Tag: life decision

Tensions lead to life and joy

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Friday, Easter Week-VI, 22 May 2020

Acts of the Apostles 18:9-18 <*(((>< + 0 + ><)))*> John 16:20-23

Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera, Sunrise along Halili Ave. in front of our Parish, 21 May 2020.

Your words today, dear Jesus, are very mysterious, so difficult to understand but so delightful to dwell on, or chew — as St. Ignatius of Loyola reminded us in his “Spiritual Exercises”.

There are many tensions present in your words today, Lord.

And that is where I have found you — in the many tensions that come into our lives!

So often, we find the word “tensions” so negative as they lead to wars and troubles of all sorts. But in deeper reflection, tensions are like frictions that without them, we can never experience life at its fullest.

The beauty of every sunrise and sunset is due to the tensions between light and darkness.

Tensions often occur between good things, never between good and evil. Tensions help us purify our intentions, clarify our priorities because tensions lead us to deeper discernment of your plans and will for us.

In the first reading, there was the tension among St. Paul and the Jews about your good news of salvation. The division resulted into more conversions and baptisms that made Corinth so dear to St. Paul.

Photo by author, altar of our Parish at sunrise, 2019.

But what is most beautiful about tensions is found in the gospel, of how joy is borne out of pain and sufferings like a woman in the pangs of childbirth:

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she had given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. so you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”

John 16:20-22

Lord Jesus Christ, there are so many tensions in our lives these days since the start of quarantine period due to the pandemic.

Help us first identify the tensions in our lives these days.

Some of these tensions are between the need for us to pray more and immerse ourselves with those in need; the tension of going out to help and staying indoor to plan for our actions.

Send us your Holy Spirit, Jesus, to enlighten our minds and our hearts so we may identify the tensions we encounter that lead to life and joy in you. Amen.

God our foundation

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Thursday, Week-XII, Year-I, 27 June 2019
Genesis 16:1-12, 15-16 >< }}}*> <*{{{ >< Matthew 7:21-29
The massive Wailing Wall of Jerusalem reminds us of God as foundation of our lives: firm and unshakeable, always present with us. Photo by author, 04 May 2019.

It was raining so hard last night as I prayed to you, O God, about today’s gospel:

Jesus said to his disciples: “Everyone who listens to these words of mind and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.”

Matthew 7:24-25

So often, O Lord, we dilly dally with our decisions, we can’t stand on our choices.

Like Sarai, the wife of Abram: in our first reading, she asked Abram to have a son with her servant Hagar so he could have an heir of his own.

You allowed it to bear fruit, Lord – so, that means, you went with their decision though you still have your own plans for Abram to become the father of nations.

And this is what I like with you, Lord our God: even if we make wrong decisions or forget all about it, you are always there ready to keep us whole and together. You did not forsake Hagar and her son Ishmael. In fact, you blessed them both!

O Lord, help us to always have you as our foundation in life so that even if we get lost, we could still find our way back to you.

Help us to have you as our foundation in life, Lord, so that even if our lives are like a piece of cloth shredded of its threads, there is always one, last, single thread where we could spin another cloth anew to be whole again.

Give us the grace, Jesus, to call you “Lord, Lord” with conviction so that no matter what happens with us, we remain grounded on you our foundation. Amen.

From Google.