Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time [2012]

"The people were so astonished that 

they started asking one another what it all meant, saying, 

'Here is a teaching that is new, and with authority behind it: 

he gives orders even to unclean spirits and they obey him.' "

- Mark 1:27

One of the things that make people follow a person is when that person can do something beyond what normal or ordinary people can do. That is why Jesus did not allow the spirits to tell people what they know about Him and even to His disciples He made it clear that they should not tell the people about His being the Son of the living God as Peter has professed.

If Jesus our Lord walked on this earth proclaiming clearly that He was the Son of God, that He was God Himself, the Second Person of the Divine Trinity, it would have been an easy task for Him to accomplish what He was sent for: to tell mankind about God the Father and heaven. But it would have made people think that life is easy and being with God mean pure comfort and convenience even here on earth. Even a small pain or trouble would be considered inordinate or abnormal. They would not believe in the importance of sacrifice and suffering anymore since Jesus would not be allowed to live in poverty for He will be lifted up as an earthly King! He would have a hard time teaching about so many things that necessarily imply hardships for people would demand that since He is God and He is already present He should not allow any trouble anymore!  People would not allow Him to be crucified and He did not have to be resurrected. 

Remember when Jesus went up to the mountain with Peter, James and John where He was transfigured and they did not want to go down the mountain anymore? That would have been what people would experience too if Jesus presented Himself clearly as the Son of God. No more hardships, no need to work, no need to suffer! 

But life on earth is not yet life in heaven. Life on earth is a mere preparation for that eternity in heaven. Unless we prepare ourselves in accordance with the will of God - which includes hardships and sufferings - here on earth we shall never be able to enter that everlasting joy in heaven!

Let us ask God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to give us the grace to prepare very well here on earth that we may become truly worthy of enjoying eternity with Him in heaven!

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time [2012]

“The time has come,” he said. 

“The kingdom of God has come near. 

Repent and believe the good news!” - Mark 1:15

Today we hear about the proclamation of the Kingdom of God connected with the invitation to repent and to believe the gospel and the selection of the first four disciples.

Though today's gospel reading is very short it is full of significance. The proclamation of the Kingdom is connected with the importance of repentance which John the Baptist have been proclaiming too. But aside from the call to repentance, Jesus Christ our Lord goes further by the addition of the call to believe in the good news, who is Himself. Hence believing in His words is the same as believing in Himself for He is the Word - the Kingdom - Himself being proclaimed [see John 1:1].

The gospel is so much more emphasized by the calling of the first four disciples. The urgency of His calling - and the mission connected with the call - is demonstrated by His word, "Come" - He did not leave any room for them to say "No" because He did not say, "Would you follow me?" or "Would you come with me?" - it was not a mere invitation, it was a true CALL and may even be considered as a command or an order. The immediacy of the four's response: they left their nets at once, with John and James even leaving their father Zebedee behind with the hired men, shows that they understood the urgency of the "what" though they did not yet fully understood the "why" for the Holy Spirit has not yet come. The "what" is of course the proclamation of the Kingdom and the "why" is the fulfillment of the ultimate union with God. 

As Christians we are called to proclaim the good news: the coming of the Kingdom who is Jesus Christ Himself and we have to repent and believe in Him so that we may be able to attain union with Him even while here on earth as His disciples and friends. 

Our life with and in God begins the moment we accept the call of the Lord Jesus Christ and leave everything behind. Let us pray for courage to make our response to the Lord's call as immediate as that of the first four disciples.

The Greatest Manifestation of Love

Picture from the Last Supper scene at the Cenacle from the movie, 

"The Passion of the Christ"

"No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. "

- John 15:13

The measure of true love is one's willingness to die for another, especially a friend. We have discussed earlier that God showed us how He loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son for our sake [see John 3:16; Roman 5: 6-8].  Before we even accepted God's friendship He already considered us as His friends, more than that, as children!

The Lord Jesus Christ did not only speak of these words to His disciples. He made an example of Himself about the truth of what He said. Within a few hours after He said these words, He was arrested and a complete day has not passed till He died for the sake of mankind. He did not merely made a speech, He concretely manifested the message that He delivered. 

We cannot do less with regards to our manifestation of love for our brethren. We cannot say that the Lord could do such a thing because He was God. Yes He was God and we were unworthy of the humiliation which He went through for our sake. But He did it for the love of us. He even have to become human just to be able to go through the sufferings and pains as a human being for He could not be harmed if He remained God.

By His great sacrifice we were redeemed by Him to regain our original status of living in the state of grace, of having the divine life in us. Hence He once again made us worthy to claim what the Psalmist said, "You have made me little less than a god!" [Psalm 8:5]. 

Giving our life for the sake of our friends is not necessarily dying physically. We can "die" a million times by giving someone who is in a hurry our place in a line, by listening to someone whom nobody would want to listen to anymore because what he speaks about are but the same problems day by day, by giving what we actually need to someone who might be needing more of it, by waking up in the middle of a sound sleep after nights of sleeplessness when someone needs assistance, and more.

Sometimes we look for great ways of helping when we can do some little things to comfort anyone within our area. We do not have to seek martyrdom to become "martyrs" of charity because each moment of our days we find ourselves amid many challenges which actually try our resolve to become true Christian lovers. The Lord said, he who can be trusted with small things can be trusted with great things. Maybe we are not yet given by God some great things to accomplish because we are not ye through the test about small things!

Let us remember that being a Christian is not about accomplishing great things. We are not called to become adventurous professionals who could ride on motorbikes and cross two towering buildings along a single cable! We are children of God and friends of the Lord who are called to show love and concern from the smallest possible manner until we are perhaps tested through the crucible of fire by martyrdom when we have already become ready to undergo such terrible test!

Have a blessed "dying" each moment of our lives, friends!

Christian Pilgrimage VII: More Temptations

"Then Jesus replied, 'Away with you, Satan! 

For scripture says: 

The Lord your God is the one to whom you must do homage, 

him alone you must serve.'"

- Matthew 4:10

The greatest temptation lead us to the greatest sin: the denial of God or making a god out of something else or of acting like God. 

The serpent said to Eve, "You will be like gods knowing good from evil!" [see Genesis 3:5]. With the Lord the Devil tried to tempt the Lord to worship him in exchange of giving Him all the kingdoms of the world [see Matthew 4: 8-9] which he does not even own in the first place but merely controls due to his cunning and deceptiveness.

Without our knowing it, many times we fall into this trap of the evil one. Without us recognizing it we begin worshiping other "gods" and slowly deny our allegiance to Him who has created, saved and sanctified us. He who gave us life and everything else in this world we deny in what we think, say or do even when we do not mention the words "I don't believe in God anymore!"

When we give more time to earthly affairs, give more attention to celebrities and people in power, care so much more about what tomorrow will bring, believe in superstitions and follow activities and beliefs of other religions, aspire for great things without reference to God, and many more even when these are seemingly intended to "honor" or "give glory" to God but in reality are only for the sake of our own personal greatness or fame - all of these are examples of succumbing to the temptation of the evil one to be like God or to worship the evil one through something merely created.

People nowadays "find comfort" in the fact that God does not directly communicate with us. They make excuse of the sinfulness of some members of the Church He has established on earth upon St Peter and the Apostles to say that God has not provided for a clear guidelines to follow after all since there is no "true religion" to follow on earth. Even some members of the Church seem to add to the confusion by saying that the Lord did not really intend to set up an "institutional Church" but He merely intended us to preach and proclaim His command to love one another!

But God did not intend to confuse His people. He made straight revelations and commandments: "I the Lord am your God, you shall have no other god beside me!" "You are rock and upon this rock I shall build my Church!" "Go and make disciples of all nations teaching them all that I have taught you and baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!" "Behold, I shall be with you until the end of the world!" "I will send the Holy Spirit who will guide you into all the truth and shall remind you of all that I have taught you!" "Receive the Holy Spirit!"

God alone deserves all our service and worship. When something else try to distract us from our obligations to God and damage our relationship with Him, then these must be the temptations that the evil one is trying to use just to lead us to him. Be watchful then and beware of the things that lead us to sin. We only have to follow the example of Jesus Christ our Lord - He who is God Himself but never held on to that status while on earth but humbly accepted the condition of a mere human being! More importantly we must never forget that if we will only remain steadfast, He will provide the necessary assistance that we need after we have overcome all the trials [see Matthew 4:11]!

Christian Pilgrimage VI: The Next Temptations

"Jesus said to him, 

'Scripture also says: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' "

- Matthew 4:7

The next temptation challenges us to do "incredible things"! 

The Serpent told Eve when she said that the Lord warned them not to eat the forbidden fruit because they will die that "you certainly will not die!" [see Genesis 3:4] while the Lord Jesus Christ was tempted to jump from the parapet of the Temple even quoting the Scriptures that He will surely be protected from harm [see Psalm 91: 11-12]. 

Today we can watch and witness various survival challenges and adventures that measure human endurance, skills, and capabilities. We even have various record setting events and competitions which try to memorialize human achievements and feats beyond the ordinary or normal human capability!


It is not bad to develop one's talents and capabilities but it must not be conducted merely for human purposes and more importantly, must not endanger one's life and put one's eternal salvation in peril. The Christian puts himself in harm's way only for the sake of glorifying God and manifesting true love for others, not for the sake of glorifying himself and gaining the love of others. Many might say they are doing it to please and honor God who has given mankind gifts and talents to be developed. But these gifts and talents must be developed in accordance with His will - not for mere show or to test human capacity.


The Lord Himself said that what good is it to gain the whole world and ruin one's soul in the process? [see Mark 8:36]. 


Moreover, undertaking activities which put one's life in peril is somehow a way to test God. Do we not see many of these people praying for God's help and protection before doing these activities - as if asking God to give them the go signal to do what He does not intend man to be doing? What these people are doing are nothing compared to what the martyrs who were burnt, eaten by the lions and beheaded because of God and the Lord Jesus Christ! The modern adventurers do it to beat human standards, the martyrs went through those horrific deaths for their faith in God!


We have made created by God to worship Him all the days of our lives, not to put ourselves in danger. The only pleasing peril for Him that we could undergo are the tests to the strength of our faith in and love for God Himself. It is not that He is a selfish self-centered God. It is just that He wants us to live and offer our lives for something more dignified and worthier of our status as children of God and friends of the Lord Jesus Christ.


"Do not put your God to the test" says the Lord. If we love God we will never put these lives which He has given us as gifts in danger of being lost forever!

Something Personal II: The Impatient Me

Impatience is my worst vice. If there is something that could lead me to hell perhaps it would surely be impatience. It is a vice which I am personally struggling against each moment of my life. Perhaps I am one of the many people who are praying to God for the gift of the virtue of patience in this manner, "Lord, give me patience and I want it now!"

"Be patient, brothers," writes St James [see James 5:7ff].

Surely, the Apostle speaks about the patience that Christians should have in  anticipating and waiting for the second coming of the Lord. He even cites as examples the patience of the Prophets who spoke in behalf of God and in view of the Lord's coming though they themselves did not live long enough to see the fulfillment of the coming of the promised Messiah. St Paul writes we should not get tired of doing good because at the proper time we shall reap a rich harvest [see Galatians 6:9]. 

In the same manner, patience in the sense of a personal struggle to be holy each moment of our lives is our way of showing God that we are anticipating His coming while manifesting true Christian in everything we say, think or do. It is as unchristian to lose faith in God and believe in fortune tellers and diviners as one's being impatient in dealing with people - and things - even with regards to simple and ordinary events as in line trying to find a way to get ahead of those who got to fall in line earlier, getting angry when things do not happen the way one hopes it goes even if the failure is due to one's own not doing the right and proper things, and many more.

Honestly, my impatience mostly shows when things do not happen the way I expect them to happen as if they should happen though they would not happen without me doing the proper way to make them happen. Confusing eh? Well let me put it this way. Have you tried opening a closed door with your foot because you won't put down what you are holding with both of your hands even if there is no harm in putting down what you are holding in the first place. And once you failed to open the door with your foot you get so angry at the door or at the person who made the door so hard to be opened by your foot? Sometimes I also become impatient when someone I request to do something fails to do it when in the first place I could do it myself better but I won't do it for the simple reason that I am a bit lazy during that time. I also become impatient when I try to teach someone something that seems too easy for me but maybe not for him totally failing to remember that people do not have the same capabilities, talents and skills. 

Impatience is a real culprit which sheepishly lead us to damnation. Sometimes we make impatience as an excuse for our failure to be true Christians, of understanding others and showing them kindly how things could be done or teaching them slowly why things are like these and that, or of our own failure to understand or learn about things, of acting in a Christian manner when we observe or take notice of other people's conditions and situations, or when we wish to look for others to blame! Sometimes it appears in the guise of a good, making us feel better than others, leading us to think more effective than them. But actually impatience lets out the worst in us and it leads us to be angry. If we allow impatience which turns into anger to reign over us, we will soon find out we are drawn to commit more serious sins [see James 4:2]. 

Hence I pray that God may give me patience. It is actually a fruit of the Holy Spirit. A person who has the Spirit of God in him would become a patient person. But of course just like anyone else, I am still a work in progress. But I guess the Spirit is now slowly working in me because I am becoming more committed to a work that I once tried to forsake, the sharing of the Gospel of Holy Friendship, John 15; 12-17.  

I still pray that God may give me patience but I am not hurrying Him up anymore. He could give it it to me in His time ... in His beautiful time! 

Christian Pilgrimage V: The First Temptations

"But he replied, 

'Scripture says: Human beings live not on bread alone 

but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

- Matthew 4:4

The first temptations are directed to our corporeality, of our being made of flesh, of being bodily. The attacks against our journey toward holiness uses our basic needs [food, clothing, shelter, etc] and our senses [especially sight, hearing, taste and touch].

Eve was tempted by the serpent by showing her how good to eat and how pleasing to the eye is the fruit [see Genesis 3:6]. Jesus our Lord had just fasted for forty days and was very hungry when the Devil challenged Him to turn the stones into bread [see Matthew 4:3]. 

Eve was enticed and took a fruit, ate it and even gave some to her husband who readily accepted it not thinking about God's command. He must have loved and trusted his wife too much he forgot about God! But our Lord, instead of merely making faces to taunt the Devil and depending on His own strength knew that only one thing is necessary to overcome the temptation: to think of God and His providence. So He quoted Scriptures. The whole passage read as follows: "He humbled you, he made you feel hunger, he fed you with manna which neither you nor your ancestors had ever known, to make you understand that human beings live not on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of Yahweh" [Deuteronomy 8:3]. The next passages would even provide insight into the meaning of Matthew 6:33 quoted below. 

The Lord relied on God when Eve gave in to her senses and basic needs.

Today we are faced with so much temptations directed against our basic needs and senses that lead us to sin. Hunger is everywhere, people without their own houses can be seen even in many developed countries, and overpopulation is considered a very grave danger to the self-sufficiency of human being in the days to come. On the other hand, there are so many products backed up by strong commercials and advertisement about keeping our bodies beautiful, of having pretty externals, of having healthy lives, which all seems to be geared to the target of being perfectly fitted to a society with enough for everyone in accordance with a projected number of population that could be supported by the earth to live in luxury, pleasure and leisure. And in the midst of these, the act of procreation is being relegated into a mere act of leisure and pleasure. While promoting the program of limiting the population, sex which is supposed to be for procreation, the growth of population, is being set only as a "recreational facility". 

And the Word of God is not listened to anymore and the Church which He has established is being attacked as an outdated institution, an ultraconservative establishment that has no place on earth. And many would even proclaim, "There is no God!" when in fact they make gods out of science, technology and modern living without knowing or recognizing it. 

Basic human needs and the satisfaction of our senses are not bad in themselves. It is when they are satiated and used in an ungodly way that they become bad. As Christians it is our duty to manifest to the world that the most important thing that truly matters in the world is every word that comes out of the mouth of God. In fact, God has given us the best Word to follow and imitate in our lives: Jesus Christ Himself, our Lord, the Word Incarnate through whom everything was made.

The next time we encounter temptations using our basic needs and directed to our sense, it would be good to remember Matthew 4:4: "Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God." In short let us remember Jesus our Lord, the Word of God, who lived the holiest life on earth and never sinned even once.

With regards to our needs, God assures us, "Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on God's saving justice, and all these other things will be given you as well" [Matthew 6:33].

The Basis of a Right

We have discussed that a "right" is a "just claim". We also made it clear that a "right" is not absolute because a person may have a "just claim" over one and the same "right" in the same manner or measure as another. We also established that a "right" must have a "basis" or else it cannot be possessed, owned, exercised, enjoyed, etc for no one cannot just pluck out of the empty air any "just claim".

Let us discuss some more about the "bases" of a "right" for as we said, no "right" can merely be plucked out of empty air. No one could merely say it is his "right" to speak, travel or live anywhere he wants to reside because he "wants" it. It would be result to a useless and lengthy debate and argumentation and most probably end up in what we do not like so much to happen, the imposition of the dictum "might is right" when the opposite is more acceptable and probably true and fair, that is, "right is might".

The truly acceptable bases of a "right" is a "law". There are many definitions of law but one which seems to be most consistent with man's rational nature is that of St. Thomas Aquinas, and it is stated as "nothing other than a certain dictate of reason for the common good, made by him who has the care of the community and promulgated." Here the Saint establishes important ingredients of what a law should be: [1] a law must be reasonable, [2] must be for the common good, [3] must come from an authority, and [4] must be promulgated. Most if not all modern laws have these qualities of a law.

[1] Reasonable means that it is based on the rationality of man or his nature as a thinking animal. A law cannot be based on a whim, a fad, or passing desire, or anything that does not come from man's deliberation or process of decision-making. It cannot be based on the mere interests of a privileged few or the "wants" of a vote rich sector of society or district of a community therefore it must not be made merely due to political exigency, economic interests and socio-cultural experimentation. It must be based on the grounds of fairness, propriety and equity, or perhaps "truth, justice and peace". 

[2] A law must be for the common good. It may not actually benefit each and everyone in the same manner or measure but it has to be made for the sake of each and everyone. Laws that tend to favor only a few or a chosen group is called class legislation and is not acceptable in most countries. For example, traffic laws are enforced for every person to be assured of safety in the use of roads though not every person may be using the road. Holidays in celebration of a religious observance of a church or any other religious group may be proclaimed but not only the members of the said group have to benefit from the holiday but even those who are non-members.

[3] A law must come from an authority. No one could make a law to be enforced upon others without the power vested in him to do such a thing. In most countries, laws are enacted by a Congress or a Parliament. Before, absolute monarchs had the privilege of making laws by themselves, some have advisers to help them but still only the monarch could make laws. 

[4] A law must be promulgated, that is, it is made known. Though we have the saying that "ignorance of the law is not an excuse" it is only enforceable after it has been promulgated or made known to all who need to know the law that they may follow it. It cannot be kept hidden. Though it is not necessary to go to every person to tell him about the law, the practice these days especially with regards to national laws is to have them printed in newspapers of general circulation that at least people may have the opportunity to read them. 

Now that we have made it clear that "rights" should be based on law, we may raise the question as to what kind of law do we base a "right"?  The most common laws to us are man made laws also called positive laws or more particularly, human positive laws. But if we merely say these human positive  laws would be our bases for the possession, ownership, exercise or enjoyment of "rights", how can we claim the so-called "human rights" when these rights are observably more primitive than man made laws. Before any law on the freedom of expression have been made, man have already been claiming that "right" to express himself. Before a law on property have been made, people have been owning things already and the property law was merely enacted to confirm the said "right". Surely, there must be some other laws aside from man made laws upon which people could base the "first or prime rights" such as the human rights. 

We shall discuss this matter in the next article. 

The Respect due to Life

Adam and Eve mourning the death of Abel by his elder brother Cain: 

the very first recorded murder in the Holy Bible.

Life is something that man should respect. If he won't recognize it as a sacred gift of God he still cannot get away from the fact that life itself is older than him and therefore must be given the proper recognition and respect due to it the same way we give due acknowledgment, honor and protection to other natural things due to their age or importance in history such as the wonders of the world, tourist destinations, landmarks and heritage sites, etc.

Our first argument for life is that it is a sacred gift of God. Unfortunately since it cannot be "scientifically proven" just like the existence and essence of God, we will try to seek another bases to be used in defense of life: life as the perfection of nature.

The Theory of Evolution tells us that life was formed by the combination of basic elements that have the capacity to produce life. Out of these elements came forth the first single celled living beings which by the progress of time evolved into various living beings which now presently being ruled by the most complicated living thing which is man.

In religion, we are taught that the perfection of life is eternal life or union with God. In our present discussion focusing on the Theory of Evolution, we can say that life is a perfection of existence. From non-living something alive came out. Existence has now progressed from having merely non-living beings into having living beings already. It is surely a positive development in the history of "existence". Hence being a positive development, it is a significant event and a true progress and like any other beneficial or positive development or progress ought to be kept and protected.

Moreover, life did not remain as mere life. It still "evolved" into something better, it produced human beings, living beings that can think or rationalize. So far humanity is the crown of perfection of existence. To use the language of the Bible, while everything else is called by God as "good", the eventual creation of man made Him say everything was "very good". Very good indeed because of the fact that humans can think and guide the progress of the world and existence did not have to rely on chance anymore as to where it is supposed to go. 

The advent of humanity is supposed to be a blessing for the earth. To use the language of the Bible, man was given the task to be the steward of creation. As far as the Theory of Evolution is concerned, we now have a living being who can guide the history of existence. Existence is no more a mere slave of chance but now an opportunity to have a meaning since man as a rational being can guide its direction.

Unfortunately, the same rational beings who made existence have a better meaning with the establishment of civilization, seems to be the same beings who are leading it towards damnation. In the guise of making the earth a "paradise" for a few million human beings, they would want that a system of choosing the perfect elite be implemented. While the perfection of life means better living conditions, it doesn't have to be in the expense of other human beings who may not be "physically" fit to fight for their own survival, and yet by nature have the right to enjoy life in the same measure as the "perfect elite". 

The survival of the fittest principle, though may not be directly implemented under the same name, is a return to the time when only the lower forms of animals existed on earth. It was their rule since lower animals do not have the mental capacity to make agreements and concessions. Humans can enter into agreements and contracts and respect and honor rights of all. Hence in a world ruled by rational beings, the only true rule should be mutual respect and the greatest respect that man should give is the respect to life because without life nothing else would be!

Life may not be considered sacred by many but still life deserves being accorded the greatest respect. It is not only so much older than everything alive. It is also the source of all that we have including rights and privileges!

Second Sunday In Ordinary Time [2012]

Picture from radiantfear.blogspot.com via googl.com "Jesus turned round, saw them following and said,  'What do you want?'  They answered, 'Rabbi' -- which means Teacher --  'where do you live?'   He replied, 'Come and see' ..." - John 1: 38-39

We learn about Jesus Christ our Lord through other persons, sometimes through events in their lives but still, seeks understanding of such events through other persons, because we cannot physically meet him now. We meet Christ through other people and through the institution which He has left to represent Him and continue His saving acts, the Church and the Sacraments. It is logical that when we want to learn about a person we do the necessary things in order to get information about that person and if possible we try to meet him to get first hand information and get better understanding of him. With Jesus we come to know Him best by reading the Holy Bible, studying the history of the Church He has instituted, and taking advantage of the Sacraments which He has instituted to be the continuing signs of salvation. Moreover, we must do our best to find out all about the Lord through the proper institutions and to be given the proper explanation of the Holy Bible from the same institutions. We must keep in mind that Jesus did not just went away after His resurrection to leave us with nothing to guide us. He left us the Church to continue His teachings and actions. The authority He received from God the Father He delegated upon the Church. He gave the keys of heaven to Peter [see Matthew 16:18] and He blew the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles to forgive or retain sins [see John 20:23]. We also have to constantly pray so that we may be able to find out His will for us in our daily lives. It is by prayer that we could discern His will for us just as He prayed a lot to the Father while He was here on earth so that He would be constantly in communion with the Father. Through prayer we could also establish our friendship with the Lord and our being children of the Father. Through prayer we let the Holy Spirit grow within us thereby making our bodies truly His temple. Let us do our best to know more our Lord Jesus Christ that we may be able to be more effective apostles of His friendship and love to everyone.

Christian Pilgrimage IV: Holiness means Avoiding Sin and Occasions of Sin

"Whoever lives sinfully belongs to the devil, 

since the devil has been a sinner from the beginning. 

This was the purpose of the appearing of the Son of God, 

to undo the work of the devil."

- I John 3: 8

Holiness is the exact opposite of sin. If we are called and meant to be holy we should not allow ourselves to become slaves of sin. The Lord Jesus Christ has already paid the great price for the sins committed by our first parents by His blood.

In order to avoid committing sins, we must first of all avoid the occasions of sins, that is, we should not put ourselves in the line of fire: temptations. The Evil One, that ancient Serpent, very well know the ways to tempt and lead us to sin. Since the time of the temptation of Eve through the attempt to lure the Lord in the desert until now, the Serpent methodically tempts us to sin by using our corporeality, our having flesh. Even the angels who were pure spirits were tempted to rebel against God while some went down and took human wives for themselves. So it is a lot easier for the Serpent to lure us into committing sin.

The ways the Serpent tempts us starts from our basic needs and ends with our greatest desires. 

For example, food. Very basic indeed. Eve was saw that the fruit was good to eat. The Lord was so hungry after fasting for 40 days the devil told Him to change the stone to bread. Many people would succumb to their basic needs even if they have to steal.

Another way to tempt us is by tickling our ambitions, our self esteem needs, of showing opportunities for fame and popularity even if we have to do some make believes at times, even if we have to lie. Eve was told by the Serpent, "you will surely not die" while the Lord was challenged by the Devil to jump from the top of the tower even quoting the words of Scriptures about the angels protecting Him! 

Then there is the temptation for power. Eve was told, "you will be like gods". The Lord was invited by Satan to see all the kingdoms of the world and was promised to have them if He worships the tempter. It is really a strong temptations and many people unknowingly let themselves be tempted to do everything just to gain power, even if they have to cheat. 

As Christians, children of God and friends of the Lord, we are called and meant to be holy therefore expected to avoid temptations and sin. During times of temptations we ought not forget that God is in control. While Eve readily gave in to the goodness of the fruit to be eaten, our Lord told the Devil that it is not only bread that can be food for man but also every Word that comes out of the mouth of God. While Eve was delighted to become like God, the Lord said that only God should be worshiped and therefore no one else should also aspire to be God. While Eve was enticed that eating the fruit would not kill her, the Lord answered the Devil that no one should tempt God!

But sometimes we put ourselves on the border, trying to show God we are strong enough to withstand temptations not recognizing that we are playing games with the evil one. This is very wrong and we should always rely on God alone for without Him we can do nothing!

Let us be serious in fulfilling our Christian vocation to holiness. Let us not play games with the devil. He is always around us and as St Peter wrote is "like a prowling lion ever ready to devour". The Apostle continues, "resist him, solid in your faith". Sr Paul also warns us that we are not fighting an ordinary war because our we are waging a spiritual battle.

Many people would surely only shrug their shoulders and consider what we are discussing as very conservative and outdated, perhaps they would even say that it has no place anymore in this modern world especially with so many advances in science and technology. But holiness will never be outdated and sin will always be against God.

In the next articles we shall discuss the things that are not consistent with being Christians.

Catholic by Choice III: How the Church became Roman Catholic

St Peter's Basilica, Rome, Italy

The name Roman Catholic Church has been made an issue by many individuals and churches because according to them it is not what the Lord Jesus Christ has established on earth. Some take the "church of Christ" as the proper name for the Church, others claim that Christ did not institute a religion but that He said that in order for a person to be saved he must be "born again" literally taking the cue from John 3:5 though most translations do not have the word "again" but only "born of water and the Spirit". There are some churches which claim that the true religion is that which God has founded through Moses. That would make Christ establishing a rival Church to that of Moses because Christ "established His own" Church upon St Peter since Christ did not say, "Upon this rock I shall continue the Church of God established by Moses".

First of all it must be understood that the Church we are discussing is the community of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and church members are the people who make up this assembly or community, the believers, or in New Testament term, the saints.

Well, what's in a name?

Let us start with that very important passage where Christ our Lord declares after Simon's confession of faith that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God which the Lord himself confirms as a divine revelation not merely coming from Simon's own understanding: "You are Peter and upon this rock I shall build my Church" [Matthew 16:18]. There are a few interpretation of the "rock" which Jesus Christ our Lord was talking about but seriously if He meant another meaning for the rock as used, and officially interpreted by the Roman Catholic Church and other churches in communion with Rome, within His whole statement there and then, there is no need to change the name of Simon, which means listening, to Peter, which means rock. Wasn't the name Simon more appropriate to maintain for it means "listening" which could also be very applicable to the occasion for he "listened" to the revelation of God that Jesus Christ was the Messiah?

Anyway, Catholics hold on the official teaching that the Lord has founded the Church upon Peter and that is why we say, "Where Peter is, there is the Church." The first Church was logically established in Jerusalem since it was understood then that Jesus did not intend to set up something different from Judaism. The teachings of Jesus were considered by the Apostles to be the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets hence there was no need to "establish" or "found" a "new" religion. This is the reason that they did not go to the Securities and Exchange Commission to register a "corporation" with the name "This is the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ!" They were Jews and they were telling their fellow Jews, "Come on, you have witnessed the wonderful deeds the Lord has done and though you killed Him he rose again and has now gone back to the Father sitting on His right side! He is the fulfillment of everything that Moses and the Prophets have written, spoke of and taught in the our long history of being God's people!" 

The History of the Church can be read in so many sites in the Internet so we will not linger on that long history which includes the many changes in the names or tags used to identify the followers of the Lord before they were called Christians in Antioch by 48AD. We will just point out that the Apostles established various "branches" of the Church within the then powerful Roman Empire such as the Church in Jerusalem [the first one], Damascus, Ephesus, Colossus, Corinth, Thessalonica, Antioch, and many more. And where else could the Church be more effectively have its center than Rome itself which could become a great jumping off to fulfill the command to evangelize the whole world? So a Church in Rome was also established of course.

Rome became a truly important fulcrum of the Christian Church, not only because it is the heart of the Empire itself, because also of the fact that two of the Apostles were martyred there: Peter, the first Pope, the one who was the given the "key" by the Lord Jesus Christ, and Paul. If Peter remained in Jerusalem and suffered martyrdom or any form of death there, we could have had a Jerusalem Catholic Church. If he remained in Antioch we could have had an Antiochian Catholic Church. But since Peter died in Rome, his successors were accorded the recognition of being new Popes - the term Pope simply meaning "Father". Of course there were some who did not accept it especially those belonging to the Eastern part of the Empire especially when the Western part already fell because of the attacks of the Germanic tribes. But the Roman Church stayed strong and even have to take  various roles just to sustain the civilization of the West and be the political arm of the still existing eastern part of the Roman Empire which now was called the Byzantine Empire. 

The fall of the Byzantine Empire under the Muslims signified an important event in Church history. Rome was now the only remaining strong bastion of Christianity. Though other churches in the east sustained their existence they were almost insignificant now to pursue the mission that has been handed by the Lord to the Apostles: to go into all the world. It was only Rome which  remained stable and even strong enough to defend itself from attacks of the barbarians. It is considered as the sign of the Lord's promise that not even the gates of hell would never prevail against His Church. Until now the Church is under attack but she continues to hold on to the teachings of the Lord. it suffered the loss of so many members, even whole nations, but remained faithful to the teachings of the Lord.

Since then the Roman Church continued to grow amid many challenges and trials. It has grown large enough and have been able to establish "branches" in almost every corner of the world fulfilling the command of the Lord to go into the world, baptizing everyone without choice of color, culture and condition that it could truly claim all embracing or universal hence catholic. That is why it has been named Roman Catholic Church. Roman because it is based in Rome, Catholic because it is all embracing or universal, and Church since it is the community of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Other Churches have fallen into various problems and have made concessions and compromises even with regards to their beliefs just to be able to stay alive just like when Protestants accepted the use of contraceptives while they were also against it together with the Catholic Church until the early part of the 20th century. But the Catholic Church continues to stand against any attempt to adapt to the modern world and change its stand on many issues especially with regards to the sanctity of life, the dignity of the family, the integrity of marriage, and more. The Church even have to let go of many members, even whole nations and empires like the whole Anglican Church, just to remain faithful to the Lord's teachings on marriage.  

The Roman Catholic Church may have members who are not holy. But what church, assembly, denomination, or ministry could claim to have perfection with regards to having holy members? And on what authority do they stand upon? 

We shall discuss in our next article the one important bases of "authority" which other churches, assemblies, denominations and ministries use against the "authority" of the Roman Catholic Church which is the Holy Bible.

Have a blessed weekend, friends!

What's Wrong with Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th has been considered a very unlucky day due to the fact that it combines two "undesirable things": Friday, the day that the Lord Jesus was crucified, and thirteen, a number which denotes transgression of completeness because 12 is considered to be a complete number and more significantly because the death of the Lord on that "Friday" was due to the traitor, Judas, considered to be the 13th counting from the Lord Himself plus 12 Apostles and Judas was always counted the last hence the 13th in the order. See more here. 

But the Catholic Church considers this as mere superstition which do not have a place in the Christian faith. A Christian cannot be concerned with any superstition because it is included in the prohibition of God against the worship of "other gods", idols and other spirits, deities or forces which people would consider having control over their lives, because he alone is God and He has power over everything [see Exodus 9:14; 20: 2-6; Deuteronomy 4:35; 32:39; Isaiah 43:10; 44:6; 45:5; Psalm 18:31; Joel 2:27 among others].

So what's wrong with Friday the 13th? 

What's wrong with Friday the 13th is this: THE continued belief in its being an unlucky day. Just consider these points: 

[1] Every minute, maybe even every second, people die and many of these deaths are not always peaceful or desirable but due to accidents or the evil intent of other people and they happen not only on a Friday the 13th, not even always on a Friday or a 13th day. In fact, many people die even during blessed days such as Christmas, Easter, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, birthdays, etc. and many of these are also not in accordance with what could call "blessed deaths". So it is "unfair" to consider Friday the 13th the "only unlucky day" if we have to consider this fact about people dying.

[2] The Friday on which Jesus Christ our Lord was crucified and died was not a "bad day". In fact the Church calls it Good Friday not because "God died" on that day but because God manifested His greatest love for humanity [see John 3:16]. Without Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, giving up His life on that day, the redemption of all mankind would not have taken place. The Lord gave His "ALL" on that day hence that Friday was full of blessings for all humanity and not very "unlucky" indeed. 

[3] The number 13 is not inherently unlucky as the number 6 is not inherently evil. The Holy Bible does not record anything which states their being inherently detestable numbers. In fact what the Bible says is that everything that God has made is good and very good [see Genesis 1]. How we use them in an improper or wrong manner that makes God's creation bad [see Ezekiel 5:11; 23:38; Jeremiah 16:18]. Not because seven and twelve have been considered as significant numbers, that 6 and 13 have become evil or unlucky in themselves. The number 13 is even considered as the "lucky" number of At Anthony and his holiness and love for God cannot be denied. Moreover, if 13 is believably unlucky, the Apostles would not have considered choosing a replacement for the vacated position of Judas Iscariot among them. And do we not welcome 13 in the sense of the baker's dozen: when we get an extra piece of bread by buying 12 pieces?

We even have that very important passage from St Paul's first letter to the Corinthians in double 13 [Chapter 13, verse 13]: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." What a great coincidence that one of the greatest passages of the Holy Bible should have double of the most undesirable number. Doesn't it say so much against lack of faith which make people turn to superstition, loss of hope which lead people to seek other sources of strength other than God and absence of love which keep people away from relying on the ultimate goodness and providence of God?

Superstitions, horoscopes, witchcraft, etc are not consistent with the Christian Faith. They are playing games with the Devil. People who try to rely on anything except God and His providence are only ruining their lives. If we are truly Christians, we will never put ourselves in the mercy of the evil one and so we have to avoid those things that do not develop and strengthen our friendship with God but weaken and destroy it. 

The next time you think about luck and what the future is in store for us, think of God's love, mercy and providence. Nothing is more acceptable to God than pure and unstained faith in His love and being in control of everything. Anything that is inconsistent with this is of the evil one.

A blessed Friday the 13th and weekend to all!

Christian Pilgrimage III: We are meant for Holiness

"Thus he chose us in Christ before the world was made 

to be holy and faultless before him in love,"

- Ephesians 1:4

Before Creation, God has already planned that humanity should be like Him, holy, perfect, faultless, blameless [refer also to II Thessalonians 2:13 and II Timothy 1:9]. "Be perfect just as the Father in heaven is perfect" says the Lord Jesus Christ. The same message has been earlier recorded in Leviticus, "Consecrate yourselves and be holy for I, the LORD your God, am holy" [20:7. See also Leviticus 19:2]. 

Man's holiness first of all comes from the fact that man became a living being because God breathed upon him His own Spirit which became the breath of life [see Genesis 2:7]. That is why before his fall, man was said to be in the original state of grace. Man's disobedience damaged that original state of union with God through grace and God Himself has to do something so that His beloved creation, mankind, would be reconciled to Him [see John 3:16 and Romans 5:8] and be able to serve God in holiness without fear forever [see the Song of Zechariah, Like 1:68ff]. 

Man was God's masterpiece. The Psalmist acknowledges this by saying, "You have me little less than a god" [Psalm 8:5]. Since man was not just like the cattle of the field and the beasts of the wild, God has destined Him for greater things and only man has the capacity to worship God and to return the love that God has given him. In fact, man has become more than a mere creature, God has adopted him as a child through Jesus Christ our Lord [see Romans 8:15; I John 3: 1-2; Romans 8:16; John 1:12 among others]. Humans have the saying, "Like father, like son." If God, then, is holy, we cannot be otherwise. 

Moreover, God Himself has sent the model par excellence of holiness who came directly from Him to live among us [see John 14:11]. "For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" [John 3:16]. This only begotten Son was the Word who was in the beginning with God and was also God and through whom everything has been created by God [see John 1: 1, 3]. Hence He is as holy as the Father is and He is not merely "telling" man to be holy just as the Father is holy because He is holiness Himself too [see John 10:30, 16:28]. 

As followers of Jesus and children of God the Father man cannot but be holy also [see I Peter 1:14; Colossians 3:3; Romans 6:2 and Mark 3:35 among others]. Christianity is not a mere fad and it is so much more than a Facebook page. Man cannot just "like" Jesus Christ and be a "Christian" already. To be a Christian is to live the way Christ lived [see I John 2:6, also I Peter 2:21; Matthew 11:29 and John 13:15; 15:10]. And Christ lived the holiest life on earth. 

A blessed pilgrimage, my friends!