"I have overcome the world"

Jesus told us that in Him we shall find peace (cf. Jn. 16:33), continuing that “you will suffer in the world.  But take courage!  I have overcome the world”.  Has he really overcome the world?  I believe so.  How?  Through His death and resurrection He has opened Heaven’s gate for us all; also, because the bigger number in the world are those who freely chose to become Christians, without being forced at all.  This is not a matter of force or pressure.  Jesus’ attitude is one of love and gentleness, to invite people to the truths about God and our final destiny, this being done with full respect to each person’s free conscience, unlike the forces of terror that arms themselves with threatening death-dealing tactics. 

It may take time to discover the truth but with time and patience we shall be victorious.  As St. Faustina expresses in her Diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul (1514), “I have learned that the greatest power is hidden in patience.  I see that patience always leads to victory, although not immediately, but victory will become manifest after many years.  Patience is linked to meekness.”  Jesus has conquered sin and death because He died and rose from death for the sake of truth and love.  Those who follow Jesus willingly are there because they sincerely seek for the “truth that sets us free” (Jn.8:32), and the Reign of God that declares ‘Fortunate are the meek and gentle, they shall possess the land’ (Mt. 5:5).

Game of life

Sometimes we fight for nothing, for children’s games.  Is that quite right?  Don’t we realize there is a better game, a larger sphere,---the game of life.  It’s so sad people could die fighting in the smaller battles or games or gambles. Lose a battle but win the war, the ancients said.  Did not Jesus do just that?

St. Augustine spoke of it.  He said here in the world there are two cities: the City of God and the City of Satan, the devil.  We must fight to resist the forces of evil and strive to belong to the kingdom of the sons of God.

“The kingdom of God is like a net catching all kinds of fishes, then the fishermen chose the good and threw the bad away.  That is what shall happen at the end of time.  The angels will select the good and throw to the fire the bad people”(Mt. 13:47).  May life's game keep us ever on the right track--Jesus' camp!

Prayer and change of heart

Prayer will make us leave sinning, or sinning will make us leave prayer.  Such a simple formula.  If one goes about doing his/her best giving time for the things of God, such as Holy Mass, prayer meetings, being together with the family or one’s brethren, then sooner or later, especially if one prays to God for the grace, the person will achieve the change for the better.  This change is what is called in Greek—metanoia, or a conversion of heart.

After all, what we’re after is really a change, but for the better.  What else?  Christianity is not a “palabras” but a religion of grace and power.  Yet like a person who needs water and opens faucets, we too can meditate on God’s word and receive the Sacraments, since these are instruments of change.  If human ideas can, how much greater will the change/conversion produce by divine ideas be.

In a homily delivered in June 1968, Blessed Paul Vi expressed this idea, thus: “We can imagine, then, that each of our sins, our attempts to turn our back on God, kindles in God a more intense flame of love, a desire to bring us back to himself and to his saving plan…God, in Christ, shows himself to be infinitely good…He loves us, seeks us out…He will be—so to say—delighted on the day when we return...”  Let us never forget that we are God’s children, and He awaits our final return at journey’s end.

Peaceful cemeteries

Life is meant to liberate a person from deceiving attempts to demean his/her human dignity in order to ensure protection of one’s human rights.  Sometimes agitators do not seem to realize where or what they are agitating for.  They say they fight for the rights of man yet in sequel to their acts come those riots where more and more victims are piled.  Think that the first right of man is—life. 

Will the acts of violence leading to bloodshed justify the cause for life’s defense?  Such bloodletting in the name of justice is pure deception, revenge and victimizing.  The sad thing about this is when protagonists are false prophets using the name of the Church, yet mouthing violence, anger and hate in their hearts.  Just look at the victims.  Is that justified?

The Spirit says: “Let not your anger reach sundown so as not to give the devil a chance to set a trap for you” (Eph. 4:26).  May true peace reign in our hearts so that one’s life may follow in the footsteps of the Sacrificial Lamb, whose Blood was shed to restore Divine Justice and a reconciling spirit of dialogue for life in the whole of creation.   

The Lord of the harvest calls!

"There is a large harvest, but few workers to gather it in.  Pray to the owner of the harvest that he will send out workers to gather in his harvest."

To follow Jesus is to listen to His voice, for He does not stop calling for people to share in His mission of redemption--challenging both young and old to witness to the Kingdom values--living out a dedicated, joyful readiness to sacrifice oneself so that our poor and needy brethren be not deprived of a dignified way of living.

As God called Abraham and our Fathers of faith into the unknown to help form His people, so does He in our modern times continue to knock to open doors to global newness but still on the way of communal love shown us by Jesus and the first disciples and early Christians.  "The group of believers was one in mind and heart.  None of them said that any of their belongings were their own, but they all shared with one another everything they had" (Acts 4:32).

The challenge today resounds ever more loudly for more workers, modern apostles to attend to those desiring to hear the Good News of a Savior God full of mercy and compassion, and to bear witness to Jesus' mission of love and forgiveness.  "Don't be afraid," Jesus encourages those who follow Him, as He did Peter, "from now on you will be catching people" (Lk. 5:10).

The Lord of the Harvest will supply all the strength needed in leaving behind the fears, anxieties and tensions embedded in the wounded human heart to emerge with the gentle power of the Holy Spirit to communicate the eternal legacy of Faith of the Divine Master and Teacher. "They pulled the boats up on the beach, left everything, and followed Jesus" (Lk. 5:11).