The Word God Spells

John 3: 7-15
Acts 4: 32-37 / Ps 93: 1-2,5

If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
(John 3:12)

What seemed like a great tragedy
Was mankind’s shame in Calvary...
But now Your cross has made us see
How God’s great plan set mankind free.

Jesus told Nicodemus, “Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.” The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ Nicodemus replied, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? ‘Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:7-15)

Reflection

Jesus knew that none of the things He was telling Nicodemus would make any sense to him until he saw Him crucified in Calvary. There he must have remembered our Lord’s prediction when He said, “The Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life” (Jn. 3:15). Looking up at the lifeless form of Jesus on the cross in Calvary before he and Joseph of Arimathea took Him down for burial, Nicodemus finally understood all the things that our Lord had told him that evening. There on Calvary, Nicodemus finally experienced ‘being born of the Spirit’.

Jesus was also speaking to us, the future generations of Christians who would one day read His Gospel. We have also come to discern that unless we lift Him up above all our worldly concerns, we will never be born in the Holy Spirit. In every church and in every home hangs the cross bearing the image of our Lord Who was crucified for our salvation. It takes a gift of faith — which is what being born from above means — to believe the mystical plan involved in such a great act of mercy.

Every Christian who has experienced being “born of the Spirit” sets the standard of all his/her actions and decisions on our Lord Jesus. Whenever we are faced with a difficult choice, we would do well to ask: “Is this what you want me to do, Lord?” We should lift everything up to God, because He is always right.

Lord, as Nicodemus saw in Calvary, I look up to Your cross, and I can see how futile life without Your love would be. From all my sins Your death has truly set me free. Amen.

Matthew 5: 1-12
Rev 7:2-4,9-14 / Ps 24:1-6 / 1 Jn 3:1-3

Blessed are the poor in spirit . . .
(Matthew 5:3)

Our Lord gave us the Beatitudes
That like His saints we may be blessed.
Today, praise God with all gratitude
For the hope of eternal rest.

Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he taught them saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peace-makers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:1-12)

Reflection

The Beatitudes is acknowledged as one of the greatest treasures of spiritual guidance and inspiration of all time. Rightly so, because it was God Himself Who bequeathed this legacy to the human race. It clearly marks the difference between the world’s view of happiness and success in this world, and God’s mission and vision for His Church. In fact, it summarizes all the lessons that our Lord Jesus taught in the Gospel, as well as His life, by which He walked His talk, and prophesied perfectly.

Like His parables, Jesus started the Beatitudes with a paradox: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” His listeners must have wondered, ‘How can those who are spiritually poor go to heaven?’ First of all, it was for the sake of the fallen, for the sinners that God became man and sacrificed His life. Christ did not come for those who consider themselves righteous and morally superior, but for those who are penitent, who mourn for their alienation from the Father, are humbled by their sinfulness, and hunger and thirst for their reconciliation with God.

But only those who are merciful can likewise obtain mercy. This was the essential part of the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples: “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us” (Mt.6:12). Unlike the world’s view of being merciful as a sign of weakness, Jesus showed the overwhelming power of mercy in the case of the adulterous woman on the verge of being stoned to death (John 8:3-7). The woman’s accusers were instantly dispersed by His simple words: “Let him without sin cast the first stone.” Indeed, up to the very end of His life, Jesus showed us how to be merciful, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk.23:34).

Finally, Jesus admonishes us to purify our hearts and minds, for it is the only way we can “see God”. He asks us to cleanse our hearts of all worldliness, because it is the only way that we can understand the paradoxes of the spiritual realm. Great leaders like Gandhi and Martin Luther King lived a life of material detachment, and became the world’s peacemakers. Jesus invites us to be like Him, the Prince of Peace, so that we can “be called sons of God.” Then we shall have nothing to fear of the world’s persecutions, but instead rejoice in being counted as one of His prophets and saints.

Father God, today, as we honor our saints and martyrs in heaven, we pray through their precious intercession that we may be able to live our lives here on earth fully in accordance with the Beatitudes that our Lord Jesus so lovingly taught us. Amen.

Mark 12: 38-44
Tb 12:1.5-15.20 / Tb 13:2.6

She, out of her poverty, put in everything— all she had to live on.
(Mark 12:38-44)

With nothing of my own from birth,
With nothing but hope I aspire
To claim when I depart this earth,
Your kingdom as my sole desire.

As he taught, Jesus said, ‘Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the market-places, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.’ Then Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything— all she had to live on.’ (Mark 12:38-44)

Reflection

It is not the amount that we give that makes our gift significant; it is how much we have left for ourselves that makes a difference. Jesus praised the poor widow, even though her gift was hardly of any value compared to the vast amounts donated by others to the temple treasury, because even if she knew she would have nothing left, she believed and trusted that God would take care of her needs. Like most widows in Palestine at that time, she had no one to depend on for survival, and her act was a total surrender to God’s mercy. And sure enough, she caught God’s attention.

God is not attracted to wealthy people in flowing robes, chanting long prayers, and making large donations to the church coffers. It is because in their self-sufficiency, they never feel any real sense of urgency for God. More likely, their going to church is all for show, if not for tradition’s expediency. This is probably the reason why our Lord Jesus, in His life and in His parables, always had a soft spot for the poor widows, because they usually had no money or status in life, and were totally dependent on God and/or others for their very survival.

And this is what our Lord’s message is in today’s Gospel. When we express our total dependence on God’s mercy, He will not only supply us our needs, but He will bless us even more abundantly in other good things as well. This was what happened to Tobit and his son Tobiah in today’s first reading (Tob.12:5-15). They put their total trust and dependence on the angel Raphael, and at the end of their journey, they were willing to give to him (not knowing his true identity) half of all the wealth that Tobiah had successfully brought home. Instead, Raphael revealed himself as God’s messenger and told them to “keep thanking God everyday; praise Him with song.”

Let us never forget, Lord, that everything is Yours, and we are merely Your stewards. May we always depend on You, never holding back anything that You require us to give, emptying ourselves if need be, in order to receive Your bounty. Amen.

Luke 6: 36-38
Dn 9:4-10 / Ps 79

For the measure with which you measure, will in return be measured out to you.
(Luke 6:38)

The good in some we may discount
If we always tend to criticize;
We all shall be called to account
At the judgment seat of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.” (Lk. 6:36-38)

Reflection

After teaching His disciples how to treat their enemies, Jesus next taught them how to treat their own friends who have offended them or behaved wrongfully. And His message consisted of: mercy, forgiveness, generosity and discernment. First of all, our Lord cautions us not to be judgmental. To be able to reject all kinds of injustice and unrighteousness, we must learn instead how to be discerning of what is good and evil. Through faith in God’s justice, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to determine what is right and wrong. Then we can teach, encourage and rebuke with authority. But it is always in humble supplication and a heart predisposed to mercy that we will receive this gift of sound judgment. Jesus told His disciples, “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I am sorry,’ forgive him.” (Lk.17:3-4) We must never tolerate what is wrong, but we must always be predisposed to forgive the repentant wrongdoer.

Sis. Baby told of a trying period in her student days when she was wrongly judged by her religious superiors of having stolen the money of a classmate. She never told her parents about it, and decided to suffer the humiliation and punishment alone. But young as she was, she firmly believed that the truth would prevail, and soon enough the real culprit, another classmate with a problem of kleptomania admitted to the felony. Sis. Baby never harbored any bitterness, but graciously accepted the apologies of her superiors, her faith in God’s mercy fortified in her early years.

During this season of Lent, let us seek to form a more merciful heart, rather than a judgmental one; let us be predisposed to forgive rather than condemn; and let us give of ourselves with compassion, without counting the cost. If we can do all these, then we will have made Lent more significant, and our merciful and forgiving Father in heaven will surely pour out His immeasurable generosity into our life. This is our Lord’s firm and dependable promise.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for teaching us that there is only one standard by which we can judge others, and that is by judging our own motives. During this short period of Lent, may we be constantly reminded to cleanse our hearts and minds of all negative attitudes, and abide always in Your words to be merciful, forgiving, generous and kind to everyone. Amen.