The world is a vast place

 The world is a vast place. Thus, it is no wonder that different people have different beliefs and understandings: most of which completely diverge from the teachings of the Church. Perhaps this has been the reason for the Church’s difficult beginnings.

  Persecution was much more rampant a long time ago. Any missionary who takes the challenge to spread God’s words were oftentimes sentenced to brutal punishments. In fact, many biblical personage’s fates ended this way. This challenged their faith – yet they persevered. Many will oppose your beliefs; and many will deny your words until their last breath. However, as long as you have the passion and dedication to become the Lord’s servant, then your faith will save you.

  Therefore, Jesus never spoke of literal flames of anguish and eternal conflict. Rather, He spoke of the challenges the disciples will face once they continue His work on earth. Those flames are the flames of desire for Him: the desire to serve the almighty Father. Being engulfed in flames means to be swallowed in the world’s praise and worship for our God. He is a God of unity: not of division. He wants peace and serenity. He wants you to be always on guard – not to stay lukewarm on your faith. You should always feed your souls with the power of His words so that the enemy cannot easily penetrate and attack you.

  No matter how wide the world may be, any opposing credence will not simply weaken you as long as you have that strong faith and trust in Him. Be a peacemaker and an instrument of unity. Believe and experience God’s miracle.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SUNDAY REFLECTION (Jn 6:60-69)

        The gospel for today highlights the challenging nature of Jesus' teachings, and the importance of faith in truly understanding and accepting them.       Many of Jesus' own disciples found his words about the necessity of his body and blood for eternal life to be "hard" or difficult to accept. This shows that we humans tend to struggle with concepts that go beyond our natural understanding while Jesus’ teachings often had a deeper spiritual meaning that only Jesus or God knows. This also shows that faith is necessary in order to fully accept Jesus’ teachings, and that it is not enough to simply hear the words - we must also be willing to put our faith in them.      Ultimately, this gospel reminds us that following Jesus requires willingness and faith to understand the challenging truths of his teachings, and to rely on God's Spirit to guide our understanding. It's a call to a deeper level of commitment, beyond the surface level of discipleship. - Adrian
Read more

SUNDAY REFLECTION (Mk 7:18, 14-15, 21-23)

   The Gospel passage addresses how the Pharisees and scribes were upset because Jesus’ followers didn’t follow the tradition of washing their hands before eating. They were more concerned about it because the Pharisees believed this washing was necessary to stay “pure” and “clean”. However, Jesus tells them that they are focusing too much on these man-made rules; they are misguided by it, but Jesus explains that it is not what we do outside but rather what really matters is what is inside our hearts; this includes our thoughts, intentions, and actions that come from within and what really makes a person unclean and impure isn’t how they don’t wash before eating but the bad thoughts and actions that come within their hearts.         In essence, Jesus is teaching us to prioritize our inner transformation over external conformity. Reminding us that purity comes from having a good heart. As 1 Samuel 16:7 says, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lor
Read more

Us and Our God Against the World

Just like when we trust God, we know that He'll always be with us through our hardships. Once we realize that it is not us against the world; rather, it's us and our God against the world, we suddenly realize that we don't have to go through this life alone. We should be accepting of others around us because we were made in God's image. We may overcome previously insurmountable obstacles if we have complete faith that someone will be there for us in our hour of need. - Charlz Racel Dela Cruz
Read more