The story is told about a man who complained about the food in his lunch box every day. “Rice and fish again! Rice and fish again!” was his continuous lamentation. After one week his fellow worker told him: “Why don’t you ask your wife to change your food?” His reply: “I have no wife. I make my own food.”
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In today’s Gospel (Lk. 14, 25-33) Jesus challenges His disciples to follow Him. But before they can do so, they must change their attitudes and be free of their worldly attachments. “In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” Are you detachable? Are you able to detach from yourself and attach more to God?
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Today is the birthday of Mama Mary! Here was someone who gave up all her worldly attachments in order to follow God’s will. It was not easy for her to give up a “normal” married life. It was not easy for her to be the mother of a prophet so outspoken and courageous. It was certainly not easy for her to give up her only child in Calvary. What made all that detachment possible? It was her attachment to God, and obedience to God’s will.
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I remember what Fr. Albert Van Leeuwen, SVD, told me when we left the comforts of the Mission House in Bangued, Abra, and the jeep brought us to the Calaba river on the way to our mission station in La Paz in the same province. “Now the journey begins,” he said. And we walked the rest of the trip, wading through rivers, and trudging through the long, lonely, rugged roads up ahead.
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The journey to God’s heart really begins when we step beyond our comfort zones and go the “extra mile.” As long as we are focused on and attached to our career paths, or to family ties and our circle of friends, the journey to God’s heart never really begins. When we are willing to leave everything and everyone for God, then the journey starts.
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Remember the story of two people who were shipwrecked? One was rich, and he would not let go of two bags full of money and jewelry. He drowned. The other was poor. His hands were free to swim and to hold on to floating debris. He survived. So, too, in life. Travel light.
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It happens that sooner or later, we encounter life situations which help us make that real journey to God’s heart. Sickness, failure, disappointment, separation, hurt, fear and shame can make us stop, and take the turn toward God’s heart. But it can also happen that such moments of misfortune can harden our hearts and make us run away from God. Remember, though, that one cannot flee from God too far or too long. All roads lead to Him in the end. The sooner we go to His heart, the better.
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Happy Grandparent’s Day! Some grandparents are still loaded with power and money, but most grandparents are already outside the limelight, and are already traveling quietly and slowly on the road of life. This should be seen as a blessing—i.e., not so much to be able to rely more on one’s own resources as to experience more God’s power and providence. If only we learned this early enough, and early on!
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Someone observed that some grandparents keep saying: “I had much power and money!” That’s past tense. Other grandparents still say: “I will have much power and money!” That’s future tense. And there are those who insist: “I still have much power and money!” That, as someone put it, is pretense.
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The key to a meaningful and peaceful life is surrendering. Unless and until we learn to surrender to something or someone greater than ourselves, we can never experience the freedom and the joy of being sons and daughters of the Most High.
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Yesterday was a day of fasting and prayers for peace, especially in Syria, as declared by Pope Francis. Let us pray daily for violence and atrocities all over the world to cease. Let us continue to pray for natural and political calamities in our country to cease, or decrease.
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How consoling it is to pray the rosary, or even just to hold the rosary. As a little boy, and up to now, I hold my rosary in my sleep. That is one attachment I have, for life.
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Food for the journey: “Those who joyfully leave everything in God’s hands will eventually see God’s hand in everything.”
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We have come to the “BER” months once again: September, October, November and December. May the rest of the year be more kind for our people, and may we all experience mightily that there is a God who is in control. “Be still and know that I am God.” Amen!
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For those preparing for marriage, or with marital problems, you are invited to register and join the Psycho-Genetics Gestalt Retreat weekend on Sept. 21-22 at St. John the Baptist Retreat House in Tagaytay City. Please contact Angie or Harry at 7883450/0917-8410398 or Ed at 0917-8360305, or log on at www.gabaysapaghilom.org for more details.
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A moment with the Lord:
Lord, help me to detach myself more from this world, and attach myself more to you. Amen.