Cycle A - Year 1:

2 April 2017: Fifth Sunday of Lent

(Liturgical Color: Violet)

Gospel:Please Read John 11:1-45

Anew life in Christ!

The attempt to bring back the death penalty in our country is a step backward for humanity. At worst, it is an admission that society miserably failed in living its moral and religious values among its citizenry. And so death penalty seems to be the easy solution to society's criminality problem. But is it really? For unless we effectively address, and find solution, to the root causes of crimes, we would just be counting dead bodies seemingly legalized by government, and rising numbers of widows and orphans.

Today's Gospel speaks about death, but overcoming death with divine intervention. For God alone is the author of life, and only He can defeat death.

We hear about Jesus raising Lazarus from death. Recall that Lazarus was the brother of Martha and

Mary who were friends of Jesus. The sisters had sent word to Jesus that their brother was seriously ill. But instead of rushing to heal Lazarus, Jesus took His time and might have allowed Lazarus to die, so "that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

So when Jesus came to Judea, to the house of Martha and Mary, their brother Lazarus was dead and already buried for four days.

But Jesus orders the stone at Lazarus' tomb to be taken away, prays to the Father, and then calls out: "Lazarus, come out!" And immediately Lazarus came back to life again.

What is the significance of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead? It is a miracle that baffles the mind.

Well, it is more than a miraculous event. It is a "sign" of God's promise to raise up all who died in Christ to everlasting life with Him in the heavenly kingdom. Through the raising of Lazarus Jesus showed the disciples and the world that He has power over death.

And yet, this miracle of a dead man raised to life again is nothing compared to our Lord's Resurrection. Lazarus came back to the same life with hardships and pains, and eventually, he died again.

But our Lord Jesus Christ rose to a glorious, new and everlasting life completely free from suffering. We, too, will be raised to a glorious, new and everlasting life from from suffering through our Lord Jesus Christ.

For Jesus said to Martha: "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die." (Jn 11:25-26)

This is our faith. We believe. And we profess this belief every time we pray "The Creed".

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!:

Cycle A - Year 1:

26 March 2017: Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday)

(Liturgical Color: Rose or Violet)

Gospel:Please Read John 9:1-41

To see in the light of Christ!

We are truly blessed that we all woke up to a new and beautiful day. Praise You, Lord, for the gift of sight that allows us to behold the magnificent beauty of God's creation, and to celebrate life anew.

Do we realize that, sometimes, we get so used to seeing the morning sun that there is the tendency to make just a routine out of it, meaning we just take it for granted.

What if we wake up one day in total darkness, because we lose the sense of sight? It would be unspeakable and horrible.

This Sunday we will hear the encounter between our Lord Jesus Christ and a man born blind. Jesus

heals the blind man and he is able to see. This is one of the most remarkable miracles of Jesus, which reveals the power and glory of God. But then the Pharisees faulted Jesus for performing the healing during the Sabbath. For the Jews kept the Sabbath holy and even such miracle is forbidden.

But then, this story on the healing of the blind man speaks also of the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees. For while the blind man saw Jesus pretty clearly as a divine healer, the Pharisees wer totally blind of who Jesus is.

What is the message of Jesus' healing the man born blind to us today?

We can ask ourselves, what is really worse: physical blindness or moral and spiritual blindness? There is moral and spiritual blindness when sin clouds the mind in darkness and closes the heart to God's love and truth. This happens when we deliberately choose to disobey God's laws over the sensual pleasures of humanity.

The Good News is that our Lord Jesus Christ is ever ready to heal us and free us from the darkness of sin and deception by the evil one. Jesus offers us freedom from spiritual blindness due to sin and He restores us to wholeness of body, mind, soul and heart. For only in the light of God's truth can we see sin for what it really is, which is a rejection of God and opposition to His will. Only if we keep faith in Jesus, and believe, that we are able to see in the light of Christ. True faith means being the hearts and minds of Jesus, so that through us He may continue to do the healing and saving works of people today.

This fourth Sunday of Lent is also called "Laetare Sunday. "Laetare" comes from a Latin word, which means "rejoice". The liturgical color is pink. Laetare Sunday is similar to the fourth Sunday of Advent called "Gaudete Sunday". The point of both Laetare Sunday and Gaudete Sunday is to provide us encouragement toward the end of each respective penitential season.

So let us pray: Lord Jesus, in Your name the blind see, the lame walk, and the dead are raised to life. Come into our lives, especially during these most trying times in our worldly journey, and heal the wounds of our broken hearts, and the deep divisions among our people because of politics. Please give us the eyes of faith to see Your glory and a heart of courage to bring Your glory in all we say and do. Amen.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!

Cycle A - Year 1:

19 March 2017: Third Sunday of Lent

(Liturgical Color: Violet)

Gospel:Please Read John 4:5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42

Jesus, our Living Water!

In the exploration of the universe, scientists would look for the presence of water element as indication of possible life outside our world. For every living organism needs water to survive, Thus, without water all life forms cannot exist or will cease to exist.

In the Gospel of St. John this Sunday, we will hear about water and how our Lord Jesus Christ uses the image of water in the preaching of God's kingdom. Now we know from experience how precious water is, especially when we are thirsty, there is nothing like a drink of fresh water to quench our thirst.

The Gospel narrates the lively encounter between Jesus and a Samaritan woman in Jacob's well. Tired from His journey, Jesus asked for a drink from the woman He encountered in the well. Their conversation revolves around drinking water. Jesus takes this opportunity to preach about eternal life that He is offering to those who want to follow Him.

On the human level, Jesus is thirsty but His thirst extends far beyond a mere desire for drinking water. Our Lord thirsts for the Samaritan woman's faith, just as He also thirsts today for our faith, to believe that He is indeed the Living Water that will quench our thirst for life eternal.

Interestingly, Jesus says to the woman that He will provide living water to her, although He was the one who first asked her for a drink. Well, this reminds us that even before we can reap the benefit of a life in Christ, it is Jesus Himself who nourishes us with the living water of baptism and the Eucharist.

For we believe that Jesus alone can satisfy our thirst for meaning in life, our thirst for the divine. Because Jesus is the Living Water that sustains us in our thirst for eternal life.

In sum, all the good that we accomplish is merely a response to God's goodness. He asks for our faith, hope and love, and yet it is the Lord Himself who first gives us the capacity to believe in Him, trust in Him; it is the capacity given to us when we were baptized.

Let us pray, therefore, that our Eucharistic celebration at Mass become our participation in the banquet of eternal life. Amen.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!

Cycle A - Year 1:  

12 March 2017: Second Sunday of Lent

(Liturgical Color: Violet)

Gospel:Please Read Matthew 17:1-9

Transfiguration: a glimpse of the Lord's divinity!

The song:

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Oh sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

This is a popular Lenten song for Via Crucis. It speaks of the Lord's passion and suffering.

But then, we were not there in the time of Jesus to witness the event. How can we relate?

The movie "The Passion of Christ" presents it to us in a very realistic and brutal way. It was like we were actually there watching Jesus' suffering as He was led to Calvary.I was overwhelmed with emotions watching this great movie.

So we understand; we can relate. It must have been more depressing and frightening for the disciples. They must have experienced gloom and despair as they witnessed Christ's terrible suffering and death. That must have shaken their faith in the man Jesus, whom they thought to be the Messiah. How can a God suffer so much? 

So Jesus prepared the disciples  for His coming passion and death. As they were travelling to Jerusalem where suffering and death awaits Jesus, their journey was briefly interrupted by an experience of Jesus' transfiguration upon a mountain. Jesus appeared in glory with Moses, the great lawgiver of Israel, and with Elijah, the greatest of the prophets, in the presence of three of His beloved apostles, Peter, John and James. St, Matthew's account tells us that Jesus' "face shone like the sun and his clothes become white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him."

The transfiguration was a unique display of Jesus' divine character and a glimpse

of the glory which Jesus had before He came down on earth in human form. In theological language, the transfiguration is an experience of "the already of the not yet" for the beloved disciples, so that the "inner circle" of Jesus' disciples could gain a greater understanding of who Jesus really was. Thus, the disciples who had only known Jesus in His human body, now had a greater realization of the deity of Christ, even when perhaps they could not fully comprehend it at that time. Nevertheless, the experience gave them the reassurance they needed after hearing the shocking news of Jesus' coming death.

And so the lucky disciples never forgot what happened that day on the mountain. They bore witness to it to the other disciples and to countless millions down through the centuries. They even wrote of their witnessing the transfiguration later on:

St. John wrote in his gospel: "We have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth." (Jn 1:14).

St. Peter wrote of it as well: "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying 'This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.' We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain." (2 Peter 1:16-18)

Thus, the account of the transfiguration confirmed for Matthew's readers that Jesus indeed was the Son of God and pointed to the fulfillment of the prediction that He will come in His Father's glory at the end of age.

In sum, the message of the transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ is that God wants to share His glory with us. 

And so with the eyes of faith, we, too see Jesus' transfiguration in the Holy Eucharist at Mass. When we actually receive Him in the Holy Eucharist, He gives us the grace to sustain us in our difficult and challenging journey through life. Jesus in the Holy Eucharist makes light our way of the cross in this life. So receiving Jesus frequently in the Holy Eucharist is a foretaste of His resurrection, like our own experience of :the already of the not yet" in our time. It is our assurance of God's ultimate victory over sin and evil.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!