He will guide you to all truth. – John 16:13

       I was aimless for years, just tending to our family business day in and day out, even on weekends. All I was focused on was making sure we were getting some profit.

       But something nagged at me. There were questions in my heart that longed for answers. I didn’t know what to do. I just knew that there was something inside me that’s waiting to come out — like a baby wanting to be born.

       Fortunately, a friend invited me to Opus Dei retreats. I went, and my relationship with God somehow deepened. I joined more retreats, then a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, then more retreats afterwards. I also joined a Catholic community.

       Slowly, God’s truth unfolded: I am His beloved and I am loved. The questions became more intense afterwards, focused more now on how to return that love and how to serve Him more.

       Today, I am living that truth — He loves me and I love Him — in the state of life that is best for me. But it doesn’t stop there. I know that God will continue to reveal Himself and His plans for me, and I open my heart to receive them — with gladness. Tess V. Atienza (theresa.a@shepherdsvoice.com.ph)

Pope Francis Says: “The Lord is capable of changing us, through love: He is in love with us.”

Dear Lord, thank You for revealing Yourself to me. Grant me the grace to be more open to Your truths in my life. Amen.

Paul was not afraid to play on what he regarded as religious superstitions in order to get people to follow Jesus. The tomb of the unknown god was a tool he used to introduce Jesus to the knowledgeable and sophisticated Athenians. Like Paul, let us be wise in our efforts to present the Gospel to others.

15 After Paul’s escorts had taken him to Athens, they came away with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible. 22 Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said: “You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’ What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything. 26 He made from one the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, 27 so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us. 28 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being,’ as even some of your poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’ 29 Since therefore we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divinity is like an image fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination. 30 God has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now he demands that all people everywhere repent 31 because he has established a day on which he will ‘judge the world with justice’ through a man he has appointed, and he has provided confirmation for all by raising him from the dead.” 32 When they heard about resurrection of the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, “We should like to hear you on this some other time.” 33 And so Paul left them. 34 But some did join him, and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Court of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. 18:1 After this he left Athens and  went to Corinth.

P S A L M 

Psalm 148:1-2, 11-12, 13, 14

R: Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

1 Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights; 2 Praise him, all you his angels, praise him, all you his hosts. (R) 11 Let the kings of the earth and all peoples, the princes and all the judges of the earth, 12 young men too, and maidens, old men and boys. (R) 13 Praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; His majesty is above earth and heaven. (R) 14 He has lifted up the horn of his people. Be this his praise from all his faithful ones, from the children of Israel, the people close to him. Alleluia. (R)

The words that Jesus speaks come from the Father. Similarly, the authority and the words of the Holy Spirit also come from the Father. From this we understand the unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. From here we learn about the doctrine of the Trinity — one substance, three persons. Let us be open to what God wants to teach us no matter how difficult it is to understand.

I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.

12 Jesus said to his disciples: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. 13 But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. 15 Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”

 think: Let us be open to what God wants to teach us no matter how difficult it is to understand.

Thank You Lord for: __________________

WHAT’S IN YOUR WORTHSHIP?

In today’s First Reading, we see Paul in Athens, Greece, a pagan city, addressing a group of educated Athenians on account of an altar he found with an inscription “to an unknown God” (v. 23). Taking that as a cue, Paul addressed the assembly and gave them a pep talk on salvation history, culminating with the raising of Jesus from the dead. The intelligentsia was not impressed but a number of them were intrigued by the notion of the resurrection and asked Paul for another session.

       What is worth noting is that even in a known pagan locality, an altar was found dedicated to God, although to an unknown god.

     These days, what we have is a new form of atheism — a more pernicious and deadly one. At least, the old atheist is clear and direct. He says, “There is no God.” The modern atheist is more dangerous. He says, “ There is God, but He thinks just like me.” For the modern atheist, God exists, but it is a god “according to my image and likeness.” That is why the modern man picks only what he likes from the Gospel.

       According to Fr. Robert Barron in his book Catholicism, worship is a derivative from an old English word “worthship.” This means demonstrating that which is of the most worth to us. It is like a ship that carries everything that a person considers of utmost importance to himself. We all have something or someone we regard as having the most worth to us. So there are really no “atheists” in this regard. Whether we like it or not, whether we deny it or not, we all worship. The human heart is hardwired for worship. The heart of the matter is this: What or who do we worship? Is it God or a mere good? The Creator or creature?           I am not pitting God against good or Creator against creature. God  

is not a rival of the world. What I am saying is, if you worship the world, the world cannot give you God. But if you worship God, He will give you the world as well, for the world is His creation. Don’t settle for less. Fr. Joel Jason

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: In your ship of worth and values, who and what occupies the first place? Do you keep things that can be counted or those things that truly count?

Ingrain in my heart Your words, O Lord: “But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).