Posts

Showing posts from May, 2015

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations - Matthew 28:18

Most of us in this community were fortunate enough to have been born into our faith. Within our mother’s womb, our faith was already gifted to us by our parents and later upheld through our baptism and other sacraments. Even if this isn’t the case for you, we all have our own story on how we encountered God, and how at this point in your life, you claim to believe.  In Matthew 28:16-20, the apostles encountered the resurrected Jesus and received His final command: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations… teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” This gospel, along with its other versions, is therefore often recognized as “The Great Commission”. In order to more easily understand this order, we turn to another line in the Bible: “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). As Our Heavenly Father sent Jesus to the world to share His message, Jesus delegates the same duty—not just to the apostles—but also to us.  In our world toda

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” - John 20: 22

Brothers and Sisters in Christ! Today is the day that Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad because today we receive the Holy Spirit. We, Christians called it Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was poured out upon his first followers, the disciples.  When Jesus showed His hands and his side to the disciples upon saying “Peace be with you”, they all rejoiced when they saw the Lord. We are just like the disciples, we all rejoice when we feel peace, love and hope in our hearts. We feel like everything is just so perfect. Remember when we were all little babies being baptized. That was the time when we’re called Children of God. We received for the very first time the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For me, the Holy Spirit is my hope. Whenever I got problems I always seek his help. But there also times when my hope is gone and my faith is broken. There are times when we felt unloved, rejected, abandoned and just felt sadness in our hearts.  We asked Him “Why Lord?” I am guilty of this question. I f

“Jesus said to His disciples: Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” -Mark 16:15

In today’s gospel, the apostles were told to preach the Gospel to all, to every man and woman regardless of what race they may have. People understood what the apostles were preaching because God wants all of us to receive His gift and that evangelization is for the entire world.  Those who believe and is baptized will be saved; those who do not believe will be condemned.  We become members of the Church through Baptism, we also receive salvation in Baptism. The moment we are turn away from Satan, we receive God’s gift of salvation. Faith is when we believe in God’s mercy and compassion. It is when we entrust Him all our worries. Faith in God, will lead us to knowing the Father more. It will lead us to understand and accept His most holy will. God wants us to trust Him, to not be afraid because He is there. He is there to lead and guide us through whatever storm that comes our way. He is there as we carry our own cross. I believe being in this community strengthen my relationship with

"This is my commandment: love one another as I love you." - John 15:12

In today’s Gospel,, we learn about the meaning of friendship, and most especially, discipleship. To most, it would seem that friendship and discipleship are two polar opposites. Friendship as something mutual and symbiotic and discipleship as something bearing resemblance to being someone's servant. But we are told otherwise. We fail to see that both friendship and discipleship have something in common; and that is love. We love the people we are friends with and we love the person we are so willing to follow. Jesus tells us that: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you." He even calls all of us His friends! Is there anything more beautiful? He is telling us that if we continue to love one another and to live out His commandments, we may remain in His grace and love. By doing this, we are spelling out a message that says: "Yes, Father, I will obey and love as you did." Though we may not live in His ways, He still loves us unconditionally. There is a particul

"I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing." -John 15:5

UNLIMITED INTERNET Cel•lu•lar phone noun 1. a telephone with access to a cellular radio system so it can be used over a wide area, without a physical connection to a network. Well, gone are the days when our cell phones could be fully explained by this single line. Nowadays, a phone should be "smart", wherein it can do a multitude of things. Aside from calls and texts, it allows you to organize your schedule, use GPS, check emails, play games, download movies, use social media, and be updated with current events. These phones are built to do crazy, amazing things. But as always, there are certain limitations, and in this case, to be able to fully utilize your device, you need one very important thing: Internet connection. My family and I were blessed to have had gone on trips abroad, and everytime we do, my phone loses almost all it's features. It simply becomes a camera. Sure, it's a good camera, but it can be so much better! I think this analogy goes just as well