"When the Son of Man will come in His glory..."(Matthew 25:31-46) Theme for the month: Our Missionary intentionality in our missionary expansion General objective: To experience the trust of God who considers us as faithful servants in whom he can trust his vineyard. We are co-responsible partners of God’s Mission. To live out our creative fidelity in the charism by being pro-active in the missionary expansion. November 17-23, 2014 Objective of the week: To increase our creativity in looking for a place for the Lord to come. To renew our desire for the Lord. To love him in the life of those whom he has entrusted to us.
IntroductionWe are reminded this month to remain faithful servants of God’s vineyard. As faithful servants, we need to be sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is always abiding us every moment of our lives. We can only recognize his presence if we pause and ponder every event that is happening in us because God has always a reason for everything. Through the details of our lives, the Holy Spirit is speaking to us if we are sensitive enough to listen. Constant communion with God enhances our spiritual sensitivity and would help us become closer to him and would become more like him. Last week we were invited to experience the joy of Jesus for our faithfulness to him while this week we are invited to become creative in looking for a place to welcome him into our hearts. Why should we be creative? It is because the world has been so creative in inviting the people to mislead them and destroy their dignity as children of God. We should be creative to counter temptation in a way that we should listen to the Holy Spirit. The people that surround us are instruments of the Holy Spirit speaking through us and they are eventually the bridge to gain heaven. “I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.” (Matthew 25:35-36) This should not be taken literally. The real hunger and thirst are those of people who are seeking for love, attention and understanding. The real strangers are those people we find difficulty to accept, to love and to understand. The real nakedness are those people who have lost their dignity and are neglected by their family and society. The real sicknesses are those who are righteous and indifferent and the real prisoners are those people who are enveloped with vices and are those who are pressured to do evil work. Let’s open our eyes of faith to be certainly creative to respond to the call of God in the service of our brothers and sisters. The best tool to say yes in order to put our faith into action is through prayer because it is through prayer that make our hearts become like Christ. And how wonderful it is to hear when the Lord tells us, “I know what you have done; I know how hard you have worked and how patient you have been. You are patient, you have suffered for my sake, and you have not given up.” (Revelations 2:2-3). “Come, you who are blessed by my Father! Come and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since the creation of the world.” (Matthew 25:34) MondayMy pride is my blindness35 Now it happened that as he drew near to Jericho there was a blind man sitting at the side of the road begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going past he asked what it was all about, 37 and they told him that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by. 38 So he called out, 'Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.' 39 The people in front scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he only shouted all the louder, 'Son of David, have pity on me.' 40 Jesus stopped and ordered them to bring the man to him, and when he came up, asked him, 41 'What do you want me to do for you?' 'Sir,' he replied, 'let me see again.' 42 Jesus said to him, 'Receive your sight. Your faith has saved you.' 43 And instantly his sight returned and he followed him praising God, and all the people who saw it gave praise to God. (Luke 18:35-43) Sometimes, we are so blinded by our anger and pride that they hinder us to see our suffering brothers and sisters. Let us ask the Lord to heal us from our blindness so that we may be able to see them the same way Jesus looks at them. Let us ask Him to possess us with His sensitive heart so that we may be able to live with His heart as we serve others. How long have you been blinded to the feelings and the needs of others? Are you willing to take care of them for the sake of Christ? TuesdayMy Iife is for Loving(Dedication of the Churches of Peter and Paul) He entered Jericho and was going through the town 2 and suddenly a man whose name was Zacchaeus made his appearance; he was one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man. 3 He kept trying to see which Jesus was, but he was too short and could not see him for the crowd; 4 so he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot he looked up and spoke to him, 'Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I am to stay at your house today.' 6 And he hurried down and welcomed him joyfully. 7 They all complained when they saw what was happening. 'He has gone to stay at a sinner's house,' they said. 8 But Zacchaeus stood his ground and said to the Lord, 'Look, sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount.' 9 And Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of man has come to seek out and save what was lost.' (Luke 19:1-10) The only thing that can move God’s heart is through man’s sincerity. He does not judge the person according to the way he lives but he looks straight to the heart how pure is his intention in asking His forgiveness and his willingness to change for the better. Are you sincere in asking God’s forgiveness? How often do you go to confession? How often do you ponder before you make a decision? Are your choices congruent to the will of the Father? WednesdayMy life is a gift to others11 While the people were listening to this he went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the kingdom of God was going to show itself then and there. 12 Accordingly he said, 'A man of noble birth went to a distant country to be appointed king and then return. 13 He summoned ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds, telling them, "Trade with these, until I get back." 14 But his compatriots detested him and sent a delegation to follow him with this message, "We do not want this man to be our king." 15 'Now it happened that on his return, having received his appointment as king, he sent for those servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what profit each had made by trading. 16 The first came in, "Sir," he said, "your one pound has brought in ten." 17 He replied, "Well done, my good servant! Since you have proved yourself trustworthy in a very small thing, you shall have the government of ten cities."… Please continue reading (Luke 19:11-28) Let us contemplate ourselves that our life is a gift from God to others. Thus, we have to live it to the full by committing ourselves to Him, by loving Him in the service of others with whom they are also entrusted to our love and care. In like manner, Christ came to serve and not to be served. We too must be willing to be of service to God for his kingdom. Are you sincere with your commitment? How often do you give your time to the Lord? Did you offer it with dedication? ThursdayMy spirit rejoices in the Lord 41 As he drew near and came in sight of the city he shed tears over it 42 and said, 'If you too had only recognised on this day the way to peace! But in fact it is hidden from your eyes! 43 Yes, a time is coming when your enemies will raise fortifications all round you, when they will encircle you and hem you in on every side; 44 they will dash you and the children inside your walls to the ground; they will leave not one stone standing on another within you, because you did not recognise the moment of your visitation.' (Luke 19:41-44) Alleluia! Sing a new song to Yahweh: his praise in the assembly of the faithful! … Please continue reading (Psalm 149:1-9) As Verbum Dei disciples, we should be happy as we do our commitment to God. The purity of heart in serving others reflects the joy on his face and the authenticity of his actions. It is the spirit that energizes him to work like a fire burning with love. Is your heart on fire with the love of Christ? Are you willing to give up your pleasure for Christ? FridayMy family is my joy(The Presentation of the Virgin Mary) 46 He was still speaking to the crowds when suddenly his mother and his brothers were standing outside and were anxious to have a word with him. 47 still speaking to the crowds when suddenly his mother and his brothers were standing outside and were anxious to have a word with him. 48 But to the man who told him this Jesus replied, 'Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?' 49 And stretching out his hand towards his disciples he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.' (Matthew 12:46-50) 46 And Mary said: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; … please continue reading (Luke 1:46-55) In a family, everyone is working together for the common goal (to live in love and in harmony with one another even at the peak of poverty). God wanted all of His children to be in union with Him forever as one big happy family. So we are invited to work together as a family for the common good – redemption. Let us invite our brothers and sisters to go back to Christ and at the same time let us remind each other to keep in touch with the Father as we work in His vineyard. However, this should be done in the context of love to increase the members. So when the Son of Man will come in his glory, He will welcome us to enjoy eternal bliss. Are you working for the common goal? How long have you been working for it? SaturdayMy life is for the Lord27 Some Sadducees -- those who argue that there is no resurrection -- approached him and they put this question to him, 28 'Master, Moses prescribed for us, if a man's married brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. 29 Well then, there were seven brothers; the first, having married a wife, died childless. 30 The second 31 and then the third married the widow. And the same with all seven, they died leaving no children. 32 Finally the woman herself died. 33 Now, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since she had been married to all seven?' 34 Jesus replied, 'The children of this world take wives and husbands, 35 but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry 36 because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are children of God… please continue reading (Luke 20:27-40) It is already proven by Christ that there is eternal life. This is the kind of life that we are preparing for. We should always remember that our life on earth is temporal and is needed to live for the love of Christ and commit ourselves to live as Christ did for love is the essential element to acquire eternal life. The love of Christ is truly expressed through our neighbours. We need to be sensitive to the urging of the Holy Spirit even into the tiny details of our lives. It is through the tiny details that we grow our sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Are you sensitive to the urging of the Holy Spirit? What would you do to respond the invitation of the Holy Spirit? SundaySolemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ , King of the Universe
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