It Doesn't Taste Like Coffee

Ave Maria:)

 Oh the  comings and goings in our life...

a Filipino priest  fresh from his overseas stint in Norway came like blazing fire..how good the Lord is..

how timely, this priest's visit.. we all need that occassional jolt, someone to knock us out of any actual or threatening complacencies or spiritual sluggishness. Last thing you need is someone sharing about the Good News but in a robotic , half-hearted or flimsy way.

We are sometimes tempted to claim: "But I'm doing my job..I have not deserted my post.. I'm still God's little worker.. without knowing our hearts have grown oh so cold , weary ..blase.

The Lord's antidote when we fall into that death trap of coldness and weariness is believe it or not: a healthy dose of good ole' trials: Big and small... sometimes one after the other, or one Big, intense Unforgettable , unbearable trial /problem/ challenge/ suffering ---  where you really rise up, all senses awakened, rubbing your physical and spiritual eyes -- the better to SEE WHAT IN GOD'S NAME IS HAPPENING  in your life?And the better to hold onto your GOD.

,that is God in His infinite wisdom -- He knows when to send us wake-up calls..He does it not because He is cruel or He wants to play around with us, He does it to save us...He loves us!

Fr. Red gave a reflection on Colossians 1:15 -20............. this is a passage  that says it all as to the purpose and importance of Jesus Christ. When we wonder why our work or testimony for the Lord lacks power... when our efforts to evangelize boomerang or fall like a dud... when negativities overcome us so easily..and we don't even bother to put up a fight, it could be becoz we forget --- or we never fully  understood who Jesus is and what He has done for us. In fact He continues to hold all of creation in His Hands

Have you tried making coffee .. you have your coffee-maker, the sugar, the cream... boiling water.. cups and saucers.. but you forgot the coffee itself. then you will not have that coffee drink will you.

Or we hear questions like, how did this person turn out this way, he went to a Catholic /Christian school..  ? why is this priest/pastor/lay leader obnoxious.. so full of himself, so heavy-handed , so worldly, scaryyyy even .. why is it our religious community /organization is falling apart..eaten up by pettiness, adhering more to worldly methods than Christ's ways of doing things.  

All of the above is like making the coffee but without the coffee.

It is the same as we try to practise our Christian faith...searching how this faith can penetrate and sanctify our work , our families, our relationships, our principles, our very lifestyle --- we will not succeed if we donot have Christ in us. Knowing Him and submitting to Him...that is the core of the matter.

Will try to inject some of Fr. Red's sharings plus personal thoughts -- will also past a link to some videos of his talk

Colossians 1:15-20 His Person and Work

15^* He is the image^* of the invisible God,

the firstborn of all creation.^h

^{Fr. Red : Ever noticed how in other religions  , it is the people who exert all their efforts to find and grow close to their GOD? But in Christanity..Wonder of wonders..it is GOD Himself to finds the most radical way to be with us.. to be like us... thru Jesus, God has humbled Himself , the Creator joining His Creation  : This is the power then of JESUS and His eternal call to all who desire to serve Him.."Be humble for I am humble..."}

^{the greatest weapon of Jesus against satan was not  mere might ... but his humility!}

^{Hence if we want to taste the same power vested in Jesus by the Father, we must learn how to be humble..and to grow in humility each passing day.}

16For in him^* were created all things in heaven and on earth,

the visible and the invisible,

whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;

all things were created through him and for him.ⁱ

17He is before all things,

and in him all things hold together.

It is Jesus who repairs all of mankind's wrongdoings, it is Jesus who raises us up from the mire of sin and presents us to the Father , restored, holy, without blemish. It is Jesus who gives meaning to all of Creation, which prodigal man insistently destroys and abuses on a daily, hourly basis. What we recklessly throw away , Jesus lovingly gathers and claims back for us. 

If only we could be more grateful to Him. If only we'd pay greater homage to Him than the powers we percieve in this world, whether they be men, riches , glories or ideologies. They donot add an minute to our life, ONLY CHRIST DOES. Yet we foolishly bother with them. Be careful who you bow to.

18He is the head of the body, the church.^*

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,

that in all things he himself might be preeminent.^j

^{Oh  that the leaders of our church from religious to lay leaders realize  the manner they lead the faithful. Jesus led by example and all the way to the cross..while we who attempt to lead unwittingly imitate more the Pharisees reeking with hypocrisy and double standards.}

^{Fr. Red.:  learn from the gospel parable about New wine not fit for old wineskins... if Christ  and the New Life and Salvation He offers be the new wine, our hearts the wineskins must be new as well --- for if we insist on mixing the old life with the new --- we'd burst...!}

^{Fr. Red: Faith and Life must be so joined together, not one over the other... for if our life and faith are apart then we'd be living Double Standards... and he who lives a double standard cannot evangelize at all.}

^{Phewwww, whatta knock-out punch if there ever was one.}

19For in him all the fullness^* was pleased to dwell,

20and through him to reconcile all things for him,

making peace by the blood of his cross^*

[through him], whether those on earth or those in heaven.^k

^{Let us be grateful that the Lord thinks we're good enough to be His foot soldiers, His messengers, His instruments  of reconciliation... it is not for us to worry about our inadequacies, our role is to simply repent of our sins daily, daily, daily and  Believe in Christ's Redeeming Love .... to cooperate with the Holy Spirit whose job is to purify and prepare us to be Christ's living tools.}

^{We never envisioned ourself to be hammers or chisels or saws... that can mold an ugly thing into a beautiful creation, but as Jesus is the Carpenter of all Seasons, we'd be wise to allow Him to hold us in His hands and to lay us where He thinks we can get a job done. After all we are His tools for carving and molding not furniture but souls destined to live an eternity in heaven.!Hallelujah!}

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnV3MTLdrJ8 Christ's weapon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aauExECO0Ig Blazing Red

God bless us all......................................................................................te mye