The Truth

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Now I am going to the one who sent me,
and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’
But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.
But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.
For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.
But if I go, I will send him to you.
And when he comes he will convict the world
in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:
sin, because they do not believe in me;
righteousness, because I am going to the Father
and you will no longer see me;
condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.”
John 16:5-11 (NAB)

Prayer Reflection

Dear Father how easy it is to understand what Jesus is talking about. Those who have had personal encounters with him know of the beauty of his presence, and also the grief that fills their hearts when his presence is not felt. It is their faith that sustains them in those moments of loss. But he does something truly special he sends us the Advocate. We have him in spiritual and we have him as the one chosen to lead the flock. Where truth conquers. If the ruler of this world is condemned at the time of Jesus, who then is the ruler if it isn't man. Because he had just only appointed Peter as head of the Church in his stead. But we battle the unforseen, the foe that delights in sin. The Advocate opposes everytime, don't we see it ourselves when out of the depths of our being we know when we have done wrong and do it anyway. In those moments of clarity haven't we understood that we have lost by choosing to do wrong and the Advocate of righteousness was guiding us to keep us on the right path. In today's world we have lost the sense of following right conscience, we block it out and we have become part of the world that is condemned.

Peace

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me tell you,
‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’
If you loved me,
you would rejoice that I am going to the Father;
for the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe.
I will no longer speak much with you,
for the ruler of the world is coming.
He has no power over me,
but the world must know that I love the Father
and that I do just as the Father has commanded me.”
John 14:27-31a

Prayer Reflection

Dear Father “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you," the very words Jesus spoke tells us it is only through him that we will find peace in our hearts. It is not what this world has to offer but what Jesus can only give. We all struggle in our lives to some extent, but where is it that we find true peace. I know where it is for me and that is placing my trust and love in Jesus, a place where I will always find his presence in the Eucharist. The peace that can only come from him. The truth of these words that Jesus spoke in how we feel many times unfulfilled by what the world offers, only shows how honest these words of Jesus are. Ever notice how peaceful we become when we are united to him. Our troubles seem small and insignificant in those moments. That's when we have been given his peace as he had said. Dearest Father it is right to say then that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life after all.

Money Again

And they went out quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy, running to tell his disciples. And behold Jesus met them, saying: All hail. But they came up and took hold of his feet, and adored him. Then Jesus said to them: Fear not. Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, there they shall see me. Who when they were departed, behold some of the guards came into the city, and told the chief priests all things that had been done. And they being assembled together with the ancients, taking counsel, gave a great sum of money to the soldiers, Saying: Say you, His disciples came by night, and stole him away when we were asleep. And if the governor shall hear this, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they taking the money, did as they were taught: and this word was spread abroad among the Jews even unto this day.
Matthew 28:8-15 (Douay-Rheims Bible)

Prayer Reflection

Dear Father the women who met up with Jesus knew him instantly when they saw him. How glorious a day that was for them. And for us too, when we encounter our risen Lord in the Eucharist. But now we see money is also changing hands to stop the truth from coming out. And instead lies are to be spread. Do we often wonder how come we hear so many things in our day and find out they are not correct. After awhile the truth is revealed. Look at all the time that has passed since all this has happened and how the truth keeps coming to light. The truth amazingly is the correct way, where lies are nothing but darkness. Corruption was happening in Jesus' time and continues today, but do we want the truth or lies. Will truth be what wins the day and will the light of Jesus shine bright in our hearts when we also encounter the Risen Lord in the Eucharist.

Monday in the Octave of Easter

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb,
fearful yet overjoyed,
and ran to announce the news to his disciples.
And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them.
They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.
Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee,
and there they will see me.”

While they were going, some of the guard went into the city
and told the chief priests all that had happened.
The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel;
then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,
telling them, “You are to say,
‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’
And if this gets to the ears of the governor,
we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”
The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed.
And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day.
Matthew 28:8-15

Prayer

Dear Father how truly amazing it is that you brought your Son back to life just for us. And yet we read of the account of the counsel attempting to cover up the truth with lies. I pray that the truth will always be present in our lives when it comes to your Son Jesus. After all he is the way, the truth, and the life. Amen

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them,"Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."
Luke 4:18-21

Reflection:
Jesus, I believe shocked them in the Temple that day with that proclamation. You got to love him for speaking the Truth. "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."21 Imagine if we were to read the Scripture ourselves and come out with that, people would look at us as if we were nuts. But we read of a man who let his Divinity show and reveals his home.

Not only that he was telling them that he was the one who is bringing hope to the poor, not the one's poor in material, but those whose spirit is poor. He is telling them that he gives sight to the blind, physically as well as spiritually. He frees them from captivity, where their souls were held bound by evil.

When Jesus read this particular Scripture passage, it was amazing for him since he was doing exactly as the passage foretold. He had every right to declare it has come to be fulfilled through him. And it was, since he did all that is mentioned.

Can we do the same when we read Scripture, proclaim it our message that it is being fulfilled through us. We are all part of one body, but our measurement is not all the same either. Some have gifts that surpass all others while even those with minimal are not excluded. We all have a purpose in the Body of Christ. When we look at our own bodies, each part is useful even the one's we don't think so. Our toes have a purpose to help us stand. Every part was made specifically by God, even when it's mismatched or missing.

Since the Church is founded on people, we are the body and each one of us has a purpose in it. Never think that being part of the Church is useless or that you are not needed because there are so many to do the job. Each one of us has the purpose to speak about faith and teach those who do not know faith at all.

Saturday before Epiphany

Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar by not believing the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever possesses the Son has life; whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life.
1 John 5:10-12

Reflection:
We really do not have life if we do not believe Jesus is the Son of God. God gave us so much testimony to verify this, that when we do not believe him we do call him a liar.

That's like you telling someone something important and them not believing you. How does it feel to not be believed when we tell the truth. Think how God feels about now, when we don't believe Jesus is his son. How he has gone to great lengths through his prophets and witnesses to prove to us, that it is the truth. Why would he do that, he is God after all.

Yet we as human beings let so much darkness into our lives, that we forget how to truly trust in God. We doubt so much His love for us that we don't even try to possess the life that gives us life.
Believe me, you do not have life unless you have Jesus fully. I can say that I did not have life until I have fully let Jesus into my life to the point of doing His will and His Father's will. Life is so much sweeter and the hardships are truly not as bad as they once seemed. But life in Jesus is wonderful to have, you would not believe how magnificent it really is. God love you

Saturday of the Second Week of Advent

Advent Prayer

God of power and mercy, open our hearts in welcome. Remove the things that hinder us from receiving Christ with joy, so that we may share his wisdom and become one with him when he comes in glory, for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


In those days,
like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah
whose words were as a flaming furnace.
Sirach 48:1

Reflection:
Elijah is a powerful figure in the Old Testament, and John the Baptist was referred to him by Jesus as Elijah that came before him. Elijah's name means God. Yet in this sense Jesus meant that John the Baptist was a powerful prophet as close to God as anyone can get. And it is quite possible with God that John the Baptist was Elijah.

His words scorched the ears of those who listened to him preach repentance. Make way for the Lord. God in his goodness was paving the way for His Son, to show us the truth. He tried to bring about faithfulness in us and we didn't come about.

God tries in many ways to bring us closer to him, to the point of coming to us as a man, a powerful prophet. He even came to us in His Son, because when we see the Son we see God. If you ever get to see Veronica's Veil you will see not only Jesus but God too, for he is the image of his Father.