Cycle C - Year I:

3 February 2013 - 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical color: Green)

Luke 4:21-30

Through the eyes of faith!

As we go back to Ordinary Time in the Church's liturgical calendar, St. Luke tells us the beginning of Jesus' mission in last Sunday's Gospel. He returned to his home town of Nazareth and in the synagogue he read a passage from the prophet Isaiah describing the signs that the Messiah would perform. He then revealed to them that He is the Messiah.

This week's Gospel is the continuation of the events described in last Sunday's Gospel reading.

The people of his home town were impressed with his preachings. But when Jesus claims to be the Messiah they would not accept that. They knew him so well in Nazareth and to his people Jesus is the son of Joseph the carpenter. So why would he claim to be the Messiah? Jesus' response to their unbelief:"Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place."

In other words, the people of Nazareth failed to look beyond the surface. They saw only what they wanted to see in Jesus as the humble carpenter in their neighborhood. And this is not totally surprising. In fact throughout the Gospels Jesus speaks of those who had the chance of personal encounter with him and yet were blind and deaf to his saving message simply because they cannot accept who He is.

Too often we share the same attitude as the people of Nazareth in dealing with Jesus. We may be attracted to his great preaching and the many wonderful miracles that satisfy our needs.  But do we believe in him as our Messiah and Lord?

Sadly, we sometimes fail to see that Jesus is the answer to all our human hope, desires and longing. In our day-to-day actions and in our dealings with others, how often do we push Jesus aside for our own convenience, and act as if we do not know him because his teachings are hard to accept? How many more laws that our leaders will make that directly contradict his teachings on life, the sanctity of marriage, and respect for human dignity as the image of God?  How many of God's natural laws that we transgress in search of economic prosperity?

Man's real poverty today is the lack of faith in God. Faith is an unreserved, total and unconditional trust in God manifested by acceptance and obedience of all his commandments. God showers his blessings and salvation to those who have the right disposition and those who believe in his words.

In the Eucharist at Holy Mass let us pray for God's grace to listen with a sincere heart to Jesus and his teachings through the Church, so that we are able to commit ourselves to him and see our Lord Jesus, through the eyes of faith, for who and what he really is: our Messiah.  In this way, we can truly share in the salvation he gives, not at some future time, but here and now.
 
A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Deo Optimo Maximo!

Cycle C - Year I:

27 January 2013 - 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical color: Green)

Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21

The mission begins!

We go back to the liturgical season of Ordinary Time, and today is the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Ordinary Time is the yearly cycle of 33 or 34 weeks in which no particular aspect of the mystery of Christ is celebrated, but rather the mystery of Christ itself is honored in its fullness. (Ordo 2013)

Our celebration of Ordinary Time has two segments: from the Monday following the Baptism of the Lord up to Ash Wednesday (which falls on February 13 this year); and the second part from Pentecost Monday to the first Sunday of Advent. This makes it the longest season of the liturgical year of the Church.

The Gospel this Sunday also has two parts. It begins with the introduction (or Prologue) of the Gospel of St. Luke (Lk 1:1-4); and the other part the beginning of the Galilean or public Ministry of Jesus. (Lk 4:14-21)

Let us reflect on the Gospel reading:

In writing his Gospel account, St. Luke wanted to state clearly that he did not invent a story or teach something new in his writing. From the very start, he conveys the simple fact that the Church, as the People of God or followers of Jesus, and oral tradition existed before the actual writings of the Gospels. This oral tradition means literally the "handing down" of the faith. As a faithful Christian, St. Luke likewise is handing down the truth he received from the Church in his Gospel account.

It follows that we should always let Mother Church guide us through the reading and reflection of the Scripture, illuminating our minds by way of her (meaning, the Church's) teachings, the liturgy, and the Church Fathers (or influential theologians, writers or teachers of the Church), so that we are able to better perceive and understand what the Divine Author intends to convey in the Scripture. Because there is the danger that reading the Scripture outside of the Church's tradition, or without a teacher, may result in reading it out of context. So we must be watchful that we do not fall into the recruits of many Christian sects who preach the Scripture by their own personal interpretations, and so outside the Church's teaching and the oral tradition handed down by the Apostles and early disciples.

The second part of the Gospel presents us with Jesus' first act of his public ministry. That means, his mission as the Messiah begins.

Following his river baptism and his 40 days wilderness fast, Jesus is now ready to start his mission. He came back to his home town of Nazareth. According to his custom, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah:

        "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me 
        to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty 
        to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the
        oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord." 
        (Is 61:1-2)

The Jewish teachers interpreted the above passage from Isaiah as referring to the long awaited Messiah. After reading this passage, Jesus categorically declared: "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing!" And that is like his "mission statement" at the start of his public ministry, clearly confirming that indeed He is the Messiah!

By virtue of our own baptism, we, too, are tasked today to continue the mission that Jesus began in Galilee. By our authentic Christian living, let us proclaim the Good News and be witnesses of God's love, especially for the poor, the captives, the handicapped, and all the suffering and unhappy people in our midst.

The Church also celebrates this Sunday National Bible Sunday with the theme "Proclaim the Word... Profess the Faith." Let us keep the habit of reading and reflecting on the word of God in the bible under the faithful guidance of our Mother Church.
 
A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Deo Optimo Maximo!

Cycle C - Year I:

20 January 2013 - Feast of the Sto. Niño

(Liturgical color: White)

Luke 2:41-52

The Sto. Niño: the human face of God!

Filipinos' love for children is deeply ingrained in our culture. In every Filipino family little children are the center of love and affection.

Thus, it is not surprising that Filipinos love and revere the image of the Holy Child or the Sto. Niño throughout the country. Because Filipinos feel that their natural closeness to God can relate more in the image of a child's simplicity, innocence and trusting attitude.

The devotion to the Holy Child is said to be the oldest and one of the most popular in the Philippines. So that the Holy See granted us a special permission to celebrate the Feast of the Sto. Niño on the third Sunday of January.

In the Catholic Church, the Holy Child is an example of humility and as a celebration of the Incarnation of Christ. God came to us as a child to show us how to become children of God, how we can entrust our lives to our heavenly Father. In Jesus, God chose to make himself visible as an appealing child in order to draw us to himself.

Even Jesus himself loves the little children. He sees in their eyes the reflection of the freshness and the holiness of his Kingdom.

The gospel for this Sunday narrates the event when Jesus as a twelve year old boy was lost in the temple. His human parents, Mary and Joseph found him there after three days "sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers." Luke places the young Jesus in the temple as the place for the Son of God to make the beginning of his work of salvation.

Our devotion to the Holy Child should not stop at his infancy. We are reminded that the child Jesus grew up to be the Jesus of Nazareth who inaugurates the kingdom of God by his preaching. So, too, our devotion to the Sto. Niño should grow and deepen so that we become witnesses of the Lord Jesus by our words and good examples of Christian living.

Today is also the Feast Day of our Village as our Patron is the Sto. Niño. We start our celebration with an early  procession of the Sto. Niño around our village, followed by Thanksgiving Mass in our chapel. We greet everyone in our community Happy Feast Day and Viva, Señor Santo Niño!
A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Deo Optimo Maximo!

Cycle C - Year I:

13 January 2013 - Feast of the Lord's Baptism

(Liturgical color: White)

Luke 315-16, 21-22

The Lord's Baptism: a call to renew our baptismal vows!

After the long celebration of the Christmas Season, we are back to Ordinary Times. This Sunday we celebrate the baptism of our Lord Jesus in the Jordan river. Some Church people say that today is actually the official end of the Christmas Season.

Last Sunday, January 6, we celebrated the Lord's Epiphany, which means his manifestation or appearance as our Lord and King. Well, the baptism of the Lord is like a second Epiphany. Because in his baptism our Lord's identity as the Son of God is made known through the voice of God the Father Himself and the appearance of the Holy Spirit in bodily form of a dove.

We know of course that even in his humanity Jesus Christ was perfect and so he had no need to be  cleansed and regenerated in the waters of baptism. So, therefore, we ask, "Why did the Lord chose to be baptized by John the Baptist?"

We found the answer to that question in the writings of St. Maximus of Turin who lived in the late fourth century. St. Maximus tells us that "Christ was baptized not to be made holy by the waters of baptism but rather to make holy the waters of baptism and to purify these waters with His Body, so that all who would be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit would be cleansed of original sin, and be made adopted sons and daughters of the most high God. In doing so, Christ has elevated baptism to the dignity of a sacrament."

The baptism of the Lord inaugurates the beginning of his mission as the Messiah. This event has important and practical implications for us as well. Baptism is the first and most necessary sacrament for our salvation. In baptism we are washed free of original sin inherited by all human beings due to the fall of Adam and Eve as recorded in the Book of Genesis.

It is good to know the other significant effects of baptism in all baptized Christians:

In baptism, the soul is infused with sanctifying grace that makes us adopted children of the Father, and allows for the indwelling of the Trinity in our souls;

In baptism, the soul experiences an infusion of the "theological virtues" of faith, hope, and charity. They are so-called because these are the virtues most oriented toward God. In layman's language, these are the virtues that lead us to know and love God;

In baptism, we receive the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit, namely: wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord. The Church teaches that "these gifts are given in a potential state, waiting to be actualized". That is why parents and godparents undertake an immense responsibility when the child is baptized. Because parents and godparents are charged with drawing out, or "actualizing", these gifts and the theological virtues that God has infused into that child's soul at baptism through their own guidance and examples.

Thus, the Feast of the Lord's Baptism  reminds us of our own baptismal vows as well. By our baptism we commit ourselves to take active part in the mission of the Church to preach the Good News of God's Kingdom in words and deeds. In other words, our baptism is made alive in us by our Christian living at home, in the work place, wherever we are.
A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Deo Optimo Maximo!