Finding What Is Lost

𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘 𝟏𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓. 𝐊𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈 𝐓𝐄𝐊𝐀𝐊𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐀, 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐄𝐱𝐨 𝟏:𝟖-𝟏𝟒, 𝟐𝟐

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟐𝟒:𝟏, 𝟑-𝟒, 𝟔-𝟖 “𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟏𝟎:𝟑𝟒-𝟏𝟏:𝟏

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “…𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕.” (𝒗.39) 

         By this time Jesus was already on a fast-track mode and he had to use a methodology that was not only effective but something in which the Jews are very familiar with. This is the use of parables (stories that the people of his time are familiar with) and he needed to be concise, direct to the point, sincere and honest in the three years that he must complete his ministry before he goes through his passion and death in obedience to the Father’s Will.

         Take for example this spoken record of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel which may discourage many who have professed their desire to follow the Son of God. Others will probably even ask if Jesus really spoke these words.

         But this was precisely what he said, and this is also what he is telling us now. Conflict and differences will always arise and create divisions not only in the family but even in the society that we live in whenever a cause or an issue surface.

          Not content with the RH Law that was passed during the tenure of the late President Noynoy Aquino, today’s legislators are now proposing some pieces of legislation that seek to legalize divorce and same-sex marriage. All these pending bills have divided not only the Philippine Congress but the nation as well and even the Filipino families that inhabit the only remaining bastion of Catholicism and Christianity in Asia.

         The fact that these types of legislation which are immoral in nature have been passed as in the case of the RH Law and those pending are being debated upon in the legislature also show the decline of morality and religiosity even among the leaders of the country. That the proponents of such pieces of legislation would go to the extent of violating the Philippine Constitution itself, specifically: Sec. 12, Art. II which states: “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.” has now become a cause of major concern.

          There is also another battle that we need to fight if we are to follow Jesus and gain the eternal life that He has promised. We need to fight our own personal wars, conflicts with our own set of priorities, biases, preferences and even, in the kind of lifestyle that we pursue. We need to give up on our vices, our habits that are attached to the material world around us, immoral tendencies that tend to impair our relationship with God.

          We need to extend forgiveness to those who may have wronged us without any conditionality even if it will go against our own beliefs and perceptions. We need to approximate our words with action. We cannot displease God by just keeping our mouths shut and do nothing against this travesty of our religious tradition, but we cannot also just speak and talk about it and not do anything about it.

         In other words, faith cannot just be learned. It must be lived and only by sharing this faith can it be a complete profession of loyalty to God. What Jesus Christ expects from us is that we must do what we preach which means we must be where the action is.

          In our life, there are conflicts and storms that will pass us by, and we need to either ride these storms or sink in it. Storms may vary. It may be the loss of a loved one. Losing our job at a time when schools are about to open. Financial losses. Floundering business. Failed relationship. Sickness.

         You name it, storms come in different forms and shapes. But if you are open to the presence and promptings of the Holy Spirit, you will realize that these storms are what will strengthen your relationship with God for only when you lose your life that Christ will help you find it.

         Indeed He came into the world not only to divide our families, our society but even our own nature and these are the kinds of warfare that we need to fight because when Jesus reveals Himself to us, we are given the choice whether to accept Him or to deny Him and this battle will always be raging in the lives of those whom He has called.

         When the Lord called me in 1989, I was living it up with a successful trading business and I was also on top of my career as a media practitioner. I was on a first name basis with high government officials and even with the presidents of financial institutions with whom I dealt with as a broker of government securities and debt instruments. With a cellular phone which was relatively a new technology in those days, I closed business deals in the golf course if not in coffee shops where I usually hold office.

          I wore signature clothes, dined in five-star hotels, drove a Lincoln Continental, a Ford Mustang, and a Chevy Malibu. I was on a roll. I loved to go against the traffic on a one-way street if only to prove that I can get away with it. I used my position in the Media as a leverage. And there wasn’t anything or anyone could do. I had the proper connections with the military and the police.

         I was in this kind of situation when Jesus found me. Then out of the blue it happened. Me and my spouse were invited to the Marriage Encounter Weekend in September of 1989 and we attended the Life in the Spirit Seminar in November of that same year and the rest is history.

          I soon resigned from the Media and stopped my involvement in the financial brokerage business the moment that I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior and to this day, I can now say with conviction in my heart that I am glad that God may not have come in peace but He gave me the sword that I was able to use to fight my own battle.

          Now, 36 years after Jesus found me, I have never missed a single beat in our life in the renewal. We served as Servant Leaders for the Formation Apostolate of the Community, and we have been invited to facilitate teachings in other parishes and communities. At the end of the day, we simply say yes and go where we are sent.

           And everywhere we go, we could feel His power and we don’t think we would be doing what we are doing now had not Jesus found me and my spouse in 1989 and had I not decided to fight the evil that pervaded in my past life.

          But the Gospel is also a divider of people, and we see this in 𝐯𝐯.𝟑𝟒-𝟑𝟗. Christ is the Prince of Peace, and the Gospel is the message of peace, but when people confess Christ, they usually make enemies. While I may not have exactly made enemies when I gave my life to Christ, my lifestyle changed dramatically. My circle of friends also changed as I disdained the kind of life I lived when I was soaked in the world.

          Christ separates and makes the strongest natural ties of family and friends less important, and Christians cannot serve Christ without taking up the cross which means being crucified to self and bearing his reproach. To save our lives means we must lose it, but to lose our lives for His sake means to save it.

          While we may no longer be important to the world we have left behind, 𝐯𝐯.𝟒𝟎-𝟒𝟐 shows the importance of the servant of Christ. As servants, we become the representatives of Christ and to reject the servant is to reject Christ (𝟐 𝐂𝐨𝐫 𝟓:𝟐𝟎). We should be encouraged to know that we represent the King of kings and that He remains by our side as we serve Him. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘺 14, 2025)