Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. – John 3:33

       When Leonardo di Caprio gave his speech for winning the Golden Globe Best Actor award for The Revenant, he explained that the movie was about trust, and that the best person to give that trust to was their director, Alejandro Gonzales Iñarritu. The movie won Best Director for Iñarritu, and Best Picture for the film.

          In the movie of our life, do we trust the Director? Do we trust that He knows the whole script, knows when to put in the sound of happiness, or to shift to the low sound of sadness? Do we think He knows how to highlight the best part of our life’s script and how to add in the extras when it looks like it’s going nowhere?

           Or do we think we are our own best director?

       Di Caprio is one of this generation’s most popular and critically acclaimed actors and yet he still needs a director. We may become this world’s greatest genius or most popular person, but like it or not, we still need a Director.

         In the movie of our life, let’s choose Jesus as our Director for His other name is The Alpha and the Omega, as well as The Way, the Truth and the Life. We won’t find a better One than Him. Joy Sosoban-Roa (jsosoban@gmail.com)

Reflection:There are many roads that may beckon, but Jesus is the Way that surely leads to where the best awaits you.

Lord, keep me from directing my own life out of ignorance, fear or greed. Wake me up to the beauty of being guided by You.

St. Louis Mary Grignion de Montfort, pray for us.

In today’s reading, we learn from Peter the importance of obeying God’s commands. One of the challenges Christians face today is a secular government that is experimenting with all sorts of social engineering contrary to the Gospel. We must take a stand for the truth according to our faith and morality that may be contrary to what the government requires us to follow. Let us proceed with love and firmness in what we believe is true.

27 When the court officers had brought the Apostles in and made them stand before the Sanhedrin, the high priest questioned them, 28 “We gave you strict orders, did we not, to stop teaching in that name. Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and want to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the Apostles said in reply, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins. 32 We are witnesses of these things, as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” 33 When they heard this, they became infuriated and wanted to put them to death.

R: The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

1 [2] I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth. 8 [9] Taste and see how good the Lord is; blessed the man who takes refuge in him. (R) 16 [17] The Lord confronts the evildoers, to destroy remembrance of them from the earth. 17 [18] When the just cry out, the Lord hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them. (R) 18 [19] The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves. 19 [20] Many are the troubles of the just man, but out of them all the Lord delivers him. (R)

There are times when we experience points of no return in life. A scientist would call these bifurcation points, places where we cannot know in advance the future of the process. This is true of our faith. Jesus reminds His disciples that they have a choice — to accept His testimony to God’s love or reject it.

You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord; blessed are those who have not seen, but still believe!

31 The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. 34 For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.

think: Do you welcome other people’s testimonies of their encounters with God? Or are you skeptical?

Read the Bible in one year Numbers 19-21

T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST

thank You, Lord, for: ______________________________________________________

OBEYING GOD RATHER THAN MEN

We are told that the Apostles preached right in the temple precincts. When they were imprisoned, an angel of the Lord freed them from their prison cell during the night, and the following day, they were back at their trade.

          I suggested that doing so was equivalent to being thrown into the lions’ den. The temple was the seat of Jewish faith and belief systems. It stood for everything that Hebrew Scriptural tradition taught and vouched for. The Apostles, emboldened and empowered from above after the resurrection of the Lord, went right into the seat, not only of religious authority, but also the seat of culture. They engaged the learned, the leaders and elders and anybody who was somebody then.

           It was the worst place to sell one’s new wares, but the best place to be in to speak about the “One who comes from heaven,” “who is above all.” As expected, the Apostles were grilled by the Sanhedrin. They were slapped with a very mundane punishment — “to stop teaching in that name.” But this was where the portion about being earthly versus coming from above was put to the test. The Apostles replied adamantly but respectfully: “We must obey God rather than men.” They were more than ready to draw the line. For that, the authorities “became infuriated and wanted to put them to death.”

       We now live in a pluralistic world. Moral truth and fidelity to the same saving truth have been reduced in many places to convenience, made almost obligatory by the postmodern “virtue” called “tolerance” and “political correctness.” In the name of both, the compelling power of moral truth has been dulled and rendered ineffectual. Many teachers and preachers would rather not talk about certain “inconvenient truths” for fear that they might be rejected and ridiculed.

       That was not the stance of Pope St. John Paul II. But when he died, even those who disagreed with what he said came to mourn for him. That, too, was not the style of Benedict XVI. It definitely was not the overriding value of the Apostles who simply got their marching orders from “the One who comes from above.” Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

REFLECTION QUESTION

In the face of rejection, ridicule and possible death, do you have the courage to stand up for Jesus?

“Heavenly Father, give us the wisdom to know what’s right and the courage to do what’s right, no matter what people think.” – Sandra Stanley