Keep, Drop, Change!

Gospel Reflection for 7 January 2018

The Epiphany of the Lord

Pls Read God’s Silent Message: Gospel of Matthew 2:1-12

“When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.“

It’s NEW YEAR once more!

“Picture-picture!” … selfie dito, groupie don! – natapos ang taon na maraming ganon – at nagsimula na ulit ang taon, GANON PA DIN! … at isa na ako don! “eto na naman si picture-picture!” – ganito lagi ang kantyaw sa akin kapag may “moments”!  Nagkamali nga daw ako ng course na kinuha – dapat daw ay Photography!

True enough! I have always loved “photography” because I have always loved “life & every bit of chance in it”!  Thanks to the leveled-up technology kasi digital na tayo ngayon … gone were the days na “kailangan ipa-develop mo muna ang film bago mo pa makita ang image”! – tapos saka mo pa lang makikita na ang epic-fail pala ang shots mo, gumastos ka pa sa developing charge!

Each picture tells “a thousand words” & God’s messages & signals are in-to-it! Images may be kept in the heart but God has given us another alternative to make us “see beyond” when we “take another glance” at those shots in our solitude.

God has always been great for creating great minds that brought us this “digital advantage” where we can easily keep good-to-see pics, drop unpleasant scenarios & elements and change some effects before we post pics that would gather many “likes” in social sites –- all because we’ve INSPIRED life!

What we do in photography, we do to “life”! – but let us be like those three WISE men who CONSIDERED God’s SIGNS which made them decide to take another route & save themselves from unseeming destruction.

So, my dear friends,  let’s reflect on this: what can we “keep, drop & change” in our life as we welcome 2018?

Happy & Blessed New Year po! #sunset

Let us not be Caught “Off Guard!”

 

photo credits: http://markryman.com/BLOG/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/matthew24-44

 

 

First Sunday of Advent

Pls Read God’s Silent Message: MT 24:37-44

Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.

Ready ka na ba?

Ready ka na ba to receive more of God’s blessings?

How prepared are you to answer na “ready ka na nga?”

What if tomorrow never comes? What if today is your last chance to answer this question?

While struggling to survive, I’ve been asking this to myself. Everyday, I would reflect: “Am I really ready should this day be my last?

Anong blessing pa kaya ang pwede kong tanggapin na dapat kong ika-ready?

Today is the First Sunday of Advent which means “Coming” – a time when we have to be reminded of the reality that we are living in the end times. The coming of Jesus which we celebrate at Christmas should be a constant reminder that we have to personally prepare ourself for His final return on the Day of Judgment – which no one really ever knows when!

Thing is … how PRODUCTIVE have we been as we prepare for such day?

That feeling of rush and persistence when you anticipate that you’re at the brim of such end, ang hirap din pala. It’s as if, you want to exert every extra effort just for you to make up for the lost chances. Haisst…ganito pala, when you feel that you don’t have plenty of time, you would as much strive to be watchful of your own thoughts and decisions in embracing God’s way instead of giving-in to your weaknesses and lame excuses. It has been useless pala allowing yourself to be pressured by financial problems while you sacrifice your health – for when your health already suffers, that’s the only time you’d realize that you have actually sinned against God because your “productivity mindset” has not been for “longtime perspective”!

Way to make ourselves ready? Here’s what I’ve realized: “the currency in heaven is never any amount of money” — BUT LOVE — which we need to share while preparing for His “coming”. It’s our ACT OF GRATITUDE to such love when we have accepted to play part in God’s great plan which is to make everyone of us “walk in the light of the Lord”.

Commit your work to the Lord, then it will succeed. — Proverbs 16:3

This is it I guess – the blessing that we need to be ready about! God wants us to flourish as a tree – so that we can continually give even when we’re no longer personally around to still give. #sunset

 

Published in FeastSMSantaRosa Bulletin. 27 November 2016 Issue.  Series: MONEY PAKYAW. Knocking Down Your Biggest Financial Problems.  Talk 3: Productivity.  The Blessings of the Lord Bring Wealth

I will LOVE your “LIKE” :)

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Pls visit this site, http://www.bubblews.com/account/84165-profgail67, and pls “LIKE” my posts there if you would favor my thoughts 🙂

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God will surely bless you more for grabbing an opportunity to help 🙂

 

God Guarantees Beyond Worries

http://profgailinspires.com/2013/07/03/god-guarantees-beyond-worries/

Whew….what a week it has been! …nakaka-preysure!

Sometimes you would come to the point na di mo na alam ang pwede mong gawing paraan kasi ang lakas ng dating ng pagkasabi sayo na “DI NA PWEDE” ang inakala mong pwede pa! Excited ka pa man din kasi isa sa mga pinangarap mo ang malapit nang matupad tapos biglang sasabihin sayong “wala na, sayang na ang pinaghirapan mo”! Kung mahihna-hina ang loob mo, mawawalan ka na ng pag-asa, di ka na gagawa ng paraan kasi yong ini-expect mong pwede mo pang magawa ay di daw talaga uubra! Wala nang areglo, as in! whew…nakakapanghina talaga! – as in deads ka na, double jeopardized ka pa kasi sa bandang huli, you were all the more blamed kasi di mo naisip ahead of time na di na pala pwede ang inakala mong pwede pa! isang hirit pa … nakakapanghina talaga!

Buti na lang, may isa ka pang natitirang choice … ang umiyak na lang!

And upppsss, dahil dyan, bigla kang nahimasmasan and all the while, SUPPLIED with a strength from somewhere, you suddenly moved on with the great EXPECTATION IN YOUR HEART that God’s ANGELS will come in rescue and ease your tears with the hope that  mightier things are coming!

Beyond the worries, “if and only if” we will submit ourselves to God’s anointing — that determination to do our best and find every possible recourse even when others demean our optimism , God would soon descend His GUARANTEE!

As sure as John promised to the people that One mightier than him is coming after he baptized Jesus in our gospel for today, it’s also a sure thing that with God’s sent angels will RELEASE our worries and all the way stay with us, ‘till we take hold in our hands the PASSPORT to greater FAITH!

Huling hirit lang po … God guarantees there are angels! 🙂 sunset

Let’s just modify our Timeline!

God’s promise would soon be fulfilled!

 … not when “likes” clicked to nine [9] circles where horses dance in style for the opponent’s victory!

… not when Ms. USA won over Ms. Philippine’s 1^st Runner-up Title! … and DEFINITELY not on such December 21, 2012 which was fear-freakingly prophesied to be the END OF THE WORLD!

Every waking morning,  we are supposedly to bring good tidings to one and all; to bring hope to those who are depressed; to give enlightenment to those, whose days has been gloomy because they have nothing to share; to bring recourse to those who want to share and be God’s answer to their good intentions of making others happy … 

 — yet, all of a sudden an out of nowhere news would try to “kill-joy” whatever preparations. — that feeling na sobrang excited ka na dahil ilang tulog na lang ay ayan na ang araw na pinakahihintay mo; tapos, biglang sasabihin sayong “ay sori ka, excited ka pa dyan, eh ilang tulog na lang,REVELATIONS na!

            — that feeling na nag-uumpisa ka pa lang ulit dahil sa ilang linggo ka ding nakarealize sa mga   natutunan mo sa mga talks sa “The Feast” ay biglang sasabihin sayong “asa ka pa!

di ka na mapapasama sa “the chosen ones ni God” kasi “ending na!”,

                wala ka nang chance para ipakita

na may binabago ka na sa sarili mo!  

But God’s promise is BEST! — and THE BEST IS YET TO COME, as our Bro Jon would always quote!

Our mere presence ‘till today …

… is one of the completion of that promise!

Mary, in the gospel: Luke 1:39-56 who, despite that she was pregnant in such timeline, traveled all the way in haste to visit her cousin, Elizabeth.  ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. “

When the opponent strikes like this “end-of-the-world” kill-joy thing,  fear, doubts and the likes may  piss us off; but this reflection hopes to lead us to realization that we can always decide and strive to be a Miracle worker by modifying our timeline:  be a sign of faith, hope and love, first and foremost to ourselves so that we may be the best gift we could ever come up with specially today! #sunset 

Soon, it would make sense!

“Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she, out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
Would such an act … inspire, or intimidate us?
Probably, it would take an indebted heart to give a damn to such an intention and get inspired by it; while it would take a criticizing person to get intimidated and take it as “just a façade”!

Subsequently, she does what makes no sense — giving out her “last two coins” … all that she had to live on!

Aminin man po natin sa hindi, some of us are not so good at appreciating some of the little things around us, specially those little acts which are mostly considered “doesn’t make sense”.

If what we expected was not met, despite what was exerted by the person who took the effort, wala lang, parang wala ka lang ginawa kahit na napapakinabangan naman nila ang pinag-aksayahan mo ng panahon.

Minsan, you’ve already given your best but ‘still not enough! “Effort” lang ang kinaya mong ibigay, pero hindi man lang napansin. And what hurts more, yong nag-effort ka na, inalok mo pa kasi baka ‘di lang napansin ang pinagpaguran mo; only to find out na talaga palang ‘di pinansin at napaka-dry na “pag-ayaw” lang sa inialok mo ang napala mo. Ni wala man lang bahid ng appreciation!

Di ka pa nadala, since you simply want to make the person happy, you kept on striving to be better on things with all those tasks, only to hear criticism with what you’ve done; kung ‘di kulang, mali, palpak, dapat hindi ganito, dapat hindi ganon, dapat kasi naisip mo sana ang naisip nya – haiii, you hoped to be valued, pero sablay pa din!

There are times, sa simpleng ideas na gusto mo sanang i-share, di ka pa tapos magsalita ay blocked na agad ang point mo — as if you’re always an opponent kung maka-hindi sa kung ano ang pwedeng manggaling sayo.

Tanggap mo naman na magaling sya eh, gusto mo nga lang na minsan ay magkaroon naman ng konting worth kung ano lang ang kinakaya mong ibigay.

Difficult times … or difficult person?
Sometimes you’ll get demoralized ‘coz you are made to feel that your capacity to give is always being subject to comparison. The littlest of what you have, would at times make you unworthy because whoever gives much would far more assert for recognition, without being aware that such an act is already creating a wall of indifference – and it sucks!

“Back off”???
Since we already find it difficult dealing with such kind of person, we may just “keep distance” – if not to finally decide “walking away” because we can no longer mend.

However, “Unless you’re free from the power of difficult people, you cannot love them…” True! You can never really give if you don’t love. Kinakaya pa nating magbigay kahit na nasasaktan tayo kasi totoo nating mahal ang taong nakakapanakit sa atin.

Love should rule-out pain!
Whatever we can give today may not make sense as of yet … but let the widow’s valor teach us the lesson of “letting go” of our tendencies to compare, to compete, to be right, to be better against another and all the likes that may finally make people walk out of our life.

God, in His silence, spots the deepest intentions of our heart . Even if the “last two coins” that we could give would not matter to difficult persons, soon it would! — sunset

Can’t we be Vulnerably Equipped?

“Love the Lord your God with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

No other commandments are greater than these.

Hmmmm…straightforwardly, this one seems to be a difficult task! ‘don’t you think so? Would you ever love a person to whom you have given that much, yet, would still want to get “much more” from you?

Would you ever love someone who’s been hurting you over and over again just because he doesn’t know how to love you back?

Would you still learn to trust when the pain created in you has been too deep for you to still forgive after all those lies?

Would you take chance to live another day with that someone who doesn’t even know how to appreciate YOU?

Bottomline, hanggang saan mo kayang magmahal? Pwede bang pag nahirapan ka, “ayawan” na lang!  Yong tipong, “kung ayaw mo, eh di wag mo!” “Away kung away”, “galit kung galit”! “Walang pakialamanan kahit na dumating sa point na pareho na tayong nasasaktan!”

No one is excused!

All kinds of relationship may be put into such challenge! No choice! … even if you have to deal with the most “difficult person”!   You’ll just need to accept that:

“The difficult person is a child desperate and hungry for love.”

Vulnerable!

This may be our lame excuse because we are only humans! Some would even justify their tendency to give up on someone and to freak out and say “sorry, tao lang!” Yet, if only we would deeply ponder on how much God has given-up just for our sake, somewhere along that line, we should apprehend that we are NOT “tao lang!” We should then carry out the mission that we are created in the image and likeness of God and more than the excuses of just giving up because we think we are weak , we should be like Jesus who has been so sacrificing for the benefit of letting love flow to others through us. Our being “tao” has actually made us equipped with the capability to share the limitless reward to others while we strive to accomplish the greatest commandment!

What we do to others is what we do to God … and extending such “love” in whatever way is that same love we extend to our “self” as our way of showing God that we are worthy of the rewards which we’ve already received and are “yet to come”! — sunset 

Can we not Just Make Love?

I already fell asleep last night while I kept on thinking over how to “complete a package”.  Grasping my senses as I woke up, trying to recall from my dreams if God could have given me the message that He wants to come across, I ended up querying:

 Can we not just make” love” all the time?

Huh!!! Sounds exciting?  Oh my, of course, it’s not what you think!

‘Sad to note, it is a fact that “wrong MIND-SETS” has been “making headway” over challenged relationships.

Couples would have the tendencies to battle on “who is the greatest?” who is better; who is more tired;  who earns more, should get more rest; who should serve should not complain … and all the likes!  In effect, one’s story is an advantage over the other. One would tend to tell a story that would favour his self-esteem and would disregard the truth. Such esteem would pave the way for one of the couples not to see the “heart of the matter”.  Still so sadly, it would give the escape of spending more time in other things rather than look into what would make things better for the two of them.

At a far more extent, some other couples, in the desire to put oneself first, one of the couples would tend to find recourse outside of the marriage; would tend to look for something elsewhere; would give-in to self-centeredness and would justify that the committed “unfaithfulness” was due to incompatibility and dissatisfaction with the partner. What’s more unfair is that we tend to look for something which we did not give; yet, when out of nowhere somebody comes, such tempter would benefit all the complements which we were not so generous of giving to our partner, neither to our family.

It pays to have a child in us – who knows that they are the least, yet appreciates even the littlest of things that are given to them.  In gratitude, they have the initiative to kiss-away our fatigue and would hug us back our energy  which makes us more inspired to keep on,  despite our struggles. In the same way, a child would naturally feel  great being complemented with every good deed.

To hope the greatest not to add up to the number of broken vows which make innocent children suffer the consequence, may this one help us in realizing that “making love” is making sex holy, factoring in the responsibilities of each of the couple that Bro Jon has inputted to us today.

Plus, considering Jesus’ criteria in the Gospel of Mark 9:30–37: the least, the servants, the children, are the greatest!

“If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” So, instead of blinding ourself with self-centeredness, and making “away” with our partner, may our MIND-SET find “a-way” to make “LOVE” prevail all the time! — sunset

#”No Gift is Too Small”#

Love is like five loaves & two fishes…it never multiplies until you give it away…

How true is it that “we cannot give what we don’t have!”?

He who has little has given greatly … the little was made many;  the limited became “much”! He did not worry that he might possibly run out of what would sustain him; instead, selflessly, he shared the little that he had, saying: “take my five loaves & two fishes, do with it as You will, I surrender! You can use it all, I hope it’s not too small.”

That little boy in today’s gospel: because he saw the kindness in Jesus’ smile and the gladness of the people who were listening to Him,  he didn’t think twice to be a channel of blessing to others. ‘buti pa sya … limited lang ang meron, pero kinayang magbigay? Hindi nagdamot mag-offer. Kung gaanong “kapiraso lang” ang meron sya ay nadagdagan ng higit pa, kesa sa dami ng kinailangan, dahil sa laki ng “willingness” na meron sya sa puso nya.

Sounds ideal? … I hope not!

Thus far, this actuality bother me: bakit silang mga “can afford” naman sana, napipilitan lang  magbigay?; bakit kung sino pa ang meron, sila pa ang nagwo-worry na baka kapusin kapag nag-share sila?; bakit kung sino pa ang may siguradong kita, sila pa ang namo-mroblema sa kung magkano na lang ang matitira? May mga pagkakataon na ini-enjoy na sana ng pamilya ang kinitang pera, ibinili ng kailangan at di naman winaldas; pero mas natatabunan ng pagka-STRESS ang enjoyment dahil bigla na lang, mas na-prioritize ang “kaba” sa mga susunod pang gastusin. Laging may halong alinlangan tuwing nagsi-share. Parang lagi na lang, may katapat na halagang mababawas sa budget when they give … always reluctant to exert effort to something that wouldn’t yield a benefit to them, or their family.

Fears, inhibitions, worries,  all the burdens, mas lalong nagiging mabigat kasi sinosolo! — instead of lifting things up to God. As if they do not trust that God will reward every loving service that they do —  kaya ang sinasabi, “you can only give what you have!” – parang laging galing lang sa bulsa ang kayang ibigay!

Yes, partly true: we need to know what’s in the budget, much that we need to recognize our current limits – BUT we don’t need to be limited by them kasi, si God, mas sinusubukan nya ang laman ng puso mo kapag paubos na ang laman ng bulsa mo.

True that it’s tediously difficult to share when we almost have nothing. Struggle ito! Yet, we flourish even when we struggle! Times may be hard, but it is during these tough times when “God meets our needs — all the time!”

Our WORTH which made people consider us, as a blessing to them, plus the worth of the person/s whose friendship already means something to us, will then be “what we can give” because that’s what we have!

If and only if we will be like that boy who gave without hesitation, our GRANDEST act of kindness would not go unnoticed by the abundance of God’s love.  Only if we  surrender all of our reservations and trust Jesus that much, God will also multiply a million-folds whatever we have planted today – soon for us to reap! — sunset 

“Be worried if this short story won’t make you Cry “

“Would we know someone, ever done something intense out of love?”

Somewhere, we would search for an answer, but in the Gospel of John 15:9-17, Jesus yearns to make us understand that such LOVE which others say they haven’t experienced is just within reach –- yet, we hardly recognize.

“Once, a baby asked God, “They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?… who will protect me?” God answered: “Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you. Your angel will LOVE YOU AS I DO & defend you even if it means risking her life.”

Such God’s answer eased the baby’s worry and for the last time asked: “God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel’s name.” Then God said, “You will simply call her, ‘Mom’.”

Wow, such God’s line: “Your angel will LOVE YOU AS I DO & defend you even if it means risking her life”. MOMs pala are angels in disguise. They are tasked to do everything for the child to feel loved.

It has been that LOVE which made them train their kids to live the values that would make them dignified persons. It has been that love which made them correct and even reprimand each time a child disobeys and does things under peer pressure & other not so good influences.  It has been such love which made them still reach out even when kids do not appreciate their every effort; and the more, it is such love which made them bear every sort of pain until their physical health suffers.

God could have been so happy if every child would recognize how His assigned angel has done her task so well. But sad, that sometimes, it would take a story like this for a child to realize:

“Hello Operator, does Heaven have a phone number? Mommy went to Heaven, but I need her here today,

my tummy hurts and I fell down, I need her right away. Operator, can you tell me how to find her in this book?

Is heaven in the yellow pages, I don’t know where to look.

I think my daddy needs her too, at night I hear him cry.

I hear him call her name sometimes, but I really don’t know why.

Maybe if I call her, she will hurry home to me. Is Heaven very far away, is it across the sea?

She’s been gone a long, long time she needs to come home now!

I really need to reach her, but I simply don’t know how.

Help me find the number please, is it listed under “Heaven”?

I can’t read these big big words, I am only seven.

I’m sorry operator, I didn’t mean to make you cry,

Is your tummy hurting too, or is there something in your eye?

If I call my church maybe they will know Mommy said when we need help that’s where we should go.

I found the number to my church tacked up on the wall. Thank you operator, I’ll give them a call.”  

 

Whew!!….be worried if this short story didn’t make you cry. I read it twice and I shed tears thrice.  Only to realize that a Mom’s task does not end. She missions out not only to “bridge every child’s needs” but also to the father of their kids.

If we will only read between these lines and allow the message dig deep within our hearts, we would never have to search elsewhere for an answer.  In gratitude, we’d rather do something that would make her feel how much we hope not to give a heaven’s operator a call.  Instead, we would give HER the warmest HUG and whisper our heart out:

“THANK YOU, MY ANGEL IN DISGUISE!

I THANK GOD, HE GAVE ME YOU!”

…and so, since Mother’s Day is near,

can we not honor every STRIVING MOM we know,  specially ours whom Heaven-sent?

If you’re a “child” who came across this, have you been blessed with this post?

If yes, let’s make the world know thru your comment here,  how much we feel for our Angel in Disguise 🙂

Credits to http://www.boardofwisdom.com for the short stories.

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