Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. – Leviticus 19:2

The members of the Executive Council of Servant Leaders (ECSL) of the Bukas Loob sa Diyos (BLD) Community received their marching orders from the BLD Global Spiritual Director, Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo: Go and set the hearts of BLD members on F.I.R.E. So off we went to visit our 51 global districts, including those in the U.S., Canada and Hong Kong.

       F - ruitful, I - nspired, R - enewed and E - mpowered. This was the recurring theme of our renewal weekends wherever we went. The five couple-servant leaders are ordinary men and women, chosen by the Lord to carry out the extraordinary task of stirring the hearts of people.

       At the end of each weekend, we would fly back home to Manila feeling drained and exhausted from a fully packed trip spent on our feet, teaching and ministering to our members. But, inspired by the Holy Spirit, our hearts would always be full of joy and gratitude for a faithful and amazing God. He does not call the qualified, but He qualifies those whom He calls. Indeed, we serve a holy and awesome God! Mari Sison-Garcia (mari_sison_garcia@yahoo.com)

Reflection: Whenever we go and spread the Good News of our salvation, the Lord equips us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Lord, thank You for setting the hearts of Your people on F.I.R.E. so we can know You more, love You more, and serve You more.

St. Dominic Savio, pray for us.

Sometimes we do not embrace the truth that we are called to be holy because we think it is too hard to do this. This is a cop out and unacceptable in God’s eyes. He has given us the grace we need to be holy, no matter how difficult it may be. We just get on with it and respond to His mercy and love. Each of us has overcome adversity at one time or another. Here is another opportunity to do this.

1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the whole assembly of the children of Israel and tell them: Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. 11 “You shall not steal. You shall not lie or speak falsely to one another. 12 You shall not swear falsely by my name, thus profaning the name of your God. I am the Lord. 13 You shall not defraud or rob your neighbor. You shall not withhold overnight the wages of your day laborer. 14 You shall not curse the deaf, or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the Lord. 15 You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment. Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty, but judge your fellow men justly. 16 You shall not go about spreading slander among your kinsmen; nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbor’s life is at stake. I am the Lord. 17 You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart.  Though you may have to reprove him, do not incur sin because of him. 18 Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”

7 [8] The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. (R) 8 [9] The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the command of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eye. (R) 9 [10] The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true, all of them just. (R) 14 [15] Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart find favor before you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. (R)

Caring for the poor is an essential aspect of our calling. It is an integral part of the Gospel message. Social justice is always going to be an important aspect of the Gospel and encapsulates our community’s response to the poor. Let us never lose heart in discovering new ways to love those in our midst, especially the poor.

Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

31 Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, 32 and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ 40 And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 41 Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ 44 Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ 45 He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ 46 And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

think: Caring for the poor is an essential aspect of our calling. It is an integral part of the Gospel message.

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Revelation 11-14

I can’t remember who said it but I cannot forget what was said. The line goes, “In the beginning was the word, and the word was ‘No!’” I laughed when I first read it. If you did not after reading this, that means you did not get the message. More so, that means you are not familiar with your Scripture. Any Bible-reading Christian will easily recognize that this was a parody of the prologue of St. John where we read: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

       Sadly, that is how the world (and some Christians even) perceive Catholic Christianity — a religion of don’ts. In a way it’s understandable. Look at the Ten Commandments, it’s a list of “Thou shall nots.” Look at the First Reading today from the book of Leviticus. The whole tenor of the reading is prohibition, restriction and thou shall not. I actually counted 10 “not,” not counting the “nor” which is almost the same as “not.”

       While I believe the perception is not without basis, it is not unavoidable. It all depends on what we focus on, more like the “half-filled, half-empty” perception question. You see, in every no is a hidden yes. If you said no to going left, that means you said yes to going right.

       The no that we find in the commandment must not be seen in isolation. The same principle applies. We are reminded to say no so that we can freely say yes to a higher value.

       So when the book of Leviticus reminds us to say no to lying, it is actually a yes to the value of sincerity. A no to hatred is a yes to love, a no to sin is a yes to holiness. The same goes for the rest of the admonitions.

       How positive and liberating it will be when we see the rules of faith this way. We are prevented from doing something so that we may be free for something better. Fr. Joel Jason

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Do you easily react to a prohibition? How do you see and live your life of faith — in resentment or in joy?

Grant me, Lord, the courage to say no to things that would not lead me to You, and to say yes to those that will bring me closer to You.