ENCOURAGERS

ENCOURAGERS

 

“It may bear fruit in the future”. – Luke 13:9

 

I was at a crossroad in life when one of my mentors, Mike Wilson, told me, “Ariel, I believe in you not because of your circumstances but because of who you are.” Boy, that made my day!

Don’t you love encouragers? They are a breath of fresh air when you are about to hyperventilate, a glass of ice-cold water on a hot summer’s day, a delicious plate of tapsilog (Filipino beefsteak with egg and rice) during lunchtime, halo-halo (Filipino iced dessert) on a hot, lazy afternoon… I think you get the picture.

The gardener in today’s Gospel saw a possibility of fruit in a plant that was barren for three years. As the owner gave up on it, the gardener pleaded with him and even laid out a recovery plan.

Today, let’s remember and pray for those who encouraged us and helped us recover in our trying times. Furthermore, we need to return the favor by being encouragers and true friends ourselves. Ariel Driz (adriz77@yahoo.com)

 

REFLECTION:

Do I get out of my way to encourage others? Do I pray for the people who encourage me?

 

Lord Jesus, thank You for all the people whom You’ve used to touch, help and encourage us. Bless them with Your choicest blessings! They are one of the brightest reflections of Your love in our lives. Amen.

Lent : Jesus Corrects Our Impression of God

The 1997 New Catechism of the Catholic Church — edited and printed under the supervision of then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger who is now Pope Benedict XVI, and promulgated by Pope John Paul II — starts off with a succinct reflection on the nature of faith. It states that since humanity is made in the image and likeness of God, the human person is a religious being. Above difference of culture, color, creed and cult, the desire for God and the thirst to know Him through reason and experience is written in every human heart. In fact all cultures, creeds and cults have traditions of prayer, sacrifices and rituals.

Human reason, in its attempt to grasp the transcendent nature of God, can only think of God by purifying and raising human values to superlatives. Hence, philosophers posit that God is one who is allknowing, all-present, all-powerful, all-just, and all-perfect. There can be no weakness in Him. The Old Testament faith of Israel suffered also this limitation: the Jews thought of Yahweh-God more in terms of holiness as purity and righteousness as strict justice. Being poor, being physically handicapped, being gravely ill, being barren and infertile, being stricken by misfortunes, and dying at an early age were easily regarded as punishments for one’s sinfulness, or the sinfulness of one’s family and race. Dying in ignominy, such as crucifixion, was thought about as a curse (cf. Deuteronomy 21:23).

The God-Man Jesus Christ, however, reveals to us the face of God that we cannot grasp with our human logic: that God is also love and that the depth and the height of God’s love is compassion. From Divine Compassion flows mercy, forgiveness, patience, long-suffering and the spirit of sacrifice, all of which are normally viewed as manifestations of soft-heartedness and weakness. The Cross of Jesus is the utmost revelation of the compassionate face of God: a stumbling block for righteous Jews, and a scandal for reason-driven Gentile philosophers. Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP

 

Reflection Question:

Do you often question God’s loving and compassionate nature with the weak? Why? Spend time talking to Jesus Crucified about these.

 

How often I forget that Your compassion to the weak includes me. Open my eyes to this truth, Lord.

 

St. Ardo, pray for us.