves you.