A MIRACLE RIGHT

BEFORE OUR EYES

“I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky... and all this land that I promised.” – Exodus 32:13

My brother and sister-in-law were shocked to hear the words from the doctor: “Your son Heinz has kidney cancer and needs surgery ASAP.” A second doctor, an oncologist, confirmed that it was Wilms Tumor, a type of cancer that starts in the kidneys. They scheduled the surgery immediately and said that he will need chemotherapy and radiation treatment for four to six months depending on the stage of the cancer.

The surgery was done as scheduled and we prayed for good results. We believed that God would take care of Heinz. During one of our family gatherings, we looked back at how God took care of our family in the past. We felt God’s love when our family business suffered, when some family members got sick, when we had a financial difficulty, and a lot more. Truly, God has been faithful through the years.

God’s faithfulness was confirmed when we got the biopsy result. It was a benign tumor of the blood vessels. No need for chemotherapy or radiation. It was truly a miracle!

Just as God was faithful to His promise to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants, He will also be faithful to you and your family throughout the generations. Alvin Fabella (alvinfabella@yahoo.com)

Reflect: During times of trial, do you worry or do you worship?

Lord, increase my faith so that I may appreciate the miracles that are coming my way.

St. Isidore of Seville, bishop and Doctor of the Church, pray for us.

Moses fearlessly intercedes before God on behalf of the people. God listens to Moses and responds to his appeal. There are times when we need to take the initiative and stand before God with our own requests. He wants us to be proactive in our relationship with Him.

Exodus 32:7-14

7 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once to your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved. 8 They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them, making for themselves a molten calf and worshipping it, sacrificing to it and crying out, ‘This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’” 9 The Lord said to Moses, “I see how stiff-necked this people is. 10 Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them. Then I will make of you a great nation.” 11 But Moses implored the Lord, his God, saying, “Why, O Lord, should your wrath blaze up against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with so strong a hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent he brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains and exterminate them from the face of the earth’? Let your blazing wrath die down; relent in punishing your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own self, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.’” 14 So the Lord relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.

John 5:31-47

31 Jesus said to the Jews: “If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true. 32 But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. 33 You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth. 34 I do not accept human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light. 36 But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. 37 Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf. 40 But you do not want to come to me to have life. 41 “I do not accept human praise; 42 moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. 43 I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. 46 For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

think: How do you nurture your relationship with Jesus and others?

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T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST 

Read the Bible in one year - Exodus 16-18   

AUTHENTIC WITNESSES

I have been a priest for eighteen years now. Every day, I make an examination of conscience—if I have become a witness to the integrity and credibility of an ordained minister. I know I cannot boast of my talents, abilities, or intellectual capacity. Not even my priesthood is something to boast of. I always ask myself how faithful I have been to the goodness, simplicity, humility, and witnessing that are asked of me. I know I have done it but I also accept that I have failed to do so many times.

Jesus was the perfect witness. But He did not discount the fact that others can be witnesses to God, too. Being a witness should be lived out in the reality where God puts us, where He wants us to be. Jesus even makes use of John the Baptist—the one who never thought much of himself and only led people to God. John lived with integrity and credibility that shocked and scandalized the people. This is the kind of real witnessing that Jesus calls us to. It challenges us to follow Him in a radical way.

The Gospel today makes us reflect on the kind of witnessing we give to the world. Yes, words are important, but if our words are not seen in the lives that we live, they mean nothing.

“Walk the talk,” people say. Can we become authentic witnesses of faith by living credibly today? Fr. Joel Victorino

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

If you fail to give witness to your faith, do you acknowledge your failure and start again with a new and better life?

May the witness of my life praise You, Jesus. May it lead more people closer to You. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _______________________________