RELIGIOUS
24
Wisdom from
the Word
Ben Berto
The heavens keep telling the
wonders of God, and the skies
declare what he has done. 2 Each day
informs the following day; each night
announces to the next. 3 They don’t
speak a word and there is never the
sound of a voice. 4 Yet their message
reaches all the earth, and it travels
around the world Psalms 19: 1-4 CEV
Whitehorse, Yukon Territory,
Canada, March 27-28, 2019
Out in the cabin in a mountain
outside Whitehorse, at half past 11,
God was displaying His artistry in the
heaves which could not be duplicated
by the best human artists. In Psalms
19: 1-4 CEV, the psalmist King David
exclaims, “The heavens keep telling
the wonders of God, and the skies
declare what he has done.2 Each day
informs the following day; each night
announces to the next. 3 They don’t
speak a word and there is never the
sound of a voice. 4 Yet their message
reaches all the earth, and it travels
around the world.”
In these two clear nights, the
stars also studded the heavens like
diamonds with varied sizes dwarfing
the biggest diamonds ever found on
earth. Alongside the ever-changing
display of the Aurora borealis, the
skies were lighted much like the
night one Christmas Eve more than
two thousand years ago. One song
begins with this line, “The heavens
resounding the Lord’s endless
glory”. Now and then the shooting
stars flashed through the myriads of
glittering heavenly bodies. “Is there
Moments
Fr. Jerry M. Orbos, SVD
The story is told about a little boy
who was asked: “Do you say a prayer
before meals?” The boy answered:
“No need.” When asked why, the little
boy’s confident answer was: “Because
my mother is a good cook!”
In today’s Gospel (John 8, 1-11),
we hear the beautiful story of how
Jesus saved from death by stoning
an adulterous woman, and how
Jesus showed her unconditional love
and forgiveness. Yes, we can all be
confident that our God is a good God,
no matter how unworthy we are!
There are people who, like the
Scribes and Pharisees, are righteous,
observe all the rules, say their
prayer before meals, etc. But the
problem with such people is that they
become self-righteous, judgmental,
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY April 1 - 15, 2019
IN QUEST OF THE AURORA BOREALIS
and end to the universe? The Big
Dipper and the Orion and the Pleiades
sped through their courses but they
looked quite motionless to the human
eyes of eight people that were there
while gazing at the changing display
of the Northern lights. They came
in greens, yellows, roses, pinks, and
many more colours.
Other activities of this quest
were a city tour of Whitehorse with
commentaries from the guide -driver
about the history of this gold-rush city,
a visit to the Yukon Wildlife Park to see
the fauna of Yukon, and an invigorating
dip in the Takhini Hot Springs which
were really hot. Whitehorse is a city
of 30,000 to thirty-five thousand, of
which are 5000 Filipinos. These are
our paisanos or kababayans who
can’t seem to like coming down
to Vancouver, in Beautiful British
Columbia.
To see the Aurora Borealis, you
don’t need to go to Iceland. You can
see it here in Canada. Patronize your
country if you are already a citizen or
a permanent resident.
Now to our Wisdom from the
Word. For these series, let us learn
from the wisdom that God gave to
King Solomon, known as the Proverbs.
“These are the proverbs of King
Solomon of Israel, the son of David
2 Proverbs will teach you wisdom and
self-control, and how to understand
sayings with deep meanings. 3 You
will learn what is right and honest and
fair. 4 From these, an ordinary person
can learn to be smart, and young
people can gain knowledge and good
sense. 5 If you are already wise, you
will become even wiser. And if you are
smart, you will learn to understand 6
proverbs and sayings, as well as words
of wisdom, and all kinds of riddles. 7
Respect and obey the Lord! This is
the beginning of knowledge.[a] Only a
fool rejects wisdom and good advice.
8 My child, obey the teachings of your
parents, 9 and wear their teachings
as you would a lovely hat or a
pretty necklace10 Don’t be tempted
by sinners or listen 11 when they say,
“Come on! Let’s gang up and kill
somebody, just for the fun of it! 12
They’re well and healthy now, but we’ll
finish them off once and for all. 13
We’ll take their valuables and fill our
homes with stolen goods. 14 If you
join our gang, you’ll get your share.”
15 Don’t follow anyone like that or
do what they do 16 They are in a big
hurry to commit some crime, perhaps
even murder. 17 They are like a bird
that sees the bait, but ignores the
trap.[b]
18 They gang up to murder
someone, but they are the victims.
19 The wealth you get from crime
robs you of your life. 20
Wisdom[c] shouts in the streets
wherever crowds gather. 21 She
shouts in the marketplaces and near
the city gates as she says to the
people,22 “How much longer will you
enjoy being stupid fools? Won’t you
ever stop sneering and laughing at
knowledge?
23
Listen as I correct you
and tell you what I think. 24 You
completely ignored me and refused
to listen; 25 you rejected my advice
and paid no attention when I warned
you. 26 “So when you are struck by
some terrible disaster 27 or when
trouble and distress surround you like
a whirlwind,
I will laugh and make fun. 28
You will ask for my help, but I won’t
listen, you will search,
but you won’t find me. 29 No,
you would not learn, and you refused
to respect the Lord.
30 You rejected my advice and
paid no attention when I warned
you.31 “Now you will eat the fruit
of what you have done, until
you are stuffed full with your own
schemes. 32 Sin and self-satisfaction
bring destruction and death to stupid
fools. 33 But if you listen to me, you
will be safe and secure without fear of
disaster.” Proverbs Ch. 1 CEV
When we put our trust in God
and make His Word, the Bible, as our
guide we will never go wrong and we
can have a life that is right and in favor
with God and man.
**********
For questions and Bible Studies,
call, Ben at 604 581 1278, JunJun at
778-927- 8040, and Pastor Leomar
Macaraig at 604 928 3579. The
Abundant Life Seventh-day Adventist
Church meets at the City Center
Church on 13062 104th Avenue,
Surrey on Saturdays. All are welcome
to attend.
Forgiven and loved
condescending. May the Lord deliver
us from spiritual pride and a sense of
entitlement. Please remember, no one
has a monopoly over righteousness.
We are all sinners. Period.
After Jesus bent down and wrote
on the ground, the accusers started
to leave one by one. Question: What
did Jesus write on the ground? Some
say that He enumerated the sins of
the accusers one by one, and made
them realize that they had no right
to throw stones at her. Good rule in
life: Stop, look and listen, before you
throw stones at others.
Someone once fumed: “There
are so many allegations against me.
I want to know who those alligators
are!” There are many “alligators”
around who find joy and meaning
in life by being on the lookout for
the faults and weaknesses of other
people. Alligators, by the way, attack
quietly, and from the back.
“Neither do I condemn you.”
How beautiful to hear these words
from Jesus! How consoling to know
that God’s mercy is so deep and so
wide, beyond human understanding
and imagining. Let us not give in to
discouragement and despair when we
fall and fail. We must believe and keep
on believing in God’s goodness and
love.
Whenever we go to confession,
we do not only affirm God’s goodness
and love. We affirm also our own
goodness and love. Don’t miss this
grace-filled opportunity to experience
God’s acceptance and embrace.
A person who has been given
much, must give much in return. A
person who has been forgiven much,
must also forgive much in return. Let
our constant prayer be: Lord, You
have forgiven me much. Help me to
humbly forgive others, and gratefully
love much in return. Amen.
Please remember that forgiveness
includes forgiveness of oneself. It
is sad that people who have been
forgiven by the Lord continue to feel
guilt and hopelessness. May we learn
to trust more in God’s mercy than in
our merits and achievements.
For those who are selective in
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loving, and judgmental of others, let
us listen to the Lord who tells us: “Just
love everyone now. I’ll do the sorting
later.”
We pray as we come toward
Holy Week: “May we abstain from
what we do not really need, and help
our brothers and sisters in distress”
(Intercession prayer, April 3, Breviary
evening prayer).
Inviting you this Palm Sunday
(April 14) to the Meralco Theater,
8 a.m.-1 p.m. Free admission. “My
Suffering is My Offering” is the theme
of this year’s recollection. Let us start
the Holy Week right. Let us listen to
God’s word, and join the Palm Sunday
Mass (live broadcast over PTV 4).
Think about this: “Never regret
being a good and nice person, even to
the wrong people. Your behavior says
everything about you. Their behavior
says everything about them.”
A moment with the Lord:
Lord, You have forgiven and loved
us much. Help us to forgive, too, and
love much. Amen. (jorbos@inquirer.
com.ph)