April 27, 2013 daily reflection

What troubles your heart and life today? Is it poverty, pain in relationship, your finances, work undone, wrong decision, etc?Jesus in our gospel today tells us, "do not let your hearts be troubled; you believe in god, believe also in me." 

If we look deeply into our human experiences, we discover that there are a lot of uncertainties in this world which often impels us to doubt the power of God in our life. These uncertainties might be our blur vision of God's hand working in our life etched through various imperfections, poverty, injustices, infidelities, inequalities and Dis-eases we experience everyday. Sadly, we often see these worse realities as ends in themselves as if they are the center of our existence. And so we loose sight of what lies beyond the various troubles in life. Then we begin to live in despair. We begin to belong into hopelessness, and eventually we loose grip of our faith. We start to denounce God in our life. We start to blame God and turn our backs on him.

I believe this is our human weakness. When we feel we are abandoned by God because of our sad experiences and misfortunes, we give up everything we knew about Him and loved about him. But with our human weakness, God's strength reveals more powerful. 

 so let us be reminded once again of Jesus' consoling assurance to all of us - Jesus is our way, the answer to our quest for truth and meaning in life. For beyond the deaths and trials in life, sickness and human frailties, there awaits life and salvation. He will never abandon us for He is the Emmanuel, God with us.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled!" If you are experiencing some troubles in your heart and life today, I invite you to offer them all to the lord. He is the way that will ease your pains, he is the truth that will fulfill your infinite quest for purpose and meaning, he is the life that will grant you life in abundance.

Let me say this once again, "Do not let your hearts be troubled!"

Rejoice In the lord always!

Rejoice in the lord always!

Today is third Sunday of advent which is also known in Latin as gaudete or rejoice sunday. This is a special sunday because our readings speak boldly the message of gladness and rejoicing in the coming of the Lord.

In the first reading, for example, prophet Zephaniah invites god's people to rejoice in the lord for he is coming as a mighty conqueror, a mighty savior. He will come and turn away their enemies. He is their king who will be in their midst. The image of a conqueror, saviour or a king is very powerful during the time of the propehts. For Zephaniah, This is an assurance to the promise of salvation and redemption, A promise of bountiful blessings, of strength and triumph they have longed for. And now it is nearing to its fulfillment.

In the second reading, St Paul repeats the message, "rejoice in the lord always."  St paul invites the philippians to turn their fears into joy and galdness. They ahve to rejoice for god will secure their hears and minds. They have to fear no more. These were the words of thankfulness and gladness of st Paul For even he was imprisoned while writing the letter to the Philippians his joy was still abounding knowing that the lord is near, that the lord is coming for his people to save and rescue them from sadness and sinfulness. He comes to rule over the darkness and loneliness in our lives and transform it into light and pure joy.

The same theme of rejoicing is emphasized In our gospel.  many came to see john the baptist and asked him what shall they do. Those who came to him were seen as outcasts by the Jewish people and yet John welcomed them. So this shows that the message of god, the good news is for everyone who are willing to listen and follow the lord. Rejoice in the lord always. God will come to teach and guide those who are willing to listen and follow him. He will speak to them how to live their lives. He will come with might in his hands but full of love and compassion in his heart. 

What shall we do then to be found by the lord rejoicing when he comes? Luke tells us three things. One we should be concerned of our brothers and sisters especially those who are lacking and in need. Tis means we have to set aside our self-centeredness and search to aid those who are having misfortunes in life. Second, we have to be just to others. Not corrupting and exploiting the rights and love of others. Third, luke tells Us that we have to find contentment as an important virtue in life. We have to Learn to appreciate what we have, what god has blessed us with, family, relationship, career, friends, faith, presence and love. 

As we continue in our advent journey, we pray to the lord to grace us with enough courage and strength to be ready in his coming. And as we pray may our hearts and lives be filled with rejoicing and gladness making known the love of god for his people. I say it once again, rejoice in the lord always. Rejoice. 

Wedding homily

A warm of applause please for Arthur and Nica.  Welcome sa magulong buhay.

Parang kelan Lang,si jerlin pasimba simba Lang sa broce, ngayon magpapakasal na. 

Sigurado naba kayong magpakasal?

I always love celebrating weddings kasi, I'm always reminded of love. 

Kaya Kung may magpakasal pa jan, libre ako anytime...hehe

Why do some get married? Im sure youve heard of people who don't believe in commitments, not faithful to their vows. Many have broken relationships, failures in marriages. But why do some people still willing to get married? 

Answer is love. Love is simply powerful, it can hope, it can trust.

Marriages are not made in heaven. Marriages are made here on earth by two persons, man and woman. in this marriage, you are offering yourselves to each other, promising to love each other, mamahalin kahit sino ka man, ngayon at magpakailanman.

Three thing I would like to share to you.

Sacrifice. If you don't know how to sacrifice, it means you don't know how to love. Because love means sacrifice. It's giving up who you are what you are. You will now have a family of your own to watch over, to take care, to pray, to love, to persevere. 

You have to be willing to sacrifice if you truly love. Life is never easy. Married life is never easy. I have not gone into marriage yet, but I know. Everyday, life will ask you to sacrifice. It's never easy but you will reap what you sow. In the end, you will experience real life, happiness and love.

Consistent. Repetition is the master of all skills. Goodness, pag paulit ulit mong ginagawa even how simple and small they, they become special and beautiful. 

Prayer. The family that prays together stays together. All relationships will end into despair if without prayer. Prayer is our strength. Prayer is your life. Pray. Trust in the lord for he is good and gentle of heart. 

You will discover many things about each other. Things that sometimes will hurt you. You will face many trials in life, trials that will wound you or scare you. 

By be strong.

Be patient and kind

Generous and trustful

Wisdom and faith

Hope and love

You can never be a perfect wife

You can never be a perfect husband

But any wife is not looking for a perfect husband

Any husband is not looking for a perfect wife

All they need is that when they are down yo are there

If she is failing, you are there to forgive

If he is happy, you are there to share that happiness.

Make most of your time. Everyday is a blessing from god to you to enjoy.

Fall in love. Stay in love and that will decide everything.

Graffy and Jerlin, Congratulations and god bless you.

Let go and let god

Story of barren wife. Failed many times in tests and medicines. Hoping against hope. then one day, February 14, she felt something. She Iikes mangoes, sleeping, naglilihi. Then she was saying, this is it. Tis is it. After 5 days, they learned that she was not pregnant. The doctor said that theres nothing they can do. All the tests were done. That was the saddest part in her life. She cannot work right, she cannot sleep well, cannot eat well. Everytime she attends mass, she would go sobbing and tears would just flow from her eyes. 

One night her husband came and saw her lying in bed. And the husband hugged her and said, I'm here I'm here. Then she said to him, love, it's very easy for god right? He can easily make me pregnant. Bakit ayaw pa nya? At that moment, when she was questioning god, she realized she was not actually letting god in control. She was in control. So she said, lord, I give all to you. She surrendered everything to god. After that she felt relieved. Like a heavy burden was taken from her. 

After 5 months, she got pregnant. And after 9 months after her first baby, she got pregnant again for their next child, a boy.

Let go and let god. 

Sometimes there are people like this. Unless I marry this woman, unless I will get married, unless I get rid of my wife, unless I go to states, unless I have a baby, I will never be happy.

You are more important than your dream. 

This should be our prayer, lord even if I will not have a baby, even if I will not get married, even if I will not have a new cellphone or car or house or more money. I will still be happy. Because i believe that my best days are ahead. And you will give me the best for me. 

Your have to surrender to god. Because god have prepared what is best for you. You have to trust him amidst that storm. 

I was sent out from the seminary after my college. I was so devastated when I heard the words, yo have to leave the seminary. All my strength lost, it was so heavy, I felt so lifeless....but it was the time I realized that I was taking control. So I said to god, lord, I trust you. I surrender myself to you.. After a year, I came back and just last year I was ordained a priest. 

When you surrender to god, your pains, weaknesses, illnesses and diseases, financial needs, failures, peace will come into your life. Love will come. Life will come to you. 

Christmas reflection

Are you ready for Christmas? Old people would say, nah..but young people would say yes.

There was A boy who wanted a watch for Christmas. That's all he talked about. And his daddy got so tired of listening said. I don't want to hear anything about that watch But if you'll ask anything, I might give that to you. During dinner, the father asked the kids before meal, what is your favorite verse? The boy said, my favorite verse is mk 13:37. And what I say to you, I say to all, watch.

To think that god could have ended the world, he came as a baby in an obscure place. To die on the cross so that you and I can have eternal life and live in eternal life in heaven. That's the best christmas gift. Amen?

And out of that gift, there are other gifts of jesus.

Have you received some gifts this Christmas? Sino ang meron na? Sino ang wala pa? I have something for you. Please come here and receive your gift.

Have you received a gift within a gift within a gift? When you open it, theres a gift then you open it, and you have another box. Akala mo ang laki ng regalo yun pala, yung tag bebente na laruan. but Thats the kind of gift of jesus. A gift inside a gift. That there are still more gifts when we receive jesus. 

I would like to share to you three gifts we receive this Christmas.

1. Forgiveness

We know that we are not perfect. There are times in our in our life that we simply make wrong decisions,mistakes, hurt people, ourselves and god. 

Theres a boy who wrote to Santa, and he said dealer Santa, there are three boys in this house, jeffrey 2 years old, David, 4, and Billy 7. Jeffrey is good some of the time, david is also good some of the time, but billy is good all the time. And by the way, I am billy. 

The problem is none of us is good all the time. We all have regrets, we all have guilts. And there are so many things that we become stupid. Bt god simply forgives us. The christmas message is god forgives. And gods forgiveness is immediate. He does not ask you to fall in life and wait for your turn. When you sincerely ask god for forgiveness, he forgives at that moment. And this forgiveness of god is undeserved. None of us is worthy of his forgiveness. We are all unworthy for his forgiveness and yet god still forgives. God forgives you. Also, gods forgiveness is complete. The bible says when you ask for forgiveness, god will forget your sin. God chooses to forget our sin when we ask for forgiveness. If you have sins today that you are still keeping, ask the lord for forgiveness. And when the lord forgives, he forgets. The bible says when you confess your sins To the lord, god will remember your sins no more. If god forgets, we can forget. It's not about having a new leaf but it's having new life.

2. The gift of strength

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. This world is hard at times. We face struggles and difficulties that are sometimes insurmountable. We don't know what next year holds, but the gift of Christ who was born to gift us with his strength will give us the assurance that we can pass all possible trials that may come our way. When you surrender your life to god, you will hear him saying its ok, it's alright. You can do it. Never give up. Do not be afraid. Your burden is light, your cross may be many but I will be there to help you carry through. It's not your own strength but it's gods. He is your strength. He alone is your strength enough to sustain your life. 

3. The gift of heaven - buhay na walang hanggan.

They say you're not ready to live until you are ready to die. We are afraid to talk about death because we are not sure about it. We don't know about it. Everyday, god is preparing us for that day when we receive him and be with him. Receive him in your life as your god, as your savior, your protector, and death will simply be our home coming. 

So god gives us gifts in our life. Forgiveness, strength, and eternal life. 

The tragedy is so many people celebrate Christmas year attest year and not receiving gods Christmas gift.

 There was a story of a man who received a gift from his wife and never opened it for 49 years. How would the wife feel when her gift was never opened. Would she feel sad? Disappointed? I think god would feel the same. If we will put him aside, his greatest gift to us, he will also feel sad. That must have hurt the heart of god. God gives us the greatest gift that we could ever imagine.

A father gave a plastic pearls to his daughter and she wore that until 13 years old. One day the father asked his daughter, give me that pearl. And the daughter asked, why? Then the father got a precious pearl from inside his pocket and said, this is the reason why. God wants us to give to him, what we have, what we carry I'm us from this world, our sins, our frustrations, our anxieties, our worries and pains, our possessions, that occupies our life with so much hatred, discontentment, many burden. God is asking us give me all those and I will give you something genuine, something real.

How do you receive gods gift?

There was a boy who was assigned in a play, and he plays the character of a house boy. He repeats his one line practicing it..the line is..sorry, wala na pong kwarto dito. 

Then during the play, Mary and Joseph went into the house and knock on the door bringing with them some lights..then billy, the houseboy, said sorry, wala na pong kwarto.

Then Mary and Joseph carrying the baby walked away looking for another house to stay. And in that play something happened. Without any reason at all, the 10 year old boy felt something and said ..hey, come back..you can have my room. 

Have you made room for jesus this Christmas?

Maybe some of you here is missing something this christmas. And you just felt that you're missing something. You know that jesus can be that person in your life. He will forgive you, he will strengthen you, and he will give you fullness of life. 

This is the invitation this Christmas, receive jesus in your life this Christmas. He is your greatest gift. Merry Christmas and God bless us all. 

Feast of holy family

Today's feast of the Holy Family was instituted by Pope Leo XIII in 1893 on the Sunday within the Octave of the Christmas. It falls on the first sunday after Christmas. The Holy family is the name given to the family unit of jesus: the divine son of god jesus, his moth the virgin Mary and her most chaste spouse Joseph.

The Feast of the Holy Family is not just about the Holy Family, but about our own families too. The main purpose of the Feast is to present the Holy Family as the model for all Christian families, and for domestic life in general.

In our first reading, sirach instructs us that every family must be built in love and respect; rooted in the Fatherly love image of god. He tells us that to take care of our family, of parents will bring good things in life. It releases us from sin, live longer, and be remembered forever. 

In the second reading from Paul to the Colossians, Paul encourages the Colossians that a family must be built in love, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Each much show love and concern for each other. Husbands must love their wives, wives must do the same. This shows to Paul that these things will help make a better and stronger family. When someone is able to forgive when someone fails, when he loves when someone has done wrong, that's the spirit of family.

In our gospel, the family of jesus gives us the role of obedience in every family. Obedience is an act of love and respect. Jesus was obedient to the father, Mary was obedient to her husband Joseph, Joseph was obedient to the angel telling him to bring his family to Egypt.

Similarly, it is this same obedience that our lord came into the world, suffered, died and rose again to save us from our sins. This same obedience made the lord fulfill his mission and continues even until today.

God is reminding us that we have to do the same. We have to be obedient with one another and especially to god. And this begins in our own families. The family which is the haven of culture, pricnciple, morality and faith. It is also in the family that one learns the idea of love, obedience, sacrifice, kindness, and the like. 

May The holy family that we celebrate today give us the inspiration to nurture our own family.

Can god be trusted? Daily reflection

Have you been tempted? Sabi ng Iba, Hindi po father, Ako yung nanunukso..

Sometimes we think that when we are tempted, it's all about me. 

What is at stake when we are tempted? Your future, others future, your faith.

That's why parents when our child does something we know where he or she is going. And we then say, don't do that...or a friend sees that there's something wrong, more bad things will happen.

So when we are tempted, we should say, no, your not gonna steal my future, my family's future, my faith.

And god has given us the power to resist temptation, this is the power to dream. You dream for yourself not only today but the future, your have to dream for your family, to what will give them best, how to better help them, you have to dream a life with faith in god, a life where god is close to us. 

In every temptation,  ask god, god can you be trusted? 

First temptation of jesus. Turn this stone into bread. Interesting, bread is also our common temptation, right? Can god be trusted? Yes. The issue is not the bread from a stone but our trust in god. Food is not enough, life is not enough, friends are not enough, family is not enough, money, business is not enough. We need the word of god to guide us, to make us alive. 

Moses in the first reading reminds the Israelites not to forget the works of the lord. When you were in the desert, he never abandoned you. 

Second temptation, jesus was offered a kingdom. Never risk what is essential, what truly lasts to what satisfies temporarily. We have to do what god exactly wants us to do. Why you are here for? A parent? A doctor? A lawyer? An entrepreneur?  Are you faithful to what god wills for you? Or have we forgotten why we are here for?

The third temptation. Jump and let gods angels catch you.the sin of presumption or assumption. It's like forcing the hand of god. It's testing god to do what we want to happen.

Friends, we are all tempted. But it is in your hands to give in to it or not. 

Temptation is always a question can god be trusted? And we know god can be trusted. 

Daily reflection April 24,2013

Good afternoon!

There are choices that we have to make everyday. And we know that in every choice that we make there is always a consequence.

Yesterday's readings invite us to listen to god. We listen to hear what god is trying to tell us. We listen through the scriptures, conscience, church, and other people. We listen to god so as to understand what he wills for all of us.

Today's readings invites us to seek gods light in our life. We need to be enlightened, in our decisions, in our life. Sometimes, there are storms that come our way, clouds cover the sun that helps us to grow, problems seal us from seeing the blessings in our life. And so we have to Seek the light, and the light is jesus Christ. He will lead us, he will guide us to a life of happiness and abundance.

Sometimes, our problem is that we try to believe that our wrong actions may possibly become right. Minsan pinipilit nating gawin Ang mga maling baGay na Alan naman natin na Ito ay Hindi makabubuti sa atin. 

How can a wrong become right? Ang Mali ay Hindi kailangan naging tama.

But there is assurance for all of us that God's light will always be available for us. Some of us may be running the wrong path right now, yet god is right beside us to lead us back to the right path. It's never too late for anyone of us to take the right path. 

But it is your choice: to seek the light or to remain in darkness. 

Ar the same time, we are also tasked by the great master to be the light for others. Have a blessed Wednesday!

April 25, 2013 daily reflection

Today's psalm invites us to proclaim Gods wonderful work in all of us: "Forever I will sing of the goodness of the Lord, forever I will sing of your love. Forever will I sing."

The path to heaven is a long journey that we all have to take. And along the path, we may experience struggles, difficulties, series of tests and pains. But let us always remind ourselves that amidst life's raw tears and sorrows, blessings abound the more.

We are all blessed because God continues to rule the world with his might and love. Everyday God manifests and showers upon us and within us his abundant blessings and graces, noticed or unnoticed.

If you wake up each morning and able to see your wife or husband beside you (if there is any), able to dress and go to your office and see your friends and bosses smiling or not, if you wake up each day and feel your breath and able to brush your teeth clean and fresh, eat your breakfast, do you early morning routine, then perhaps you should be mindful how blessed you are. For every moment that you breathe, you breathe Gods love for you. 

In every moment of our life, therefore, we have to proclaim and exult the greatness of our God. He is the source of every goodness in this world. He alone can answer to our search for truth, beauty and happiness. For God knows, in his omniscience, every inch of our soul. 

So whatever troubles you yesterday, tomorrow and today, settle to the thought that God is still blessing you everyday, for everyday is Gods present for you. That is why you are able to read this for the same reason that he wants you to understand and remember how much he loves you.

May we echo as the psalm heralds, "Forever I will sing of the goodness of the Lord, forever I will sing of your love. Forever will I sing." 

May you embrace his blessings all the more, everyday!u