Daily Reflections

September 12, 2011
With God, We Can!

For the Lord to be amazed at the faith of someone is already amazing. For that someone to be a centurion, a pagan is doubly amazing. The Lord pointed out that He had never seen such kind of faith in Israel. Israel should be the one exhibiting such faith, but the irony was that His chosen people were the ones rejecting Him. The centurion showed true faith by telling Jesus, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed!”
Sometime in August 2004, our parish church was burned down. The task of rebuilding the church was not a question. The question was how. How should it look, how will the funds be obtained, and so on. Funding specifically was a challenge to our faith. But that is the point of faith — to believe and trust in God in a situation like this. Trust and faith I gave. Trust and faith our faithful gave! During a fundraising dinner concert, the orchestra played to everyone’s enjoyment. In the middle of our dinner, it drizzled. We didn’t have a tent cover because we hoped that it would not rain. There were some who stood to find a place to protect them from the rain. But many stayed. I found myself bowed in prayer to God, to Mother Mary and to our patron, St. Alphonsus. I was resigned to it in case it was God’s will that the event be aborted.The orchestra continued playing and the music provided the musical score to my prayer. But I had a deep faith that the event would not be aborted. Suddenly the rain stopped. Everybody went back to their seats and the orchestra played more loudly as it approached the end of the piece it was playing. Everybody rejoiced.
We held many other events to raise funds for our church. Each time, we had to rely on God to help us. Each time, we summoned the guidance of Mother Mary and St. Alphonsus. This has become a refrain in all of those events.
Life is like any fundraising event — never without God’s presence and assistance. God has made us capable of achieving great things. But we cannot be completely on our own. Our dependence on God is absolute. Our faith should guarantee that. Without Him, we can do nothing. Fr. Benny Tuazon

Reflection Question:
Recall the times when your faith has been tested. How did you fare?

Lord, increase my faith.

St. Peter Paul of St. Claire, pray for us.