Memorial of St. Therese of the Child

Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

“I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” — Luke 9:61

       One day, I was walking in a mall when a man approached me. He said, “Bo, I’m a big fan. I read your books. I watch your TV show. What I really want to do is attend The Feast.” (Note: That’s what we call our weekly spiritual gathering.)

       He said, “Even when The Feast was at Camp Aguinaldo, I already wanted to attend it.”

       Huh? We were in Camp Aguinaldo centuries ago — during the Stone Age, before the Ice Age made the dinosaurs extinct.

       He said, “And when you moved to Valle Verde, I wanted to attend there. Then you moved to PICC, I wanted to join there too. But I never was able to attend…”

         “I’m just fixing something in my life, Bo. Once that’s fixed, I’ll start joining you every Sunday.”

         I told him, “Don’t fix it on your own. Just come to The Feast as you are, and let you and God fix what needs to be fixed together. Don’t wait for the perfect condition before you act.”

         Friend, don’t keep Jesus waiting. Why do it on your own when He’s there to help you with your concern? Bo Sanchez (bosanchez@kerygmafamily.com)

Reflection: What’s that one thing you’ve long wanted to do but never got around to doing? Do it now!

Move me, Lord, to follow You not just in my mind but, most importantly, through my actions.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus, virgin, Patroness of the Missions, pray for us.

Job proclaims the greatness and power of God as if to underline the futility of getting into a head-to-head clash with Him. Job is right in this. We need to respect God’s power, not fight it. If we try to fight against God we can be sure that we will come out on the losing side. It is simply not a sensible thing to do. Thus, even if we do not fully understand God’s work in our lives, it makes a lot of sense to try and work with it rather than against it.

1 Job answered his friends and said: 2 I know well that it is so; but how can a man be justified before God? 3 Should one wish to contend with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times. 4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed? 5 He removes the mountains before they know it; he overturns them in his anger. 6 He shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble. 7 He commands the sun, and it rises not; he seals up the stars. 8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea. 9 He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south; 10 he does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning.  11 Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him; 12 should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay? Who can say to him, “What are you doing?” 14 How much less shall I give him any answer, or choose out arguments against him! 15 Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me. 16 If I appealed to him and he answered my call, I could not believe that he would hearken to my words.

R: Let my prayer come before you, Lord.

9 [10] Daily I call upon you, O Lord; to you I stretch out my hands. 10 [11] Will you work wonders for the dead? Will the shades arise to give you thanks? (R)11 [12] Do they declare your mercy in the grave, your faithfulness among those who have perished? 12 [13] Are your wonders made known in the darkness, or your justice in the land of oblivion? (R) 13 [14] But I, O Lord, cry out to you; with my morning prayer I wait upon you. 14 [15] Why, O Lord, do you reject me; why hide from me your face? (R)

Jesus makes it clear that becoming His disciple is a serious decision and it is best if we do not look back. There are temptations for those who look back because not that many people take seriously the call to discipleship. When a person looks back, he will see all those who have not taken up the call, living lives that may be far more attractive.

I consider all things so much rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him.

57 As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” 59 And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” 60 But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” 61 And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” 62 Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”

think:  Even if we do not fully understand God’s work in our lives, it makes a lot of sense to work with it rather than against it.

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Proverbs 24-27

PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT

The ultimate purpose of my life

GOALS FOR THE QUARTER

Priority areas God wants me to work on

RESOLUTION AND FOCUS

I have no experience in plowing. Although my father was an accountant by profession and a farmer by avocation, my little experience with planting and tending coffee trees did not include plowing.

       But I do know a thing or two about the power of resolve and having a distinct, clearly defined goal. And I got that from my father, who, at age 11, with his mind focused on the future, was already planting coffee trees with his one and only brother who died before reaching the age of 10. With their father having gone blind after an accident, the two boys learned very early on to work with resolve and to focus their eyes on their long-term goals.

       I was told that plowing demands resolve and focus. It is back-breaking work for the carabao and the tiller. The plower needs to keep his eyes riveted ahead of him, lest the furrows get out of line and the rows of seedlings appear jagged. Farmers, too, have a keen eye for beauty and order.

       Being a son of a farmer and with years of formation work behind me, I have learned some very important lessons in life. The first is that there are no instant harvests. Plowing and sowing are both far removed from the reaping, and without a lot of blood, sweat and tears, all the foregoing do not guarantee bounty. The second seems pretty obvious: fertilizers alone, without foresight, do not make an abundant harvest.

       As an educator over the past 35 years, I have realized that the same principles operate in life. Those who put their hand to the figurative plow, but keep on looking back — and keep on nursing regrets and entertaining a lot of “what-ifs” — do not get very far. They simply don’t have what it takes: resolution and focus.

       The Year of Faith that we celebrated last year taught us as much — that a Christian life of faith demands both resolve and focus. No ifs and buts, and no excuses, please. Just put your hand on the plow and keep your eyes on the goal up ahead — the Kingdom of God, no less! Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: In your spiritual life, do you have the resolve to keep yourself aligned with God’s will? Are your eyes focused on the Great Prize?

My God, train my sight to focus only on You and not on the things and persons that would take me away from Your circle of love.