REFUSING TO BE MISLED

REFUSING TO BE MISLED

 

“Are you not misled because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” – Mark 12:24

 

One of her pains is the conversion of her son to a cult — Jehovah’s Witness. But even more painful is her son’s repeated attempt to bring her to that sect.

“That’s why I keep attending our weekly Bible sharing session as well as other opportunities to understand the Scripture from the Catholic point of view,” she often says.

In several of our cell meetings, she would narrate the most recent verbal battle she had with her son, who grabs every opportunity to interpret a verse to her. And little by little, she is learning to identify how different it is from how she was taught as a Catholic. Unlike her son, this God-fearing woman refused to be misled in her faith. Not even her own son could sway her away from the truth. How contrary to the witnessing of the Pharisees who failed to understand what Scripture teaches because of their impure motives. Cristy Galang (cristy_cc@yahoo.com)

 

REFLECTION:

Do I read Scriptures? Do I call on the Holy Spirit to guide me so that I will understand accurately what the Lord is telling me from His Word?

 

Speak to my heart, Lord, especially through Your Word. Shield any deceit of the enemy that I may hear You and obey You. Amen.

CALLED TO A HOLY LIFE

 

All of us who have gone through college in the Philippines would know what “Mi Ultimo Adios” stands for. It has always amused me to see wide-eyed college freshmen feverishly copying Rizal’s “My Last Farewell” wherever it is found — in Luneta, in museums and in libraries.

We, Filipinos, wax either poetic or melodramatic in parting moments. Rizal waxed poetic and left us a legacy of a fervent devotion and attachment to the “fatherland” which he poignantly referred to as “nuestro perdido Eden” (our Paradise lost). Paul’s letter to Timothy is his own version of “Mi Ultimo Adios.” Writing from a Roman jail, he wanes in age but waxes in fervor, love and devotion to his beloved flock, headed now by Timothy, whom he has “laid hands on” at some earlier time. He turns both poetic and passionate as he gives parting words of instruction and exhortation “to stir into flame the gift of God bestowed when [his] hands were laid on [him].”

Not all of us were laid hands on for ordained ministry. But all of us have been “saved” and “called to a holy life,” “according to [God’s] own design.” Rizal, our national hero, had his own contribution towards our being molded into becoming one people, by being the hero that we now extol him to be. Lorenzo Ruiz, the migrant saint, born of migrant parents, was not laid hands on either. And neither was the youthful Pedro Calungsod. Both were in the prime of their short lives when they underwent hardships that led to their martyrdom. Even Timothy was in the prime of youth when he was commissioned to do service for the Gospel.

Parting words are always powerful especially if we look up to the person who utters them. The words of Rizal are definitely moving. And so, too, are the words of Paul to Timothy.

Today, we are not just moved but convicted by Paul. He reminds us that we are “called to a holy life” — no more, no less. Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

 

Reflection Question:

What keeps me from responding to Paul’s call to live a holy life?

 

Lord Jesus, move me each day to live a holy life. May the lives of saints and martyrs show me that it is possible for an ordinary mortal like me to be holy.

 

St. Eugene, pray for us.