We Should be Imperfectly Mutual!

5^th Sunday of Easter

Pls Read God’s Silent Message: Jn 15:1-8

"The vinedresser must carefully prune the vine before it can bear good fruit."

As parents, masarap sigurong marinig sa mga anak natin na sabihin nilang: 

“Dad, Mom, you did a good job in me!”

Minsan kasi, isa sa mga worries nating mga parents ‘yong “feeling natin, parang hindi pa natin nagagawa yong gusto pa sana nating gawin; ... yong habang binibigay mo yong best mo, you’re still worried if you have already done what God told you to do.”

But then, sometimes too, we’re asking ourselves, “what should it take for parents to do a job well?” – is it just fair to also expect our children to do their piece of the job as well? 

Minsan din kasi, as parents, we’re quite being harsh on ourselves na “akuin ang lahat ng pagkukulang” when brokenness in the family perseveres; while on the other hand, as children, we’re also unfair to point our fingers to our parents when things don’t work well.

Today's gospel is reminding us a SIMPLE TRUTH:

The Lord promises that we will bear much fruit

if we abide in Him and allow Him to purify us. 

This means that, as much as parents are striving to abide by God in performing their duties to their family, the children should also listen and cooperate with their parents in making their family imperfectly beautiful.

Just as what God wants, parents would also want each child to learn what’s more important in life. Sometimes there’s no easy way to understand that we have to sacrifice certain things for our family – but it is always grand when we learn to be humble in LISTENING with our HEART. 

For, in the end, our humility to strive to understand and be in unity with our family will bring us the abundance that we hope to enjoy in life -- over any material things that we cannot really keep for long.   #sunset

*this article is published as Gospel Reflection in The Feast San Lorenzo Bulletin 

   Issue #20. 29 April 2018

"True Character is who you are and what you do -- even when no one is watching you!"

Shall we not have the “mind of Christ” when Carpentry Matters?

Have you ever heard or came across this story “Work Like You Don’t Need the Money”?

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire.

He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business & live a more leisurely life with his wife& his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go & asked if he could build just one more house 

as a personal favor.

The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work anymore. He resorted to shoddy workmanship & used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work , the employer came to inspect the house. He handed the front-door key to the carpenter & said, "This is your house, my gift to you."

The carpenter was shocked!! What a shame!!  

If he had only known he was building his own house,                                                        he would have done it all so much differently.

Many times, life would bring us to situation/s which we do not understand as it happens. At times, we feel that situations would ask us to do things which we cannot determine “what it is for”.  Sometimes too, we would give that denying reaction: “why me”?

Sometimes, we are like this carpenter in real life. Because we feel that what we are asked to do is quite immaterial with what we want, we would resort to careless actions, putting less than our best into what we are doing; not minding much to strive to understand the things which we should value. The reactions that we give, just like Peter’s reaction in the Gospel Mark 8:27-35.

“The miracle of God requires the action of man!”, let us be pre-cautioned by the carpenter’s tendency in this story where his substandard actions brought him the shock that he will have to live in the house which he built so carelessly.

When as of yet, we do not understand what things are for, let us instead have “the mind of Christ”  while we are in the carpentry process: carry what it is that life is asking us to carry,  deny our self-intentions while DISCERNing what the Holy Spirit is urging us to do, and just keep on giving out our best while we hammer each nail to build the house that we want to enjoy living-in.

We might be carrying the cross which Jesus wants us to carry while denying ourselves of our human desires; yet, if we will set our mind to that of Christ’s, we will soon enjoy the abundance that has been reserved for us as “a gift”!  -- sunset

credits to thinkexist.com & heartwarmingstories.net for the lines                                                “Work like you don’t need the Money”

"True Character is who you are and what you do -- even when no one is watching you!"