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Be Ready, Time Is Short, Repent and Return to God

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It was a time of great upheaval in Israel. Pilate had faced Jewish opposition groups before and usually dealt with them swiftly. This time was no different but it was shocking because these Galilean victims were actually in the middle of worship when they were ambushed and killed. Somehow this tragic report got to Jesus and his response was unexpected. We would have expected him to say how sad the situation was, just like we would expect for the tragic events of 911 or the Sandy Hook tragedy. This, of course was a matter of lament, but Jesus took this lament on another level: “ Repent, otherwise you will perish like them .” This is the heart of the Gospel message! It is as if he was trying to say to us: “ Unfortunately, lives get cut short in this world: Make peace with God now, without delay, because sudden death comes to us all just like the 18 who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them. They didn’t die because they were the worst offenders than us, we are given just a little mo...
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FORGIVE

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Amongst the most emotional passages in the Bible, is the one from Joseph in Genesis and it gets me every time. Joseph had become the Prime Minister of Egypt but not before years of real struggles, first as a trafficked young man into slavery and a prisoner for years. These are amazing lessons of grace and forgiveness that are just hard for a mere human like me. Joseph outdid us all. When it was time for him to reveal himself to his brothers, some of whom by the way were responsible for selling him into slavery. That level of forgiveness seems beyond our natural ability, but we can rise to the challenge like Joseph did and it is our calling as Christian believers to forgive. Jesus pronounced that same bid when He asked us to love our enemies and to do good to those who hate us and to bless those who curse us and to pray for those who abuse us. That’s what is different about God’s Kingdom. I can speak for myself but listening to the news would raise anyone’s Blood Pressure and my frustr...
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Call On Jesus During Your Crisis

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Psalm 36 informs us that in the Lord is the well of life and in God’s light is our light. I meditated on these words and realized that without God, we have no life in us. Isaiah’s words remind us that no matter what we go through in life, God still pursues us so that we can have life. God sent his word to us as a seed to effect transformation in our lives. God promised Israel results. When you look in the mirror, you shall see yourself as a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord. Everything will be well with your soul because Salvation has come into your household. Countless stories in the Bible demonstrate to us that God is our pursuer and our rescuer. The trouble is if we downplay or violate the terms of our covenant with God, do we still have a right to claim God’s help. Fortunately, we serve a mighty God, a gracious and merciful Father who, helps us even when we are unresponsive. A pure gift to all undeserved. We see this working out at the wedding of Cana. The report came from J...
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A Walk in The Spiritual Realm

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Allow me to take you with me on a spiritual realm trip. Many a time we experience life and not know that most of the things that happens in this life have its origin in the spiritual realm. The Bible tells us that King David’s problems started in the spiritual realm. He couldn’t control himself and let his fleshly desires get the upper hand. We see this same scenario with King Herod. Wherever he was spiritually was not good: he was frightened and was pushed to murder innocent children. It prompted God to chart a new path for Joseph and Mary because the life of baby Jesus was in danger. Now depending on where we are spiritually in our own relationship with God, some people are sensitive to God’s move, they sense things in God’s realm. Joseph had a dream about it. He knew his family’ safety depended on obeying God’s voice. Obviously not all of us get to have that kind of insightful dreams, but the truth is, many people do not pay attention and therefore end up missing God’s clues in the...
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Christmas Reflection 2024

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Instead of a 5-star hotel or a royal nursery, it was rather away in the manger that the King & savior of the world would be born. In all of Bethlehem city, there was no room left, in the same way that there is still no room for him in many people’s hearts. We all have often said publicly that we’ve been busy with other things (created things), and we said we had no time for God. But God spoke to Isaiah about the coming of the Good News! Sort of saying: “ Worry no longer with your busy schedules and lifestyle! Relax, a Savior is about to be born unto you .” God had hoped that we would abandon everything else we thought was important and return back to him. He reached out to us with a gift: His only son coming as a baby in the manger. His plan was to fight the world’s darkness with his light. We are encouraged to consider what it means to bring the light into our homes. Perhaps in your household, you could consider an activity that give room to Jesus. Tonight, we are given an oppor...
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A Proper View of Repentance In God's Kingdom!

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A beautiful message arrives from God to Israel saying: “ Take off garment of sorrow and affliction and put on the beauty of the glory from God, put on the robe of righteousness .” Israel had been through a lot. When they felt like they had no breath left, God sent a message promising a return from exile; that Salvation was coming and indeed is at hand. Can you imagine how you would feel during a bad flood like NC just had, you are on top of your roof, someone shouted out loud: a helicopter is coming to rescue you ! God’s word comes to us like that. It creates faith and hope within us. In fact, God used this same word to create the Cosmos. There is power in God’s word. Luke’s Gospel also emphasized this idea pointing to Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah’s coming; the Savior of the world. Funny enough, the writer used the language of road construction: “ Every valley will be filled and mountains made low, crooked paths made straight and rough ways made smooth …” The message begins with J...
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Happy Thanksgiving Day!

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Time goes fast! Don’t take any second of your life for granted. It’s a privilege to spend time with those we love and cherish! Today shouldn’t be the only day we are reminded of that. I am hoping to show our gratitude to God every day. We are here indeed to show gratitude! It is the name of the Holy Eucharist: To give thanks! First for the gift of life and also for every resource that the Lord has placed in our lives. This is a day for me to be grateful: A day to re-imagine where I came from and where I am today; a day to discern where the hand of the Lord miraculously transformed my situation. A day to discern when we are facing God’s appointment, and become patient in adversity so that in due time, God would fight for us. I am grateful for those times in my life because they taught me to rely on God at all times. It’s not an encouragement to be passive in life with a fatalistic view of life, but a courage to admit to ourselves that God is ultimately in charge no matter what. Therefo...
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