The Real Treasure... LOVE

Inspired by John 12:1-11

"Judas, indeed had no concern for the poor; he was a thief and as he held the common purse, he used to help himself to the funds. But Jesus spoke up, 'Leave her alone. Was she not keeping it for the day of my burial? The poor you always have with you but you will not always have me'."

As I listened at the gospel reading, my initial reaction was, 'indeed Judas was really greedy for money'. I was therefore surprised with the opening salvo of the priest who gave the homily. "Before we cast judgment upon Judas let us first understand that he was one of the twelve apostles carefully chosen by Jesus. Jesus believed in him. Jesus saw his potential. He must have been a good person at the start."

I remembered how Jesus spent the whole night in prayer and communion with the Father before he chose the twelve apostles among his many disciples. Judas for sure was one of the disciples. He was one of those who believed in Jesus that is why he was closely following Jesus and became one of the candidates to become an apostle.

The priest further elaborates, "however, in his life he made a lot of bad decisions. When entrusted with the funds, he even went to as far as stealing from it. And later, we know that he indeed sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver and his life ended in tragedy.

For our part, Jesus believes in our potential as well. He sees the goodness in us. May we learn to make the right decisions and the right choices in our lives. May we become like Mary who always make the right choice."

I realized that this was the same Mary whom Jesus commended for choosing the right thing when she opted to sit and listen to Jesus while Martha complained of how much work she had to do and was not being assisted by Mary. Mary simply did these things out of love and gratitude in her heart. I think this is what makes Mary an extraordinary disciple of Jesus. She was simply moved by love for Jesus so that even the actions that were judged as "inappropriate" (sitting at the foot of Jesus while others were busy serving the Lord and wasting her money on expensive perfume to anoint the Lord's feet instead of giving it to the poor) were justified. She was justified by love.

Apparently all our actions on earth will only be judged by LOVE. All the efforts we make in doing "good things" like building an orphanage, preaching to the people, organizing different ministries may be viewed as mere shadows if all these things are done not out of love but merely out of obligation to fulfill ones Christian duties. The woman who does nothing but simply stares at the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament with much love in her heart may come out more justified than the one who gave money to the poor with a grudge in her heart. No wonder St. Paul speaks with so much passion about LOVE as the greatest gift of all other gifts in 1 Corinthians 13: 1-3. He stresses that speaking the language of men and even of angels, that inspired preaching, that knowledge and the ability to understand all secrets, even the faith to move mountains, giving away everything and even giving up the body to be burned is of little value in God's sight if the person has no love.

St. Paul then exhorts on how to have LOVE in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7. The practice of the following will bring more good on earth than the practice of all other gifts mentioned above:

Be patient.

Be kind.

Do not be jealous.

Do not be conceited or proud.

Do not be ill-mannered, selfish or irritable.

Do not keep a record of wrongs.

Do not be happy with evil. Be happy with the truth.

Do not give up on people. Continue to believe and to hope and to be very patient with people.

That is LOVE.

At the end of our lives, our works of inspired messages, the gifts of speaking in strange tongues, our gifts of knowledge will all cease. Only LOVE remains and will stand before the throne of God. Only with LOVE will we be justified in the eyes of God.

The Gold Coin

Inspired by Luke 19:11-27

"I was afraid of you because you are a hard man...."

"You know that I am a hard man, taking what is not mine and reaping what I have not planted. Well, why then didn't you put my money in the bank? Then I would have received it back with interest when I returned.... Take the gold coin away from him and give it to the servant who had ten coins... I tell you, that to every person who has nothing, even the little that he has will be taken away from him."

Fear is the biggest obstacle to prosperity. The man paralyzed by fear will even fail to judge with his common sense. The man in the gospel was filled with so much fear for the master who gave him the gold coin that he simply buried the coin. He forgot the instruction of the master before he left, "See what you can earn with this while I am gone." The master strictly instructed that he earn something from that single coin but because of fear, his thought was stuck to simply returning the gold coin to the master.

At a glance, one would immediately see the significance of the gospel reading in terms of finances. Indeed, if you want your money to earn... you must invest what little you have instead of keeping it in a mere savings account where the interest rate is not enough to offset the inflation rate. If you are afraid of risky investments like the stock market or real estate, then at least have the common sense to put your money in the most conservative of all investments... high-interest time deposits or retail treasury bonds. You are assured of not losing your principal and you know how much you will earn every period. Otherwise, what little money you have in your savings account will eventually be gone because it will be very accessible to you due to the presence of ATM cards and automatic debit cards. Have the common sense to put it somewhere less accessible and with higher earning potential.

But there is another view into this gospel. All of us are gifted at the very least with a single skill, a single talent, a single opportunity. However, each deals with this skill, talent or opportunity in different ways. Some deny the existence of such skill, talent and opportunity. That is the most pathetic of all. Others would take an effort to discover, improve and develop that talent or skill further in order to benefit not only themselves but also other people. And from there, they soon learn that the skill and talent have the capacity to multiply to create more opportunities for themselves. Still others would simply remain timid and keep the skill and talent to himself for fear that people will not value that skill or talent. Such fear keeps him paralyzed and stagnant. Year after year, there is no improvement. Sooner or later, he will find himself not only stagnating but also deteriorating. What was given to him is now being taken away from him.

If you do not use something, it will atrophy. Just like the muscles of your body, if you do not walk and run but instead just remain in bed, after a year or two, your leg muscles will degenerate. It will reduce in size and will eventually weaken until you lose the ability to walk. Therefore it is very important to know yourself, your skills, talents and abilities so you would know how to invest in these and maximize your potentials to the full so you can live a full and abundant life.

Wealth Behind Tithing

Inspired by Luke 11:42

"How terrible for you Pharisees! You give to God one tenth of the seasoning herbs such as mint and rue and all the other herbs, but you neglect justice and love for God. These you should practice, without neglecting the others."

When I attended the mass in Mount Carmel, I was elated that Fr. Arnie started talking about tithing and he explained that for the 10% tithe, we should give 5% to the parish or church we belong to and the remaining 5% to our charity of choice. And he commended the members of the basic ecclesial communities who are indigents for their practice of tithing. I think it is about time that tithing should be properly explained to all Christians especially Catholics. We are actually depriving ourselves of God's abundance by not making this practice known to many. This is one of the keys to prosperity and yet we are not propagating this practice.

It is clear from what Jesus said that tithing is an essential part of our spiritual life. Though it is not the be-all and end-all, it should be practiced along with the other Christian values. When he criticized the Pharisees, he did not say 'stop giving tithes,' instead He said, 'these you should practice, without neglecting the others --- love and justice'.

In the Book of Malachi 3:8-12 God says, "I ask you, is it right for a person to cheat God? Of course not, yet you are cheating me. 'How?' you ask. In the matter of tithes and offerings. A curse is on all of you because the whole nation is cheating me. Bring the full amount of your tithes to the Temple, so that there will be plenty of food there. Put me to the test and you will see that I will open the windows of heaven and pour out on you in abundance all kinds of good things. I will not let insects destroy your crops, and your grapevines will be loaded with grapes. Then the people of all nations will call you happy, because your land will be a good place to live."

This is the only verse in the bible wherein God allows His people to put Him to the test. And so when I started the practice of tithing, I did just that... put Him to the test. Every time I receive my professional fee, I automatically set aside 10% of that fee in an envelope marked tithing. That is where I get money for parish contributions, contributions to charitable institutions like UNICEF and the like, and contributions to people who are in need. It actually makes the act of giving easier because I know I have money in that tithing envelope to give to whoever needs the help. And God in His part fulfills His promise. Whenever I give a tithe, it comes back to me tenfold, even a hundredfold. So I force myself to tithe especially when I am most in need of money, so I can receive the fulfilment of His promise. And He never fails.

There were however instances when I felt I was not receiving the blessings that He promised. Then when I looked at the envelope, I realized that money had already accumulated in the envelope. I have failed to let go of the tithe. Then I realized that the sooner you give the tithe, the earlier you will be 'repaid' for it. As long as it is in your keeping, you are also keeping the gates of blessing from being poured on you.

I think it is about time that tithing should be properly explained to everyone in order to give everyone the chance to be financially blessed. Try it.