Memorial of St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe,

priest and martyr

“He is your glory, he, your God, who has done for you those great and terrible things which your own eyes have seen.” – Deuteronomy 10:21

       My devotion to the Holy Eucharist started when I was still in high school. Since then, I did my best to go to Holy Mass daily or as often as I can.

       Then, when I discerned that I would get married, I wished that one day I would have children with whom I can share my devotion to God and the Holy Eucharist. I dreamt of going to Holy Mass daily with them.

        That dream came true when God miraculously gave me children and made a way for us to move to our current house, which is near a church. But God did not stop there. He paved the way for our eldest son to be inspired to play the piano when he saw a pianist serve regularly in the daily Masses we attended.

       On October 17, 2015, I did not only celebrate Holy Mass with my family. I also witnessed my seven-year-old son play the piano during Mass for the first time. Since then, I’ve had the awesome privilege to witness my eldest son serve as pianist in our parish daily and on Sundays during the children’s Mass. Teresa Gumap-as Dumadag (teresa@fulllifecube.com)

Reflection: What are some of the great and awesome things God has done in your life? Take time to praise and thank Him for these.

“Great and wonderful are Thy wondrous deed, O Lord God the Almighty. Just and true are all Thy ways, O Lord. King of the ages art Thou.” (From the song “Great and Wonderful”by Stuart Dauermann)

St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, priest and martyr, pray for us.

Following the way of Christ will mean making difficult decisions in our lives. Too often, we give in to temptation simply because “everyone else is doing it.” How often have we fallen to the trap of the enemy? It takes a strong will to stand firm behind the moral principles we know to be true. It takes an equally persevering spirit to continue to do that.

12 Moses said to the people: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord, your God, ask of you but to fear the Lord, your God, and follow his ways exactly, to love and serve the Lord, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, 13 to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord which I enjoin on you today for your own good? 14 Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens, belong to the Lord, your God, as well as the earth and everything on it. 15 Yet in his love for your fathers the Lord was so attached to them as to choose you, their descendants, in preference to all other peoples, as indeed he has now done. 16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and be no longer stiff-necked. 17 For the Lord, your God, is the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who has no favorites, accepts no bribes; 18 who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and befriends the alien, feeding and clothing him. 19 So you too must befriend the alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. 20 The Lord, your God, shall you fear, and him shall you serve; hold fast to him and swear by his name. 21 He is your glory, he, your God, who has done for you those great and terrible things which your own eyes have seen. 22 Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy strong, and now the Lord, your God, has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.”

R: Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

12 Glorify the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion. 13 For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; he has blessed your children within you. (R) 14 He has granted peace in your borders; with the best of wheat he fills you. 15 He sends forth his command to the earth; swiftly runs his word! (R) 19 He has proclaimed his word to Jacob, his statutes and his ordinances to Israel. 20 He has not done thus for any other nation; his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia. (R)

This is a weird story — Jesus telling Peter to find a coin in the mouth of a fish to pay the temple tax! In paying the tax, Jesus affirms our duty to pay our taxes. We have a moral responsibility to do our share in providing for the needs of the temple and also of the state (see Romans 13). Neither the Church nor the state can function without revenue and so we all need to make a just contribution.

God has called you through the Gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

22 As Jesus and his disciples were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, 23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were overwhelmed with grief. 24 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?” 25 “Yes,” he said. When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?” 26 When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the subjects are exempt. 27 But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you.”

think: Are you faithful in fulfilling your contribution to our Church and country?

Read the Bible in one year 2 Maccabees 13-15

T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST

thank You, Lord, for: ______________________________________________________

ONCE ALIENS TOO

Last year, the whole Church celebrated the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Truth to tell, I found it most difficult to succinctly describe what it was all about. I just did not know where to start, and how to encapsulate everything in just a few sentences. But then it dawned on me that Pope Francis already had given the best starting point. One had to start from Christ, for He was “the face of the Father’s mercy.” This meant that before I talk about what mercy meant, I knew at some point that I first needed to talk about who God is, who Christ was and is, for us His people.

     Today’s First Reading gives us a clue about the God of mercy. Moses counseled his people to “circumcise their hearts” and “no longer be stiff-necked,” that is, to accept God. For God was “a God of gods, the Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome.” And from here on, Moses offers a list of what God is that separates Him from all others who were also mighty and awesome, though in a lesser way. He “has no favorites.” He “accepts no bribes, executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and befriends the alien.” Indeed, He was a God like no other, for those lesser gods were definitely guilty of more than just playing favorites.

       The first time I got out of the country for a considerable time, it was to study. The language was difficult. The culture was different. The people were not as warm as I thought they were, and everything simply felt “foreign” or strange to me. I was tossed and turned in a turbulent sea of unfamiliarity and homesickness, made even worse by a diet that made my stomach queasy and my state of health uneasy.

       That was the time I understood somewhat what Moses today was telling his people. He was educating them about mercy in concrete. He told them to “befriend the alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.”

       I saw mercy in action. Some individuals came to my help. It was exactly the same mercy shown by St. Maximilian who offered his own life for someone else’s sake. Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

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

How do you treat the foreigners who live in your neighborhood?

Lord, You treated everyone — Jew or Gentile — with tender mercy and love. Help me to do the same. Amen.