Thy Mercy

It seems that for many Christians we have an understanding that heaven is only for the sinless and holy people. If that is the case, then only few or no one would be able to go to heaven and be with God for eternity.

I remember having a likely intellectual discussion with my friend about God and salvation. I have quantified the basis of God’s discernment for choosing someone to be with Him in heaven. However, my friend said that it is in God’s mercy that we can have eternal life. I was quite upset to hear it because it appears to be unfair for someone who is trying his best to be a good person by avoiding sins and temptations and yet it is possible for a sinful person to be in heaven because of God’s mercy and compassion.

Mercy is defined as love toward those that are miserable, those that are wretched, and those that need some type of help or assistance. Having compassion on those that are in any way hurting is only the first part of having mercy. Doing something about it, is the all important second part.

The Corporal Works of Mercy such as feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, comfort the imprisoned, visit the sick, and bury the dead while the Spiritual Works of Mercy like admonish sinners, instruct the uninformed, counsel the doubtful, comfort the sorrowful, be patient with those in error, forgive offenses, and pray for the living and the dead are the ways by which God wanted us to show and share His mercy to our fellowmen.

The story of the two thieves crucified on the cross together with Jesus Christ is a perfect example of God’s mercy and compassion. When God said to Dimas, “Today you shall be with me in paradise,” is apparently a genuine manifestation of God’s great love and mercy to a sinner who at the very moment was blessed by God to be with Him in heaven. Also, when the blessed Pope John Paul II was attempted to be assassinated, he visited the person in the prison cell who tried to kill him and lovingly and mercifully hugged him and forgave him from what he did. It was truly a beautiful expression of God’s loving mercy.

Looking back at the sharing I had with my friend, I realized that God’s love and mercy is infinite and cannot be measured nor be quantified by space and time.  It is endless and unfathomable that not even the greatest theologian in the world can ever comprehend.

It is my ardent hope and prayer that as children of God we can continuously live a life full of mercy and compassion especially to those who need most of it.

The 5^th Beautitude, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

P.S. I Love You

Prayer as simply defined by Fr. Thomas Green, SJ in his book Opening to God, is “The opening of our minds to God.” If I may add, prayer is not only opening of our minds to God but at the same time lifting our hearts to Him as well. It is in prayer that we are able to communicate and express our deepest thoughts and feelings to God. It is where we empty both our minds and hearts so that the spirit and love of God may dwell in us. Prayer in its highest form is our way of communing to God for us to think, see, feel and realize what God wanted us to do in our lives. 

Scriptures is one of the several names denoting the inspired writings which make up the Old and New Testament. The bible is a holy book where we can find all the stories about God from His commandments, teachings, miracles, sufferings, persecution and also stories of ordinary people just like us who have witnessed, followed and lived a life according to God’s perfect example.

It is through prayer that we offer and surrender everything to God and it is by reading the scriptures that we are able to get to know and discover our true God. Thus, we can say that prayers and scriptures are ways and means by which we can wholeheartedly fulfill our being of existence. We cannot just pray alone without getting to know who are we really praying for and we cannot just read the scriptures without emulating the life of God by living His holy teachings.

Every time I go to church on a Sunday, I consider it a blessed opportunity to be a part of a community of people that prays to God. As I pray with them, I can feel that there is great joy and love that overflows from each individual which I am very sure God feels very good about.

I remember in one of the books I have read entitled “Embraced by the Light” by Betty J. Eadie, she narrated how she witnessed people pray whereby she described it like a shooting star that goes up to heaven very fast in multitude because of millions of people pray. She said that our prayer can be immediately granted by God because He is bombarded with a lot of prayers. It will surely be an awe inspiring experience to witness how all our prayers go up to heaven being received by God.

On the other hand, one sad reality for many Catholics is that we rarely read the bible or perhaps we don’t read it at all. Maybe this is a reason why many of our fellow Catholics were converted to other faiths because of the lack of knowledge of who God really is in the context of our Catholic faith.  Again, we cannot just pray without reading the Scriptures and we cannot just read the Scriptures without praying at all.

Time and again, we are all invited to get to know God deeply by reading and studying the Holy Scriptures coupled it with our sincere and utmost prayer to God that we may reveal through our words and actions that we really and truly love God above all everything.

P.S. I love you just like in a love letter will be our last but the sweetest words we will utter to God because we truly believe that He is alive as it is the ultimate desire of our heart and soul to be with Him one day in His beautiful place called heaven.

P.S. I LOVE YOU LORD!  

A Disciple, A Learner, A Follower

 

For me, to be a disciple is to be a follower, someone who is willing to commit himself and do everything for the greater glory and honor of God. That was my personal understanding of the word disciple. I did not realize that the word disciple literally translated from the Greek means to be "a learner." Thus, to be a disciple is to be a learner or student of Jesus. If that is the case, I have a lot of quizzes to pass, homework to submit, projects to accomplish and big exams to review for. I needed to do all of these if I want to pass as a student and impress my greatest teacher, Jesus.

Growing up in the Catholic faith, I remember learning the basic and fundamental teachings of my religion from my school teachers and my parents as well. In school, we would have our weekly catechism classes while at home I would remember praying the holy rosary with my family and join the block rosary together with the elders in my town where I grew up in. It was a start of my learning the A,B,Cs of my faith as a Catholic.

As I grow older, I felt that I needed to learn more about Jesus, thus, I enrolled myself in a bible class on my own expense just to learn more about Him. I remember having a lot of trivial and intricate questions that bogged my mind and shook my faith as a student. It was like trying to understand my lessons, struggling to review for my exams, and having difficulty doing my homework which gave me a very hard and tumultuous learning experience which eventually I have well comprehended by the grace of God.

However, being a learner of Jesus does not end there. This time, I needed to apply what I have learned. It is where I have to be a follower of Jesus and enter into a discipleship which is the process of learning about the teachings of Jesus, internalizing them and then acting upon them has to take place. This I believe is the greatest challenge for any student like me for that matter. It is where I have to take that internship or practicum of life by being able to apply everything that I have learned in the classroom of Jesus.

I remember being asked by my Grade 4 students the question, “What will make you happy?” I simply said, “To be with God in heaven together with my family and friends.” I truly believe that this can happen if I will do my best to be a good student of Jesus. Not just learning everything in the bible but also sharing His goodness and kindness to others.

In this year of Faith, we are all reminded to be faithful students of Jesus by being bright learners and humble followers. Remember, we are all doing this because we wanted to impress our Great Teacher and be accelerated to the ultimate grade level in life which is heaven.

I believe that as a student of Jesus, we can always do our best to pass all the quizzes, come up with great projects, submit our home works on time and get straight A’s in all our exams if we would always put our trust and faith in Him.

Pick up your bags, read your books and listen very well to our beloved  teacher……..Jesus!

Life is a Choice

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.   (John 15:16)

I believe that the most difficult thing a person has to make in his life is to make a choice. A choice that all of us has to deal with and experience daily in our life. Even for a simple task of what clothes to wear for the day or having to decide which movie you have to watch with your family or friends, we always have to make a choice that sometimes give ourselves a headache. For many, choosing a boyfriend/girlfriend, a lifetime partner and even the vocation you want to pursue the rest of your life are some if not the most difficult choices one has to undertake.

I remember when I was still a student, I have to make a choice whether to study very hard or just enjoy and have fun in school with the company of my classmates. I vividly recall many times where my friends would coax me to cut classes and join them gallivanting. Also, I will never forget the most difficult decision of having to choose which course to take up for college. As I look back, I have realized that all the decisions I made was not at all my personal choice. It happened because it meant to happen. It was God’s divine plan for me.

But I think the most intriguing and esoteric question to ask is, “How would I know if the choice I am making is the choice I have to make? We all go through this kind of process. We have to feel good or feel bad to realize that we are making the right choice. We can be wrong the first time and failed but apparently this is all part of the process that we have to go through.

It is inevitable for any human being to be confronted with situations whereby you have to decide and choose which path you have to take. I never prayed to be a counselor but I was led to choose this profession which I consider my ministry. I strongly believe that this is God’s divine plan for me. He has prepared and designed everything for me to be where I am right now but it is still all up to me to make that choice.

As they say, life is all about choices.  A chance to change is a choice too if you let it happen.  Now I ask you, what kind of choices do you do in your life?