For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward. But if I do it unwillingly, I am entrusted with a responsibility. – 1 Corinthians 9:17

       Me: “It’s up to you but losing teeth is painful, not to mention ugly. Do you think Syd will like you if you’re toothless?”

       It’s exasperating! These days, we no longer say, “Because I say so!” and force the children to follow. We’ve learned that good parenting must encourage instead of scare the children to submission.

       I noticed how much our Mother Church has also changed in dealing with us. Gone are the days when you go home clueless about what was said in a Latin Mass. Charismatic movements encourage a personal relationship with God. Mass media and social networking provide fresh ways to evangelize and educate.

       It is my hope that when Lance matures, he’ll choose to do the right things for the right reasons. And it is my hope that I, too, am able to show the same maturity as befitting a child of God. Cecil Lim (cez_lim@yahoo.com)

Reflection: Are you acting like a petulant child in following God and His holy Church?

Lord, pardon us for being reluctant saints. May Your Holy Spirit guide our thoughts and our decisions as we strive to follow Your will.

What Paul says here is true — we cannot expect to be honored for proclaiming the Gospel as though we had served way beyond what is expected of us. Of its very nature the Gospel commands to be proclaimed. Once we have received the Gospel it is only natural, a part of the dynamic of the Gospel itself, that we share with others what we have received.

16 Brothers and sisters: If I preach the Gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it! 17 If I do so willingly, I have a recompense, but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship. 18 What then is my recompense? That, when I preach, I offer the gospel free of charge so as not to make full use of my right in the Gospel. 19 Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible. 22 I have become all things to all, to save at least some. 23 All this I do for the sake of the Gospel, so that I too may have a share in it. 24 Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win. 25 Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. 26 Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing. 27 No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.

R: How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!

2 [3] My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. (R) 3 [4] Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest in which she puts her young — your altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God! (R) 4 [5] Blessed they who dwell in your house! continually they praise you. 5 [6] Blessed the men whose strength you are! their hearts are set upon the pilgrimage. (R) 11 [12] For a sun and a shield is the Lord God; grace and glory he bestows; the Lord withholds no good thing from those who walk in sincerity. (R)

Let us be careful when we judge others; let us ensure that we are not in a position where we might be judged ourselves, particularly in the same area that we are judging others. None of us can save ourselves — we are all sinners and, thus, stand under the condemnation of death. Jesus, however, chooses to pass judgment on death rather than us and so frees us to choose again. Why do we choose to go back to sin and not to Christ?

Your word, O Lord, is truth; consecrate us in the truth.

39 Jesus told his disciples a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? 40 No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher. 41 Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.”

think:  Jesus chooses to pass judgment on death rather than us and so frees us to choose again.

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Psalm 91-95

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

“And the Virgin’s name was Mary.” So begins the story of the Annunciation where we meet Mary for the first time in the pages of the Bible.

       When a child is born, the parents, relatives and their friends rejoice in the arrival of a new life. The question is soon asked, or has already been asked when the mother was pregnant: “What name shall we give to this child?” The expectant mother ponders: “Who will this child turn out to be?”

       When the daughter of Joachim and Anne was born, no doubt they asked themselves and pondered over these same questions. Being devout members of God’s Chosen People, we can be confident that they were led by the Holy Spirit when they gave their child the name “Mary.”

       In 1683, Muslim armies loyal to Mohammed IV in Constantinople advanced towards the West to conquer Europe and spread Islam. The Muslim armies had reached the outskirts of Vienna when John Sobieski, king of Poland, brought an army to stop the advance of Muslim armies. After King Sobieski entrusted himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he and his soldiers thoroughly defeated the Muslims. Pope Innocent XI extended the feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary in gratitude to the entire Church.

       When my parents named me Rudolf, they did not think so much of a saint, but of the priest who officiated their marriage. I visited this priest often, admired him, listened to him, and his example influenced me a lot on my way to the priesthood.

       Today, parents give their children strange names that when they grow up, they don’t like to be called by that name. It is still a rule to give a child the name of a saint, but often it appears only on the baptismal certificate. Naming a child after a saint gives him a model to look up to.

       If ever the Lord grants you the joy of having another child, don’t forget to give him or her the name of a saint. If the child is a girl, give her the name of Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother, too. Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

REFLECTION QUESTION: Do you have just a devotion to Mary, or do you try to imitate her?

Lord, thank You for giving us Your Mother Mary as our Mother, too. Make me humble and docile so that I may learn from her how to live a God-pleasing life in this difficult world.