RELIGIOUS
24
Wisdom from
the Word
Ben Berto
Behold what manner of love the
Father has bestowed on us, that we
should be called children of God![a]
Therefore the world does not know
us,[b] because it did not know Him. 2
Beloved, now we are children of God;
and it has not yet been revealed what
we shall be, but we know that when
He is revealed, we shall be like Him,
for we shall see Him as He is. 1 John
3: 1,2 NKJV
Ahead of us is what our friends
in the Roman Catholic Church call
as Holy Week. In it, many significant
events happened as prophesied in
the Scriptures. The Triumphal Entry,
the Betrayal and Arrest, A Kangaroo
Court Conviction, Crucifixion, and
Resurrection. All of these events must
take place to effect our Salvation. The
Passion of Jesus is described in Isaiah
53, but verses 4-6 is but a snippet of it
. “Surely He has borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed
Him stricken, Smitten by God, and
afflicted.5 But He was wounded for
our transgressions, He was bruised
for our iniquities; The chastisement
for our peace was upon Him, And
by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we
like sheep have gone astray; We have
turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the
Moments
Fr. Jerry M. Orbos, SVD
Someone said there is traffic
going to heaven. Why? Because the
way to heaven is a narrow and winding
stairway. On the other hand, there is
no traffic going to hell. Why? Because
the way to hell is an expressway, wide
and open for so many.
Today is Palm Sunday, the
beginning of Holy Week. This week
let us take time to step back, look
into our hearts and reflect on the
lives we are living and where we are
heading. May the passion, death, and
resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ
remind us that we, too, have a journey
to make, from death to life, that will
lead us to heaven, our home, our final
destination.
In today’s Gospel (Mk. 11, 1-
10), we hear of Jesus’ final entry to
Jerusalem. It was a triumphant entry,
that first Palm Sunday that led to His
passion and death on Good Friday,
and eventually ended victorious on
Easter Sunday.
We, too, are in a journey, and
there are three questions we might
want to ask ourselves this Holy Week.
The first is: “Am I living a good life?”
This question is not so much about
living a successful or a comfortable
life as about living a meaningful and
an involved life. Is the life I am living
now going to bring me to heaven
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY March 16 - 31, 2018
GOD’S AMAZING PLAN 3
iniquity of us all.”
Any one could read the whole
chapter at his or her leisure.
Let us now go back to our
topic about God’s Amazing Plan for
us. We were at the image of God
reserved for king and royalty. Let us
continue. “The Genesis narrative
emphasizes that God did not make
such distinctions. When God decided
to create mankind in His own image,
He did not make some people more
special than the others---He did not
separate them by hierarchy and
power. Every human being bears the
image of God. The royal language is
used for every child of God regardless
of status, caste, gender,or position in
society. You are a child of God! We are
his royal children.
“The concept of the image of
God is so special that it appears only
four times in the Jewish Scripture and
always in relation to the creation of
humankind( Gen. 1: 26, 27 ( 2x), 9:
6). The Hebrew verb ‘bara’ (create) is
is used only with God as the subject.
He creates children, male and female
(adam) in His image according to His
likeness. Each gender is given unique
characteristics that together make
a complete, comprehensive, and
complementary view of God. We are
all created in the image of God.
“Only the Biblical Creation
speaks of a God who serenely makes
man in His own image to be part of
His divine family. Only the Biblical
Creation rehearses the story of a
supreme Godhead who del