Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples.

The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

Our gospel for today is something that many self-righteous individuals especially among the religious and church people cannot seem to accept. The fact that Jesus dined and ate with sinners. Yes, the Lord has always been willing to "march into hell with a heavenly cause" (so goes the song). But of course, this is not for the weak...this is not for the faint-hearted because only those who are sent by heaven can carry the heavenly cause into hell without being overwhelmed by the minions of demons, devils and evil powers in Gehenna .

Yes this is the person who possesses God's spirit in a superlative degree, a person with a heart so much in love with God and with the zeal of Elijah, the prophet. Indeed, like Elijah who put to rout all the false prophets of Baal and proclaim with a thunderous shout, "The Lord is God."

O God we acknowledge Your Presence here with us, in the midst of godlessness and chaos brought about by moral degradation, environmental abuse, human rights violations and oppression of the poor. For we believe that where sin abounds, grace abounds more and more efficaciously....yes, Lord You alone are victorious and nothing can stand against You. Let Your Kingdom come. This we ask through Christ our Lord and the intercession of the Immaculate Mother of God. Amen

Rich or Poor?

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

(1 Timothy 6:6-10)

We had this reading for our sharing and I started it with the story about a young man who died of cancer very recently, saying that our life in this world cannot really be ascertained because death can come at any hour. That whatever we take in this world cannot be brought to the life hereafter. I proceeded to talk about those street dwellers whom I met trying their best to survive, they neither have money or food. It makes me wonder if they really are less fortunate than the rich men who cannot break free from the clutches of greed and corruption.

Language of the Word

I have been comparing verses from different bible translations, namely: New American Standard Bible (NASB), King James Version (KJV), New American Bible (NAB), New International Version (NIV) then lately the Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV) which is translated from the Latin Vulgate, using the Challoner Douay Rheims as a guide.  It has been so far quite an intellectually stimulating experience.  Lately I have found out that in John 3:8, the standard translations NAB, NIV mentioned about the wind which is interpreted as spirit in KJV and Douay Rheims. The Catholic and Protestant standard versions (NAB & NIV) agree on interpreting the Greek work pneuma as wind while the King James and Douay Rheims (which are older Protestant and Catholic versions respectively) interpret the same Greek word as spirit.  What I can say is --when it comes to the Scriptures there are certain things going in terms of unity between Catholics and Protestants

Desire as Prayer

"The desire is thy prayers; and if thy desire is without ceasing, thy prayer will also be without ceasing. The continuance of your longing is the continuance of your prayer." - St. Augustine

St. Aloysius Gonzaga once asked the Lord to love Him as He deserves but since St. Aloysius knew too well that this is not possible, he just consumed himself with holy desires.

Dear God,

I don't know when or where have I started to pray....I just found myself talking to You...and if this is already praying, then, how thankful am I to You, for You have led me to prayer. Pls. don't allow me to wander off or put off some other pretense...for I really know that sooner or later I will simply be looking for You and long for Your Presence....for You have loved me and I simply cannot help but love You in return. Furthermore, I also realized that if I love You now that is only because You have loved me first....