I LOVE YOU?

When he saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.” – Luke 5:12, NRSV

I was 26 when I read a study saying happiness level drops in humans when they reach 30. It’s because their responsibilities get heavier and society’s expectations of them are higher. I didn’t believe it because I believe happiness is a choice. But now I’m 32, and I find myself choosing my responsibilities over my happiness. I also have more desperate prayers.

Once, I was burned out and needed to earn P70,000 by month’s end. I had surpassed bigger problems before, but I’d always wonder: What if God chooses not to provide this time? So I went to a chapel, begged God, and heard Him say, “I love you. Do you believe Me?” I was taken aback. Don’t I trust Him? Don’t I believe that He loves me and wants the best for me? That day, I went home still uncertain if I’d earn the amount but satisfied that God was there for me. 

Lo and behold, at the end of that month, I received two blessings: I had exactly P70,000 pesos, and I gained the surety that God will always choose to love me. Elaine Marie Factor (elainemariefactor@gmail.com)

reflect

Today, God tells you: “I love you. Do you believe Me?”

Father, thank You for Your love. Give me the grace to believe in Your love even when things are difficult and seemingly hopeless. Amen.

St. John Camillus the Good, pray for us.

One of the most awesome mysteries that a priest experiences daily is the celebration of the Eucharist, where bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus through the power of the words of consecration. Every now and then, even after 28 years of priesthood, I still find myself pondering consecration, “Who am I to preside a mystery that’s so awesome?” More often than not, I feel disqualified by sin, frailty, and by sheer human weakness to ascend the altar of the Eucharist.

Ancient Jewish society has disqualified lepers from being part of the society. At the risk of being contaminated and under the pain of being rendered ritually impure by even an incidental contact, every person is cautioned to avoid lepers like a plague. Lepers are mandated by law to wear bells around their necks to warn people of their proximity. In the absence of such bells, they are to shout, “Unclean, unclean!” to give people time to run away. 

Such feeling of unworthiness must have prevailed in the leper before Jesus in today’s Gospel. But the urgency of his miserable condition propelled him toward Jesus. Much to the surprise and dismay of people, Jesus did not spring away.

In Jesus and the leper, we see the encounter between human misery and divine mercy. Ancient Jewish law told the leper, “Be clean first, before you can enter the temple.” Divine mercy assured him, “Enter in, and you will be cleansed.”

Do you feel disqualified by your sins? Jesus qualifies you by His grace. By the cross of Jesus, we have all been given a pass that says, “All access.” Before the throne of God’s mercy, no one is disqualified. Only a hardened heart is. Fr. Joel Jason

reflection question

Have you visited the Sacrament of Reconciliation yet? Enter in, and you will be cleansed! 

Your mercy, O Lord, is constant and overflowing. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ___________________________________