letter from KERYGMA

Dear napz,

Prepare For Love! Valentines is coming in two weeks?and your special someone (parents and friends too) will be happy you remembered. Make reservations. Prepare a surprise. A tiny gift. A little extra. I?m sure it?ll show big love.
Celebrate God's love through His Word for you this Sunday!

Praying for you,

Bo Sanchez

my horoscope today

The Bottom Line

Start putting more effort into your career today. Get some face time with your boss.

In Detail

Start putting more effort into your career today -- don't be afraid or act out of panic. Just take care of business the right way and don't waste time socializing at the water cooler. You think you have everything totally under control, and you probably do. But there are always bigger goals to reach for and you need to be ready for them. Touch base with your boss about how things are going overall. Show them that you take an interest in the bigger picture, not just your own situation.

Horoscope (July 8, 2008)

The Bottom Line
People who usually don't always see things your way suddenly agree with you, today.

In Detail
Today, things will seem topsy-turvy when the people who usually don't see things your way suddenly agree with everything you say. And the people you can always trust to be in your corner are now questioning your suggestions! Have you changed, or has everyone else? Well, odds are, you are the one who is coming around to a new way of thinking. You are learning how important it is for you to understand your audience. To win people over, you have to think like them.

GOOD VS. EVIL

The demons… came out and entered the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea where they drowned. – Matthew 8:31-32

I know someone who was involved in illegal black market trading. He would earn hundreds of thousands, sometimes even a million, in a day. Then one day, he was swindled out of all his earnings.

I also know a gang leader whose expertise was painful extortion. When things got complicated, he moved on to being a bigtime drug dealer. He was caught and is now scheduled to face a firing squad in China. In both instances, we can clearly see that evil begets evil and the end is always total destruction.

On the other hand, goodness begets goodness and, by nature, it creates rather than destroy. If goodness creates and evil destroys ad infinitum, guess which will come out the winner for eternity?Now the next question is: Which side do you want to be on?

REFLECTION:

Choose the path that leads to life, not destruction.

“AND THE WINNER IS...”

“For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.” – Matthew 7:2

Simon Cowell from American Idol may be blunt (or too blunt!) when he criticizes performances for two reasons: (1) He’s the producer of the show and he’s the boss, and; (2) He knows that the tables won’t be turned and that he won’t be judged in the Jesus speaks to the Pinoy Big Brother, Starstruck — Next Level, and American Idol judges of his time named Pharisees. He tells them: “You are not the boss, God is. And tables will surely turn. You will be judged with the same measure....”

“Mom, who are we to judge?” asked my 10-year-old daughter Frances. True. We are not judges and it’s not our business. We can be judges, though, of ourselves. Turning the tables now and asking the real Judge for a “pre-trial” assessment is most helpful while there’s time for “appeals.” Whether we like it or not, time will come when we will face Jesus Himself. This time, impressions and popularity won’t matter, and text votes don’t count. What matters is how we have lived our Christian life doing His will.

REFLECTION:

When was the last time you had a “pre-trial assessment” called confession? Do it now

BEARING FRUIT

“So by their fruits you will know them.” – Matthew 7:20

It is said that when you squeeze a lemon, what you get is lemonade. When you squeeze an orange, what you get is orange juice. But when you squeeze a Christian, what do you get?
Trials, crisis, misfortunes — they are a part of our lives. No one gets through life unscathed. What differentiates one from the other is how we take life’s adversities. Do we resist them or do we welcome them as opportunities for growth? Do we harness our strengths or are we weakened by our weaknesses?The mark of a true Christian is if we can still see Christ in our setbacks.Five years ago, we lost our mother. Her illness up to her death had been a trying time for all of us — we were squeezed hard, so to speak.
The experience left some scars but they enlarged my heart to take in the pain of another. By God’s grace, my mother’s death bore some good fruit in me: inner strength, compassion, fortitude.

REFLECTION:

When trials come, what fruit comes out of you? Is it good or rotten?