We are all called to be saints!

I've been quite busy these past few days, so much so that I neglected posting here my reflections and prayers for the daily Mass readings. There are about nine entries in all that I haven't been able to transfer here. They're quite lengthy, so I don't think I'll be able to post them all online.

I will just proceed to sharing my "hidden treasure" for the third week of March.

My favorite readings for the third week are:

1. Deuteronomy 4: 1, 9 and
2. Mark 12: 29-31

You can use your bible to read the verses above.

Anyway, I believe these are the most important thoughts God wants to impart to me this week end:

1. "I have given you all these laws so that you may find true life, true peace, true joy, true happiness and meaning."

2. "My laws, finally, are summarized into two: Love Me above all else and with all your being, and love your neighbor as yourself and as I love you."

I also encountered an interesting thought while reading Fr. Joel O. Jason's meditation on the Scripture reading for today. He said, "Jesus became man, that man may have the opportunity to become like God."

Isn't that an amazing insight?

I remember what Fr. Robert Barron explained once in one of his sermons in the Word On Fire website. He said something like this: God did not deem equality with Him something to be grasped. That's the reason why Adam and Eve sinned and why they were exiled from the Garden. They wanted to be like God. By eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they appropriated to themselves the power to decide what's right and what's wrong -- a right which only belongs to God for He is Justice Himself. Now, by becoming man, Jesus showed man that divinity is not really something to be grasped. Rather, it involves self-emptying, self-sacrifice, or the giving of one's self to others in love. It's as if Jesus is telling us: "This is what it means to be like God. Follow me, and I will show you the path that leads to true divinity." And that ultimately is what God wants for each and every one of us -- to become like Him, to become more and more divine. To become perfect, as He is perfect.

"Punko-Punko" or Buffet Restaurant?

I own a Companion. It is a Catholic Scripture Diary published by Shepherd's Voice. It's a wonderful diary because it gives you the opportunity to write down your reflections on the Bible readings daily. I've been writing down my reflections and prayers in my Companion since January this year, and I love it because it enables me to have a more intimate knowledge of the Scriptures.

At the end of each week, the diary has a section called Hidden Treasure. Under this section, you can write down the most important words and/ or verses that you feel God wants you to remember and apply in your life. So starting this week, I'm going to post here my "hidden treasures".

These are my favorite verses for the week:

"Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you." (Luke 6:38)

"So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him." (Luke 15:20)

In the first verse, I think that Jesus is telling us that there is a principle at work in the universe. It may sound contradictory, but it nevertheless is true: The more we give, the more we will receive. The more we give of our self -- that is to say, the more we give of our time, talents, and treasures -- the more our self will increase and the more we will receive other blessings. Remember this verse? "Amen, I say to you. Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." Jesus is telling us the same thing. We ought to give more, to share more, of our selves to others. That's what it means to love.

I love the second verse. Jesus gives us a glimpse of how God the Father truly loves us. I love the image of the father in the parable running towards his prodigal sin, embracing and kissing him. Imagine God running towards us sinners and hugging and kissing us! He loves us so much, even after we have sinned against Him and squandered all the treasures He has given us. What's more, He throws a feast to celebrate his son's return! That gives us an image of Heaven rejoicing for every soul that returns to God.

I also think that that image of the son living with swines and trying to eat with them is a poignant one. That is what sin does to us! It throws us in the mud and makes us utterly dirty, and instead of dining with God's banquet in His Kingdom, we force ourselves to eat in the pods with swines! In Filipino culture, that is comparable to choosing to eat in a "punko-punko" instead of in a buffet restaurant!