TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24th, 2023
Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week of Ordinary Time
Be ready for the coming of the Master
Good morning!
The gospel reading this morning calls on us to be alert to the Lord’s coming and his presence. It is a call to be faithful, to be found attentive to the Lord, whenever the Lord comes and knocks.
Brothers and sisters,
We think of the Lord coming at the end of our lives, but there is a sense in which the Lord comes and knocks on the door of our lives every day. In the book of Revelation, the risen Lord says, ‘Behold I stand at the door and knock’. The Lord comes to us in and through the people and events that make up our day. If we are attentive and alert to the Lord’s daily coming, we will be alert to his coming to us at the end of our lives.
My brothers and sisters,
There is an extraordinary reversal of roles in today’s gospel reading. The Lord who finds his servants faithfully watching and waiting becomes their servant, putting an apron on himself, sitting his servants down at table, and waiting on them. It would have been unheard of in that culture for a master to behave like a servant towards his servants, treating them effectively as if they were the master. Jesus is saying to us that if we are faithful to him, if we are attentive to the various ways that he comes and knocks on the door of our lives, he will serve us in ways that will amaze us. That is our promise. So, let us entirely give ourselves to the Lord and surely, we will receive from him all in abundance. Amen.
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MONDAY, OCTOBER 23rd, 2023
Monday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Being Generous With Our Earthly Goods
Good evening,
Today’s parable paints a very striking picture of someone who lives for himself alone. He starts off a rich man and he becomes richer when he has a bumper crop. He then asks a good question, ‘What am I to do?’ However, he answers it in a very self-centered way. He goes on a demolition and building spree, knocking down his perfectly good barns and building bigger ones to store his excess grain. His energy goes into holding on to what he owns, storing it safely, locking it away. He never looks beyond himself, as is clear from the language he uses – my crops, my barns, my grain, my goods, my soul. Yet, he failed to see that, apart from anything else, his soul certainly didn’t belong to him. It belonged to God and, when God called it back, he had nothing to show for all his abundant resources.
Brothers and sisters,
Jesus spoke this parable as a warning against greed, against thinking that the more we have the more secure our lives will be. Jesus had spoken earlier in this gospel of Luke about what really makes our life secure. He said that the person who listens to his word and acts on it will be like the person who built their house on rock and, as a result, withstood the storms. We secure our lives by living the teaching of Jesus, which is the call to love one another as God loves us, to be generous with one another as God is generous with us.
My brothers and sisters,
In another part of the gospel of Luke, Jesus has already said, ‘Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back’. When we are generous with what God has given us, we are sure that we will receive more from God than we give. It is in giving life to others by serving them – in no matter how small a way – that we find life, both here and now and in eternity.
We pray that the same generous spirit that filled the life of Jesus would also fill our lives, so that we would know true and lasting security.
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Tuesday, October 17, 2023
Monday of the Twenty-eighthWeek of Ordinary Time
“Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?”
Good morning.
Both of today’s readings draw attention to the importance of looking beneath the surface of things. Paul accuses pagans in the first reading of failing to look beneath the surface of the created world to the God who created it. As a result, according to him, they ended up worshiping creatures instead of the Creator. In the gospel reading, Jesus accuses the Pharisees of failing to look beneath the surface of the various ritual washings the Law prescribes to what is in the heart. They are overly focused on the outside and fail to take seriously the inside, what resides in the human heart.
Brothers and sisters,
Jesus suggests that if the heart is in the right place, then good actions will flow from it, such as almsgiving. We can all fail to look beneath the surface of life, whether it is the life of creation or the life of ourselves and others. Jesus promoted a morality that is deeply rooted in the human heart rather than one that revolves around conforming to various written or unwritten norms.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Jesus came to change human hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit. He invites us to open our hearts to the gift of his Spirit, so that they are renewed, recreated, in the image of the Lord’s own heart. When our heart, our inner core, reflects something of the Lord’s inner core, then our lives will begin to reflect something of the Lord’s life. We will begin to see as deeply as he sees, beyond the surface to the divine presence hidden beneath. if our mind and heart are to reflect something of his mind and heart, let us be in keeping with the Lord’s priorities. Let’s ask the Lord to keep us focused on what matters. Amen
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Monday, October 9, 2023
Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week of Ordinary Time
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
Good morning,
The parable of the Good Samaritan reminds us that help can come to us from unexpected quarters. The wounded man in the parable was presumable a Jew. He would not have expected help to come from a Samaritan, because Jews and Samaritans did not associate with each other at that time. To his great surprise, the broken traveler discovered that God’s compassionate presence was revealed to him by someone from whom he would have had no expectations at all.
Brothers and sisters,
We can sometimes make the same discovery in our own lives. At some crucial moments, we can receive help from people we would not have expected to help us. In our hour of need, we can discover that our assessment of someone was unfair, that our expectations of others were far too ungenerous. The parable suggests that God can sometimes come to us in unfamiliar guises, and that his compassionate love can be revealed to us by the outsider, the stranger, the one we would normally have considered alien to us.
My brothers and sisters,
The Jewish lawyer struggled to accept that God’s compassionate presence could be revealed through the despised Samaritan. The parable calls on us to allow God to come to us in and through those of God’s own choosing. The person we might normally have little time for can be God’s messenger to us. Jesus, like the Samaritan, did not draw distinctions. He gave himself equally to all, whether they were Jews, Samaritans, or pagans. He calls on his followers to do the same. We are to give expression to God’s compassionate presence to everyone without
discrimination. Let us pray and ask God the grace to be open to the many and varied and surprising ways that the Lord can come to us. O Lord may your presence come to us wherever and whenever you want, Amen.
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Monday, September 25, 2023
Monday of the Twenty-fifth Week of Ordinary Time
Place your light on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light.
Good morning,
In the gospel reading this morning Jesus uses the image of a lighted lamp which should be placed on a lamp stand so that people may see the light when they enter the room. Jesus is
saying that when the lamp of faith is lit in a person’s life, it is not meant to be covered or hidden but it is to remain shining in a public way for all to see.
Brothers and sisters,
When the culture is not very supportive of faith, there can be a strong temptation to hide the light of our faith. Yet, we need to let the light of our faith shine more in an environment that is hostile to it, because in doing so we give courage to others. When I let the light of my faith shine, I make it easier for other people of faith to do the same.
This image of a lighted lamp calls on us to allow the light first within us and to shine on others after, the light of Jesus, the light of our faith, hope, and love. Let us say together with the
Cardinal Newman this prayer:
‘Jesus… Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus! Stay with me and then I will begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. The light, O Jesus, will be all from you; none of it will be mine. It will be you, shining on others through me. Let me thus praise you in the way which you love best, by shining on those around me’.
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Tuesday of the Twenty-fourth Week of Ordinary Time
Jesus Brings the Widow’s Son Back To Life
Good morning
In yesterday’s gospel reading, Jesus comments on the extraordinary faith of the Roman centurion in asking Jesus to heal his servant at a distance. In this morning’s gospel reading, nothing is said about anyone’s faith.
Indeed, no request is made of Jesus by anyone. Jesus simply sees a widow walking alongside the body of her only son as he was being carried for burial. When Jesus saw her, he was filled with compassion for her, as was the Samaritan when he saw the broken Jewish traveler and the father who saw his lost son returning home. Without being asked to do anything, without any evidence of faith, Jesus simply acts out of his compassion, raising the young man to life and giving him back to his widowed mother so that she would not be alone in the world.
Brothers and sisters,
Jesus’ compassion is drawn by nothing else than the afflicted state of this family. It is only after this extraordinary initiative of Jesus that reference is made to any human response to Jesus, ‘everyone was filled with awe and praised God, saying “a great prophet has appeared among us”’.
My brothers and sisters,
The gospel reminds us that the Lord’s initiative in our regard is not dependent on our having a certain level of faith. He comes towards us as we are, and the greater our need the stronger his coming. The Lord graces us with his presence and his gifts. Having been surprisingly and undeservedly graced by the Lord’s compassionate presence, we cannot but respond to such a grace in the way that the crowd did in today’s gospel reading, praising God for the gift of his Son. Let us ask the grace to try our best on doing that every day and forever, Amen.
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Monday, September 18, 2023
Monday of the Twenty-fourth Week of Ordinary Time
Good morning,
The words of the centurion in this morning’s gospel reading have made their way into our Eucharist, ‘I am not worthy to have you under my roof... give the word and let my servant be cured’.
Brothers and sisters,
In fact, the new translation of the Roman Missal is much closer to the words of the centurion that the translation we are familiar with, ‘Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed’. The new translation is a more literal translation of the original Latin text of the Roman Missal. The Roman centurion spoke as a pagan who did not want Jesus the Jew to be in breach of the Jewish Law by entering the house of a pagan. He also showed tremendous faith in the life-giving power of Jesus’ word. Jesus acknowledges his remarkable faith and declares it to be greater than any faith he had found in Israel.
My brothers and sisters,
The least likely person, a pagan, an authoritative member of the occupying force, shows faith in Jesus. The gospel reading suggests that faith can be found in the most unlikely of people. We can never second guess who a person of faith is and who is not. This outsider’s act of faith can become ours at every Eucharist. The Lord can recognize faith in us that we don’t always recognize in ourselves. The centurion probably didn’t see himself as a person of great faith, but the Lord did. Even if our faith is only the size of a mustard seed, the Lord recognizes it and
rejoices in it, and works through it in the service of others. Let us thank God for the gift of faith and let us ask Him to make grow in us this faith day by day for our salvation and the good of his people, Amen!
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Monday, June 19, 2023
Monday of the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time
“Offer no resistance to evil.”
Good morning!
In the Gospel reading Jesus calls on his disciples not to repay evil with evil, but to respond to evil with goodness. St. Paul says something similar in his letter to the Romans, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Brothers and sisters,
The worst instinct in human nature is to respond to human goodness in an evil way; the crucifixion of Jesus was an example of that instinct. The best instinct in human nature is to overcome evil with good. This, in fact, could be termed divine instinct, God’s instinct. It was the way of Jesus. He overcame the evil that was done to Him with good. In the very moment when He was being violently rejected, He revealed His love most fully. He lived and died to overcome evil with good. It is not easy to remain good in the face of evil, to remain loving in the face of hostility, to be faithful in the face of unfaithfulness, to be peacemakers in the face of violence done to us. We cannot live in this way by drawing on our own strength and resources alone. We need God’s strength, God’s resources, God’s Spirit because such a way of life is the fruit of God’s Spirit at work within us. In the first reading this morning, Paul calls on us not to neglect the grace of God we have received. God is always gracing us, and if we rely on His grace, we will be able to keep giving expression to that divine instinct of overcoming evil with good.
My brothers and sisters,
Let us ask the Lord’s strength, the strength of the Holy Spirit, which the Lord gives to those who ask for it, to help to live remaining good in the face of evil and loving in the face of hostility. May God’s strength sustain us in this way.
Amen!
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Friday, June 16, 2023
The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Good morning!
We celebrate the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Friday after the Second Sunday after Pentecost. The image of the heart has become a symbol of love. When people send messages to one another on Whatsapp or whatever, they often include a heart symbol to express their love.
Brothers and sisters,
When we speak about the Sacred Heart, we are referring to God’s love, present in the person of Jesus. Today’s second reading declares that “God is love” and that “God’s love for us was revealed when God sent His only Son so that we could have life through Him.” Jesus was the fullest revelation of God possible in human life, and He revealed God to be love. We sometimes think of love as an emotion, but genuine love always shows itself in action. When we truly love someone we are prepared to give ourselves to them so that they may have a fuller life. We empty ourselves so that others may be filled in some way. This was the kind of love that Jesus showed to be at the heart of God. God gave himself to us when He sent His only Son into the world; God emptied Himself so that we might be filled with God’s life. Jesus showed this self-giving, self-emptying love throughout his life, giving of Himself so that others might have life, a fuller life.
My brothers and sisters,
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus calls on those who are burdened to come to Him so that He can give them rest; so that He can revive their drooping spirits. He spent His life giving Himself in loving service to those who were burdened, so that they could find rest, a greater fullness of life. His greatest act of self-giving, self-emptying for others, was His death on the cross. It was above all through His wounds, His pierced Heart, that He revealed the love of God most fully. He gives Himself in love for us on the cross so that we may have life and have it to the full. Today’s feast is the the feast of God’s boundless love revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The call of today’s feast is very clearly expressed in our second reading, “Since God loved us so much, we too, should love one another.” Indeed, if we allow God’s love for us to sink deeply into our hearts, we will be empowered to love one another with something of God’s love.
Brothers and sisters,
Let us ask God to pour His own love into our hearts so that we can love Him back, so that we can desire Him as He desires us, will what he wills, live as He wants us to live.
Amen!
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Tuesday, May 31, 2023
The Feast of the Visitation
Luke1: 39-56
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.”
Good morning!
The month of may has traditionally been associated with Mary. It is fitting that the last day of may should be a feast of Mary, the feast of her visitation to her cousin Elizabeth. This scene in St. Luke’s gospel has become the second joyful mystery of the Rosary. The first part of the prayer we know as the Hail Mary is drawn both from the greeting of the angel Gabriel to Mary at the Annunciation, “Hail full of grace” and from the response of Elizabeth to Mary’s greeting at the visitation, “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Gabriel was God’s messenger to Mary and Mary was God’s messenger to Elizabeth. As Gabriel brought good news to Mary, so Mary brought good news to Elizabeth.
Brothers and sisters,
We are all called to be God’s messenger to one another; we are to be good news for each other. According to another gospel reading, in response to Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and because of the way Elizabeth received Mary, Mary was filled with a spirit of prayer as she exclaimed, “my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord…” There was something about the way these two women received each other that allowed the Holy Spirit to come alive within each of them. They were good news for each other. The encounter between these two women can serve as a model for all our human encounters.
My brothers and sisters,
The other lesson in today’s feast celebration is that the story of Gabriel’s visit to Mary and Mary’s visit to Elizabeth reveals an important truth about our own lives as the Lord’s disciples. The Lord visits each one of us, as he visited Mary and Elizabeth. He comes into our lives in different ways, sometimes in very ordinary ways, such as through the visit of a friend, at other times in more mystical ways, such as during a time of prayer. We are called to receive the Lord’s visit with the same openness and humility that Mary and Elizabeth showed. Having received the Lord’s visit, we are then called to bring the Lord to others, as Mary brought the Lord to Elizabeth. May the Lord who visits us always give us the grace to visit also the others and to bring them the joy of his presence.
Amen!
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Tuesday, May 2, 2023 Fifth Week of Lent
John 10: 2-30
“The works I do in my Father's name testify to me.”
Good morning!
In today’s first reading, we got the description if a significant moment in the life of the early Church, the preaching of the gospel to the pagans for the first time, in the city of Antioch. Up until that moment, all the disciples of Jesus were Jews. The leaders of the Church in Jerusalem had to discern whether this new development in Antioch was the work of the Holy Spirit, or just a human aberration. As part of their discerning, they sent one of their members, Barnabas, to check out what was happening in Antioch. He was sent because he was known to be a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.
Brothers and sisters,
A person filled with the Holy Spirit was like to discern whether this novelty was the work of the Holy Spirit. Barnabas immediately recognized that God was at work there. He not only gave them every encouragement, but he also set out for Tarsus to bring Paul to Antioch, because he could see this this new development in Antioch was ripe for Paul’s gifts. Paul and Barnabas went on to spend twelve months together in that church. According to the reading, it was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus were first called “Christians”. People began to see that this movement wasn’t just a particular branch of Judaism.
My brothers and sisters,
The Lord is always doing something new in us, and we all need to discern the ways the Lord is leading the Church, especially in these times. To do that well, we need a listening ear, and ear and an eye that is open to the surprising ways of the Spirit. As Jesus says in the gospel reading, those “who belong to me listen to my voice”. People like Barnabas who are in tune with the working of the Holy Spirit amonng us are an invaluable asset as we try to discern where the Lord is leading us. Let us ask the Lord always to provide for us and for his Church such people at times of transition, like the present time and let us ask for each of us to become such a person.
Amen!
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Tuesday, April 25, 2023 Fourth Week of Lent
Mark 16: 15-20
“But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.”
Good morning!
Mark has a special place among the evangelists because he was the first person to write a gospel. Up until the time he wrote, there was no continuous written account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. So, we can be grateful to Mark for his written gospel. Others followed his example, leaving us with four gospels altogether
Brothers and sisters,
However, Mark was the pioneer; he was the first to break new ground. His gospel is the shortest of the four, but, nonetheless, it is a very powerful telling of the Jesus story. More than the other evangelists, he highlights that Jesus’ preaching and living of the gospel challenged the status quo and brought great hostility down upon His head, resulting in His crucifixion. Mark also emphasizes that being a disciple of Jesus, living by his values, will often mean traveling the same way of the cross. He reminds us that living the gospel, following the way of Jesus is not easy; it make demands on us; it stretches us. However, Mark also assures us that in our efforts to live the gospel, the Lord is with us to strengthen us and support us. As is said in the end of today’s gospel reading, “going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them.” This message of Mark’s gospel that the Lord continues to work with His disciples today, in spite of our past serious failings, is one that the Church needs to hear today.
My brothers and sisters,
Let us ask the risen Lord to keep faith with us, even when we let him down in various ways. May h e help us to strive to proclaim the gospel authentically by our lives as St. Mark did.
Amen.
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Tuesday, March 21, 2023 Fourth Week of Lent
John 5:1-16
“Do you want to be well?”
Good morning!
In the gospels, people who are in great need often approach Jesus for help and He responds to them. In this morning’s gospel reading, we find a man in great need, suffering with a paralysis for thirty-eight years, which was the best part of a lifetime. He does not approach Jesus for help, but, rather, Jesus takes the initiative towards him. Jesus sees him, and having seen him, engages him in conversation.
Brothers and sisters,
We often approach the Lord in our need, bu this morning’s gospel reading reminds us that the Lord also approaches us, without waiting for us to approach him. The Lord doesn’t only engage with us in response to our engaging with him. He often takes some initiative towards us without our doing anything to make it happen. In the words of the book of Revelation, He stands at the door and knocks. When we pray, especially the prayer of petition, we are knocking on His door. This morning’s gospel reading suggests that he also comes to knock on our door without waiting for us to knocking on His. This calls for a different kind of prayer to the prayer of petition. It takes the prayer of listening, the prayer of attentiveness to the Lord, the prayer of waiting on the Lord’s coming, the prayer of noticing His seeing of us.
My brothers and sisters,
God seeks to have a personal relationship with us. He waits for us to open our hearts to Him, tell Him our story, to share with Him our strongest hopes and longings, and also our fears and anxieties and sorrows. Let us open our hearts to Him, the we will experience His life-giving presence, and in the image of the first reading, our lives will bear fruit that will never, fail, the good fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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Tuesday, March 7, 2023 Third Week of Lent
Matthew 23:1-12
“You have only one Master.”
Good morning!
Today’s gospel reading shows a reserved attitude towards titles among the followers of Jesus. The evangelist portrays Jesus as anxious to ensure that the community of disciples is a community of brothers and sisters, in which all members stand on the same level before Christ , their Lord and Master and before God, their heavenly Father. “You have only one Master and you are all siblings.”
Brothers and sisters,
St. Paul understood very clearly this vision of the Church as one spiritual family in Christ and under God. Even the letters where e speaks of Himself as the spiritual father of the church, He addresses the members of the Church as brothers and sisters. As He says in His letter to the Galatians, in virtue of our baptism we are all one in Christ Jesus. This morning’s gospel reading brings home to us that in the presence of Christ, we are all learners; we are all pupils because He alone is the authentic Teacher of u all. Together we look to Him to show us the path that leads to authentic life.
Regardless of our role or position in life or in the Church, we area all equally privileged to call God our Father and Jesus our brother. We are given this privilege at baptism through the power of the Holy Spirit. This shared privilege makes very relative whatever distinctions of role, rank or position that may exist between us. Let us ask God the grace to keep on learning this lesson that it is as brothers and sisters that we journey towards Him. May God give us the grace to have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus as the Lenten time is helping us to make.
Amen.
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Tuesday, February 28, 2023 Second Week of Lent
Matthew 6:7-15
“Your father knows what you need before you ask him.”
Good morning!
In this morning’s gospel Jesus says that prayer is not about informing God about something that God is not aware of. There is no need for many words, he says, because your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
Brothers and sisters,
Our prayer does not inform God. Rather, our prayer forms us. In praying we acknowledge who God is, and who we are before God. In doing so we grow in our relationship with God, as we become more fully the person God is calling us to be. The prayer that Jesus gives us, the Lord’s Prayer, was two parts to it. In the first part, we acknowledge who God is, and in the second part, who we are before God. In those opening petitions, we acknowledge who we are before God. Dependent on God for our fundamental needs: our physical needs, symbolized by bread, and our spiritual needs, our need for forgiveness for our sins and for strength in time of temptation by the devil.
My brothers and sisters,
The Our Father, this very short prayer, is both a prayer in itself and a teaching on prayer. It is a prayer that shows us what is at the heart of all prayer. Our little prayer exercise for Lent might be to take one petition of the Our Father each day, and to spend a few moment praying that petition, repeating it quietly in our hearts. May God sustain us on this endeavor which can obtain for us many graces.
Amen!
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Tuesday, January 17, 2023 Third Week of Advent
Mark 1:21-28
“Have you come to destroy us?”
Good morning!
In this morning’s gospel reading we hear of a clash between Jesus and the Jewish authorities over how the Sabbath was to be kept. The Pharisees interpreted very strictly the commandment to rest on the Sabbath and do not work. Plucking ears of corn to satisfy their hunger, which the disciples did, was considered a form of reaping and therefore, work. Jesus, however, held that basic human needs could be met on the Sabbath, such as the need of the hungry to be fed and the need of the sick to be healed, even if it involved activity that could be considered work. Whereas the Pharisees gave priority to the law as they had come to understand it, Jesus gave priority to the human person. He attended to the needs of others on the Sabbath as much as on the other days of the week.
Brothers and sisters,
Jesus teaches us that the well-being of the other takes priority over all forms of the law, including religious law. He thereby teaches u that at all times we called to work for each others’ well-being - their material, emotional, and spiritual well-being. St. Ireaneus said that the glory of God is the human fully alive. Laws glorify God when they help people to be fully alive as God intended. That kind of work is God’s work, and such work is always timely, regardless of the day of the week. Let us ask Him to imbibe us with something of his wisdom and freedom. We can then work truly for the salvation of men.
Amen!
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Tuesday, January 10, 2023 Second Week of Advent
Mark 1:21-28
“Have you come to destroy us?”
Good morning!
In the gospel reading, Jesus is confronted by someone who addresses Him in very aggressive tones, “What do you want with us? Have you come to destroy us?” Jesus did not withdraw in the face of such naked aggression, but, instead responded in a way that brought healing to this disturbed person.
Brothers and sisters,
Often the the gospels, Jesus does not respond in kind to those who are hostile to Him. Even as He hung from the cross, He prayed for those who had put them there, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” The gospels assure us that the Lord does not relate to us as we relate to Him; His way of relating to us is always more generous and loving than our way o relating to Him. In this morning’s gospel reading, the people responded to Jesus’ meeting with the disturbed man in the synagogue by expressing amazement at His authority. Jesus exercises His authority by showing love and kindness to those who have no claim on it. In that way He shows what real authority looks like. It is the kind of authority that the world needs today, an authority that is rooted in our relationship with God, with His Son and the Holy Spirit. It is the authority to retain a loving, life-giving stance towards all, even in the face of great provocation and hostility; it is the authority to bring calm where there is disturbance.
My brothers and sisters,
Let’s ask God to fill us with this authority in order to always be ready to bring His own peace and strength to others and to come before as we are, even if that means in our weakness and fragility.
Amen!
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Tuesday, December 13, 2022 Second Week of Advent
Matthew 21:28-32
The Good Son - The Gift of Time
Good morning!
The parable Jesus speaks in this morning’s gospel reading shows clearly that we do not always do what we say. The first son said “no” to his father but his subsequent actions were a “yes” to him. The second son said “yes” to the father, but his subsequent actions were a “no” to him.
Because actions speak louder than words, it is the first son that is held up to us as someone for us to learn from. The first son just needed time to come around. He said “no” but afterwards, in time, he thought better of it. Time can be a great gift.
Brothers and sisters,
We need to give each other time. We sometimes need time to find the right path, to take the right position. The best response to a situation does not always come to us straight away; we may need time to think better of whatever stance we have taken and to change accordingly.
Jesus reveals a God that gives people time. Jesus gave people time; He is prepared to wait.
In St. Luke’s gospel, the Samaritans said “no” to Him. Later, in the Acts of the Apostles, they would say “yes” to Jesus’ followers.
We, too, are called to give each other time, to give each other the space and the freedom to think better of things. Let’s pray and ask God to look to us to keep our word, to allow our promise to Him to shape what we do, how we live and to have the humility and openness for a change of mind and heart when it is called for.
Amen!
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Tuesday, December 6, 2022 Second Week of Advent
Matthew 18:12-14
The Good Shepherd
Good morning!
In the gospel reading Jesus tells us a parable about a shepherd who notices when one sheep out of a flock of one hundred goes astray, and who is concerned enough about that one sheep to go searching for it, even though it means leaving the ninety-nine unattended. The one, and not just the many, matters to the shepherd.
Brothers and sisters,
The shepherd is an image of Jesus who is always portrayed the the gospels as engaging not just with crowds but also with individuals. In the language of St. John’ gospel, he is the good shepherd who knows his own by name. The risen Lord relates to us not just as anonymous members of a group, but as individuals. He calls each of us by name.
In St. Matthew’s gospel, the parable is not just an image of how Jesus relates to us, but also an image of how we are called to relate to each other. We are to call each other by name. We re to respect the uniqueness of each other, relating to one another as unique and irreplaceable images of God. Meeting one person has potentially as much value as meeting with a large group. The parable suggests that one individual is as deserving of our attention as a gathering of many. And looking after the individual, especially those who are most vulnerable, the group to which they belong would have a better chance of flourishing. The Lord calls us into community, but His relationship with us is deeply personal.
During this Advent, my brothers and sisters, we are all invited to listen more attentively to the voice of the Shepherd so that we can be seeking out His flock whenever we stray from Him and from the community of faith.
Even though we may have given up on ourselves or on others, let us be convinced that He will continue to search for us until He finds us and leads us home to a share of His rest.
O Emmanuel, be always with us, Amen.
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Tuesday, September 6, 2022, Twenty-third Week of Ordinary Time
Calling the Apostles
Good morning!
When we have a very important decision to make, we often find ourselves turning to prayer for guidance. We ask the Lord to enlighten us with the Spirit of Wisdom.
Brothers and sisters,
At the beginning of this morning’s gospel reading, we find Jesus spending the whole night in prayer before he made very important decision. He wanted to select twelve from the wider group of disciples. There were traditionally twelve tribes in Israel and this group of twelve disciples was to be the nucleus of the renewed Israel that Jesus was working to create. Having prayed the whole night and having come down from the mountain, Jesus made his choice. He prayerfully discerned the twelve who were to compose this special group. Peter is always mentioned first in this group, because he was the leader of the twelve. Yet it was Jesus who would deny Jesus publicly three times, and one of the group, Judas, who would betray Jesus to his enemies. Even Jesus’ prayerful discernment did not mean that these twelve would prove worthy of their special calling. Jesus must have known that; He knew more than anyone what our human nature was capable of. Jesus calls us even though He can never ensure our proper response. Even though we fail, we remain those whom He calls. We may be unfaithful to him from time to time, but He is always faithful to us.
My brothers and sisters,
The Lord never ceases to call each one of us. Each day we seek afresh to respond to the Lord’s call. Just as Jesus’ choice of the Twelve came out of His prayer, so our response to the Lord’s call must come out of our prayer, too. If we are to respond to the Lord’s call as He would want us to, we need to be in prayerful communion with Him. Let us ask the Lord to be attentive to His call and to respond to it generously. Amen
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Tuesday, August 30, 2022, Twenty-second Week of Ordinary Time
1 Corinthians 2:10-16, Luke 4:31-37
Come Holy Spirit
Good morning!
In our first reading today, St. Paul says that the depths of a person can only be known by his own spirit. In other words, I know myself better than others know me; my own depths are more open to me than to someone else. That is not to say that I understand my own depths fully, but I am better placed to understand myself than to understand someone else. I may remain something of a mystery to myself, but I will be even more of a mystery to others. My own spirit is more likely to probe my own depths; someone else’s spirit is less like to probe my own personal depths.
Brothers and sisters,
In a similar way, St. Paul says in that reading that only the Spirit of God can probe the depths of God. Only God’s Spirit knows God. Yet Paul reminds us in that reading that we have received God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit helps us to know God. Indeed Paul says that God and the things of God will be seen as nonsense by those who are not open to receiving the Spirit of God.
So brothers and sisters,
We need to Holy Spirit so that we can come to God, to relate to God, to be in communion with God. The Spirit enables us to be astonished by God and His Son, Jesus. It is said of the people of Capernaum in today’s gospel reading that they were astonished by what Jesus said and did, and that His teaching made a deep impression on them. That suggests that they were open to the Holy Spirit at work through Jesus, and at work in their own lives. We need to keep praying, “Come, Holy Spirit” because it is the Spirit that helps us to recognise and appreciate the ways that the Lord is present to us and at work among us. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to work through us and to bring healing where there is brokenness, to bring strength where there is weakness, to bring a sense of communion where there is isolation, and to bring life where there is death. That is our baptismal calling. Let’s try to do it as much as possible, amen!
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Tuesday, August 23, 2022, Twenty-first Week of Ordinary Time
Matthew 23: 23-26
Tithing on mint and dill
Good morning!
There were many religious laws and regulations in Jesus’ time. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus criticizes those who give too much attention to the less important laws and regulations and too little attention to what was important, what Jesus calls the weightier matters of the Law.
Brothers and sisters,
Jesus names the less important aspects of the Law as the regulations relating to the tithing of various herbs and the more important aspects of the law as justice, mercy and faith. When it comes to our relationship with God, Jesus wants to put our energy into getting the basics right. It would be difficult to come up with anything more basic than the “justice, mercy and faith” that Jesus refers to in the gospel reading. Justice and mercy have to do with how we relate to others. Faith has to do with how we relate to God. We are to be faithful to God which means being faithful to Jesus and to all He stands for, even though that may cost us a great deal at times.
So brothers and sisters, there is clearly a close link between faith, on the one hand, and justice and mercy, on the other. Faithfulness to Jesus entails showing justice and mercy to others, as He did. When we find ourselves getting very worked up about something in the religious sphere, it can be good to step back and ask ourselves just how basic, how fundamental the issue in question really is. All the other elements o our Christian tradition need to be at the service of these two commandment (love God and love neighbor) and these three fundamental values of justice, mercy and faith. Let’s ask God to fill our hearts with the love of these commandments and values, Amen!
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Tuesday, August 16, 2022, Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time
Matthew 19: 23-30
The camel going though the eye of the needle
Good morning!
Jesus’ image of a camel passing through the eye of a needle has been spoken of as an example of comic exaggeration. The person with a plank in their eye would be another example. Jesus often used such comic exaggeration to get people’s attention and perhaps to shock them out of a sense of complacency.
Brothers and sisters,
When Jesus said it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven, the astonished disciples asked, “Who can be saved, then?” Jesus’ reply, “For people this is impossible; for God everything is possible” suggests that the attaining of salvation is primarily God’s doing rather than our doing. It is a divine atonement rather than a human one. We can only enter into the life of God with the help that God alone can give us. We need to depend fully on God to enter the kingdom of heaven, opening ourselves up in our poverty to His gracious working on our behalf. This is where Jesus sees the problem with excessive attachment to wealth or possessions. If we seek our security in wealth or possessions, we will cease to rely on God who alone gives access to salvation, to life in abundance. If we place our security in God, in the Lord, then, according to Jesus in today’s gospel reading, we will be abundantly repaid in this earthly life, and also inherit eternal life.
So brothers and sisters, let’s make a large place for God in our lives, knowing that only He can gives us access to salvation. Let’s try our best to seek to do His will always and everywhere, Amen!
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Wednesday, August 3 , 2022, Eighteenth Week of Ordinary Time
Matthew 15:21-28
The healing of the Canaanite woman’s daughter
Good morning!
The gospel reading this morning puts before us a pagan woman of tenacious faith. The initial responses of Jesus to her desperate cry for help was one of silence. When the woman persisted with her request and Jesus addresses her directly for the first time, he seems to dismiss her request in a rather harsh fashion. Just as the woman was not put off by Jesus’ silence, she is not put off by his seemingly harsh refusal. She takes Jesus’ image of feeding the children rather than the house-dogs, the people of Israel rather than the pagans, and turns it to her own advantage. Eventually Jesus acknowledges her persistent and humble faith and grants her request.
Brothers and sisters,
The gospel reading suggests that as far as Jesus is concerned, the time had not yet come to brings the gospel to the pagans; it would come later, after his death and resurrection. Yet this woman succeeded in bringing forward that timetable by her persistent faith in the face of the Lord’s great reluctance. Jesus spoke at one point of a faith that can move mountains. This woman’s faith certainly moved Jesus.
Brothers and sisters,
This pagan woman encourages all of us to remain faithful, even when the grounds for faithfulness seem to be very weak. She inspires us to keep seeking the Lord, even when the Lord appears to be silent and distant. Let’s follow the example of her faith, her courage and her perseverance. God will surely answer us and give us what we need and ask. Amen!
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Tuesday, August 2, 2022, Eighteenth Week of Ordinary Time
Matthew 14:22-36
Good morning!
In today’s gospel reading, the Pharisee criticizes the disciples of Jesus for their lack of reverence for the body of traditions that had grown up around the Jewish law, in particular in various regulations relating to the washing of hands before eating food. Jesus defends His disciples, however, by declaring that these regulations are not decisive in God’s scheme of things. What comes out of people’s mouths, what comes from their hearts, is more important before God than the food that goes into people’s mouths.
Brothers and sisters,
As Jesus said, indeed, what comes from a person’s heart is what defines the person, not what they eat, or how they eat. It is the heart that counts; we often say of people that their heart is in the right place. On one occasion in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.” He calls on us to have something of His own Heart within us. In the beatitudes He declares that the blessed are those who are pure in heart, those whose heart is focused on what God wants, just as the Heart of Jesus was.
Brothers and sisters,
Jesus seems to suggest that if we get the heart right, if our heart is like His heart, than all else will follow. Getting the heart right is above all the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who creates within us a heart that is truly Christ-like. One of the most beautiful prayers in the Church’s tradition is, “Come Holy Spirit, fill my heart, and kindle in me the fire of Your Love.” So let’s invoke the Holy Spirit to come and purify our hearts and prepare them for His graces, Amen!
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Wednesday, July 27 , 2022, Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time
Matthew 13:44-46
Two parables about treasure
Good morning!
This morning’s gospel reading from Matthew puts before us two parables. The second parable is the story of a seeker. A merchant has given his lie over to searching for fine pearls and when he finds this one pearl of great value he sells everything he own and buys it.
Brothers and sisters,
Jesus offers this parable as an image of the kingdom of God. A little earlier in Matthew’s gospel, in the context of the sermon on the Mount, Jesus has already said, “Seek for the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things will be given to you as well.” Jesus was saying there that everything else we seek in life is to be secondary to that primary search for God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness. We can understand God’s righteousness as God’s will for our lives, God’s way of doing things. Because that is to be our primary search in life, God places it as the first petition in the prayer he gave to His disciples, the Lord’s prayer. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” The kingdom of God makes itself present on Earth when God’s will is done.
Brothers and sisters,
According to this morning’s gospel reading, the coming of God’s kingdom, the doing of God’s will, is the pearl of great price that is worth searching for and sacrificing everything for. Let’s ask God to help us to do His will here on earth in order to be able to do it over there in Heaven, Amen!
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Monday, June 27 , 2022
Matthew 8:18-22
Two disciples who can’t commit
Good morning!
This request of one of Jesus’ disciples seems very understandable, “let me go and bury my father first" before continuing on as Jesus’s disciple. After all, the burial of the dead was considered a sacred duty in the Jewish tradition. However, the disciples’ request does not necessarily mean that his father has just died and is in need of burial. More like the man is asking to delay his departure from home to follow Jesus until after he has discharged his duty of caring for his aged parent until death. His father’s death could be some time away. Jesus was saying to this disciple, who had already decided to follow Jesus, that the call to follow is more urgent than that. It can’t be put off until some indefinite time in the future. The call is for the present moment. The disciple had a strong desire to become a close follower of Jesus but he was putting off acting on it, for family reasons.
Brothers and sisters,
The Lord often calls us to do something in the here and now and we can be tempted to put off responding to the call until sometime in the indefinite future. When we put of acting in a way we feel called, the opportunity to act can pass us by. We may have had the eperience of being prompted to do something worthwhile, without delaying and in spite of certain resistances in us, we responded to the prompt and then we discovered that it was well worth doing. Our calling is to be as open as possible to what the Lord in asking of us that particular day. In the words of a well-known hymn, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” May God fill our hearts with the true desire to serve Him and to always follow His son Jesus who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen!
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Tuesday, April 19th, 2022
Tuesday within the octave of Easter
John 20:11-18
Mary Magdalene goes to the Tomb
Good morning,
In gospel passage today, we are told that Mary of Magdala has sought her Lord. At first, she does not recognize the Risen Lord because her focus is not on Him but on the empty tomb and on her grief.
Brothers and sisters,
Like her too, many of us seek the Lord in the wrong places like in drinks, in pleasures, wealth, luxury and power. One word is enough for Mary to recognize the Risen Lord when He called her by her name and then reminds her of her mission to announce the good news of His resurrection to His disciples. And her message to them is: “I have seen the Lord!” It is because it is not enough that we know about the Lord, but that we know Him personally. It is not enough to argue about Him but to meet Him. In the resurrection we encounter the living Lord who loves us personally and shares His glory with us.
Like Mary, we have a mission to do and that is, to announce the good news of His resurrection to all our brothers and sisters: Yes, like Mary we are told to share the good news. Jesus wants us to go out and share this newly found reality of His resurrection. It cannot be hoarded within. Whenever we experience the risen Lord, we have to immediately go off and tell the others. We must be willing to share our faith, otherwise it will not grow. It is because people are thirsting for this good news.
Brothers and sisters,
The resurrection of Jesus is our hope. It is a hope that someday we will see God face to face and share in His everlasting glory. Let us pray to God that we will be protected from Satan’s attacks on our faith and calling, tempting us to quit and go home. Let us pray that God may protect us from getting so busy doing things for Him that we forget to sit and listen to Him. Let us pray to Him that He may protect us from losing our spirit of worship, love, and devotion to Him. Oh Jesus Christ risen from the dead, our strength and our salvation, we definitely need your help. Amen!
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Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Tuesday of Holy Week
John 12:1-11
The Anointing at Bethany
Good evening
In today’s gospel passage, Jesus says: “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me,” (v. 8). He says this to Judas Iscariot because Judas gets angry at the sight of Mary pouring a jar of expensive ointment over His feet and dries them with her hair to show her passionate love for Jesus. And this is also her gratitude for God’s mercy in raising Lazarus back to life again. We admire this expression of Mary’s love, because it is so generous and humbling. Jesus appreciates this. He even adds that the whole world will always remember what she has done for Him. But Judas is “scandalized.” For him, this is a terrible waste! The money spends for the perfumed oil can be used for the poor. But in reality, Judas was a thief, selfish and greedy. He is the treasurer of the group, but he used to steal the contributions (v.6).
Brothers and sisters,
‘You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me,’ said Jesus. It is a fact that there are always poor people around us. But Jesus wants to tell us that Christianity is not exclusively only for the poor people and needy. Rather, “it is also a personal love exclusively to Him, a love that justifies many sacrifices,”. Actually, there is no conflict between concern for the poor and generosity in worship. The poor of the Lord, appreciate generosity in worship. They are like the widow who gave in her little mite and earned the admiration of Christ for her generosity.
But the problem with many of us is that we give so much importance to the one, like our concern for the poor but on the process, we neglect the more important one which is our personal prayer and meditation to our God.
So brothers and sisters,
Let’s pray and discern together so that we could know the will of God. During this holy week, let’s ask God to help us to be close to Him and to try to do anytime his will, amen.
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Tuesday, April 12, 2022
John 13:21-33, 36-38
Judas’ Betrayal Announced; Peter’s Denial Predicted
Good morning!
Today’s gospel passage presents to us two kinds of betrayals: Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial. But what is the difference between the two betrayals? Judas’ betrayal was deliberate, cold and calculated. His is seen as the worst one. It is because when Jesus makes His appeal by showing special affection to him at the Last Supper through a gesture of offering him a morsel of food, very sadly, Judas rejects this act of our Lord’s reaching to him in love and compassion. In the Jewish society, a gesture of offering a morsel of food is an act done by one who considers the other person a genuine and intimate friend.
While Peter, in a moment of weakness, denies Him with an oath and a curse. He never meant to do what he did. Jesus knows both the strength of Peter’s loyalty and the weakness of his resolution. He has a habit of speaking with his heart without thinking through the implications of what he was saying. He acts impulsively out of weakness and cowardice (kaowardiss).
Brothers and sisters,
All of us have weaknesses. But God loves to use weak people. In fact, we have a bundle of imperfections be it: physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. We may also have some uncontrollable circumstances that weaken us, like: financial and relational constraints. But what is more important is what we do with regards to these. Sad to say, many of the things we have done regarding these matters are: we deny our weaknesses, defend them, excuse them, justify them, hide them, resent them and this prevents God from using these weaknesses the way He desires.
Brothers and sisters,
God has a different outlook when it comes to our weaknesses. He says: “My ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts,” (Is. 55:9). Through these words, we can say that He often acts in ways that are the exact opposite of what we expect. The Bible gives us so many examples by which God loves to use imperfect, ordinary people to do extraordinary things in spite of their weaknesses and one of them is St. Paul.
Here are some suggestions on what to do so that God can use us to work through our weaknesses:
First, admit our weaknesses. Let us own our imperfections, stop pretending that we have it all together and be honest with ourselves. Instead of living in denial or making excuses, let us take the time to identify our personal weaknesses. We might make a list of them.
Second, be content with our weaknesses. Contentment is an expression of faith in the goodness of God. There are reasons to be content with our weaknesses according to St. Paul (2Cor 12:7, 9-10), like: they cause us to depend on God; they prevent arrogance and keep us humble; they encourage fellowship between believers; they increase our capacity for sympathy.
Third, honestly share our weaknesses. We have to share openly our failures, our feelings, our frustrations and our fears (1Cor 1:3). Of course weaknesses can be risky because it can lower our defenses and open up our lives to others; there is a risk of rejection. But it is emotionally liberating. Opening up relieves stress, diffuses fears and is the first step to freedom.
Lastly, glory in our weaknesses. When Satan points out our weaknesses, let us thank him and agree with him and fill our hearts with praise for Jesus who ‘understands every weaknesses of ours,’ and for the Holy Spirit who ‘helps us in our weaknesses, .
Brothers and sisters,
Let us ponder: Do we limit God’s power in our life by trying to hide our weaknesses? Of course not… So, let us always remember that God works best when we admit our weaknesses. And then, our hearts will be disposed of his graces, Amen!
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Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
John 5:1-16
Curing of the Man at the pool at Bethesda
Good morning!
In today’s gospel a man who had been crippled for thirty-eight years is among the blind, lame and paralyzed who seek cures by being the first to enter the water of the pool after some sort of stirrings. This was the popular belief. For thirty-eight years this man comes to the pool every day. For all those times, nobody gives this sick man a helping hand to be the first to reach the healing waters. But Jesus’ compassion for him is the opposite of the attitude of the people of unconcern and selfishness. Jesus cures the man and tells him to pick up his mat, which is forbidden by the Mosaic Law on the Sabbath, and walk. But Jesus warns him, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more so that nothing worse may happen to you.” By these words it seems that Jesus has somewhat anticipated the finding of psychosomatic disorder and that this man’s former paralysis had been caused by excessive guilt, or by some sinful attitude. What is worse is if our souls will be in eternal damnation because of our sins.
Brothers and sisters,
How many people are there that could not avail themselves of the curing grace of God’s word as well as in the Church’s sacraments because there is no one to help them? We cannot stand by passively while we see relatives and friends far from God. Some of them may need just a little bit of encouragement so that they go to the sacrament of reconciliation. We have a responsibility to help those around us in their physical and spiritual needs. Winston Churchill once said, “The price of greatness is responsibility.”
Brothers and sisters,
Let us try to: 1) List a few teachers who aided our journey through school. 2) Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time. 3) Name five people who have taught us something worthwhile. 4) Think of a few people who have made us feel appreciated and special. 5) Think of five people you enjoy spending time with. 6) Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired us.
This would not be easy, of course. The lesson is: The people who make a difference in our lives are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care. And Jesus is the only person who always cares for us. Let’s trust in Him and give Him our lives forever. Amen!
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Friday after Ash Wednesday
Matthew 25:31-46,
The Judgment of the Nations
Good morning!
Today’s Gospel gives us a casual picture of what will happen on the Day of Judgment. But I wonder why this gospel passage is placed at the beginning of Lenten season. I’m sure this is because the Church wants to offer us a positive stimulus to personal conversion and amendment. The Church reminds us too that the Lord Himself will certainly return as a Supreme Judge and this is not a remote possibility . We will be judged individually based fundamentally on the standard of real love in the form of works of mercy. That is, the “sheep” will inherit eternal life because they respond to real needs before them while the “goats” will inherit damnation because they fail to respond to those same needs.
On the Day of Judgment separation is inevitable. The Day of Judgment will reveal those who have shown true compassion and mercy toward their neighbor. God will judge us not only for the wrong we have done but also for what we have failed to do. That is why Jesus teaches us a very important lesson about loving our neighbor and taking responsibility for them.
Jesus expects us to find Him under the veil of His humanity even if when that humanity was full of blood and writhing in agony. But also He expects us to encounter Him in other people. No matter how disgusting some people may appear to us Jesus identifies Himself with all those need to be served. Especially that everyday here in the Philippines, Jesus who identifies Himself with the lost, the least and the last, is trampled upon, sneered at and killed in the shattered homes and broken lives of the poor. Whatever we have done to them Jesus says that this is also done to Him, (v. 40). The Blessed Mother Teresa beautifully said: “If sometimes our poor people have had to die out of starvation, it is not because God didn’t care for them, but because you and I…were not instruments of love in the hands of God, because we did not recognize Christ when once more Christ came in distressing disguise.”
God is so gracious and merciful to us. Do we treat our neighbor with mercy and love as Christ has treated us?
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Tuesday, March 8th 2022
Matt 6:7-15
The Lord’s Prayer
Good morning,
God knows how stressful life is. He wants to ease our cares and He will respond to all your needs = ASAP! Always Say A Prayer.
In today’s gospel, Jesus presents to us one of the two faults when we pray to God and this is vain repetition (v. 7-8) either alone or with others. The other one is vain-glory (Matt 6:5-6). The Pharisees made long prayers (Matt 23:14) by idly babbling over the same words again and again with no purpose. Therefore, all their care was to make them long. In other words, Jesus is teaching us that prayer should not be a piling of words, phrases and formulas in order to be heard by God and to influence Him to grant our petitions. It is in this context that we are accused of many born again and other protestant groups of doing the same. According to them we repeatedly are saying so many Our Fathers and Hail Marys without regard to the meaning of them. The prayer becomes barren and dry by going over of the same thing again and again and this vain repetition is condemned because this displeases God. But let everybody know also that not all long prayers are forbidden, like for example, Christ prayed all night (Lk 6:12). Solomon’s prayer was also long. There are times we need long prayers when our errands and our affections are extraordinary. But merely to prolong the prayer as if it would make it more pleasing or more prevailing with God, this is which is condemned. It is not much praying that is condemned because we are taught to pray always. What is wrong here is when we only say our prayers and not when we pray them. And so let our words few, considerate and well weighed. We must pray in a sincere and serious communication to God our Father. It is in this context that Our Father has to be seen to be able to pray it more meaningfully.
At the end let us reflect these words: our prayer will be effective and transforming only if it imitates Jesus’ prayer. We pray first that God be hallowed, that God’s Kingdom come when we do His will here as it is in heaven. Only secondly that we ask for what we need: spiritual and material bread, forgiveness and strength to overcome temptations we face today. Christ’s conditional requirement is that God’s forgiveness can be received only after we show forgiveness to others. And so therefore, let us approach God in prayer confidently, simply and with upright intention. It is because God knows our true needs better than we do.
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Friday, March 4, 2022
Friday after Ash Wednesday
Isaiah 58: 1-9, Matthew 9: 14-15
Good morning!
Today in the readings from Sacred Scripture the Church gives us, she wants us to ponder the true meaning of the fasting we’re called to be doing in Lent and in life.
Brothers and sisters,
Both readings this morning speak of fasting, one of the traditional Lenten practices. We tend to think of fasting in relation to food. To fast is the deprive ourselves of certain foods for a period of time. In the first reading, however, Isaiah defines fasting much more broadly than that. He understands it as fasting from all those ways of relating to people that damage and oppress them and replacing such ways of relating with working for justice on behalf of those in greatest need. Isaiah seems to be saying that fasting can never be separated from that other Jewish practice that we associate with Lent, almsgiving, the sharing of our resources with others. Isaiah reminds us this morning that Lenten disciplines of prayer fasting and almsgiving, all three stand or fall together. They are three expressions of one way of life. We cannon focus on any one to the hard of the other two. The kind of fasting that pleases God, according to Isaiah, is one that finds expression in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, letting the oppressed go free. Such service of others make our prayer more acceptable to God.
In this morning’s Gospel reading He indicates that the celebratory aspects of His ministry means that fasting cannot have the same significance as it does for the disciples of the Pharisees and John the Baptist. Jesus’s ministry is more like a wedding feast than a funeral, with Himself as the bridegroom and His disciples as the bride. Jesus goes on to say that this celebratory element of His ministry does not exclude fasting. However, it gives it a different tone and focus. That celebratory element of the Lord’s ministry continues today in the Church. The risen Lord wants His joy to be in our lives, a joy the world cannot give. Our fasting is with a view to entering more fully into the Lord’s joy; it is in the service of deepening our loving relationship with the Lord so that the joy of His Spirit may be in our lives.
As Isaiah in the first reading reminds us, and as Jesus would confirm, our fasting is also in the service of a more loving relationship with others, especially those in greatest need.
My brothers and sisters,
We must understand our role and the responsibility in receiving the priceless gift. Jesus on the cross “paid the price” of death for our sins. It is not simply a gift that Jesus offers by saying, “OK, I paid the price, now you’re completely of the hook.” No, we believe He says something more like this, “I have opened the door to salvation through my suffering and death. Now I invite you to enter that door with me and unite your sufferings with mine so that My sufferings, united with yours, will bring you to salvation and freedom from sin.” So, in a sense, we are not “off the hook” rather now we have a way to freedom and salvation by uniting our lives, sufferings and sins to the Cross of Christ. Lent is an opportunity to join Jesus on the cross by fasting prayer and almsgiving for our salvation.
Let us pray:
During the season of Lent, the “Season of Grace,” may the small secrifices and acts of self-denial I offer You become a source of my deeper union with you. Amen!
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Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Fifth Tuesday in Ordinary Time Year C
1Peter 51-4, Matt 16:13-19
The Chair of St. Peter the Apostle
Peter’s Confession About Jesus
Good morning!
Today we are celebrating the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter. The idea of celebrating a feast of a “chair” will strike some people as odd. However, a special chair or place of honor is a very familiar and recognizable way of designating the person with the highest authority in an organization. For example, in palaces, a king sits on a throne; in law courts, the judge sits on the “bench”; cathedrals take their name from the special chair of the bishop, the “cathedra.” This feast does not focus on a piece of furniture, but on the unique role of St. Peter in the Church, a role that is continued by his successors, the Popes. Every Pope, throughout history, is entrusted with the authority entrusted to St. Peter; every Pope, symbolically, sits in St. Peter’s chair.
Brothers and sisters,
Today’s gospel presents to us the commitment of St. Peter. But this commitment in today’s gospel is so shallow. It is because his commitment is a commitment from the lips only, from his vocal cords and nothing deeper than that. He said to the Lord, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” But, sad to say, he did not understand why Jesus, the Messiah, had to suffer. That is why later in verse 20 of the same chapter 16, Jesus calls him “Satan.” Jesus sees him as an obstacle to the plan of God.
To celebrate the chair of St. Peter is to celebrate the unity of the Church. The chair is a symbol of Peter’s authority, and that authority is not meant for conquest, like military power. Ecclesiastical authority is directed towards unity.
Let’s thank God for the ordered community of faith we enjoy in the Catholic Church.
O God, your chosen vicar, St. Peter, guided the early Church and guides her still, ensuring that we remain one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic until the end of time. Continue to grace your Church with the unity so necessary to accomplish Her mission on earth. Amen!
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Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Fourth Tuesday in Ordinary Time Year C
Mark 8:14-21
The Leaven of the Pharisees
Good morning!
In today’s gospel Jesus is warning his disciples to watch out against the yeast (or leaven) of the Pharisees and of Herod. What is the leaven Jesus is speaking of? After giving this warning to His disciples, Jesus then gives an explanation to them of what He means and what He doesn’t mean. But even the explanation seems to be over their heads. So He concludes by saying, “Do you still not understand?” To this day Jesus is still asking this question to each one of us.
Brothers and sisters,
This was certainly Jesus trying to get them to think, to listen and to look deeper. He was warning them, “Watch out!” Watch out for this leaven. It’s a warning of love to help them see and understand a very real danger.
So what is this leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod? It’s the evil work, evil intent and errors that they spread. For the Pharisee it may be that it’s just a little misconception or misrepresentation of what Jesus said or did. They may twist His words or they may simply give non-verbal opinions to others. This is contagious and has potential to affect everyone. Little by little their small seeds of doubt an dissent take a toll on others.
We may tend to be thinking about all of “those” people we know who do this. But we’d miss an important opportunity for growth if we failed to first look at ourselves. Do I do this sometimes? Do I say things that mislead in small or subtle ways? Or do I mislead others by my non-verbal negative attitudes? Am I a “negative person” sometimes?
Brothers and sisters,
No need to feel guilty or get down on ourselves if we feel convicted. Rather we should look at this little lesson of Jesus to realize the great power of our words. The smallest of words can do great harm over time.
But that’s not all we should focus on. It’s just as important to realize that the small loving words we say also have potential to make a huge difference over time. Perhaps it’s just a small smile we give or a kind action that we think goes unnoticed. These little actions and words are the leaven of the gospel. They do make a difference and they can become contagious, also.
Brothers and sisters,
Let’s reflect today on the small things in life. We have to know that these small things and small acts of love make a huge difference in the end. May God help us to be honest and see what sort of leaven we sow each and every day. May He help us to be purged of the bad and be filled with the good. O Lord, may You inspire us to be that good leaven in all the many daily interactions we have. Amen.
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Tuesday, February 1, 2022
Fourth Tuesday in Ordinary Time year C
Mark 5:21-43
Jairus’s Daughter and the Woman with a Hemorrhage
Good morning!
Two persons in today’s gospel approach Jesus wanting Him to do something for them. The synagogue official asks Jesus to lay his hands on his dying child and the elderly woman to let Jesus cure her of her hemorrhages that she has been suffering for twelve years.
Brothers and sisters,
What makes them draw to Jesus? Is it a hope for a miracle, or is it a word of comfort in their affliction? It is both. Jesus gives them hope, especially to people with desperate or helpless circumstances, where there seems to be no human cause for it, because His hope is directed to God. He speaks words of hope to them.
Hope is essential for Christian life. We have a right and a duty to be confident that God, who has loved us and called us to eternal life, will never abandon us. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says to us that at baptism, God plants in every Christian the virtue of hope. (CCC 1813) The hope that Christians are given is a divine gift. It is not a shallow human wishing, but a sure confidence that God Himself gives us power to exercise. His grace calls us to make acts of hope, truthfully speaking the confidence in Him that He wishes us to have. He invites all to make their lives stronger and full of gladness by refusing ever to cease hoping in Him. (CCC 1813)
Let’s approach the Lord with expectant faith and hope. Let’s ask Him to give us the divine hope which would be recreated and restored to our life and can help us to be able to serve Him and our neighbor as He wants. Amen!
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Tuesday in the third week of Ordinary Time:
Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul
January 25, 2022:
THE COMMISSIONING OF THE ELEVEN
Acts 22:3-16; Mk 16;15-18
Good morning!
Today we are celebrating the conversion of St. Paul. This conversion of St. Paul while he was on his way to Damascus is one of the most touching miracles in the history of the early Church. It shows us how faith comes from the grace of God and from one’s free cooperation. And so he, from a persecutor (Saul), was transformed into the most zealous and courageous apostle (Paul).
Brothers and sisters,
Saul, in the first place, was a persecutor of Christians. He hated and persecuted Christians as heretical. On his way to Damascus to arrest another group of Christians, I am sure that it was pure and simple grace that he was knocked to the ground, struck blind by a heavenly light and given the message that in persecuting Christians, he was persecuting Christ. Christ identifies himself with his followers and always with them until the end of the world. The experience had a profound spiritual effect on him, causing his conversion to Christianity. He was baptized, changed his name to Saul, to reflect his new persona and began traveling and preaching.
Dear brothers and sisters,
When we hear the word conversion we usually think of a great sinner who abandons a sinful life and becomes a good person. From the Christian point of view, conversion is basically the discovery of a person whose name is Jesus Christ, our Savior and Giver of our lives. Conversion is the decisive act in which the sinner turns away from sin in genuine repentance and accepts the salvation that Christ offers. This is what happened to St. Paul. Once he discovered the love of Jesus in his life, he dedicated himself completely to proclaiming that love to all who would listen.
Brothers and sisters,
Conversion is not only for those who are non-Catholics. All of us need conversion. In fact, we Catholics need more conversion than other Christians if we are serious in saying that it is in the Catholic Church that we find the most complete revelation of Jesus Christ. It is on Christ and not his followers, not even His apostles, that this Church was founded. If we believe that Christ declared his intention of founding a Church by the institution of a living authority when he said to Simon Peter, “And so I say to you, you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it,” (Matt 16: 8) then, conversion is a task that never comes to and end until we reach our final destiny. We have to always turn away from sin and grow deeper in our knowledge and love of Christ. May St. Paul, whose conversion we celebrate today, intercede for us and obtain for us all the grace of true and real conversion. Amen!
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Monday in the third week of Ordinary Time:
Feast of St. Francis de Sales
Monday, January 24, 2022:
JESUS AND BEELZEBUL
Good morning!
The Pharaisees see Jesus cast our devils and this plainly bespoke Him as the One being sent by God the Father. And so they insinuate that he has Beelzebul, the prince of devils, on His side. There is a trick in this case, because for them Satan is not cast out, but he only goes out by consent. There is nothing in the manner of Christ’s casting out devils that gives any cause to suspect this. All of us know that it is not by Satan’s consent that he goes out of a person, but Jesus does it as one having authority. And they have resolved not to believe him. But Christ is so wise that he attacks the Devil’s forces wherever He meets them. It is clear that Christ is the stronger one that enters into to the strong man’s house. This means that if evil is powerful and possessive, God is even more powerful and inspiring. If sin and hatred are strong, love and forgiveness are stronger. Christ’s coming is the end of the devil. Let us not be awed or frightened when evil shows itself. St. Paul says, “Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more.” Romans 5:20
Brothers and sisters,
That is why Jesus in today’s gospel says, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” (v. 24). Jesus is refuting the accusation made against Him that He works with the devil to drive out evil spirits. Actually He is saying that division is evil and unity is the most important one for him. Unity is His desire for His community of disciples and the Holy Trinity is the model and source of the unity that should bind all his disciples. He prayed for this unity so hard on the night before he died and even many times that he was praying to God. He says in His prayer, “Father that they may be one even as you and I are one.”
My brothers and sisters,
There are different types of internal division. One is about contradiction of power, just like what the scribes want to pinpoint in today’s gospel, claiming that Satan is working against himself. If he is working against himself, then his kingdom cannot stand because it has within itself the principles of its own defect. And the other one is hypocrisy which Jesus condemns. It means to say one thing and do the other. We judge others harshly for something, yet we do the very same thing. We speak to our children or family members about the importance of prayer, and yet we do not pray that much. We speak about the need to always be positive in what we say and yet we ourselves fall into criticism so easily.
Let us look at chopsticks and then look at our own relationships also. A relationship that is not blessed or held by God is bound to be fragile. It will easily fall apart. But allow God to hold you together. So brothers and sisters, we are called not to chop at each other but stick to each other because God has brought us together. Amen.
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Good morning!Monday in the second week of Ordinary Time:
Saint Anthony, Abbot:
Monday, January 17th 2022:
MASS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF PEACE AND JUSTICE
Good morning!
On the third Monday in January, America celebrates the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. For many, this day has become just another holiday; although not reaching the same level of commercialization. In fact, it even seems fitting, because this day is not about sales or profit margins; it’s about service.
Brothers and sisters,
God called Martin Luther King, Jr. to be a fisher of men, to “triumph over poverty, racism, war and violence.” (Coretta Scott King) I n college, it said that his grades for public speaking were mostly “C”; but, it didn’t matter because God called him to serve, act, and speak. And wow, did he ever speak!
On February 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his last sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Titled “The Drum Major Instinct,” the sermon was inspired by Mark 10:43 (NIV): “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.” Inspired from this passage, Dr. King said:
"If you want to be important, wonderful. If you want to be recognized, wonderful. If you want to be great, wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness. “And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. “You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serv e. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant." On the only thing required to serve: "a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love."
My brothers and sisters,
The disciples of John the Baptist in today’s gospel and the Pharisees are upset with the disciples of Jesus because they do not fast. But why fast if all of our pious acts must not have God at their center? Why fast if we are not able to serve? Saint Anthony whose memory we celebrate today was a great servant of God.
Brothers and sisters, the world has to figure out how to make room for the poor; how to shake out of our paralysis and with our whole strength confront the forces that enslave our brothers and sisters in the deepest poverty and embrace even the most radical ideas to heal the wounds of the world. This can be called today the real and true FASTING… Let’s try to do it as much as we can with the help of God, Amen!
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Tuesday in the First Week of Ordinary Time
The Cure of the Demoniac
January 11, 2022
Good Morning,
Jesus, in today’s gospel reading, taught the people in their synagogue and they were astonished. They were astonished for two reasons:
First, by his preaching. St. Mark says twice that Jesus speaks “with authority.” “And not as the scribes,” he adds. It is because when Jesus speaks the word of God, He speaks as no one has spoken it before. He speaks with authority. The prophets spoke with delegated authority. But when Jesus speaks He needs no authorities or doesn’t quote experts to support His statements and render credibility to everything He says. He is the authority incarnate; the Word of God made flesh. When He speaks, God speaks. When He commands even the demons obey.
Second, the people were astonished at Him because of His healing. He heals those who are ill because of His compassion for them. He heals because He loves them. Jesus never stops loving us. He loves us but He will not force us to love Him in return. He loves the sinner yet hates the sin. He is willing to be reprimanded by the Pharisees and scribes because He cures the man with unclean spirit during the Sabbath day.
Brothers and sisters,
Jesus commands the evil one and he submits. The evil one fears Christ’s power. The evil one is silenced by a mere word from Christ. So often we worry and fear that sin has a grip on us that we cannot break. We worry that we cannot live up to what the Lord expects of us. Yet, His word makes that evil one flee immediately. He can do the same in our lives if we put out total trust in Him.
Let us ask Jesus to fill us with His authority and to heal our minds and to be able to perform the gospel mission He assigned to us. Jesus you were sent to heal the contrite of heart. We are sinners, have mercy on us all. Amen.
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Tuesday within the octave of Christmas
The Feast of the Holy Innocents
December 28, 2021
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Innocents, remembering all those innocent children and infants of the town of Bethlehem in Judea, the place of Our Lord’s birth, who had perished and died at the order of King Herod the Great in his futile attempt to remove and destroy the Lord as his rival king. King Herod feared the Lord and did not want Him to overthrow him and thus, he tried in vain to remove this threat.
King Herod tyrannically ordered the slaughter of all those children and infants below the age of two years old, selfishly and jealously trying to protect his own power and rule, and he would not hold back even in trying to destroy innocent lives. In doing so, he had made martyrs out of all those infants and children, the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem. The Holy Innocents of Bethlehem are in our thoughts today as we celebrate their memories.
We may then be wondering why it is that God Who is loving and kind, compassionate and merciful would allow for such a terrible deed to be committed. Some of us may wonder that since the Lord could have intervened for the sake of those little and innocemt children, He did not?. Indeed, as God is Almighty, such a deed would have been easily done, and He could have struck Herod easily.
But the Lord did not do that, just as He did not strike us down when we sinned, immediately at the moment of our sins. Do we remember Adam and Eve, our very first ancestors who disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden? If God had wanted to destroy them for their sins, He very well could have done so, but the Lord has given them free will, and since they consciously chose to listen to the devil instead of Him, thus they had to suffer the consequences of their action and choice.
And in the end, God Who created them out of love would not destroy His beloved ones but gave us all the opportunity and chance to repent and turn away from the sins we have committed. King Herod in his futile efforts to destroy his rival in the King of kings, Jesus, had committeded grave sin from his own conscious choice, succumbing to his pride, desire, and greed, and he abused the free will given to him by God, causing untold suffering in others.
Therefore the great tragedy that happened in the massacre of the infants and children of Bethlehem was caused by none other than our own corrupt ambitions and desires, our wicked and evil attitudes, which led us down the path to destruction and for whatever we have committed in sin against God, we shall be judged and condemned by our very own ations, words and deeds that the final judgment.
St. John, in our first reading today in the Epistle that he wrote, reminded all of us that we are all sinners and that all of us deserve to be punished because of our sins, and we should not deceive ourselves into thinking that we have had no sin. All the sufferings, destructions and wickedness present in the world all this while, have been caused by our disobedience against God, and vile actions.
Ye, through Christ Our Lord, the Savior born in to the world and celebrated in this Christmas, all of us have received the sure promise and assurance that we will be spared and receive the eternal life and glory promised to us through Him. The Lord has shown us that all the infants of Bethlehem who perished that day did not die in vain, as martyrs of innocence, because the Lord had come to bring an end to all these brutalities and wickedness.
And how did He do so, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is by revealing to us all His truth, His way and the path that He wants us to all walk in. He taught us through His disciples and his Church that we must no longer be subjected and ruled over by our sins, by our wicked desires and greed, by our pride, ego and ambition. Instead we are all called to follow the Lord faithfully and commit ourselves wholehearted from now on is His path.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all strive as Christians to end the bitter cycle of violence and suffering in our world, by first of all making sure that we Christians do not act in our own self-interest and causing sufferings in others just so that we can satisfy our own selfish wants and greed. Let us all rid ourselves of these corruptions of pride and greed, of lust and jealousy, of anger and wrath, that we do not end up falling into the same terrible sin committed by King Herod.
Are we willing and able to commit ourselves to the path of righteousness and justice as shown by the Lord, brothers and sisters in Christ? This season of Christmas let us make our celebrations meaningful by doing what we can to contribute to our community, and showing love, care and compassion especially to the marginalized, the poor and the unloved, and seek to be more selfless and to love one another with ever greater devotion from now on.
Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, pray for us. Amen.
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Thursday of the Thirty- second week in Ordinary Time/B
November11, 2021
Luke 17:20-25
The Coming of the Kingdom of God
Good morning!
In today’s gospel, the Pharisees asked Jesus about when the Kingdom of God would come. Jesus surprised them with the answer that the Kingdom of God cannot be observed.
Brothers and sisters,
It’s not “here” or “there” but ““the kingdom of God is among you,” that is, within our hearts. God’s kingdom has already appeared in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the world. He speaks also of the coming of God’s kingdom as both a present event and an event which would be manifested at the end of time, or is already here, but not because its completing will happen at the end of time.
In addition to this, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the kingdom of God is the reign or rule of God. “The kingdom of God is… righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” The Kingdom of God begins from within and transforms our hearts to be like God and a people who know the power of His love, mercy and forgiveness. The Lord Jesus is present in His word, in His Body of the Church and in “the breaking of he bread,” the Holy Eucharist. Jesus reveals Himself in many countless ways to those who seek Him with eyes of faith. When we read the word of God in the Bible, Jesus speaks to us and reveals to us His Mind, and the Heart of the Father. When we approach the Table of the Lord, Jesus offers Himself as spiritual food which produces the very life of God within us (“I am the bread of life".” John 6:35)
Brothers and sisters,
God is always at work around us. God pursues a continuing love relationship with us that is real and personal. God invites us to become involved with Him in His work. God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances and the church will reveal Himself, His purposes and His ways. God’s invitation for us to work with Him always leads to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action. We must make major adjustments in our life to join God in what He is doing. We come to know God by experience as we obey Him and as He accomplishes His work through us.
Let’s work for the Kingdom of Heaven living a life of peace, joy and relationship love everyday and forever. Amen!
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Tuesday of the Thirty- second week in Ordinary Time/B
November 9, 2021
Ez 47:1-2, 8-9, 1Cor 3:9-11, 16-17; John 2:13-22
Dedication of the Lateran Basilica (St. John Lateran)
Cleansing of the Temple
Good morning!
In the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, he said, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.” (1Cor 3:16-17
Brothers and sisters,
Today we are celebrating a feast not of a person but of a building. It is because today is the celebration of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica or the Church of the Most Holy Savior in Rome.
The Lateran Basilica, built by Constantine near the Palace of the same name, is the first basilica of the West. Twelve councils, four of which were ecumenical, have assembled there, the last in 1512. Until now the Basilica of St. John Lateran remains the home of the bishop of Rome, the Pope, and it is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome. This is the oldest church in the world and even older than the St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. One the facade of this church is this inscription: “Mother and head of all the churches in Rome and throughout the world.” This is because the basilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral of the Pope and the Pope is the Head of the Universal Church. Therefore this church, too, is the Mother of all Churches in the world.
For several centuries the Popes have not dwelt in the Lateran Palace. This does not mean that the primacy of the Basilica is thereby altered; it remains the head of all churches. St. Peter Damian wrote that “just as the Savior is the Head of the Elect, the church which bears His name is the head of all the churches. Those of St. Peter and St. Paul, to its left and to its right, are the two arms by which this sovereign and universal church embraces the entire earth, saving all who desire salvation, warming them, protecting them in its maternal womb.”
If we are joining the celebration of its dedication today, we are thereby in communion with the Pope in Rome. But, sad to say, there are other churches sprouted not in communion with the Pope in Rome. Let us pray for the unity of all churches.
Another purpose for this celebration is found in the readings that were chosen which connect two ideas: first, God is present in the buildings when he cleansed the Temple of money changers and said to them, “Stop making My Father’s house a marketplace” and second, God is present in people and He is the temple when he said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
Brothers and sisters,
Today’s feast of the Dedication of the St. John Lateran basilica reminds us that at the bottom the church of Christ is made, not of buildings, but of people. Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to continuously build in our hearts His temple. Amen!
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Friday of the Twenty-ninth week in Ordinary Time/B
September 10, 2021
Luke 12:54-59
Signs of the Times
Good evening!
Jesus in today’s gospel expects his disciples to read accurately the signs of the times. Jesus uses a clear illustration to point out the urgency of getting right with God. His call is urgent and God’s grace, love and mercy are available for complete transformation. We need not wait until the end of time, for more often than not, the end is already too late. If we are up against a bad cause and are likely to get severely penalized, we shall try to settle the case out-of-court now to avoid a worse penalty at the end of our lives. It is like when we go to Church on Sunday or any day, we make sure that we will be first reconciled with those who wronged us or whom we have wronged or else our attendance in the Mass will be worthless and devoid of meaning. This is our homework and Jesus wants us to do our homework first.
Brothers and sisters,
Our homework is to be a Christian. But we have not to forget that this affirmation reminds us that we need God, His grace, love and mercy in getting right with God. It runs this way:
When I say, “I am a Christian,” I am not shouting, “I’ve been saved.” I am whispering, “I get lost! That’s why I chose this way.”
When I say, “I am a Christian,” I don’t speak with human pride, I’m confessing that I stumble and needing God to be my guide.
When I say, “I am a Christian,” I’m not trying to be strong, I’m professing that I’m weak and pray for strength to carry on.
When I say, “I am a Christian,” I’m not bragging of success. I’m admiting that I’ve failed and cannot ever pay the debt.
When I say, “I am a Christian,” I don’t think I know it all. I submit to my confusion asking humbly to be taught.
When I say, “I am a Christian,” I’m not claiming to be perfect. My flaws are all to visible but God believes I’m worth it.
When I say, “I am a Christian,” I still feel the sting of pain. I have my share of heartache which is why I seek His Name.
When I say, “I am a Christian,” I do not wish to judge; I have no authority… I only know I’m loved.
So, let’s try day by day to be real, true Christians.
Brothers and sisters,
As we celebrate the memory of St. Pope John Paul II, let us day by day try our bests to be for real the true Christians. Amen!
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Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh week in Ordinary Time/B
September 10, 2021
Luke 10:38-42
Martha and Mary
Today’s gospel is about Martha and Mary, the two sisters of Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead. And it seems that the two of them were different from each other. Martha accepts the responsibility of taking care of the house to see to it that the house runs smoothly, meals are properly prepared and those who came to visit their home will be treated well. On the other hand, Mary seems she is not so concerned about the household chores and not so eager to fulfill daily responsibilities. But when Jesus visited them in their home, Martha was so busy preparing food in the kitchen to the extent that she doesn’t have time to sit at Jesus’ feet. During Jesus’ time, to “sit at the Master’s feet” is to be his disciple. This is the place reserved only for men and nor for women. Martha knows this. She feels embarrassed and apologetic for her sister. Martha sticks faithfully to the accepted practice that her role is to cook and serve the master and not to sit at His feet. She does her role with love.
Brothers and sisters,
Jesus rebukes Martha not because fo her serving but because of her attitude. He said “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing.” So the problem is not about her serving but about her complaining and self-pitying attitude. She is so caught up in activity to the extent that she misses to see what is really importand as His disciple and that is, to spend time at the Savior’s fee, honor and serve Him.What is our attitude when we serve God? Perhaps our attitude is one of neglect, as somebody had said. It is because we don’t have time to be still and listen to God and very busy in doing our works and meeting our responsibilities in our jobs. To speak frankly, I thank that God helps us to get out work done. But what He really wants form us as His followers is to make time for Him.
So brothers and sisters, a famous author, Ann Byle, said, “Don’t get so busy doing that you have to time for being.” This is the time for us to have a checklist of what we are going to do for God and rethink our attitude so that in everything we do, these bring glory to Him alone.
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Friday of the Twenty-third week in Ordinary Time/B
September 10, 2021
Judging others
Good morning!
Today’s gospel contains some very wise, yet obvious observations. The blind cannot lead the other blind; we cannot dare to correct the defects of other people when we ourselves are full of things to be corrected.
Brothers and sisters,
Those are good advices for all of us Christians: if we want to change other people then we must it with ourselves; if we want to evangelize others then we must practice first these gospel values. We are doing these in order for us not to be accused of hypocrisy, showing what we are not. We help others, teach them and guide, not because we are in a position to help, guide or teach them and we are better then they are, but because we practice them first, ourselves.
And so if we want to be guides or teachers for otherss, then we must have clear vision for where we are going and a map that shows the way, as someone says. If our destination is Heaven, then there is only one way and that way is the way of the cross of Jesus Christ. In the cross of Christ, sin is pardoned and the sinner is made whole, darkness and corruption give way to light and truth, death is defeated and new life restored.
Brothers and sisters,
If we want to guide others to Christ it is not enough simply to proclaim ourselves guides or even be called by Christ to be guides. We must strive to be like Him, or to be Christ-like; we must learn from Him the art of saving souls. We must be humble in realizing that there is always something more that we can learn from Him.
Francis J. Kong, in his bood One Daisy at a Time, said: “It’s nice to be important but it’s important to be nice.” Let’s be like Christ and His witnesses in the world. Amen!
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September 8, 2021
The Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Readings: Mi 5:1-4, Rom 8:28-304, Matt 1:1-16, 18-23
Good morning!
Today we are celebrating the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We don’t know exactly the date of her birth, St. Andrew of Crete says that her birth is the “prelude” for the “union of the Word with the flesh.” Anyway, the Church is consistent in celebrating her birthday nine months after the celebration of the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8. We have every reason to rejoice at Mary’s birth, and a cause for celebration. It was a holy birth since the Virgin Mary was sanctified from the very first moment of her existence; her birth is a prelude for the imminent coming of Our Savior; with her arrival on the human scene, a new age is about to begin. There she is a great blessing coming from God for humanity.
Brothers and sisters,
The birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary announced joy and the approaching salvation of a lost world. Mary was brought into the world, not like other children of Adam. infected with the contagion of sin, but pure, holy, beautiful, and glorious, adorned with all the most precious graces fitting for the One predestined to be the Mother of Our Savior.
People celebrate, often noisily, the birthdays of the great people of this earth… how then, ought we, Christians, to rejoice in that of the Virgin Mary, Mother of our Salvation and to present publicly to God the homage of our best praises and thanksgiving for the great mercies He has shown in her, imploring her mediation through her Divine Son? Jesus of Nazareth will not reject the supplications of His most holy Mother, through whom He chose to descend from Heaven. The more we get close to Mary, the more we get close to Christ.
Brothers and sisters,
Just like Christ, Mary is alive right now. She is in heaven, body and soul. Having a personal relationship with her as Mother of the Church and Mother of each one of us we should make this day a day of rejoicing. It is also a good day to do what we normally do on birthdays, give gifts. What girts will we offer the Blessed Mother today? The best we can, the best we have. May God help us to find it and give it then to her. Amen!
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Tuesday of the Twenty-second week in Ordinary Time/B
August 31, 2021
Godpel: Luke 4:31-37 " : The Cure of a Demoniac
Good morning!
Jesus in today’s gospel spoke with authority because He spoke the word of God as no one had spoken it before." When the Rabbis taught they supported their statements with quotes from
other authorities. The prophets spoke with delegated authority like: “Thus says the Lord.” "When Jesus spoke he needed no authorities to back up his statements." He was authority
incarnate, the Word of God made flesh. When he spoke, God spoke. How do we respond to the word of God? Do we listen it with selective submission or with the full assent of faith and
obedience?
Brothers and sisters,
Jesus, too, commanded the evil spirits with authority and power to come out. Jesus took the existence of evil very seriously. With calm authority he expelled the evil spirits from the man
in the synagogue. What has this to do with us? We have to know that evil is a reality. We encounter evil in ourselves when tempted, when we give in to temptations, when we do what
we actually do not intend to do, when we ignore the voice of our conscience. We encounter evil in the persons around us, in our society, in the world. Often we get the impression that
our society is permeated by evil. What do we do? St. Paul leads us to the basic attitude we must have to encounter evil; to follow the urgings of the Holy Spirit which bars evil from
entering and does not allow spreading in one’s life.
Brothers and sisters,
The Word of God can do a lot for us: “It Judges and we cannot just bear it and forget it (John 12:48); It purifies and exposes evil; it points out the good (John 15:3; Tim 4:5); It obligates
and if you bear it, you must pass it on (Acts 4:4); It renews and gives you a new life (1Pt 1:23). Let’s trust into it and our life will be transformed, Amen!
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Friday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time/B
August 27, 2021, the feast of St. Monica
Matt 25:1-13, the parable of the Ten Virgins
Good morning,
We celebrate today the memory of St. Monica - a woman who, after twenty years of prayer, obtained the conversion of her pagan husband and the conversion of her oldest son, St. Augustine. This is an example of persistence in prayer. *** St. Monica had three children. The other two, who were older, Navigius and Perpetua, entered religious life.***
Jesus again reminds us in today’s gospel that we have to be always prepared and ready for the two things that certainly will happen to us: the end of the world, and the end of our own life.
Brothers and sisters,
In this parable of ten virgins, He reminds us of two important truths:
First, there are some things that cannot be obtained instantaneously but take time. For example, studying for exams or expressing thanks to those who helped us, take time. Or in the case of us wanting to have knowledge of a certain thing, we need to ask somebody, read, research, study, and reflect in order to have knowledge of this particular things. Also in the case of wanting to have eternal life, we have to undergo a process of having it. Like, for example, in today’s gospel we are told by Jesus to stay awake or to be watchful. To be watchful is more than timing. Many of us would say that they are watchful because they are in the right place, at the right time, all the time. Some are unlucky because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time, all the time. To be watchful is also more than watching so that we will not get caught. To be watchful is to do good all the time whether somebody is watching us or not, whether or not we will be punished or rewarded. We do good because our nature is to do good. If we do not do good, we will be going against ourselves in the sense that God, after creating us, found us very good, therefore we are good.
My brothers and sisters,
The second important thing: there are certain things that cannot be borrowed. We cannot borrow from others a relationship with God. We cannot borrow the holiness of others and use it for our own benefit. Having a pious mother or spouse, even a priest or nun in the family, is not enough. What we do or how we ourselves relate to God and to others is what counts.
St. Francis de Sales says: “the worse things that can befall persons who have good will is to want to be what they cannot be and not want to be what they necessarily must be. They conceive desires to do great things which perhaps will never be expected of them; in the meantime, they neglect the little things which God puts into their hands. There are thousands of acts of virtues as, for example, to bear little troubles and the imperfections of our neighbors; to suffer a biting word or some little injustice… very seldom do we have the opportunity to gain large ‘sums',’ but we can daily earn little ones. And with the intelligent handling of these ‘earnings.’ there are many who became rich”.
Brothers and sisters, if according to St. Paul: “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom”, so therefore it is always wise to be ready. Let’s try our best in this way. Amen!
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Wednesday of the Twentieth Week In Ordinary Time/B August 18,2021
Matt 20:1-16: Workers in the Vineyard
Today’s gospel presents to us a parable which appears scandalous to many good Christians because the parable offers a clear picture of God who is unfair and unjust, too. Reading the parable for the first time would lead us to the conclusion that there is certainly unfair practice. But the story should be read from a different angle.
Brothers and sisters,
In this parable, Jesus wants to give us an important lesson on the generosity and love of God which are offered as pure gifts or as free gifts to all of us. Generosity means that we rejoice in the success and good fortune of others. The blessings that they receive reveal God’s goodness. And what is envy? Envy is a kind of spiritual sickness that restricts the heart so that it cannot rejoice in the good of others, much less, gives to them. And so therefore, as children of God, we have to be happy because we have a God who is:
First, is eager to fill heaven with people. We have a God who wants to save us and not condemn; a God who, at the very last hour, is still saving souls. In other words, His offering of salvation is accessible to all. This Parable of the Vineyard Workers could be renamed as the Parable o the Good Employer, or what Jesus is stressing is the Father’s merciful love and generosity a love that seeks desperately to save men and women and give them the dignity of God’s childdren.
Second, He is eager to save us, His children. But this salvation is not transmitted by radio waves but by the convinced and enthusiastic witness of a person who loves Christs deeply, personally, who sees the world as mission field ready for harvest, whose vision of faith penetrates the seemingly worldly character of daily life an to see that there is a battle raging in the spirit between good and evil.
Third, He is a generous God. Generosity means that we rejoice in the success and good fortune of others. The purpose of this parable is to emphasize the truth that we have a God who is compassionate, merciful, and generous. His actions go beyond the human understanding of fairness and justice. God gives us His blessings not because we merit them, but they are absolutely His free gift to us.
Brothers and sisters, as His children, we have to realize also that salvation comes about one by one. We must know that to be authentic apostles, even though we are not on TV or writing best-seller books, we have to go about convincing, not only by example and persuasion but always an invitation to experience that mysterious new relationship that has transfigured our lives.
Therefore, we should be grateful and rejoice that others will be called later and will receive salvation. Let’s make our challenge be to look at the people we meet today and see them as God does. Amen!
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Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time/B
August 16, 2021
Readings: Matthew 19 16-22, The Rich Young Man
Good Evening!
Today’s gospel is about the rich young man who was called by Christ but who was called by Christ but who could not get himself to follow Christ because of his attachments to his riches. The gospel concludes that the man, “Went away sad.”
Brothers and sisters,
Many commentators tell us that Jesus tries to help the young man realize that He is God. This may be true by is it what Jesus really meant? According to me, it is because when Jesus deals with different people, He often skips over this matter about Himself and immediately goes to the condition of the person’s heart. This is what I think He is doing. As we will see in the next few verses, this man believes that he is a good person in the sense that he asks Jesus what he shall do. He thinks whatever hard task Jesus might pick out for him, he is fully capable to accomplish it in his own strength. The point that Jesus is trying to make here is that no one is good enough, only God.
But why does he go away from Jesus with sadness rather than with joy? It is because his treasure and his hope for happiness are misplaced. Treasure has a special connection to the poorest of the poor because we have Jesus Christ as our treasure.
The Lord Himself is the greatest and highest treasure we can have. Giving up everything else and having the Lord as our treasure, is not sorrowful, but the greatest joy. We are not the poorest of the poor because we have Christ as our treasure.
My brothers and sisters,
Many of us think that treasure or riches will make us happy. Yet very often it becomes a source of anxiety and even strife. Even if we have a peaceful possession of our belongings, they do not truly satisfy the deep yearnings of the human heart where happiness calls. The book of Proverbs says: “As moth to the cloth and termite to the wood, so sadness harms the heart of Man.” (35:20) Hence, the advice of St. James in his letter is the appropriate remedy: “Is anyone sad? Let him pray.” So, let’s ask God to teach us how to pray today, everyday and forever, Amen!
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Tuesday of the Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time of /B
August 10, 2021, The Feast of St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr
Readings: 2 Corinthians 9: 6-10 Gospel John12: 24-26
Good morning!
Jesus in today’s gospel presents to us an analogy of living and dying. In dying to oneself, especially of our being conceited, self-centered and individualistic, a new life develops. Every human person is like a grain of whet that falls to the earth and dies. It is a dying that life produces much fruit. Take the example of Jesus. He was crucified on the cross and died and his death produces much fruit. Take the example of Jesus. He was crucified on the cross and died and his death produced much fruit like: salvation or eternal life for all, the Sacraments, the Church.
Brothers and sisters,
The analogy of living and dying is also exemplified by St. Lawrence, the saint we honor today. St. Lawrence was Chief of the seven deacons of Rome, a Spaniard by birth and was in chage of diocesan properties and charities. In the year 258 Pope Sixtus II was led out to die by the Romans.
It tells us, in the first place, that when the Pope was siezed, Lawrence accompanied him and asked, with tears in his eyes, “Father, where are you going without your deacon?” The Pope answered, “You shall follow me in three days.”
Inspired by this prophecy, the deacon prepared for death by distributing among the poor all the church funds he had on hand, even adding to that welfare fund by selling some of the sacred vessels. Whe the prefect of Rome lerned of this distribuion, he concluded tht the Christians were very wealthy. So he summoned Lawrence and ordered him to turn over the Church’s treasures, to be added to the fund supporting the Roman army. Lawrence asked only for a few days (three days) to make an “inventory” of Church possessions before he presented them.
When three days were up, the deacon returned to the prefect accompanied bya large crowd of his poor: the blind, the orphaned, the aged, the lepers, the crippled, the widows and the maidens. “These,” he said to the prefect “are the treasures of the church.”
The prefect was furious with Lawrence’s answer. At once he arrested him and condemned him to death by roasting alive on a grill (gridiron). The story goes on to say that the deacon did not hesitate at one point in his torture to tell his executioners, “Let my body be turned; one side is broiled enough!” What a saint! His death and exmple led the conversion of Rome that signaled the end of paganism in the city.
For us there is no need that we have to follow literally what St. Lawrence did, died a martyr’s death. Eachone of us has the capacity o do good and to show kindness to one another. Our acts of kindness might be insignificant by at least we have contributed in making our world a better place to live in. Let’s try our best every day and Godwill keep in charge of the rest, Amen!
Father Franck Agbowai is from the Republic of Benin in West Africa. Priest of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (Community of Eudist Fathers), Fr. Franck is our full time chaplain for the Francophone community and a part time Parochial vicar at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church.