I know about Filipino celebrities like Marvin Agustin, an actor, and Charo Santos, host of the TV show Maalaala Mo Kaya. But it’s another thing to be their friend.  

Nope, I don’t have any relationship with them. But I do have a relationship with Marvin Agustin of New Jersey and Charo Santos of Minnesota. These are my friends in the U.S. who share the same name with these celebrities. I spend time with Marvin and Charo in the ministry as we serve, share, laugh, and pray together. I know them, and not just know something about them. 

Similarly, being a Christian is more than knowing who Jesus is. A true believer knows Him personally. But as we grow in our relationship with Jesus, we need to ask: Does Jesus know me? His answer is in today’s Gospel. Obedience to the will of our Heavenly Father assures us that Jesus knows who we are. Tyrone Dizon (tyrone.dizon@thefeast.us) 

Reflect:

If you want to know the will of our Heavenly Father, don’t forget to read the BIBLE (Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth). Also connect to our community, The Feast at www.feastlight.com.  

Dear Jesus, as we grow in knowing You, we pray that we also understand the requirement to follow and obey Your will. May this journey bring us closer to the dreams You’ve prepared for us. Amen. 

St. Cyril of Alexandria, bishop and Doctor of the Church, pray for us.

Nebuchadnezzar subdues Jerusalem and meets little resistance. The people are in disarray partly because they do not have an effective leader. Samuel’s fears are well founded. Having sought an earthly king, the people have contributed to their alienation from God. This is unfortunate and makes it more difficult to turn to Him in repentance when they need to.

⁸ Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta, daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. ⁹ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his forebears had done. ¹⁰ At that time the officials of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, attacked Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. ¹¹ Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, himself arrived at the city while his servants were besieging it. ¹² Then Jehoiachin, king of Judah, together with his mother, his ministers, officers, and functionaries, surrendered to the king of Babylon, who, in the eighth year of his reign, took him captive. ¹³ And he carried off all the treasures of the temple of the Lord and those of the palace, and broke up all the gold utensils that Solomon, king of Israel, had provided in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had foretold. ¹⁴ He deported all Jerusalem: all the officers and men of the army, ten thousand in number, and all the craftsmen and smiths. None were left among the people of the land except the poor. ¹⁵ He deported Jehoiachin to Babylon, and also led captive from Jerusalem to Babylon the king’s mother and wives, his functionaries, and the chief men of the land. ¹⁶ The king of Babylon also led captive to Babylon all seven thousand men of the army, and a thousand craftsmen and smiths, all of them trained soldiers. ¹⁷ In place of Jehoiachin, the king of Babylon appointed his uncle Mattaniah king, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 79:1-2, 3-5, 8, 9

R: For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us. 

1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have laid Jerusalem in ruins. 2 They have given the corpses of your servants as food to the birds of heaven, the flesh of your faithful ones to the beasts of the earth. (R) 3 They have poured out their blood like water round about Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them. 4 We have become the reproach of our neighbors, the scorn and derision of those around us. 5 O Lord, how long? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire? (R) 8 Remember not against us the iniquities of the past; may your compassion quickly come to us, for we are brought very low. (R) 9 Help us, O God our savior, because of the glory of your name; deliver us and pardon our sins for your name’s sake. (R) 

Gospel | Matthew 7:21-29

Satan can imitate anything and everything that Jesus does except one thing: he cannot imitate Christ’s humility. Hence, Jesus tells us that it is only those who do the will of His Father in heaven that will inherit eternal life. This requires us to first die to ourselves and surrender to the Father’s will. 

Gospel Acclamation

Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him and we will come to him.

²¹ Jesus said to his disciples: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ ²³ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’ ²⁴ “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. ²⁵ The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. ²⁶ And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.” ²⁸ When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, ²⁹ for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. 

Read the Bible in one year! Read JOB 1 - 5 today.

In one of our year-end activities, I played the song “The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock” as a message to our grade school pupils. I told them that now was the time for building, that they did not have to wait for junior high school, senior high school, or college. If they excelled in those times, it would be because they had learned well today. I told the young pupils that their life would be built upon what they had learned in these tender years. 

We start building when we are young. In 1986, a book titled All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum became popular. Among the things he wrote in the book were: “Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup—they all die. So do we. And then remember . . . the biggest word of all—look.” 

To all these, I added another word: pray. In the future, when they are already adults, this is one of the things they will go back to over and over again: when they recited their prayers before they went to bed, when they prayed at school assembly, when they visited the Lord in the church. These faith experiences will make them stronger. They will be like the wise man who built his house upon the rock. Fr. Joel Camaya, SDB 

 Reflection Questions:

What are you doing to build your life on solid rock? How do you strengthen your faith? 

Lord, let me listen to Your words and act on them. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ____________________________________