“God is not unfair! One day it will make sense. I cling to His promise!” I breathed these statements frequently while praying for a child. One year into our marriage, I got pregnant with Miguel. But six months into the pregnancy, his heartbeat stopped. The postpartum months were most excruciating as I dealt with post-delivery symptoms without a baby. I battled grief and depression, especially when I’d see pregnant women. 

But we were committed in nurturing our marriage and serving through our Catholic community. I knew God had the best plans for us even if we couldn’t see ahead. He had planted a huge desire within us to be parents so He wouldn’t forget us. 

After many hurdles and tears, our bundle of joy came two years after we lost Miguel. We named him Miguel Iñigo, meaning “who is like God” and “fierceness.” Our son represents God’s faithfulness to us and our own fierceness in pursuing the life He longs for us. 

Today, our wonderful son is 18 years old. Truly, God is faithful! Michele Alignay (michele.lojpastoralcare@gmail.com)

Reflect 

If you cannot see God’s ways, lean on Him and let God be God.

Lord, help us to be eager and faithful in our quest for You, even if life seems unfair.

Saint Agnes, martyr, pray for us.

The Letter to the Hebrews reminds us to persevere until the end of our spiritual journeys. There is no point in climbing a mountain only to turn back before reaching the summit and conquering it. The same goes for sin. The closer we get to conquering sin, the greater will be the temptation to abandon the task. This is the plan of the devil. We must thwart his temptations and push through to the final victory of righteous living.

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, he 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. 

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 111:1-2, 4-5, 9, 10

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)

Gospel | Mark 2:23-28

In today’s Gospel, we find the Pharisees focusing on the Law once again. One of the strategies of the devil is to deflect our focus from the things that matter and shift it to things that are incidental. This leads us to nowhere and makes the devil happy. Let us be aware of this tactic and know what is important and what is not. It will be hard work to focus on what’s important, but this will bring us closer to God. Be cautious about unimportant things because the devil will even aid us in focusing on what is useless to us. 

Gospel Acclamation

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.”

Reflect:

What are the things that matter to you? Do these bring you closer or away from the Lord?

Read the Bible in one year! Read MARK 9 - 12 today.

If civil law has the Constitution, Church law has the Canon Law. Canon Law is a code of ecclesiastical laws governing Church life in the Catholic Church. The present governing code is the 1983 Code of Canon Law.

On my first day of Canon Law class, our professor introduced to us this principle: Suprema lex, salus animarum. It means the highest law is the salvation ofsouls. The law finds its fulfillment in the full flourishing of man, especially his salvation.

In today’s Gospel, the Pharisees saw the disciples picking some heads of grain. They looked at it as a form of work, and thus a violation of the Sabbath rest. As a response to their criticism, Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” 

In all our acts of piety and religiosity, God should be at the center. The law and its practices are icons that point us to Him. When religious practices are performed and adhered to for their own sake, the icon becomes an idol. When the self that performs the pious act becomes the center of attention, that act stands in the way instead of being a way to God.

I remember a year ago, in my thanksgiving speech for the successful celebration of the Holy Week activities, I forgot to thank an individual who, among many others, was at the helm of many of the activities. Realizing my mistake, I profusely apologized to the person. I could not forget what he said: “Father, as long as it is for the Lord, no need for public acknowledgment.”

He understood the principle. The self is never the center of our acts of piety. It is the Lord. When God is at the center, man is truly made holy, beatified, and edified. Fr. Joel Jason

Reflection Question

Do your acts of piety truly make you good and not only make you feel good?

It is mercy You desire, O Lord, not burnt offerings. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ________________________________