“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ~ Matthew 10:21-22
Merry Christmas brothers and sisters in Christ! Today is the second day of Christmas and the feast of Saint Stephen, a man who was filled with faith and Holy Spirit; who completely entrusted and submitted his self to the Lord. His suffering and strong faith to God is a great example of courage and faith that our Gospel speaks about today.
The disciples were warned by Jesus that by following Him they too may experience suffering and persecution. The disciples took the risk just to serve and follow Jesus and this only shows their complete trust and total surrender. But Jesus assured His disciples that the Holy Spirit will guide them and make them humble servants of the Lord.
The Gospel today reminds us to have faith in God and have the courage to face all life’s challenges and sacrifices all for the glory of our Lord. Like our fulltime missionaries in the community, they gave up their jobs just to serve God and lead other people from different places to be closer to the Lord. And during their missions, they too experience persecutions in various ways but God has filled them with the Holy Spirit and made them faithful and courageous.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, at times when we feel afraid and seem to fail, just remember that we have a great God that will help us. Let us surrender ourselves and keep our hearts faithful to the Lord like Saint Stephen, the disciples, and our fulltime SFC missionaries did. Once again, Merry Christmas!
10Q Bro.Nel for sharing!
ReplyDelete(Praise GOD ang daming sharer na brothers. . .more to come :)
Trully,it is when we deny ourselves we can feel the pain but glorifying GOD at the same time.
This morning I asked a friend, what do u do when u r sad or discouraged?
Eto ang reply nya.
"Pag sad ako, dumadaan ako sa St Marys church ng kakaunti lng ang tao.. Either early morning or late in the evening para kakaunti na lng ang mga tao..
Tpos pwede ka magmoment mag-isa dun, or umiyak.. Then tingnan mo lng si Jesus Christ sa harap ng altar .. Titigan mo lng sya.. Tpos kausapin mo sya tpos sabhin mo sa knaya
yun nararamdaman mo feeling at that moment.. (in silence). Msusurprise ka na lng, bago ka umalis ng church, medyo magaan na pakiramdam mo.."
Galing ni Lord. He speaks to us in amazing ways. ^_^
God bless !
Con
nice one Con
ReplyDeleteBert