Obedience is the key

Third Sunday of Easter year c
SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR C.
 Acts. 5: 27-32, 40-41,
Ps. 30,
 Rev. 5: 11-14,
John 21: 1-19
OBEDIENCE OPENS ALL DOORS.
Today's readings open us to a series of treasures Which are necessary for a life of happiness and peace.  In the gospel text, the apostles had fished all night and caught nothing and were returning to the shore when an UNKNOWN person from the shore called out to them asking if they had caught something. At their answer,  he ordered them to throw their net again at the side of the boat and they OBEYED him. Though there were closed to the shore and knew that fishes don't abound around the shore,  they still threw their net in obedience. We are most often in such situations at countless moments of our lives when we have toiled hard and have nothing to show for it and when we have given out our best and yet still failed and discouraged we walk slowly away.  At such moments we close our ears to everything and rather open our eyes expecting to see a miracle but most often we refuse to hear the voice of Christ Calling us not to give up and to try again. This voice can come from anywhere and can be that of a total stranger. The most important is not where the voice is from or who owns the voice but rather how we react to the voice. Let's note that the people in the boat didn't know who was talking neither did they know who he was but they listened to his voice and they obeyed.  They had nothing to lose since they were already in the water and they cast their nets.  This simple act of obedience won for them a net full of fish and crowned all the efforts they had done all night.
Often times, we just need a little push and direction to attain success but our frustrations and fears, our doubts and pains stop us from reaching the point of success. We do not need to see before we obey, we do not need to know who is giving the order before we obey all we need is to know that what we are being asked to do is for our good and is not impossible. God will never ask us to do the impossible but will always call us to go the extra mile to put in a little more effort. That little effort isn't always our initiative but that of Christ and it's fructification comes from the fact that Christ blesses it and rewards us for obeying him.  Today let's learn how to obey the voice of Christ who speaks to us in various ways and at different places and through different people.
The first reading blows a stronger whistle when the apostles affirm that the Holy Spirit is given to those who OBEY GOD. Obedience gives us a lot and opens us to God's blessings and also to his Spirit. So I say obey God.
When we obey God and he blesses us,  we still have one more thing to do and that's to give him back all that he has given us. Most of what we receive is still to be processed and refined for a better use.  The apostles obeyed God and caught a huge number of fishes but then they needed to struggle to draw the blessings to themselves. When they got to the shore, the Lord had a more perfect version of the blessing and ready for use and to receive the ready blessing, we have to bring back the one He has given us so that he refines it and perfects it.  The Lord had fish already ready on the charcoal fire but he called the apostles to bring the ones they have caught and in return he gave them that which was ready. We too have received many gifts from God but some of us don't get the blessings because we do not accept to pull them out of the place where they are.  Some of us will see the blessings and let them go because we won't accept to do the little sacrifices that come With the blessings. The apostles had to haul the net in. We too have to fight and pull down the obstacles to our blessings and haul in our blessings. But for us to do that we have to struggle through the hardship standing between us and the blessings. And when we have hauled in the blessings, let's hand them back to God who alone can better refine them and make them suit us. No one can better teach us how to use what we have than he who gave it to us.  The gifts we have Received came from someone and he who gave us is calling us to rebring them to him so that he can refine them and make them fit for our well-being. All that the Lord has given us let's take them back to him and he shall perfect them for us.
Another interesting things in today's readings is the profession of love. And today the Lord God is asking us all;  do u love me more than all these others do?  I know we all will profess our love for God and say we love him but his question is not whether or not we love but the extend to Which we love him. How much do you love me?  That's the question the Lord is asking us.  Is your love for me greater than the love of others or do you love me just as others do? Loving God is not a formality but a necessity for grwoth and transformation of life.  Peter understood that having a particular love for God will lead him to places that might be fatal for him. He surely recalled how his zealous love led him to the denial and to the risk of death.  When Christ asked him about the depth of his love,  Peter only professed a brotherly love and Christ questioned him about sacrificial love, Peter remained on brotherly love with all assurance. This didn't stop Christ from reminding him that even brotherly love requires sacrifices and pains.  We are invited to step up our love for Christ and to accept the persecutions that come with it. When one decides to love Christ particularly,  others point to him as being this or that. Some even ridicule you, others torment you and torture you.  This makes alot of people to hide their Christian identify and follow the crowd so that they don't appear different. But today Christ is telling us not be scared of all this but to excel in love for him and loving him more than others do.  It is by loving him more and more than he gives himself to us and makes us guardians with him over our brothers and sisters.
Let's today choose to obey the voice of Christ above that of the world and to give up our fears for the glory of his name.  The world will condition us and try to limit us but we must choose whom to obey either the invisible voice of Christ or the bright and attractive but also intimidating looks of the world. The apostles told the council that it's better to obey God than man. We too must choose to obey the Lord and not the world and when the world starts fighting us we must hold onto the love we have for him and stand firm. May our good God strengthen us in his love and care and make us love him sacrificially and obey him.
In Corda Matris 

Be patient and perseverant

Date: 6 Dec 2019
Subject: Today's meditation

First reading Isaiah 29:17-24
Psalms 27
Gospel Matthiew 9:27-31


The two blind men who followed Jesus only got healed when they entered the house.

We too during this advent season are called not to give up but to persevere on the way of Christ until we arrive the place he has prepared for us. It is there that he will grant us all that we hoped for and all that we believe. Whatever we believe and hope for and are sure he can do he will do it for us.

It's a message of perseverance and of patience. They called upon him on the road and begged him to heal them but he didn't and kept going on. Many of us on this journey of faith have been praying and begging God for one thing or the other but the solution has not reached us. Some because of the situation have derailed and gone off tract.  Many have stopped following Christ because he hasn't answered them.
But today God is asking us to keep walking until we enter the house of God where he will listen to us and grant us all that we have hoped, believed and prayed for.

The psalmist encourages us who persevere not to be afraid because we shall see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living. Many have often asked this question in their pain: when will God answer me? is it when am death? Today's psalm says no we shall see his goodness in the land of the living but we have to be strong and wait for the Lord Jesus and be strong. And those who do that shall not die but we shall live to declare the goodness he will show us. The kind of blessings described in the first reading where he shall not only bless us but shall take away our shame and destroy the cause of it taking away the wickedness around us and granting us long life.  This is the kind of blessing the Lord is coming with and he will bless all who wait above expectations and will show them his goodness as he did to the two blind men.
A kind of goodness that nothing will be able to stop us from proclaiming it.  The blimdmen contrary to the warning of Christ couldn't keep their mouths shut but went around saying what marvels the Lord has done for them.
May God give us the grace to keep following him everyday as we journey towards the place of his dwelling where he shall bless us and meet all our expectations.

Come Lord Jesus Christ

---
In Corda Matris 

Divine promises and human frailty: why OUR prayers are withheld

Common is it to hear along the path and other sites numerous recriminations against our God. Many accuse him of being blind to their predicaments and others again of being deaf to their cries and prayers. They paint an image of a God who is deaf, dumb and blind and who shows little or no concern to their predicaments. On the other hand, we read and have biblical knowledge of God whose perfect definition is love (1 John 4:8), who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son for its salvation (John 3:16) and who promised to be with us always (Matthew 28:20). At this point we are faced with the question of fidelity (who isn’t doing what the right way). From an objective point of view one can notice the fact that beyond the number of those who recriminate against God there are numerous others who rejoice in the abundant blessings got from our God. God in his infinite goodness and constant love has promised and like his Word confirms it, he “watches his words to accomplish it” (Jeremiah 1:12) implying he cannot fail. The sacred writer of the letter to the Hebrews affirms that “he is the same yesterday today and tomorrow and he never changes”. He is the same God today who performed all the miracles in the past generations and still the same who promised to answer when we call unto him in prayer (Isaiah 58:9). The one who said “if you ask anything in my name I will do it” and who affirms that with Him “all things are possible” (Mark 10:27).  But then why do our prayers remain unanswered when he promised to answer them? Many at times, the breach comes from us and our weaknesses. A number of things can prevent us from experiencing the goodness of God in our lives. When we step out of the presence of God, it becomes difficult for us to experience the blessings of God. It’s true that God still sees us but because we aren’t where he placed us, it becomes difficult for us to receive all that he pours out. When God walked in the Garden of Eden to visit Adam and Eve he noticed they weren’t at the usual meeting point and that prompted the famous “Man where are you?” question. Same goes for all who have walked away from the place where God placed them. They may say good prayers but because they are off-track, the answers doesn’t reach them. It is in this light that the Sacred writer urges the believers not to “forsake the gathering of the saint” (Hebrew 10:25). Someone may be doing all that is required of a Christian but because he left his original track (his first love) his prayers might not receive the required response. St John in his Apocalypse paints the picture of a community that is faithful and suffers for Christ but yet Christ had a reproach against them “the loss of their love” (Apocalypse 2:2-5). This situation often gets worst when the separation is caused by sin. SIN is one of the things that makes our prayers turn around. We might pray and fast but God will be far from our prayers. God is neither deaf nor short to rescue us but our sins separate us from him (Isaiah 59:1-3). Sin is a capital impediment that prevents our prayers from getting favourable responses and this is so because when a sinner stretches his hands to pray the Lord closes his eyes and the more he prays the more the Lord refuses to listen (Isaiah 1:15). The eyes of God are too holy to behold sin (Habakkuk 1:13) and that’s why St Paul says let the men lift up holy hands. Holiness is very important in the process of prayer and expectation from God. Closely linked to sin is unforgiveness as well as all the other vices that directed towards the neighbour. You cannot expect God to do unto you what you refuse to do unto others who look unto you. To receive you have to give and as you give God does same to you (Luke 6:38). This goes a long way to say that we need to put away every vice related to selfishness so that we can have our prayers answered. Another thing which is not the least is the MOTIVE behind our prayer. One can be a faithful Christian and obey all the commandments but still have his prayers unanswered. Such may happen because the motive behind his prayer is bad (James 4:3). St James sounds it loud that you can pray for something and do not get it because of a bad motive. Beyond all these reason there is a very common one known as DOUBT. Doubt is the contrary of faith and praying in doubt is preparing not to receive anything from God (James 1:6-7). People who doubt are indirectly telling God they aren’t sure he is able to answer them or do it for them. And it should be noted that anything that does not come from faith is sin (Romans 14:23). Eradicating doubts in prayers become an imperative for a favourable answer. Doubts are very common in our lives and they grow in there and very few people give concern to them; but in actual fact they are the highest hinderers of our prayers. Several other things may act as a hindrance to the answering of our prayers but no matter what they are, it should be noted that they hail from our human weaknesses and frailty. We can always work them out or even eradicate them so that our relationship with God can be beautified and made fluent so that we can drink from the rivers of his pleasure and see light in his light (Psalms 36:9-10).    
In Corda Matris
  Friar SOH AARON. llc