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--> GABAY SIYA SA ATING LANDAS Ang tawag ng Mabuting Balita ngayon (Lk 10) ay sumunod sa Panginoon sa misyon ng pagliligtas ng mga tao para sa Kaharian ng Langit. Kaya, ang magdasal para sa marami pang mag-aani sa anihan ng Panginoon ay laging napapanahon (v 2). Magdasal pa tayo lagi para mas maraming mga tao, mga pari o madre, misyonero, babae at lalaking binyagan, mga kabataan at mga pamilya, na magnais tumugon na mag-alay ng sarili sa pagmamahal sa Diyos at sa kabutihan ng kapwa. Kapag nagdarasal tayo para sa bokasyon, sarili natin ang ating ipinagdarasal. Pero ano nga ba ang ginagawa ng Diyos sa mga taong tinatawang niyang sumunod sa kanya at gumanap ng isang misyon? Kalimitan, ayaw ng mga taong tumugon kasi ang naiisip nila ay ang hirap, ang pagsubok at ang mga balakid sa paglilingkod. Pero sinasabi sa atin ngayon na kumikilos ang kapangyarihan ng Diyos sa mga taong tumutugon sa ispesyal na misyon ng kanilang buhay. Ilang beses na...

HE GUIDES OUR STEPS The gospel today (Lk 10) calls us to follow the Lord in his mission of saving people for the Kingdom.   Indeed, the call to pray for more laborers, for more workers, in the harvest of the Lord, is always valid and always relevant (v 2). Let us truly pray for many more people, priests and sisters, missionaries, laymen and women, families and young people, who will find it in their heart to offer their lives for the love of God and the good of their brothers and sisters. When we pray for vocations, we pray for ourselves. But what does the Lord do to those whom he calls to follow him and to be sent for a mission?   Often people do not wish to do say yes because we only focus on the hardships, the challenges, the difficulties of serving the Lord. However the gospel today points out to us the action of God working so powerfully in those he calls to follow him and then sent to their special mission. The gospel men...

--> SUNDAN ANG DIYOS KUNG NASAAN KA NGAYON Madalas, akala natin pag tinawag tayo ng Diyos laging ma-drama at puno ng adventure. Para bang iyong mga apostoles na kailangang iwan ang lahat. Hindi nila alam kung saan hahantong (Lk 9:58 ), kailangang talikuran ang mga minamahal (v.60 ), at hindi alam kung makababalik pa sa tahanan (v.62). Nangyayari pa rin ito para sa iba. May mga taong tinatawag ng Diyos para sa special na misyon ng pag-ibig at paglilngkod sa buong mundo. Kailangan dito ang malaking kabutihang-loob. Kailangan din dito ang malaking biyaya ng Diyos dahil imposible ito kung tao lang ang batayan. Pero sana huwag nating malimutan na ang pagsunod sa tawag ng Diyos ay hindi lamang tungkol sa misyon o buong buhay na pagtatalaga sa paglilingkod. Higit sa lahat, inaanyayahan tayo ni Hesus na sundan ang kalooban ng Diyos sa ating mga buhay. Madalas hindi ito puno ng drama, aksyon at pakiramdam na “high.” Simple lang ito kadalasan,...

--> FOLLOWING GOD RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE Most of the time, our idea of God’s call and of following him borders on the dramatic and adventurous.  This was so true for the disciples of Jesus whom he called to abandon everything to follow him. They were to be unsure of many things (Lk. 9:58), to be totally detached from those they loved (v. 60), and never entertain the thought of returning home (v. 62 ). That is still true for many people.  Jesus calls people to follow him in special missions of love and compassion around the world. It takes great generosity. But it also takes great grace for this to happen. This is not somehitng one can do alone or by human powers only. What many of us fail to realize is that this call to follow the Lord is not about mission work or full-time ministry or consecration. Jesus is above all, inviting us to follow God’s will in our lives. At times the setting is far from dramatic, ecstatic or ad...

--> KRUS NG KAGALAKAN May saysay pa ba sa ating ang krus? Hindi iyung krus sa altar, sa simbahan, o sa kuwintas sa leeg, kundi yung krus ng buhay… yun bang tinutukoy ng Panginoong Hesus: kalimutan ang sarili, pasanin ang krus at sumunod sa akin. Ang panahon natin ay kumportable at madali. Mabilis ang impormasyon. Mahusay ang mga kagamitan. Tila maaabot lahat ng pangarap. Madali ang solusyon. Kaya nga maraming bumoto sa ganitong pag-iisip noong nakaraang eleksyon. Nais burahin ang paghihirap (at tama naman) ng milyun-milyong mga tao. At gustong gawin ito ng mabilis at madali, mga 3 hanggang 6 na buwan daw, sabi ng nahalal na presidente, at kinagat naman ng mga tao. Hindi tayo kumportable sa krus. Kung kayang alisin sa landas natin, bakit naman hindi? May mga krus na hindi na natin dapat pang pasanin. Kailangang matutunan nating itapon ang krus ng nakaraan para makalakad tayo na may magaan, mas mabilis at mas maluwag ang ...

--> CROSS OF JOY Do we still really care about the cross?  Not the cross as altar piece, liturgical décor or religious relic but the cross of life, the kind that the Lord Jesus speaks about: forget yourself, carry the cross and follow me. We live in an age of comfort and convenience. Information is fast. Amenities are improved. Dreams are reachable. Solutions are easy to come by. That is why many Filipinos voted the way they did in the last national elections. They want to wipe out many sufferings (very valid indeed) in the lives of millions of people. And they want to do it quick and easy, within 3 to 6 months, as the elected president promised, and as people believed. We are not anymore comfortable with the cross. If we can get it out of the way, why must we suffer through it? There are crosses that we need not burden ourselves with. We must learn to throw away the weight of the cross of our past lives so that we can wal...

--> SA HARAP NG PAG-IBIG Ang babae sa Mabuting Balita ay hindi naman kailangang pumasok sa piging kung saan naroon ang Panginoong Hesus. Pero, pumasok siya kahit hindi inaanyayahan. At kahit hindi nagsasalita, ipinadama ng babae ang kanyang puso kay Hesus: umiyak sa kanyang paanan, pinunasan ang kanyang paa, pinaliguan ng langis ang paa ng Panginoon. Tanging ang Panginoong Hesus lang ang nakaunawa ng ginagawa ng babae. Isinusuko niya ang kanyang mga kasalanan sa isang tunay na nagmamahal. Binabasag niya ang pader o depensa ng kanyang buhay para makapasok ang dakilang awa ng Diyos.  Nagbabalik siya sa bukal ng pag-ibig na kanyang dating iniwanan. At sinabi ni Hesus: pinatawad na ang iyong mga kasalanan. Sa unang pagbasa, nakikinig si haring David sa mga paratang ng kasalanan mula sa propeta Natan. Maaari namang iwasan niya ang propeta. Maaaring takpan niya ang kanyang tenga para hindi niya marinig ang kanyang kasalanan at kamal...

--> DEFENSELESS BEFORE LOVE The woman in the gospel did not have to gate crash the party which Jesus was attending.  But she did. And without words, she expressed all her feelings to the Lord: crying before him, wiping his feet with her hair, anointing with choice oil the feet of the Lord.  Only Jesus knew what the woman was doing. She was surrendering her sins to the one who loves most. She was breaking her defenses before the tender power of God’s mercy. She was returning to the source of love she once betrayed. Jesus said: your sins are forgiven. In the first reading, king David was listening to the narration of his own sins by the prophet Nathan.  He could have avoided this audience with the holy man. He could have stopped his ears and not be reminded he was a failure. But no, the king listened, and his heart was moved to ask for forgiveness. And this gift was immediately bestowed on him by God. His sin dissolved in the ...