Philippine Asian News Today Vol 19 No 18 | Page 24

RELIGIOUS
24
Wisdom from
the Word
Ben Berto
He answered and said
to them, “When it is evening
you say, ‘It will be fair weather,
for the sky is red’; 3 and in
the morning, ‘It will be foul
weather today, for the sky
is red and threatening.’
Hypocrites![a] You know how
to discern the face of the sky,
but you cannot discern the
signs of the times. 4 A
wicked
and
adulterous
generation seeks after a
sign, and no sign shall be
given to it except the sign of
the prophet[b] Jonah.” And
He left them and departed.
Matthew 16: 2-3 NKJV
The Lord Jesus Christ
was teaching and healing the
people when the clerics of the
day, the priest, the Pharisees
and Sadducees, came to him,
demanding a sign to prove
that he was the Messiah.
They probably want a visible
and audible sign from the
Father, although they must
have heard His proclamation
at Jesus’ baptism. “This is
My Beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased” They did
not believe in Jesus in spite
of the signs and wonders
that he was performing. The
sick were healed, the dead
raised to life, and the evil
Moments
Fr. Jerry M. Orbos, SVD
The story is told about
an army general who arrived
in heaven and was given a
subdued welcome. The same
happened to a Marine general.
But when a police general
arrived, he was given a rousing
welcome complete with a
marching band. Grumbling, the
first two generals complained
to St. Peter about the glaring
difference. Whereupon St.
Peter said: “Let it be for now.
Let us celebrate, for this is
the first time a police general
made it here.”
In today’s Gospel (Mt.
20, 1-16), Jesus tells His
disciples: “Thus, the last will
be first, and the first will be
last.” Who indeed can know
the mind of God? And who are
we to impose upon God our
own standards and measures?
Let us stop complaining,
grumbling, and comparing
ourselves with others. Let us
focus on God, not on each
other, in our journey to His
heart.
Those
who
always
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY September 16 - 30, 2017
The Signs of the Times
spirits were cast out,
and the Good News
of the Kingdom was being
preached by the Lord Himself.
And they had the temerity to
say that Jesus is casting out
demons through the power of
Beelzebub or Satan himself.
And they still want a sign from
heaven!
In the past three
months, we have been witness
to successive hurricanes,
typhoons, earthquakes, wars
and rumours of wars. We have
seen the effects of the mighty
winds and earthquakes that
caused untold destruction,
misery and death. There has
been no end of wars. In Joel
3: 9-10 we read “Proclaim
this among the nations:
“Prepare for war! Wake up
the mighty men, Let all the
men of war draw near, Let
them come up.0 Beat your
plowshares into swords, and
your pruning hooks into
spears; Let the weak say,
‘I am strong.’” The rearming
of nations is growing by leaps
and bounds. Right now, “the
mice are roaring” (refer to
the movie, The Mouse That
Roared”, threatening the big
animals(nations or people).
People are starving in Africa
due to drought. People are
dying from epidemics of
AIDS, Malaria, Dengue, and
the mouse North Korea is
threatening the United States
with nuclear annihilation.
The weak are saying they
are strong. We still have a
war going on in our country,
not only against the Maute
Group, but also against
the Communist arm New
People’s Army. There is also
a war against drugs all over
the world in general and our
country in particular. The
president is determined to
win the war and there is a lot
of collateral damage. This
pains the heart of God, and
the Christians are crying, How
long O Lord?
These are all the signs
of the Lord’s coming. St. Paul
wrote to Timothy, his protégé,
about the last days. He said,
3 “But know this, that in the
last days perilous times will
come: 2 For men will be
lovers of themselves, lovers
of money, boasters, proud,
blasphemers,
disobedient
to
parents,
unthankful,
u n h o l y ,  3  u n l o v i n g ,
unforgiving,
slanderers,
without self-control, brutal,
despisers of good, 4 traitors,
headstrong, haughty, lovers
of pleasure rather than lovers
of God, 5 having a form of
godliness but denying its
power. And from such people
turn away!”  This why the
gospel is being preached to
these people because if they
listen and turn to the Lord
and let Him change their ways
to righteousness, the earth
will be lighted up in His glory
when He comes to redeem
His people from the clutches
of the Evil One, the Devil
who caused all the miseries
n this world. No person, no
matter how bad he or she is,
is beyond redemption. Jesus,
when talking with Nicodemus
in the night interview said,
“ For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but
have everlasting life.”
This is the Christians
hope, and this is why we
preach the Word because we
want every one to be saved.
Time will come when God
will finally close the door of
probation for all of us, just like
when He closed the door of
Noah’s Ark seven days before
the flood. He said, 11 “He who
is unjust, let him be unjust
still; he who is filthy, let him be
filthy still; he who is righteous,
let him be righteous[a] still;
he who is holy, let him be
holy still.”12 “And behold, I
am coming quickly, and My reward is with