Verses on free will

Iwould like to share to the readers verses from Sirach, one of the Deuterocanonicals from the Catholic Bible. I wonder why these verses were not being taught in the Church.

“Don’t blame the Lord for your sin; the Lord does nat cause what he hates. Don’t claim that he has misled you, he doesn’t need of sinners to accomplish his purposes.

The Lord hates evil in all its form, and those who fear the Lord find nothing attractive in evil.

When in the beginning the Lord created human beings, he left them free to do as they wished.

If you want to, you can keep the Lord’s commands. You can decide whether you will be loyal to him or not.

He has placed fire and water before you; reach out and take whichever you want. You have a choice between life and death; you will get whichever you choose.

The Lord’s wisdom and power are great and he sees everything. He is aware of everything a person does, and he takes care of those who fear him.

He has never commanded anyone to be wicked or given anyone permission to sin (Sirach 15:11-20).

It is very clear that we can choose whichever path in life we take. It is the organized religions that brainwashed people into believing that we don’t have a mind of our own.

That we can do good or right, only if God helps us. We are not robots or automatons. We are free to choose right from wrong. God already gave us the gifts to use for our own good.--Chito E. Germino

Ahh, those killings

It has been bloody in the country this past few days with the shooting to death of two mayors in Luzon and a lawyer in Cebu City.

When former vice president Emmanuel Pelaez was ambushed during the dictatorship of former president Ferdinand Marcos, he asked, “What is happening to our country, general?” Time to also ask that now.--Benjie R. Yu of Compostela, Cebu