CALLED AND SENT

“… these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.” – John 5:36

I used to be a full-time missionary for our Catholic community. During my 10 years of serving the Lord full-time, I never imagined that I would be able to do the things He called me to do, which included speaking before thousands of people in different languages, translating talks and songs into different languages, recording an album of

praise songs in a different language, and, most important of all, ministering to families and individuals, sometimes in different languages, too.

       I never thought that God could use a broken, sinful, imperfect me to share His love to others. But He did. And now, He’s still using me — through my writing and speaking skills.

       I am so grateful for His awesome love and amazing grace — because I know that the works I do testify that it is indeed He, Abba Father, who has chosen, called and sent me.

       In the same way, the Father also wants to send you. Will you respond to His call? Tina Santiago-Rodriguez (tina@trulyrichmom.com)

Reflection: God uses even the most sinful of us to do His works. He just needs our yes.

Lord, show me where You want me to go and what You want me to do. Send me, Lord, and I will go.

St. Benedict the African, pray for us.

Moses intercedes for the people of Israel even though they must have been a disappointment to him as they were to God. Here we see the true heart of a leader. He is willing to forgive his people their errors of judgment and continue to work with them in finding a better solution to their problems. He even argues with God in order to extract a better outcome for them.

7 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once to your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved. 8 They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them, making for themselves a molten calf and worshipping it, sacrificing to it and crying out, ‘This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’” 9 The Lord said to Moses, “I see how stiff-necked this people is. 10 Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them. Then I will make of you a great nation.” 11 But Moses implored the Lord, his God, saying, “Why, O Lord, should your wrath blaze up against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with so strong a hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent he brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains and exterminate them from the face of the earth’? Let your blazing wrath die down; relent in punishing your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own self, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.’” 14 So the Lord relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.

R: Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

19 Our fathers made a calf in Horeb and adored a molten image; 20 they exchanged their glory for the image of a grass-eating bullock. (R) 21 They forgot the God who had saved them, who had done great deeds in Egypt, 22 wondrous deeds in the land of Ham, terrible things at the Red Sea. (R) 23 Then he spoke of exterminating them, but Moses, his chosen one, withstood him in the breach to turn back his destructive wrath. (R)

Jesus is aware of His divine identity. He knows that His message is more important than John the Baptist’s and He makes this known to His disciples. We can also see that He is not interested in human praise and that His focus is God’s will, not His own or that of the people. This shows us what is necessary to be His disciples. Let us learn from the way Jesus worked to know what it means to follow Him

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.

31 Jesus said to the Jews: “If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true. 32 But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. 33 You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth. 34 I do not accept human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light. 36 But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. 37 Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf. 40 But you do not want to come to me to have life. 41 I do not accept human praise; 42 moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. 43 I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. 46 For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

think:  A true leader is willing to forgive his people their errors of judgment and continue to work with them in finding a better solution to their problems.

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Exodus 16-18

OUR FAITH IS VERY REASONABLE

Jesus’ words today make us see clearly that the Christian faith is not blind in following Him. It is founded on reasonable grounds. It builds on the communal story of the Old Testament: on Moses’ and the Israelites’ experiences with God, on the entire works of God from the creation of everything, and on the words of the prophets. All these point to the promise of a Messiah. Further, the Christian faith is justified by the apostolic witness about the works and words of Jesus, who truly lived in human space and time. He truly was born and lived, unlike the gods and goddesses of mythologies.

       The reasonableness of the Christian faith also rests on the real and personal stories that each believer has of Jesus. “My works that I do testify to me,” Jesus says. Sound Christian life must then grow around three poles:

       1. Study. Scripture study, theological inquiry and spiritual readings. Through these, we deepen our understanding of the various aspects and of the rich treasury of our faith-tradition. Through these, we note how the truth of the Christian faith has withstood and grown through the questioning of ages.

       2. Witnessing. This includes appreciating the stories of saints, especially of martyrs; reading through the testimonies of contemporary men and women of faith; chronicling our own journeys in faith. With these we note how Jesus is Risen and Alive. As He promised, He is with us — doing signs and wonders in our midst — through His Holy Spirit.

       3. Prayer. This is our “hotline” with Jesus. Here, we experience Him truly in communication and in communion with us. Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: What is your personal basis of believing in Jesus? What are your own experiences of Jesus as truly real and alive? What about the Christian faith do you cherish as personally meaningful and unique?

Thank You, Lord, for bringing me to the Christian faith. May I learn to appreciate it more deeply.