Someone said that one out of three people is ugly … So, if the person on

your left is good-looking, you start getting worried. And if the person on
your right is also good-looking, you have a problem?!

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In today’s Gospel (Mark 1: 12-15), we hear about how Jesus was tempted
by Satan in the desert, and for 40 days, “He was among the wild beasts
and the angels ministered to Him.” We, too, go through deserts and
temptations in life. Who are the wild beasts in your life? Who are the
angels that minister to you? May the Lord deliver us from our beasts, and
give us more angels in our life.

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Are you a wild beast to other people? Do you make life difficult and
painful for others? Or, are you an angel that comforts and protects other
people? Life is hard enough for people. Please don’t make it harder for
them. Choose to be an angel, not a beast as you journey through life.

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There is an angel and a beast in each one of us. What becomes prominent
depends on whom we follow and listen to: If we follow Satan, the beast
comes out in us. If we follow the Holy Spirit, the angel comes out in us.

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If your life is full of negativities, pride, anger, selfishness, deceit, and lies,
you are being influenced by the evil one, whose strategy is to keep you
focused on yourself. If you are an “I-me-myself” person, with not much
thought on God and on other people, careful, you are walking on a
dangerous road, that will lead to selfishness, pride, sin, emptiness, and
perdition.

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If you listen to the Spirit, and continue your journey to God’s heart and to
other people’s heart, you are walking on a grace-filled road that will lead
you to a road filled with the fruits of the Spirit, which are: love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control
(Galatians 5: 22), along with trials and persecutions.

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In life we have a choice on which road to take. We can choose the road of
the beast, filled with selfishness and pride, or the road of the angel, filled
with humility and love. Choose the latter, the road less traveled, and that
can make all the difference in your life.

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How do we transform from “BEAST” TO “BEST”? Remove the “A.” Remove

“AKO,” tagalog word for I, me, myself. God must increase, and I must
decrease, so that I may become more an angel, not a beast.

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By the way, the “beast” we need to conquer is not so much the beasts
around us, but the beasts inside us. In fact, the beasts outside us help
tame also the beasts inside us: “Anyone that annoys you, is teaching you
patience and calmness; Anyone that abandons you is teaching you how to
stand up on your own feet; Anyone that offends you is teaching you
forgiveness and compassion; Anything that you hate, is teaching you
unconditional love; Anything that you fear is teaching you the courage to
overcome your fears; Anything you can’t control is teaching you to let go;
Any “no” you get from human is teaching you to be independent; Any
problem you’re facing is teaching you how to get a solution to problems;
Any attack you get from people is teaching you the best form of defense;
Anyone who looks down on you is teaching you to look up to your
CREATOR.”

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Last week, we made the acronym “CLEAN” for our Lenten journey,
namely: Confession, Love more; Extra Sacrifice; “No” to sin. We missed
the “A,” which stands for “AMEND” your life. It is never too late to
change. “I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to confess my sins,
to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen (Act of Contrition).

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A moment with the Lord: Lord, help us not to become the beast, but to
become the best, by your grace. Amen.