The Best Love

“Our Father who art in heaven..." Matthew 6:7-15

In the Old Testament God is called Father a mere 15 times. In the new Testament, in the 4 Gospels alone, He is called Father 170 times!

"Abba", the word used in the prayer Jesus taught His disciples to pray, translates to "daddy" showing God wants an intimate relationship with you and me. But verse 15 has a "caveat emptor" in case we think this is a free pass! We have to forgive others their sins, and not only their sins against us, but also what we think they should have done but didn't!

Every day little hurts can pile up. Words that should or should not have been said. Actions. Gestures. Facial expressions. Gifts or no gifts. 

I remember when my mom said something that hurt me. She came to my house to ask my forgiveness. We talked and talked until we forgave each other. We are all sons and daughters of a loving Father who wants the best for us. And the best love is the love that forgives.

Giving Wisdom to the Simple

"The decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple." Psalm 19:7

One of my favorite saints is Saint Joseph of Cupertino. His start in life was highly inauspicious. He was mostly a nuisance to his family and other people in his village. He was simple minded and slow and he could not understand his lessons. His mother tried to get rid of him by apprenticing him to a shoemaker, then to the monks, but he was always rejected.

Finally he became the caretaker of the mule in the Franciscan monastery. After some years, he was asked to study scripture, but there was only one verse in the Bible that he managed to master, “Blessed is the womb that bore you!" (Luke 11:27) 

When he was being tested for the deaconate, the Bishop opened the Bible to that very passage, and Saint Joseph was able to explain it well! Eventually he became a priest passing his exam by the same grace. 

Indeed we do not need to be smart or articulate to do God's will or become a saint! Lord, thank You that You do not choose the wise, but You make the simple wise by Your Word! 

Angels Watching Over Me

“…for to His angels He has given command about you, that they guard you in all your ways.” Psalm 91:11

It’s a challenge to be on the watch, and be attentive all the time. But sometimes your life depends upon it, especially if you’re a soldier in the danger zone. I read Bruce Feiler’s book, “Where God was Born”, which is about his journey through some of the most tension filled areas of the world. Halfway through the book, there is a story that struck me. He met Chaplain Steve Munson and his group who were part of the 607th MP Battalion. They were taking pictures at the base of the ziggurat in what used to be Ur. Bruce asked the Chaplain what passages in the Bible spoke to him the most while he was serving in Iraq. The Chaplain flipped through his desert-camouflaged Bible to Psalm 91, and Bruce noticed a small note on top of the page, “3-09-03, Arifjan”. 

Bruce asked about it and the Chaplain narrated that the Battalion was stationed at Camp Arifjan before the war was supposed to start. The Executive Officer asked the Chaplain to lead a prayer because he was afraid he would lose some men in the coming battle. “I chose Psalm 91. I call it the soldier’s psalm,” and he started to read, “I say of the Lord, my refuge and stronghold, My God in whom I trust...for to His angels He has given command about you, that they guard you in all your ways….you will find refuge under His wings...You need not fear the terror by night...”

“Why this Psalm?” Bruce asked, and the Chaplain said, “I believe God leads through His Word. When you are in stressful situations, He will lead you to specific parts of His Word that will have meaning and will give you encouragement to make it through. In this instance, I couldn’t have asked for anything better. When we heard that first night lightning, lightning, lightning and Scud missiles were flying at us in all directions, we had the comfort knowing that, as it says here, God will cover us and the terror of the night will not destroy us.” 

“I’m not sure if this will make any sense to you,” he continued, “but as we were praying that night, we received a promise we would have no loss of life in our battalion.” He paused dramatically. “Tomorrow we will leave the country after nearly a year, the only battalion in our brigade with no loss of life.” 

We may not know it but we too are in the midst of a battle. We may not see the weapons the enemy targets at us with precision, but they are real. Let us take comfort in Psalm 91 and be confident that God sends His angels to watch over us. “I call upon You Lord, and You will answer me.” 

Follow Me

Yesterday a friend came over for an art date. May just enjoyed herself with a variety of art materials. I was happy she was able to have some me time to herself. 

Here’s what she and up with, a mixed media piece using acrylics, oils, watercolors, mica powder, papers from my collage stash and leaves from the garden. What fun!

“Follow me.” Luke 5:27

How truly remarkable that Levi, a sinful tax collector, got up from his post and followed Jesus after a simple invitation. Many of us are praying for the conversion of our President and other leaders in our country. If Jesus were here today, we may be shocked if he joined the President, the Senators, and their  friends in Malacañang just as Jesus was the guest of honor at Levi’s house with many other tax collectors. 

After all, after the Pharisees complained to Him, “Why are you eating and drinking with such scum?” Jesus answered, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.” Aren’t we all sinners? 

In the first reading for today from Isaiah 58:9b-14, we will realize what God wants from us before removing the pervading darkness in our country. He is waiting for us to turn back to Him before healing our land. “If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; If you bestow bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; the light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; Then the Lord will guide you always and give you plenty even on parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden...” There are more beautiful promises to claim from our God if we but turn to Him. 

We have to do our part, pray, discern and vote wisely, help those in need, speak the truth, do good always. As usual, I am preaching to myself. These days it is so tempting to just blame all the ills of our country on the thieves in government! Lord, give us the strength and the wisdom to follow You! So You can fulfill Your promises and with a simple invitation, turn our political leaders’ hearts to turn to You! After all, it says in Proverbs 21, “The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.”

Diet of Humble Pie

“My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:17

The great statesman, Winston Churchill, once said, “In the course of my life, I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet.” Not many people appreciate the diet of humble pie, and we often learn humility with the greatest difficulty. 

Something was very wrong in the Vienna General Hospital between 1840 and 1846. It was one of the largest teaching hospitals in the world but in the maternity wing, the mortality rate was staggeringly high. The mothers would get raging puerperal fever, painful abscesses in the uterus and birth canal and die within three days of giving birth. After studying the problem, two doctors, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, and Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, proposed that the doctors who did autopsies should wash their hands before going to the maternity ward to deliver babies. The doctors scoffed in disbelief! Some even erroneously maintained that the dirtier the doctor, the better, because then they were very well trained as they regularly performed autopsies!

Dana Tulodziecki, a philosophy professor, wrote that the “doctors weren’t pleased that  Dr. Semmelweis essentially implied that they were responsible for killing all those women.” That was probably the reason why it took a surprisingly long time before doctors realized how very important hand washing and sterilizing their instruments were. 

Yes, it is most humiliating when we realize the problem is us. When will we be sensible enough to know that humility is the root of all virtues and the surest sign of strength and wisdom? Let us allow God during this season of “spring cleaning” to show us how we put ourselves as the center of everything and interfere in His perfect plan for us. 

“Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.”

Choose Life

“Choose life, then, ...by loving the Lord, your God, heeding His voice, and holding fast to Him.” Deuteronomy 30:19-20

What does it mean to choose life? To most people it would mean choosing a way of life that leads to happiness and satisfaction, even satiation. 

How many stories have I heard of young boys and girls living on the edge, chasing after the ultimate high, going from one drug to another, one partner to another, and then finding it’s just one little death after another. 

There’s Father Donald Calloway’s descent into drugs, pornography, and sex. He even got treated in a mental institution, joined the Yakuza in Japan, and followed heavy metal bands. His mother would cry herself to sleep praying for him. One day he almost killed himself but instead converted to Catholicism after attending mass and hearing a voice commanding him, “Worship!”

Then there’s Stephen Baldwin who “snorted enough cocaine to throw the entire population of a small South American country into anaphylactic shock”. He and his wife Kenya came to know the Lord because of their Brazilian maid who kept singing about Jesus. 

How about Brian “Head” Welch who was the lead guitarist of Korn, a heavy metal band? He used to need Meth and Xanax just to function. He was high even when cooking breakfast for his daughter. Even if his band won several Grammys, had women falling all over him, had all the money he desired, he felt like the biggest loser. One day he went to church with his partner in his business, and the pastor said, “God is real. Speak with Him. All the bad stuff will fall away.” Brian started reading the Bible and pleading with God to free him from all his pain. In 2 weeks, his addictions to drugs and alcohol was gone. 

We may not be into drugs, alcohol, pornography, etc., but we do need to choose life every day. We can’t say yes to God once and that’s it. We have to say a lifetime of yesses. Yes Lord, I choose life! I choose You! 

Clean Heart, Clear Conscience

"Create in me a clean heart, O God!" Psalm 5:12

I was so “masungit” (bad tempered) towards the courier yesterday when he called from another gate of our subdivision and said he would leave the delivery there as the guard wasn’t letting him in without a sticker. I barked at him that the documents were very important and I will make sure he gets a bad mark if he does that! It wasn’t my fault the app led him there! 

I remember always reminding my mom that "it is better to be kind than to be right."

What happened? I hadn’t been watching my heart! We have to keep and guard our heart with all vigilance because in Proverbs 4:23 it says, “from our heart flows the springs of life." And I do want life to flow from me to others, not garbage and meanness! 

In Revelations 3:19, it says, "Those whom I dearly love, I tell their faults, and convict, convince, reprove and chasten. I discipline and instruct them. So be enthusiastic, earnest and burning with zeal, and repent, changing your mind and attitude."(Amplified Bible)

I love this! God doesn't condemn us! If there's a condemning voice in our head, it's not Him! He wants us to learn and move on! Yes, Lord, I will be enthusiastic, and eager to put Your words into practice today.

If you’re curious to know what happened, the courier decided to make the long trek to the correct gate and was able to deliver the documents. I had calmed down by then and gave him some yummy J.CO donuts to say sorry. His voice was cheerful when he said thank you. May I always remember to be kind to whomever I am dealing with! 

Observing Lent

"There is no one who has given up house, or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for My sake and for the sake of the Gospel, who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age." Mark 10:29

Is God asking us to give up these wonderful gifts He has given us? I don't think so! I think Jesus is saying that if we put Him first, we will have all this and more! The rewards of following our Lord far outweigh anything this world offers. In Matthew 6:33, we see a variation of this verse: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

It’s not easy because somewhere along the journey of following in His footsteps, He will ask us to give up something. At the very least, we have to painfully shed our old skin of selfishness. Or He may ask us to abandon ugly habits and addictions. We have to learn to forgive, be generous, and most especially repent of our sins. God is very creative, and He will know exactly what we hold on to too tightly, and that is the very thing He will ask us to sacrifice. Will we be able to let go? 

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, a perfect time to review our lives, and see if we can work with God for our transformation. Pope Francis challenges us to learn “to change our attitude towards others and all of creation, turning away from the temptation to ‘devour’ everything to satisfy our voracity and being ready to suffer for love, which can fill the emptiness of our hearts.”

In his homily on Ash Wednesday two years ago, the Pope asked us to think, “How often do we get caught up in our own wants and needs, lose sight of the heart of the matter, and fail to embrace the true meaning of our lives in this world! Lent is a time of truth, a time to drop the masks we put on each day to appear perfect in the eyes of the world.”

Observing Lent can be so much more than what we give up. Perhaps this year we can commit to MORE, more time with God, more time helping and encouraging and praying for others. Whatever we do for our families, our office mates or schoolmates, our neighbors, and “the least of our brothers and sisters”, we do for Jesus. 

https://papemelroti.blogspot.com/2025/03/get-ready-for-lent-2025.html

Everything is Possible with God

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!" Mark 10:25

This is just such a hard story to understand. On the one hand you see Jesus looking at this rich young man lovingly.  Then right after, condemning him to a life of eternal damnation just because he would not sell all he had and give the money to the poor.  How many of us would be able to do that at the drop of a hat?  Not many, I'm pretty sure of that! I was thinking if only that man stayed and listened. If only that young man followed Jesus!  He would have heard Jesus' teachings, and little by little, he would have desired to do what Jesus wanted him to do.  

Jesus said to His disciples, "Everything is possible with God."  We shouldn't give up on ourselves just because we can't follow Jesus perfectly! Just because we can't give up everything and go to the ends of the earth and spread the Gospel. Just because we get impatient with little things and are ungrateful or cannot really forgive.  Jesus already paid the price for our salvation.  We just need to follow Him day after day, and we will change slowly but surely.  

St. Paul wrote to the Philippians: " And I am certain that God who began the good work within you will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."

Lord Jesus, teach me Your ways and make my heart like yours.

Silence is Gold

“When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; So do one’s faults when one speaks.” Sirach 27:4

There is a saying, “To speak is silver, silence is gold.” Then there is this amusing Roman nugget: “Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses" which translates to, “If you had remained silent, you would have remained a philosopher". One wonders if the Latin philosopher Boethius who is said to have penned this was of a taciturn nature. 

Sir Humphrey Appleby simply translated it to this:”If you'd kept your mouth shut we might have thought you were clever.”

I’ve certainly had my stupidity on display many a time but of course I prefer to forget those instances. I think the best conversations I’ve had were the ones where I turn the spotlight on the one I’m speaking to. When I really, really listen to others, and am genuinely interested in what they are saying, I get rewarded because most people are fascinating. There’s always something to learn, and enjoy second hand from anyone. Unfortunately, I tend to interrupt, eagerly wanting to share my own experiences. And then looking back at the interaction, I regret not listening more and asking more questions. 

In the same Bible passage, we find, “The fruit of the tree shows the care it has had; so too does one’s speech disclose the bent of one’s mind.” 

Father, I don’t particularly want to be known as clever or smart, but please help me in my speech to show love, caring and generosity for others. 

Indomitable Spirit

“He knows how we are formed; He remembers we are dust.” Psalm 103:14

We are perishable earthen vessels, from dust we are created, and to dust we will return. Death is at work in us every minute, every second of every day. Cells, tissues are dying, memories wither, ideas change. And yet God chose to put His indomitable Spirit within each of us. We either bring it out and let it shine forth, or we squash and destroy it in selfishness and greed. 

Whenever I think of the indomitable spirit God has put in man I remember the survivors and victims of the Holocaust. I think of people like Gerda Weismann Klein, who wrote about it, and travels the world to tell her story. She and her husband Kurt started a foundation to stop hunger and to teach tolerance. 

In 1942, she and her family were separated. She and her brother were sent to slave labor camps, her parents to Auschwitz, and her father was sentenced to the gas chamber. 

Hours before her father boarded the train to Auschwitz, he looked up from his Bible and told her to wear ski boots when she boarded her train. It was June, how could he have known that 3 years later, those boots would save her life as she trudged on a 1,000-mile death march in the dead of winter through Germany to Czechoslovakia? In her book, “All But My Life”, she recounts how the faith, love and courage of her family, of her grandfather,  kept her from killing herself.

She remembers the last night her parents were together, “And so they talked on through the night, animated and happy. They faced what the morning would bring with the only weapon they had - their love for each other. Love is great, love is the foundation of nobility, it conquers obstacles and is a deep well of truth and strength. After hearing my parents talk that night I began to understand the greatness of their love. Their courage ignited within me a spark that continued to glow through the years of misery and defeat. The memory of their love - my only legacy - sustained me in happy and unhappy times in Poland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, France, Switzerland, England. It is still part of me here in America."

Father, thank You for the Spirit You put within us. May we always radiate hope and courage in the midst of darkness. 

Nothing is Impossible with God

“He wrote that commandment for you because of your stubbornness."  Mark 10:5

Some Pharisees came to test Jesus about divorce, whether it was permissible. Jesus told them that Moses wrote that commandment because of man's stubbornness. In my other Bible it says, "hardness of heart". Then Jesus went on to say that no man should separate what God has joined, they are no longer two but one flesh. 

I attended a workshop several years ago, in a place where President Duterte is favored and loved. It was a great workshop, and the people I met were wonderful and God- fearing. Only one thing marred my peace and I had to ponder and pray about it. There were some Bible-believing and obeying brothers and sisters there who believed, like the President, that we should have the death penalty instituted and the senators fighting against the measure were in the wrong. 

I would have thought that when one believes in God and reads His word and obeys it, one would also believe that nothing is impossible with God and even the hardest criminal could turn his life around and make a valuable contribution to our society. Why would anyone deprive him of that chance? There are innumerable stories of hardened criminals who repented and turned their life around after an encounter with God. 

I personally have talked to many inmates in QC Jail, some of them have confessed to murder. But they have since repented, they attend Bible Studies and sing praise songs. Moreover, our justice system is flawed. One man was sentenced to life imprisonment for a crime he didn't commit. After God's intervention, he is now a driver for my sister's family. He knows the Bible better than most people I know!  

Will God permit the death penalty, or easy dissolution of marriages, instituted in our country? Only because of our hard hearts and stubbornness! 

Lord, may we see Your heart of compassion and mercy reign in our country. May we see Your face in not only the poor, but in the real pitiable, those who commit sin and make big mistakes because they do not know You.