Hope Joy Peace
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October 11, 2025“May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in believing.” (Romans 15:13)
Our 36th Annual Harvest Festival has just concluded and it was a joy-filled experience indeed! According to our volunteers at the entrance gate, they have recorded more than 18,000 individuals who came and joined us for the whole weekend. Once again, we have proven that no matter how many hurdles may seem to distract our focus on what we do, if we continue to believe and hope in God, everything will turn outwell, perhaps, it may not be the way we want but the way God sees best fits for us.
I would like to share 3 points which I reflected upon this grace-filled weekend of Harvest Festival.
FIRST, Thomas Merton once said, “It is essential to experience all the times and moods of one good place.” The past weekend has made us realize that beyond the pressures and stresses that we face each day, we can still have that chance to just set them aside even for a while and enjoy that one good place we call St. Paul’s Harvest Festival grounds. We have witnessed how families and group of friends made that one good place a place of encounter. And having the presence of one another sets the mood for us to acknowledge the importance of each one.
SECOND, as I always remind everyone, the Harvest Festival is not just about raising funds but also raising one’s awareness of our belongingness to our beloved community of St. Paul.As we help one another in raising the needed funds to support different programs and projects in our parish, we also help each other feel that we belong and that we are part of this community. As we build the fund, we build fellowship.I always love to remind our community that though we differ in so many ways, our differences should not tear us apart but should help us complement each other, acknowledging one’s own uniqueness and giftedness.
THIRD, there is always room for gratitude and acknowledgement of God’s infinite goodness to us. In our Gospel this 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jesus healed ten lepers but only one went back to Jesus to thank him. Jesus hasasked, “Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” After that grace-filled weekend, we come to God and thank Him for the abundance of his blessings. It is also fitting to note that not only the material things we gained that we have to be thankful of but the presence of everyone who tirelessly worked for long hours and shared time, talent and treasures. God has used each of us to be instruments of his grace and presence.
The God of hope really filled us with his joy and peace because we believe in Him!