“REJOICE THAT YOUR NAMES ARE WRITTEN IN HEAVEN” (Luke 10:20)

⏰Saturday of the Twenty-Sixth Week of Ordinary Time 1 (07 Oct. 2016 – Memorial of Our Lady of Rosary)

????Baruch 4:5-12, 27-29; Ps 69:33-35, 36-37 (R.v.34a); Luke 10:17-24

There are many reasons people go to Church. Some are there to make up the crowd while some come to seek miracles because of troubles. Once they get the desired miracle, they are off again. For such people, God becomes a part-time friend who is visited only when the need arises.

What is your own goal in this Christian journey? Where are you heading to? Are you working to get your name written in the Book of life?

See! It is NOT just about going to Church; it is not just about performing or seeking great miracles nor preaching great homilies in the name of Christ. It is about having your name written in heaven as a child of God (see Luke 10:17-24). It is from an encounter with Jesus that we get our names written down in that book of life.

Mary, our Mother, guides us in words and deeds to have that encounter. She was a woman of great faith. Even when she did not understand the message of the angel (cf. Luke 1:29, 34), she was able to say with faith, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38). That faith was also evident at the wedding at Cana when she told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5) and through that, she was able to “force” Jesus to perform a miracle even when his time was not ripe (John 2:4).

If you believe, ask Mary to teach you how to be present to God and tap his blessings. That is exactly what we do with the Holy Rosary.

See my dear, no matter how far away you might be from God; no matter how bad your past might have been, you can begin anew. God is ever ready to accept you back as the prophet Baruch tells us today (cf. Bar 4:27-29).

May God give us the courage to abandon all the ephemeral things of this world and all its empty promises and seek after the gains of heaven. Amen.

Have a happy weekend spent in good health of mind and body. Peace be with you.