We earnestly desire each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of hope until the end. – Hebrews 6:11

      I was in Baguio with key leaders of Shepherd’s Voice Publications and Shepherd’s Voice Radio and TV Foundation to plan and brainstorm for a newer, bigger, better ministry — one that will combine all their strengths to reach out to more people as possible. We had visions of hope, of progress, of change.

     But my heart was plagued with dark clouds. I was afraid. I was anxious. And frankly, I was tired of serving, giving, loving. I knew in my heart that I wouldn’t ever stop following Jesus and serving His people, but during that time, I felt as if the entire world was on the cusp of change while I stood at the edge of the same cliff — unchanging, unmoving.

    But God spoke to me in prayer. I was telling Him about my uncertainties about the present and fears about the future, but He interrupted me with just three words: “Karren, I know.” An unexplainable sense of peace suddenly came over me.

       He is the Alpha and Omega. He knows what was, what is, what will be. My past, my present and my future are in capable hands. There is no room for doubt. No room for fear.

Dear Father, may I have the grace to always put my trust in You. Amen.

St. Anthony, abbot, pray for us.

God is always faithful to His promises. But the trouble is that we are not. Let us believe in the good things God promises us. Let us remember that we have made a commitment to follow God’s will. It is when the discipline and suffering of discipleship is disconnected from the blessings of God that we go wayward in our faith.

10 Brothers and sisters: God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones. 11 We earnestly desire each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, are inheriting the promises. 13 When God made the promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself” 14 and said, I will indeed bless you and multiply you. 15 And so, after patient waiting, Abraham obtained the promise. 16 Now, men swear by someone greater than themselves; for them an oath serves as a guarantee and puts an end to all argument. 17 So when God wanted to give the heirs of his promise an even clearer demonstration of the immutability of his purpose, he intervened with an oath, 18 so that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to hold fast to the hope that lies before us. 19 This we have as an anchor of the soul, sure and firm, which reaches into the interior behind the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered on our behalf as forerunner, becoming high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

R: The Lord will remember his covenant forever.

1 I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart in the company and assembly of the just. 2 Great are the works of the Lord, exquisite in all their delights. (R) 4 He has won renown for his wondrous deeds; gracious and merciful is the Lord. 5 He has given food to those who fear him; he will forever be mindful of his covenant. (R) 9 He has sent deliverance to his people; he has ratified his covenant forever; holy and awesome is his name. 10 His praise endures forever. (R) 45

We must always be wary of judging a situation too quickly and fail to consider the circumstances. The Church can judge the errors of the world and say so. However, it will be a far more constructive form of evangelization if it seeks to understand the situation of the world and then speaks the Gospel truth into it with love, mercy and compassion.

May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our hearts, that we may know what is the hope that belongs to our call.

23 As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. 24 At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” 25 He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? 26 How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” 27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. 28 That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

think: How do you spend your Sundays? Do you rest in the Lord’s presence on Sabbath Day?

Read the Bible in one year  Mark 1-4

T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST

thank You, Lord, for: ______________________________________________________

Read the Bible

CASH FLOW OR BLOOD FLOW?

Every year, my high school alma mater holds a homecoming for all alumni. I couldn’t attend everyone of them, but the year our batch celebrated our 25th  anniversary, I did. In fact, I was even invited to celebrate a welcome Mass for the alumni, a rarity as I am one of the few (or is it only) alumnus of the school who became a priest. It was a joy seeing familiar places and faces. It was heartwarming meeting again teachers who have obviously grown old but whose shared wisdom is still fresh in my heart and mind.

       After the Mass, a former teacher of mine approached me and told me how surprised she was that I became a priest. I don’t know if that was a compliment or an insult, but I get that all the time so I don’t blame her.

      What she said stuck to me. After I asked her how she was doing, she jokingly then seriously said, “Maliit pa rin ang sweldo. Pero kapag nakikita ko ang mga produkto ng pagtuturo ko, parang nakuha ko na ang retirement benefit ko” (My salary is still small, but when I see the products of my teaching, it’s like I have already received my retirement benefit).

      Truly, the teaching profession is one of the most underpaid and unappreciated profession. But there lies its nobility. The teaching profession is where the outcome, not the income is the reward.

       I believe this need not be in the teaching profession alone. It should be a life principle because that is what God expects from all His children. Pay careful attention to today’s First Reading: “For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints” (v. 10). Yes, God forgets not the work and the love we put in our ministering, wherever and whatever it is that we do.

       When we are income-oriented, we stop loving when the cash stops flowing. When we are outcome-oriented, we press on even when our blood starts flowing. Fr. Joel Jason

---------- REFLECTION QUESTION ----------

What is your life’s vantage point — cash flow or blood flow?

Draw me, O Lord, where I can experience the joy of Your favor when I minister with love and devotion. Amen.