OUR DAYS This day...10 February 2008 we feature Fr. Jerry Orbos' sermon -
Not
Sinless, but Sin Less MANILA, Philippines -- The story is told about a young priest who asked a retired priest: “Father, at your age, do you still worry about avoiding temptations?” The old priest replied: “My son at my age, my worry is that temptations are beginning to avoid me!” In today’s Gospel (Mt. 4, 1-11), we are told that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Even Jesus was not spared. The truth of the matter is that temptations spare no one, and they are never really gone. So, what temptations still come knocking at your door at this time? What have you successfully shut out, and what do you still welcome? “Different strokes for different folks,” so the saying goes. Temptations wear different clothes and sometimes, they wear no clothes at all. We must never underestimate the enemy without and within. So the first thing to do when dealing with the enemy is to know the enemy. He is tops in his profession, using all sorts of tricks and deceptions to make us fall. Once complacency sets in, that’s when the fall begins. The second thing to do when dealing with the enemy is to pray. Without God’s help, we cannot overcome temptations. Will power is not enough, for the enemy knows just when to strike. Prayer is our shield from the heat and our oasis in the desert. Prayer is the available help within our reach. If only we use it! Flee! That’s the best way to deal with this kind of enemy. Better to be a coward when it comes to temptations. In other words, don’t tempt temptation itself. Remember: Avoid the occasion, and you avoid the temptation. From time to time, God raises prophets in our midst to remind us of His presence and to redirect us to righteousness. While the rich and the powerful in our country are so busy in their pursuit for the “4 P’s” (Pera, Power, Pride, Pleasures), a frail, soft-spoken guy named Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. comes up with his “4 L’s” (Live, Love, Learn, Legacy). It’s amazing how simple truth can make the most powerful and even institutionalized lies shudder, panic and tremble. Lies can dominate, for a while, but truth, though beaten and downtrodden, will always rise and prevail. It’s really just a matter of time. But having said that, what are we doing to help truth arise? What are we doing to put righteousness back to our land? One of the big temptations in our present-day situation is to stay put in our comfort zones. In other words, not to get involved, and just to “play it safe.” Lozada, this simple “probinsiyanong Intsik” said it so well: “I’m praying that we learn after this that the term ‘Filipino’ does not refer to one family. It refers to one country. And sometimes, it’s worth taking a risk for this country.” It all boils down to greed, in all its different forms. Greed, be it low greed, moderate greed, or high greed, causes so much havoc in our lives and in our society. And so it is that we can have a greedy individual, a greedy family, a greedy organization, or even a greedy people. We need to live out the basic message of Christianity, which is love. Where is justice? Where is love? A temptation for people who have the power and the money comes in the thought that they can do anything and they can get away with anything. To them we say: Not so, and not for long. Nobody stays on top forever. Nobody leaves this world alive. Power and money can make someone drunk and numb, and soon blatant and careless. Careful! The people whom you fool are not fools. One other temptation we must avoid is control. When someone begins to play God, manipulates and controls, that person has gone out of God’s control. It is already his/her will against God’s will. When someone resorts to cheating, lies, manipulation, intimidation, even elimination, just to be in control, then we must ask that person: For whom, and what for? That’s the problem with people who think of themselves as creators or operators and have forgotten that they are just like you and me, plain creatures. “Leaders aren’t sinless, but they should sin less.” We do not expect leaders to be perfect, but leaders, precisely because of their great power and influence, should sin less because they affect the lives of so many people. Indeed, “to whom much is given, much is also required.” In our modern-day parlance, Spiderman said something like: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Pity the person who lies. He/she wakes up with fear, walks with fear, talks with fear, and sleeps (if at all) with fear. Sin does sow its own seed of destruction. More lying, means more sinking into the pit, and the pit is bottomless. The solution? Truth, painful truth, but, liberating truth. As someone beautifully put it: “Face the light, and the shadow is behind you. Turn your back to the light, and the shadow is in front of you.” A moment with the Lord : Lord, I accept I am not sinless, but please help me to sin less. Amen. From : www.inquirer.net 10 February 2008 Copyright INQUIRER.net. All rights reserved.) _________________________________________________________________________________
OUR
JOURNEY We were created to live in community--a community of sinners or a community of forgiven sinners. Those who experience the forgiveness of the Lord discover they have no community to go back to; they have only a new community to consider, the pilgrim community of those who walk through the valley...with Christ. They will discover what community really means only as they walk the journey together and they will discover what lasting joy really means only as they share a daily communion with the Lord of the Journey together -
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TRIBUTE Having companions on the pilgrimage makes all the difference in the world. We all need support, encouragement, and guidance from others, and we grow through being able to give something to others.
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02/10/08 |
