I’ve already cried buckets of tears.When faced with situations that seem hopeless, when I question God about things not going my way, or when I feel rejected—I cry in front of Him in the Blessed Sacrament. There was a time I sobbed aloud in the chapel, even with others around. 

After I weep, I feel God trying to calm me down. Other times, I feel God would just be silent. But what usually brings me comfort is His presence—the Body of Christ present in the Eucharist. And when I leave the Blessed Sacrament, there is always a profound sense of peace and hope that everything will be OK.

In the Bible, the shortest verse is “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). The Lord showed His human side by displaying His innermost feeling when Lazarus died. He is one with us both in joy and in sorrow. We are not alone.

If life makes you feel hopeless, know that there is hope. Hope in the Lord. And He will turn your sorrow into joy.

Gem Mailum (gemrico.mailum@gmail.com) 

reflect

Have you spent time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament? Try spending time with Him once a week and feel His presence. He will surely bring you hope and joy amidst life’s sufferings.

Lord Jesus Christ, help me to always seek Your presence so I will always find joy in my sufferings. Amen.

St. Peter Claver, priest, pray for us.

Paul presents marriage and celibacy objectively, addressing them within the context of his time. Believing that Jesus would return in his lifetime, he prioritizes evangelization above all else, seeking to remove anything that might hinder the mission. In this light, marriage becomes secondary to the call to proclaim the Gospel. Even today, this perspective remains valid for those who discern celibacy as a gift for God’s Kingdom. One of its greatest blessings is the freedom to serve the Gospel fully—whenever and wherever it is needed.

²⁵ Brothers and sisters: In regard to virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. ²⁶ So, this is what I think best because of the present distress: that it is a good thing for a person to remain as he is. ²⁷ Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek a separation. Are you free of a wife? Then do not look for a wife. ²⁸ If you marry, however, you do not sin, nor does an unmarried woman sin if she marries; but such people will experience affliction in their earthly life, and I would like to spare you that. ²⁹ I tell you, brothers, the time is running out. From now on, let those having wives act as not having them, ³⁰ those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning, ³¹ those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 45:11-12, 14-15, 16-17

R: Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.

¹¹ Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear, forget your people and your father’s house. ¹² So shall the king desire your beauty; for he is your lord, and you must worship him. (R) ¹⁴ All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters; her raiment is threaded with spun gold. ¹⁵ In embroidered apparel she is borne in to the king; behind her the virgins of her train are brought to you. (R) ¹⁶ They are borne in with gladness and joy; they enter the palace of the king. ¹⁷ The place of your fathers your sons shall have; you shall make them princes through all the land. (R)

Gospel | Luke 6:20-26

Jesus makes it clear that we have responsibilities toward one another—duties that cannot be excused by titles or positions in the work of the Gospel. If we are wealthy, we have a duty to care for the poor. In fact, St. Thomas Aquinas says that it is the responsibility of the private sector, not the government, to provide social welfare to the people. While the government should be ready to help in all situations, still the private sector is and will always be wealthier than the government, except maybe for the various forms of communist states.

Gospel Acclamation

Rejoice and leap for joy! Your reward will be great in heaven.

²⁰ Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. ²¹ Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. ²² Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. ²³ Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way. ²⁴ But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. ²⁵ But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. ²⁶ Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”

Read the Bible in one year! Read PSALMS 76 - 80 today.

Someone who lost a husband to COVID-19 once asked me to preach about life after death at her husband’s first death anniversary. Each time she requests for a Mass for her late husband, she would ask me to preach about life after death. Last year, on the fifth death anniversary of her husband, she asked me again to do so, and I warned her that I have not much to say anything more on this except what Jesus says about our promised future with God. As to the details, no one really knows because we do not have a direct experience of it.

In God’s Kingdom, living the Beatitudes means having a humble and open heart. It is not about being proud or thinking we always know everything. It is about our willingness to listen, be corrected, and learn—even when it is a bit challenging. It means admitting we are not always right and that we do not know everything. The Beatitudes are a description of the conditions for our learning. Learning requires an admission that no matter how much we know and possess, it is insufficient. We cannot have all the answers.

If we see ourselves as rich and self-sufficient, we leave no room for God to fill us. We think we already have it all, so we stop seeking and growing. But Saint Paul reminds us, “Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:31). Everything we have—wisdom, strength, even faith—is a gift. True greatness comes not from what we achieve on our own, but from what God does in and through us.

The Beatitudes exhort us to acknowledge our poverty—an acknowledgment that prepares us with open heart and mind to receive Christ’s teachings. Through the Beatitudes, we are reminded to always strive in humility to cultivate blessedness (holiness) in our lives—peace, goodness, joy, love, compassion, mercy, gentleness, integrity, and freedom of spirit. 

Fr. Ricky Montañez, AA

reflection question

Are you willing to admit what you don’t know, so you can truly learn what God wants to teach you?

Lord, teach me to be humble and open so I may live with hope and grow in the blessedness You promised. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _________________________________