The best, not the beast

Someone said that one out of three people is ugly … So, if the person on your left is good-looking, you start getting worried. And if the person on your right is also good-looking, you have a problem?!

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In today’s Gospel (Mark 1: 12-15), we hear about how Jesus was tempted by Satan in the desert, and for 40 days, “He was among the wild beasts and the angels ministered to Him.” We, too, go through deserts and temptations in life. Who are the wild beasts in your life? Who are the angels that minister to you? May the Lord deliver us from our beasts, and give us more angels in our life.

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Are you a wild beast to other people? Do you make life difficult and painful for others? Or, are you an angel that comforts and protects other people? Life is hard enough for people. Please don’t make it harder for them. Choose to be an angel, not a beast as you journey through life.

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There is an angel and a beast in each one of us. What becomes prominent depends on whom we follow and listen to: If we follow Satan, the beast comes out in us. If we follow the Holy Spirit, the angel comes out in us.

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If your life is full of negativities, pride, anger, selfishness, deceit, and lies, you are being influenced by the evil one, whose strategy is to keep you focused on yourself. If you are an “I-me-myself” person, with not much thought on God and on other people, careful, you are walking on a dangerous road, that will lead to selfishness, pride, sin, emptiness, and perdition.

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If you listen to the Spirit, and continue your journey to God’s heart and to other people’s heart, you are walking on a grace-filled road that will lead you to a road filled with the fruits of the Spirit, which are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5: 22), along with trials and persecutions.

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In life we have a choice on which road to take. We can choose the road of the beast, filled with selfishness and pride, or the road of the angel, filled with humility and love. Choose the latter, the road less traveled, and that can make all the difference in your life.

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How do we transform from “BEAST” TO “BEST”? Remove the “A.” Remove “AKO,” tagalog word for I, me, myself. God must increase, and I must decrease, so that I may become more an angel, not a beast.

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By the way, the “beast” we need to conquer is not so much the beasts around us, but the beasts inside us. In fact, the beasts outside us help tame also the beasts inside us: “Anyone that annoys you, is teaching you patience and calmness; Anyone that abandons you is teaching you how to stand up on your own feet; Anyone that offends you is teaching you forgiveness and compassion; Anything that you hate, is teaching you unconditional love; Anything that you fear is teaching you the courage to overcome your fears; Anything you can’t control is teaching you to let go; Any “no” you get from human is teaching you to be independent; Any problem you’re facing is teaching you how to get a solution to problems; Any attack you get from people is teaching you the best form of defense; Anyone who looks down on you is teaching you to look up to your CREATOR.”

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Last week, we made the acronym “CLEAN” for our Lenten journey, namely: Confession, Love more; Extra Sacrifice; “No” to sin. We missed the “A,” which stands for “AMEND” your life. It is never too late to change. “I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen (Act of Contrition).

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A moment with the Lord: Lord, help us not to become the beast, but to become the best, by your grace. Amen.

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