Cycle C - Year I:  

9 December 2018: Second Sunday of Advent

(Liturgical Color: Violet)

Readings:

First Reading:        Baruch 5:1-9

Second Reading:   Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11

Gospel:  Please Read  Luke 3:1-6

Prepare the way of the Lord!

One of the beautiful and cherished Filipino traditions is coming home on Christmas for family reunion or just for vacation. In spite of hardly inspiring news of what is happening in our country, the bitter division in society, the so-called EJKs (or extra-judicial killings) and the difficult times economically, it seems overseas Filipinos are not to be cowed from coming home to be reunited with their loved ones during this joyous of seasons.

And so just few more days before Christmas, many of our overseas Filipinos must have arranged their homecoming by now, and their loved ones and families are preparing for their homecoming.

Preparing for the great event of Christmas is also the theme of this Sunday's liturgical readings. The forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ, his name is John the Baptist, is introduced to us this second Sunday of Advent.

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

John was a prophet, which means a spokesperson for God. He was called from an early age to devote himself to prayer and to the word of God. It is said that God taught him in the solitude of the desert and prepared him for ministry and for spiritual warfare. We can say that John bridged the Old and New Testaments. He is the last of the Old Testament prophets who point the way to the Messiah. He is also the first of the New Testament's witnesses and martyrs for Christ.

It was throughout the whole region of Jordan that John performed his ministry, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He exhorts his hearers to prepare the roads of their hearts and their lives to receive the Messiah, the King of kings and Lord of lords. People came in large numbers to listen to him and to be bathed in the Jordan river.

What then is the significance of John the Baptist's message for our lives today?

John's preaching of the coming of the Lord is a key theme of the Advent season. We are reminded this Sunday that the time has began to prepare for the coming of our Lord Jesus and His heavenly kingdom. We prepare ourselves by conversion --turning heart and mind from sin and rebellion and submission to God's word and will for our lives.

This is the same message that John proclaimed. And we respond to John's message by repentance and reform of our lives. Thus, we are called to be also prophets of Christ, who announce by our authentic Christian living the coming of our Lord Jesus on Christmas day. In other words, we are called to make straight the way of the Lord in our own day, in our moment in history.

So let us pray for grace to listen to John's invitation and prepare the way of the Lord by acknowledging our sinfulness and pride that block the Lord's coming in our lives. Because repentance of our sins is really coming to God, our Father, especially this Christmas time.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!

Cycle C - Year I:  

2 December 2018: First Sunday of Advent

(Liturgical Color: Violet)

Readings:

First Reading:        Jeremiah 33:14-16

Second Reading:   1 Thessalonians 3:12--4:2

Gospel:  Please Read  Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

Come, Lord Jesus!

This Sunday begins a new journey of faith we call the Advent Season. It ushers in a new liturgical year for the Church. And so we greet each other a "Happy New Year!" in our Catholic faith.

Advent Season is a period of preparation, extending four Sundays before Christmas Day. The word "advent" comes from the Latin word "Advenire", which means "to come". That is why Advent is a season of hope and expectation, and we are invited to prepare joyfully for the coming of Jesus Christ.

We start our Advent preparation by remembering that we are a pilgrim people, not destined to be of this world but to be in it for a time in preparation for our eventual destination.

Now the Church wants us to meditate about Advent in three ways: First, is the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ on Christmas, and this is the most obvious. Second, the coming of Christ in our lives through grace and the Sacrament of the Eucharist. And third, the return or second coming of our Lord at the end of time.

However, the Gospel passage for the First Sunday of Advent seems to be in contrast to the traditional understanding of Advent as preparation for Christ's coming, meaning the birth of our Lord. Because the Gospel passage  from St. Luke present the triumphal return of the Lord Jesus Christ in all His glory, power and might.

Well, there is really a common message in the first and second coming of Christ. When we look beyond the actual events, the powerful and timely counsel being imparted in either of these scenarios is actually one and the same. And that is "Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap." These words means that preparedness for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ should be our proper disposition, whether we meditate upon the event involving His birth on Christmas day, or consider the return of Christ at the end of time.

That is why at the conclusion of the Gospel reading, our Lord Jesus warns us, "Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent...".

Often times we allowed ourselves to be focusing only on material preparation for Christmas, neglecting to prepare ourselves spiritually. While the material and spiritual preparations need not really be mutually exclusive, the spiritual preparation should always take precedence over the former. In that way we use Advent well in accordance with its purpose.

We can consider these useful suggestions on how to prepare ourselves during the Advent Season: first, undertaking voluntary penances for our failures and shortcomings, consonant with the purple liturgical color of Advent; second, dedicating a portion of what one might spend on gifts toward charitable causes as a way of mortifying the secular tendency to over indulge during Christmas season; finally, but not the last, we should dedicate ourselves to more prayers during this time, for example, meditating upon the Joyful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary, reading the Gospel especially the infancy narratives on Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and praying together as a family around the Advent wreath in our homes. These are practical and all-time honored ways of preparing our hearts during the Advent Season to receive our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ on Christmas day.

And in reality, our whole lives should be an ongoing and continuing preparation to meet our Savior and the King of kings in our journey of faith, when He returns in glory.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!

Cycle B - Year II:  

25 November 2018: Solemnity of Christ the King  

(Liturgical Color: White)

Readings:

First Reading:        Daniel 7:13-14

Second Reading:   Revelation 1:5-8

Gospel:Please Read  John 18:33b-37

The Lord is King.....

The Church concludes another liturgical year this Sunday with the Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the universe.

On this day we hail Jesus Christ as Lord and King. And this is rightly so, because Jesus is the King of kings, Lord of lords, the Alpha and Omega (that is to say, the beginning and the end) of all creation. At the end of our journey, we will encounter Him in person to render an account of our own life here on earth.

Now we may ask, by what right does Jesus claim these kingly titles? Well, Jesus indeed was born of David's royal line. But as He tells Pontius Pilate in the Gospel narrative, our Lord's kingdom is not of this world. And so He did not come as a political leader ruling His subjects with force. Rather, our Lord Jesus came as a Redeemer and Savior, seeking instead to rule His followers with truth and love.

And so in His entire mission on earth Jesus proclaims the kingdom of God, the kingdom of holiness and grace, of justice, love and peace. This kingdom is actually God's final aim and purpose in everything He has done from the beginning. It is His final act of liberation and salvation. And Jesus speaks of this kingdom as a future reality, but a reality that is mysteriously already present in His being, His actions and words, and His personal destiny.

In John's poignant trial scene of Pilate and Jesus, we see a great contrast between power and powerlessness. And as we reflect on the Gospel reading, it is somewhat ironic that even as we proclaim the glorious image of our heavenly King, the evangelist St. John presents to us the image of a suffering Christ, bloodied and beaten, crowned with thorns, and His hands tied like a criminal.

And yet this is the central point of the Gospel message for this Sunday. With all the power at His disposal, both in heaven and here on earth, our Christ the King, and Lord of lords, could have commanded the angels and all His followers here on earth to deliver Him from the cross.  But He truly submits to the Father's will. Such is the humility of our King, who came to serve as the ransom for our souls, accepted death as the wages for our sins.

But in rising again, Jesus conquered sin and death, establishing His power and authority. He is hailed as Lord and King because all authority in heaven and earth is His and all things rightly belong to Him. Yet He chooses to lay claim to our obedience, our hearts and minds, with love rather than force.

So may our celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King be an inspiration, a challenge, to those aspiring to be our leaders.  They should instead serve with humility and lead through service.

So let us pray: Jesus Christ, our Lord and King, we entrust the Church, all humanity, and the entire cosmos to Your Lordship, asking You to pour out Your mercy upon us. Amene.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!

Cycle B - Year II:  

18 November 2018: Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Daniel 12:1-3

Second Reading:   Hebrews 10:11-14, 18

Gospel:  Please Read  Mark 13:24-32

Waiting in hope.....

When is the end of forever?  That is a strange question, because there is really no end in forever.  But then "forever" does not exist in our world now. Because it extends to the next reality.

We are now nearing the end of the calendar year, and closer still to the end of the liturgical year, which will come first (that is to say, the Church observes a different liturgical year from the Gregorian calendar year). And as the Church liturgical year draws to a close, the focus of the liturgy is on the end story of salvation. Thus, the core message of this Sunday's Gospel is about interrelated events; the end of the world, the second coming of Christ, the fathering of the saved, and the condemnation of the damned.

The evangelist Mark makes use of apocalyptic language to describe these events, like "the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken." (Mk 13:24-25)

But what is meant by "apocalyptic"?  It is a special style of writing which precisely uses wild images and vivid symbols in order to convey realities beyond our present experience. The images described are not necessarily to be taken literally, but still they are relevant as they point to deeper truths.

Let us then reflect on these truths that these messages are teaching us.

Our first reflection is to know and believe  that the world as we know and experience it will definitely end someday. It will end because God has a bigger purpose for humanity. He has something much greater in His mind for us. So that the blessings of this world are only a prelude or foretaste of the blessings that the Father has planned for us in the life to come. And so also, our sufferings and trials we experience in this world are but temporary.

The second point in our reflection is the reality of the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Mark says His second coming will be "with great power and glory".  At that time there will be no question who is King of kings and Lord of lords. No one will ever wonder about our Lord's identity, for His kingdom will be brought to completion at His second coming.

The third point, peoples of every time and place will be gathered together for the final judgment. Our Lord Jesus will invite the redeemed to share in the very life that He shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit. It will be a great and glorious day for Jesus's  faithful followers.

And finally, woe to those who chose until the very last moment of their earthly existence to refuse God's offer of mercy, love and new life. He will take action against evildoers as well.

Yet our Lord warns that no one really knows the end of times, "neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father". So, therefore, we should not be concerned with predicting, and fearing, the future as with living the faith here and now. Because when we keep the faith it strengthens us in hope, so that the Day of the Lord's return is actually a welcoming home, a great reunion with our Lord Jesus Christ. For we believe that our Lord Jesus Christ shall return as He Himself said. And God's Word strengthens us, as we wait in hope.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!