Many moons ago, there was a popular TV ad where a father was with his son in the car. The father went against the traffic light but got away with it. The son displayed a confused look. A slogan then appeared, “Wrong becomes right in the eyes of a child.”

As the youngest in the family, I looked up to my parents and other senior members of our family. I always thought that what they did or said was the law. But it was only when I reached adulthood and had a mind of my own that I truly understood the message of the TV ad.

I realized that I come from an imperfect background but, thankfully, I was led to The Feast. There, I learned that sins of the past can have an effect on us, yet we do not have to be affected by it.

In fact, we have the power to put a stop to it. Where temptation is, God is there also. Today, may our motto be, “The buck stops with me.” Laarni Uy (laarni.u@svrtv.com)

reflect

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)

Jesus, help me to choose not according to my emotions, but according to Your will. Amen.

St. John of Capistrano, priest, pray for us.

The psychology of the Letter to the Romans is full of insight. One of the greatest paradoxes of the Christian life is the number of people who do not know or seem to be uninterested in the grace and power given to us in baptism. Baptism is our sharing and entry into the death of Christ and the defeat of sin. Sin has no more power over us because Christ on the cross has defeated it once and for all.

¹⁹ Brothers and sisters: I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your nature. For just as you presented the parts of your bodies as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness for lawlessness, so now present them as slaves to righteousness for sanctification. ²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. ²¹ But what profit did you get then from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²² But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit that you have leads to sanctification, and its end is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6

R: Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

¹ Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, ² but delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his law day and night. (R) ³ He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers. (R) ⁴ Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away. 6 For the Lord watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes. (R)

Gospel | Luke 12:49-53

The Father works a marvelous miracle through the death of Jesus—the miracle of salvation. Jesus wants this for us because He loves us, even though it costs Him His life. The nature of love is to seek the best for the beloved.

Gospel Acclamation

I consider all things so much rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him.

⁴⁹ Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! ⁵⁰ There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! ⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. ⁵² From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; ⁵³ a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Reflect:

What is the challenge of loving like Jesus loves?

Read the Bible in one year! Read ZECHARIAH 12 - 14 today.

Recently, in a chat group, someone posted a suggestion. The response came more or less thus: “Can you do it?” His retort, said half in jest, went like this: “I already offered the suggestion. Why should I also do it?”

This reminds me of my younger years as a priest in leadership roles in various places. During organizational meetings, we were never short of good ideas coming from eager and enthusiastic individuals who sounded like they had the perfect solution to every problem and who also always had a comprehensive critique about how things are done—by others, that is. But when those persons are challenged to decide and do or implement their brilliant ideas, they clam up and take the back seat. “I already said it. Should I also be the one to do it?”

Everything the Lord talks about in today’s Gospel passage has to do with urgency and importance. Take it from the images used: fire, baptism to undergo, being distressed, and division. But like in our times, there are experts who only love to talk about storms coming and terrible heat on the horizon, etc. The Lord, setting political correctness aside, had an interesting word for such people with big mouths but short hands—hypocrites!

Going back once more to my years in leadership and the times I was attending international conferences and assemblies, not just once did I hear this comment: “You, Filipinos, are good at making reports and giving talks. But your country is still as rotten as before.” Ooopps! That hurts. But wait till you hear this. Some of the best laws on ecological responsibility are found in the Philippine Constitution. But implementation is lacking. We are facing a big and worsening ecological nightmare.

Deciding and doing—with courage—are what’s missing. Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

reflection question

Has your life been full of ideas or full of action?

Lord God, give me courage to act on my decisions, especially when they concern my eternal life. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _______________________________________