When I was the sixth wait-listed passenger queuing at the airport, and the counter clerk called me ahead of the rest, I saw the hand of the Lord moving.

       When I was given a job to head the project management office of a leading IT company where my subordinates were Masters degree holders and certified project managers while I was neither, I saw the favor of the Lord resting on me.

     When I was able to buy in cash a house and lot at an incomprehensibly low price but still beyond my current capacity to pay, I saw the power of the Lord manifesting.

       In my “old life,” I’ve had some good luck. I took it all as coincidental or it happened because of me or my doing. I never saw it as coming from God.

       I realize now, as I continue to know and grow in the Lord and serve Him, that nothing happens by chance. I am blessed that my eyes are now able to see God moving in my life. Danny Tariman (dtariman.loj@gmail.com)

Reflection: Count your blessings yesterday, the past week, last month. Do you see the Lord moving in your life?

Thank You, dear Jesus, for coming into my life. Continue to manifest Your favor upon me and let me see Your blessings for me. Amen.

Blessed Rafael Chylinski, pray for us.

This listing of the gifts of the Holy Spirit we associate with the sacrament of confirmation should not be dismissed from our reflections. That the Church has assigned them to one of its sacraments indicates how they are at the heart of our understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit. It is time to recapture both the essence and the potential of the grace of the Holy Spirit. For this to happen, we need to meditate faithfully on what we are taught about Him in the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church.

1 On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. 2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a Spirit of counsel and of strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, 3 and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, 4 but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. 5 Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips. 6 Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. 7 The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like the ox. 8 The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. 9 There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea. 10 On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious.

R: Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

1 O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king’s son. 2 He shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment. (R) 7 Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more. 8 May he rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. (R) 12 He shall rescue the poor man when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. 13 He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save. (R) 17 May his name be blessed forever; as long as the sun his name shall remain. In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed; all the nations shall proclaim his happiness. (R)

Behold, our Lord shall come with power; he will enlighten the eyes of his servants.

21 Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. 22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” 23 Turning to the disciples in private he said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24 For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Ezekiel 25-28

GOD OF HISTORY

It is always God who reveals Himself first. He is always the initiator and man responds to this “revelation.” God reveals Himself in two ways: through His creations and through His Words in Sacred Scripture. Ancient civilizations tend to worship mountains, volcanoes, the sun, the moon — simply because they can’t get over the wonder of these creations without their realization that Someone higher and magnificent had created all these things. Meanwhile, Sacred Scripture is the language of God in human form. In reading the Bible, God directly speaks to us in a way we could understand Him. Other than these two ways, are there any more means to know God through His revelation? Yes, there is — through experience.

       In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.”

      Some people do not believe in the first two ways by which God reveals Himself, but the third way — experience — is undeniably irrevocable. It is every person’s encounter with his own personal God — a God who moves and touches one’s life every single event. Indeed, God is the God of history, He is not outside history; He is in history. And to understand such a phrase requires true knowledge, a divine knowledge rooted in faith. As St. Thomas of Aquinas says, “The end of education is contemplation.” Contemplation is the realization of God, one’s sensitivity to His omnipresence — immanent and transcendent. Then it results to one’s fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of knowledge and the birth of wisdom.

       Finally, Jesus says, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.” It takes the Spirit of knowledge, the fear of the Lord, and wisdom to see what the Apostles saw and experienced — the God of history. Fr. Joel Jason

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Who is God for you? How does He manifest in your day-today experiences?

Lord, help me to feel Your presence always, whenever I am at work or at home, in good times and in bad times, and in my past, present and future.