I got a text from my dad on my way to a talk in our gathering called Open Door (OD). “Mama has had a fever since early morning.” I replied I’d be there right after OD. A few minutes before my turn to speak, I got a call from Papa. “Her fever is still high. Should I take her to the hospital?” I  replied, “OK, I’ll follow there.”

By God’s grace, I was able to deliver my talk effectively. I messaged some friends to help me pray for Mama’s healing, then I rushed out. At the ER, I looked for Mama. “Her fever is lower now. It went down 30 minutes ago.” I smiled at the good news because that was around the time I asked friends to pray for her. 

Mama got better each day and was eventually discharged from the hospital after five days. 

That Sunday, I was reminded that praying is powerful, but praying together makes it extra powerful. 

Alvin Fabella (alvinfabella@yahoo.com)

reflect

Jesus is the mighty Healer. He will heal not only our physical ailments, but also our emotions, spirits, and relationships.

Lord, heal whatever is wrong with me. You know what’s broken in my life that needs fixing. You are my Healer.

St. Candida Maria of Jesus, pray for us.

Today’s reading tells us that we should fear the Lord—yet a better translation would be to stand in awe of Him. This carries a certain aspect of fear. To be in awe results from the greatness of the other compared to one’s self. God is an awesome God: He is greater and more powerful than we will ever be. However, He is also a God of love and mercy. Let us pray for the grace to relate to the awesome nature of God.

⁴ Moses said to the people: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! ⁵ Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. ⁶ Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. ⁷ Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. ⁸ Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. ⁹ Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. ¹⁰ “When the Lord, your God, brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give you, a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, ¹¹ with houses full of goods of all sorts that you did not garner, with cisterns that you did not dig, with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant; and when, therefore, you eat your fill, ¹² take care not to forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. ¹³ The Lord, your God, shall you fear; him shall you serve, and by his name shall you swear.”  

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51

R: I love you, Lord, my strength.

² I love you, O Lord, my strength, ³ O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer. (R) My God, my rock of refuge, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold! 4 Praised be the Lord, I exclaim, and I am safe from my enemies. (R) ⁴⁷ The Lord live! And blessed be my Rock! Extolled be God my savior! ⁵¹ You who gave great victories to your king and showed kindness to your anointed, to David and his posterity forever. (R)  

Gospel | Matthew 17:14-20

There are times when our faith fails us because it is too weak. In these times, we need to beg God for greater faith. Faith is both a gift and a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Let us never be ashamed to cry out to God to strengthen our faith. Let us do this every day so we can face and endure the struggles that come our way.

Gospel Acclamation

Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death and brought life to light through the Gospel.

¹⁴ A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, ¹⁵ and said, “Lord, have pity on my son, who he is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. ¹⁶ I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” ¹⁷ Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring the boy here to me.” ¹⁸ Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. ¹⁹ Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” ²⁰ He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Read the Bible in one year! Read 2 MACCABEES 3 - 4 today.

Filipinos love to use this word: peksman. The word roughly translates to: “I promise. I swear. Cross my heart.” It means giving the hearer a sign unmistakable, a statement so incontrovertible, and an assurance so indestructible that it cannot be understood as referring to something forgettable.

Today’s First Reading is something related to all this talk of seriousness and gravitas. Listen! Hear, O Israel! Make no mistake about it: “The Lord our God is one Lord.”

A statement so serious would demand a response just as filled with a lot of gravitas. The listener is told to 1) put it in his heart; 2) tell it to their children; 3) meditate on it while sitting, walking, sleeping, and rising; 4) make a binding sign of it in the hand and something that stays right in front of the eyes; and 5) write the command of the Lord at the door of the house. Now, this is truly serious! Peksman!

Filipinos are famous for many good things. Take hospitality, for one. We also have joyful, smiling faces (you can count me as an exception to this, though). We laugh about almost anything and everything, including problems. But we are equally notorious about certain things. The lack of seriousness when it comes to laws is probably at the top of the list. We take traffic rules as mere suggestions, and the laws of the land as valid and correct, but not for all people and not at all times. The “No Parking” sign is valid only for those who have no cars to park, and the directive “no relatives for public offices” is good only for those who are not in public service.

Are we serious about our response? “I love You, Lord, my strength.”

Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

reflection question

How do you show that God is the Lord of your life? 

Lord, peksman, I love You! Amen.

Today, I pray for: __________________________________