God’s Love Doesn’t Fade

AMID RESISTANCE AND the fight for liberation, we must be humble, seek God’s mercy and love, and be willing to learn from one another. We cannot go around virtue signaling while believing we have no shortcomings.

This month’s reflections focus on repentance. I seek to confess and repent. Not with false humility or performative self-deprecation, but to be genuinely self-critical as I examine my conscience. The passages from Jeremiah and the psalms tremendously help with reorienting ourselves and our moral compass toward God. The New Testament readings strengthen us to continue doing the godly and righteous work of the Spirit. Luke reminds us that following Christ is challenging and that we are often lost due to our sins. The writer of 1 Timothy extends an invitation to repent.

We are continuously called to heal the wounds of our neighbors (and ourselves). Economic injustice creates many wounds for the poor as well as the rich. Luke’s gospel challenges us to reorient our relationship with money and economic systems in radical ways. We have heard the aphorism “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Luke challenges us to go deeper, to revisit our relationship with material excess in ways that are not only uncomfortable, but also structurally disruptive. Please join me as we seek God’s guidance in our collective journey of repentance, resistance, and reconciliation.

September 7

The cost of discipleship

Jeremiah 18:1-11; Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18; Philemon 1:1-21; Luke 14:25-33

No nation under the sun is indestructible, even those that declare themselves “forged by God.” Jeremiah 18:7-8 clearly proclaims to all of us, particularly U.S. Christians, that we do not decide whether God is on our side. Like a vessel easily broken into many pieces, our nation’s evil actions will bring their own just deserts.

That is why Yii-Jan Lin’s book Immigration and Apocalypse: How the Book of Revelation Shaped American Immigration is timely and impactful. Lin reminds U.S. Christians that we are not the “New Jerusalem” described in Revelation. The U.S. does not get to treat and label the “other,” particularly migrating persons, as “heathen,” “violent,” or “a plague,” as Lin describes. Psalm 139:4-5 declares that our destiny is in God’s hands, not our own. Instead, we are invited to humility in the presence of the divine. We are called to care for those segregated as “others.”

Paul’s letter to Philemon urges him to accept Onesimus, who “self-liberated” from his enslavement, as an equal. It also invites us to be forgiving and welcoming to one another as equals. Paul appeals, “on the basis of love,” that the church care for the least, the outcast, the uncertain, and the undocumented. And Luke 14 warns us that discipleship with Jesus is costly. We are called to carry Christ’s cross for one another. Luke goes further by declaring that carrying that cross may require releasing all our possessions (verse 33) to those most in need. I am not sure how to proceed with such a radical message. Perhaps I am so deeply immersed in greed that I cannot see my way past it. Yet, Luke’s challenge to reevaluate our trust in material things remains. After all, it is the gospel.

September 14

God’s Goodness

Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28; Psalm 14; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10

The passages in Jeremiah 4 are humbling. “My people are fools; they do not know me,” says God (verse 22). It reminds me that I too have (many) moments of foolishness and sinfulness. These scriptures help me recognize how my words and actions have gone and could go astray. Psalm 14 brings me back to the fold. God is the “refuge” of the poor and “restores” God’s people (verses 6-7).

So, I confess, along with the author of 1 Timothy, that I was (and at times still am) “a blasphemer, persecutor, and a man of violence” (verse 13). Yet, I have hope because God is merciful. In my ignorance and unbelief, God has been good. God has offered overflowing love and mercy. Like a woman who searched for her lost coin and the shepherd who seeks a stray sheep (Luke 15), God searches for us and invites us back into God’s healing embrace.

This experience of “being found” is why I love CeCe Winans’ version of “Goodness of God.” As I listen, I’m reminded that God’s goodness never fails. In my weakness and sorrow, God’s love runs after me. I might be lost, but God’s love always finds me. In good times and bad, Winans’ song brings a blessing to my soul.

Is there a song that brings you back into God’s loving presence? What song (or poem, story, or art) reminds you that God’s love doesn’t fade? As you read the biblical passages one more time, accompany your reading with a song that brings you closer to God.

September 21

Who Needs Healing?

Jeremiah 8:18 - 9:1; Psalm 79:1-9; 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-13

For queer people in 2025, there seems to be no balm in Gilead (Jeremiah 8:22). They are political targets, derided, mocked, and taunted (Psalm 79). The so-called “kings” of our nation are leading a crusade against them. We pray with the author of 1 Timothy that our leaders will lead us into quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and dignity. Resistance is important; fighting “the good fight of the faith” is important (1 Timothy 6:12). But for many who are tired and weary, praying for peace and quiet is also important. Rolf R. Nolasco Jr.’s book Hearts Ablaze: Parables for the Queer Soul extends an invitation to “gather around the queer flame. Inspired by the ballroom scene, our ‘dress up’ category or theme is Queers on Fire.” Soon we will be in the struggle again. For now, sitting and dancing around the “queer flame” of joy and hope is more than enough as we receive God’s healing balm for and through each other.

The manager of dishonest wealth (Luke 16) fought against an unjust system that treated him as disposable. He did so with risky negotiations and maneuvering. For those who can keep on fighting — go for it; fight the slave master. For those who need healing, we are here for you. Let’s get your wounds healed first.

September 28

Follow the Path

Jeremiah 32:1-3, 6-15; Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16; 1 Timothy 6:6-19; Luke 16:19-31

The parable of Lazarus and the rich man from Luke is unnerving because, socioeconomically, I am closer to the rich man. I have fancy purple and fine linen clothes and often feast upon “sumptuous” food. Moreover, there are many people around my neighborhood who are poor. They likely would relate more with Lazarus. As the story goes, the rich man went to hell because he has already received the good things in his life. I have also received many good things.

For someone like me, the 1 Timothy passage might be a good way forward. This passage warns people about being tempted into “senseless and harmful desires.” The problem, according to verse 9, is not money but the love of money. I have to make sure I don’t wander off from faith and hurt others because of money.

F. Sionil José’s novel Mass reminds us how people like me trap ourselves into the idea that we’re somehow blameless for the plight of the poor and destitute. José’s fictional narrative of the poor in the Philippines depicts how colonialism and hypercapitalism have chained the poor into generational economic slavery. After being liberated from the U.S. and Japan, rich Filipinos became neocolonizers to their own people. They have worsened the plight of the downtrodden.

The way forward for people like me is not to find an excuse but to continuously participate in feeding the hungry, healing the wounds of the poor, and directing our economic attention toward dismantling systems of oppression. We are not messiahs; I am not asking you to become messianic. Nevertheless, we are called to follow the path laid out by the Messiah.