Cycle A - Year I:

4 December 2016: Second Sunday of Advent

(Liturgical color: Violet)

Gospel: Please read Matthew 3:1-12

A Call for Repentance!

On the second Sunday of our Advent journey we meet John the Baptist, whom we can call a "man with a mission". Because his whole life was fueled by one burning passion, which is to point others to Jesus Christ and the coming of His kingdom.

Who is John the Baptist and what is the significance of his message for our lives today?

Scripture tells us that John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb (Lk 1:15, 41) by Christ Himself, whom Mary had just conceived by the Holy Spirit. When Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, John leaped in her womb as they were filled by the Holy Spirit. (Lk 1:41)

John the Baptist was the last of the prophets who was sent by God with a special mission: to prepare

the way for the Savior. His appearance completed the cycle of prophets began by Elijah. (Mt 11:13-14) John makes the way ready for the coming of the Messiah, God's anointed Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. He announced the coming of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Thus, the role of John the Baptist in our salvation history was very important because it was he who opened the way for Christ to start His public ministry. And John was fiercely determined to complete his mission in this regard.

St. Matthew wrote in this Sunday's Gospel: "John the Baptist appeared preaching in the desert of Judea saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!'" (Mt 3:1-2) He is the voice in the wilderness calling all to prepare the way of the Lord by baptizing his followers in the river Jordan as they acknowledged their sins. John gives testimony to the light and truth of Jesus Christ: "...the one who is coming after me is higher than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." (Mt 3:11)

Like John the Baptist, we, too are called today to give testimony to the light and truth of Jesus Christ. But first, we need to prepare ourselves for His coming through conversion and repentance of our sins, so that we can point others to Christ in the way we live, work and speak.

Repentance is like a door that opens to allow God's visit to our soul. While God's throne is in the highest heaven, surrounded by majesty, glory and splendor, yet God's dwelling place on earth is found in a humble and contrite heart that repents sincerely. But conversion is a continuous process, which starts with a decision to come into a personal and intimate relationship with the Lord.

In sum, the Church teaches that everyone who is baptized is a "man of mission", and our mission is to proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of heaven through our faith, good examples and words. In other words, our mission is to prepare the way for Christ's coming on His birthday on Christmas day, His coming in our lives through the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, and His final coming at the end of times.

During this Advent Season, then, let us pray: Lord, let your light burn brightly in my heart that I may know the joy and freedom of Your kingdom. Fill me up with the Holy Spirit and empower me to witness the truth of Your Gospel so that by words and examples I can point others to Jesus Christ in my home, workplace and wherever I may be. Amen.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!

Cycle A - Year I:

27 November 2016: First Sunday of Advent

(Liturgical color: Violet)

Gospel: Please read Matthew 24:37-44

Let us prepare!

The cool breeze in the morning heralds the coming of the month of December very soon. And it is likely that our thoughts are on the Christmas holidays already.

But not so fast though. For today in the Christian world we greet each other a "Happy New Year!" That is not a joke, because this Sunday the Church begins a new liturgical year, a new year's day in our life within the Church, as we welcome the Advent Season.

[A note on the new liturgical year: The start of a new liturgical year also marks the transition from one lectionary cycle (A, B, and C) to the next. These cycles are the results of the Second Vatican Council which ordered a change in the Sunday readings at Mass so that Catholics would become more familiar with the text of the Bible. Thus, we have a three-year cycle of readings built around readings from three synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Today we go back to Cycle A, and thus Sunday readings will be taken from the Gospel of Matthew.]

What is the meaning of "Advent"? The Advent Season is a period of preparation, extending over 4 Sundays before Christmas. The word "advent" comes from the Latin "ad-venio", which means "to come to", and it refers to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The liturgical color for the season of Advent is violet, the bluer hues of violet.

The Church wants us to make use of the Advent Season as a period of spiritual preparation in three ways: the first and most obvious, in celebration of Christ's birth on Christmas day; second, the coming of Christ in our lives through grace and the Sacrament of the Eucharist or Holy Communion; and finally, the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ at the end of time.

Advent Season, therefore, is the start of a new stage in our worldly pilgrimage to the house of our Father in heaven.

The theme of the Gospel reading from Matthew is being ready and prepared. Jesus tells His disciples, "So, too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come." (Mt 24:44). He says the same thing to each one of us now: be ready and be prepared!

As members of the Church, our preparation includes taking the opportunity to focus on the great event of the Incarnation, Jesus' own choice to take on our human flesh by being born of the Virgin. It is an event that demonstrates God's amazing humility and His incredible care for us, His children.

As Christians, we hope for the Lord's coming, because we are sure that He is coming again; there is no doubt about that. The Season of Advent provides us the opportunity to deepen our waiting in hope for the realization of God's saving promise in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

When we encounter the living Jesus today, the same Lord who crashed into our world to become an Infant Child, we come to trust that He cares for us radically, that He is constantly looking for ways to draw near to us. So that we become able to see Him and His loving hand in our daily lives.

In sum, Advent is a time to wake up from the daze, to focus on what is more important in life, and to live in hope. Let us start the new liturgical year with positive disposition. The best time for new beginnings is now.

So, let us prepare now and always. For our Lord Jesus warns us: "Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come!" (Mt. 24:42)

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!

Cycle C - Year II:  

20 November 2016: Solemnity of Christ the King

(Liturgical color: White)

Gospel: Please read  Luke 23:35-43

King of the Universe!

This Sunday we end the liturgical year with the celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King. This is fitting because our Lord Jesus is the Alpha and Omega of creation: He is the beginning and the end of human history and of the created world, and through Him "all things were created and by whom the world is being restored to the Father."

Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King on December 11,

1925 as a way for human beings to proclaim a truth about God that indeed He is the King of kings and Lord of all creation. Of course, it is a limited concept but it is the highest title human beings can use to refer to Jesus.

How do Filipinos relate to the celebration of Christ the King?  Since we are a democratic country, we have no experience of being under a king as a nation.

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Turning to the scriptural reading, we find it not much of help either, so it seems at first glance, in trying to understand Christ as King. Because the Gospel reading from St. Luke presents to us Jesus as He was dying on the cross. In other words, He sat not on a kingly throne but nailed on a wooden cross with a crown of thorns; he wore no royal robe but stripped to His loin clothes. How can He be a king in this way?

Also, our knowledge of kings is usually associated with power and authority. And in the real world, particularly our own experience with our political leaders, all too often what comes to mind when we talk of power and authority is dominion over the weak, and worst, associated with deception, corruption and exploitation.

Yet for Christians we know that it is not so with Jesus' kingship. For He is a King who exercises a totally different kind of power.

Let us reflect deeper on the Gospel passage to know about Jesus' brand of being a King.

Jesus is not a king in the usual, earthly sense that we are familiar with. He did not come to establish political or military power. He did not come to govern a country or raise an army. He Himself said so that He was not an earthly king: "My kingdom is not of this world." (Jn 18:36)

How do we uncover the real dimension of Christ's kingship? The Gospel account on Christ on the cross presents to us a glimpse into the mystery of our Lord's kingdom where His kingship is not through dominion but made of service by love. On the cross before His last breath, Jesus forgives and saves the repentant thief, Dimas, who asks for His forgiveness. Thus, Jesus is a King who welcomes to His kingdom all those who need most of His mercy.

But when our faith is shaken by what is happening to our nation lately, we ask whether Christ still reigns in our world today?

It is a challenging question but we find the answer in the very example of Dimas as he himself was dying on the cross. Even though his life on earth was about to end, Dimas realized in his waning moments that Christ's kingdom was not best understood by earthly standards. Rather, it is a kingdom that begins within, with a complete surrender in faith to the One ho truly saves, Jesus Christ Himself. In other words, it is a remarkable act of faith that Dimas recognized that Jesus has a kingdom and that He is King of that kingdom.

Perhaps, in the same context that Dimas pleads with Christ for forgiveness ad mercy in his most desperate hours, our Holy Mother Church wants to bring us to the cross of Christ's throne, as the liturgical year closes, where "God rules" over us and the whole world. So that as we begin a new season of hope and joy in the coming of Advent Season and Christmas, we keep the faith, in spite of our trials and suffering, and like Dimas we entrust ourselves completely to Christ, our King, who will set us free from bondage of sin and death in the resurrection to come. For our Lord Jesus Christ is a victorious King, who defeated the moral enemy of human existence -- sin, death and the  evil one.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!