Cycle C - Year I:  

3 February 2019: Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Jeremiah 1:4-5

Second Reading:   1 Corinthians 12:31--13:13 (or 13:4-13)

Gospel:  Please Read  Luke 4:21-30

To look beneath the surface....

How do you start on a "new project" or a new work?  Perhaps, your first plan and prepare for it. And once you are ready you may want to make an announcement about it to others so that they take notice.

Now hundred years ago that was exactly what our Lord Jesus did when He started His public ministry. The Gospel this Sunday tells us that returning to His hometown of Nazareth, Jesus went to the synagogue and read a passage from the prophet Isaiah describing the signs that the Messiah would perform. Then after reading our Lord sits down and declares to those in the synagogue, "Today, this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." That is to say, our Lord Jesus revealed to His town mates that He is the Messiah and invited them to believe in Him and thus receive the goodness, grace and freedom of which the prophetic text of Isaiah spoke.

This very first "sermon" of Jesus at Nazareth is significant because it shows how He Himself understood His ministry: His mission to the world is to make God's goodness and gracious love available to everyone. Jesus Himself is the incarnation of this divine loving presence of God.

The people of Nazareth were amazed at Jesus' gracious words, but then they rejected His claim as the Messiah. Because they knew Him too well to be just "the son of Joseph". And so our Lord said this famous biblical passage, "Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place."

 So often in the Gospel narratives people who encounter our Lord Jesus fail to look beneath the surface, so to speak. For example, the town people of Nazareth say only what they wanted to see in Jesus: He was the humble carpenter in their midst. So not surprisingly throughout the Gospels our Lord often speaks of those who are blind or deaf to His saving message because they cannot accept Jesus as the Messiah.

Even now in our own generation, the temptation can be our own as well. We may be impressed of Jesus as a great preacher, or a miracle worker, or a good and saintly man. But then our Christian faith maybe empty of its heart and substance if we do not see Jesus as our Messiah, as God in the flesh who died, and rose again to set us free from sin and evil.

In other words, the real question between the people of Nazareth (including our own generation) and Jesus is a question of faith. Because faith is not a response to a certain number of miracles; instead faith is unreserved, total and unconditional trust in Goad that leads to an acceptance of all that He has said to us, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thus, true acceptance and following of Jesus involves openness to the Spirit's call to search our hearts. For this reason, Jesus does not need to prove His claim as the Messiah by performing miracles. Rather, once we listen to Jesus' preaching with a sincere heart, we become able, through God's grace, to commit ourselves to Him and see Him for who and what He truly is. In this way, we begin to share in the salvation our Lord Jesus promises to all His followers, not at some future time but already here and now, just as our Lord Jesus says, "Today, this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."

In the Eucharist at Holy Mass, let us pray for God's grace to be able to look beneath the surface and see the Real Presence of our Lord Jesus Christ... in the Holy Eucharist at Mass.  Amen.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam! 

Cycle C - Year I:  

27 January 2019: Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10

Second Reading:   1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27

Gospel:  Please Read  Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

The Good News is proclaimed!

We started the New Year 2019 with a series of solemnities or special feasts. But now we resume the liturgical season called Ordinary Time, and this Sunday is the third in Ordinary Time.

Now recall that Ordinary Time in the Catholic liturgical calendar is that part of the yearly cycle of 33 or 34 weeks in which there is no particular aspect of the mystery of Christ is celebrated, but rather the mystery of our Lord Jesus Christ in all its fullness is observed. The liturgical color of the priest's vestment and the altar cloth changes to green.

St. Luke in the Gospel narrates the beginning of Jesus' public ministry in His homeland of Galilee and  taught in their synagogues. He came to Nazareth, where He had grown up   and went according to His custom to the synagogue on the sabbath day. He read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, who had prophesied that the Messiah would come in the power of the Holy Spirit and bring freedom to those oppressed by sin and evil. (Isaiah 61:1-2) Now after reading this particular passage, Jesus proclaimed the fulfillment of the Messianic prophesy in their hearing.

For indeed, our Lord Jesus Christ came to set us free from the worst tyranny of slavery to sin and fear of death, and the eternal destruction of both body and soul. And so even in our time, we know and believe that God's power alone can save us from the emptiness and poverty of spirit, from confusion and error, from hopelessness and the fear of annihilation. Thus, the Gospel of salvation is also "good news" for us today. Jesus came with the good news that God cares for the poor, the captives, the handicapped, and all the unhappy people in our midst.

Now there is another point in our reflection. Do you notice that our Gospel reading includes the introduction of St. Luke's Gospel?

The preface or prologue of a book contains important principles, or directions, for reading the rest of the book, and in the case of St. Luke's Gospel, important direction and clarification for reading and understanding all of Sacred Scripture.

So then in the introduction to his Gospel St. Luke indicates the importance of the Church and of Tradition in our Catholic faith. He explains that even before he wrote his "account" of the Gospel, there already existed the Church and the oral tradition -- literally, the "handing down" -- of faith. The point is that St. Luke did not invent a story or was he teaching something new in his Gospel account. But rather, as a faithful Christian, St. Luke handed on the truth he also received from the Church.

Thus, St. Luke from the very start of his Gospel account conveys the simple fact that the Church existed before the Gospels were written, and in fact the Church wrote the Gospels. If follows, then, that to read Scripture outside of the Church's Tradition is to it out of context, or like reading it without the guide of a teacher. Because we need a teacher to explain Scripture. And that teacher is the Church, and the method of instruction is through Tradition.

Let us, therefore, listen only to the official teaching of the Church on matters of faith.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!

Cycle C - Year I:  

27 January 2019: Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10

Second Reading:   1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27

Gospel:  Please Read  Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

The Good News is proclaimed!

We started the New Year 2019 with a series of solemnities or special feasts. But now we resume the liturgical season called Ordinary Time, and this Sunday is the third in Ordinary Time.

Now recall that Ordinary Time in the Catholic liturgical calendar is that part of the yearly cycle of 33 or 34 weeks in which there is no particular aspect of the mystery of Christ is celebrated, but rather the mystery of our Lord Jesus Christ in all its fullness is observed. The liturgical color of the priest's vestment and the altar cloth changes to green.

St. Luke in the Gospel narrates the beginning of Jesus' public ministry in His homeland of Galilee and  taught in their synagogues. He came to Nazareth, where He had grown up   and went according to His custom to the synagogue on the sabbath day. He read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, who had prophesied that the Messiah would come in the power of the Holy Spirit and bring freedom to those oppressed by sin and evil. (Isaiah 61:1-2) Now after reading this particular passage, Jesus proclaimed the fulfillment of the Messianic prophesy in their hearing.

For indeed, our Lord Jesus Christ came to set us free from the worst tyranny of slavery to sin and fear of death, and the eternal destruction of both body and soul. And so even in our time, we know and believe that God's power alone can save us from the emptiness and poverty of spirit, from confusion and error, from hopelessness and the fear of annihilation. Thus, the Gospel of salvation is also "good news" for us today. Jesus came with the good news that God cares for the poor, the captives, the handicapped, and all the unhappy people in our midst.

Now there is another point in our reflection. Do you notice that our Gospel reading includes the introduction of St. Luke's Gospel?

The preface or prologue of a book contains important principles, or directions, for reading the rest of the book, and in the case of St. Luke's Gospel, important direction and clarification for reading and understanding all of Sacred Scripture.

So then in the introduction to his Gospel St. Luke indicates the importance of the Church and of Tradition in our Catholic faith. He explains that even before he wrote his "account" of the Gospel, there already existed the Church and the oral tradition -- literally, the "handing down" -- of faith. The point is that St. Luke did not invent a story or was he teaching something new in his Gospel account. But rather, as a faithful Christian, St. Luke handed on the truth he also received from the Church.

Thus, St. Luke from the very start of his Gospel account conveys the simple fact that the Church existed before the Gospels were written, and in fact the Church wrote the Gospels. If follows, then, that to read Scripture outside of the Church's Tradition is to it out of context, or like reading it without the guide of a teacher. Because we need a teacher to explain Scripture. And that teacher is the Church, and the method of instruction is through Tradition.

Let us, therefore, listen only to the official teaching of the Church on matters of faith.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!

Cycle C - Year I:  

20 January 2019: Feat of the Sto. Nino

(Liturgical Color: White)

Readings:

First Reading:        Isaiah 9:1-6

Second Reading:   Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18

Gospel:  Please Read  Luke 2:41-52

The Sto. Nino: Father's Gift to humanity!

A birth of a child is a joyful event in the family.For every baby born is a clear sign that God has not grown tired of the human race. And Filipinos especially are known for their fondness and special affection for children.

The Church celebrates this Sunday the Feast of the Sto. Nino, who is the Father's gift to humanity as the long awaited Messiah. Filipinos revere the image of the Holy Child or Sto. Nino throughout the country. The devotion to the Holy Child is said to be the oldest and one of the most popular in the Philippines, recalling the birth of the Catholic faith in our country in Year 1521.  The Holy See granted us special permission to celebrate the Feast of the Sto. Nino every third Sunday of January, and this year 2019 it falls on January 20.

The Feast of the Holy Child is a celebration of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is to say, God came to us as a child to show us how to become children of God, and how we must entrust our lives to our heavenly Father. God chose to make Himself visible in Jesus as an appealing Child in order to draw to Himself all of humanity. For in the eyes of a child is a reflection of freshness and holiness in God's kingdom.

In today Gospel narrative from St. Luke, we read about Jesus going up to the Temple for His first Passover at the dawn of His manhood (usually at the age of 12 years for Jewish males). Now this shows that although He is still in His youth Jesus already recognized that He has been given a call by His heavenly Father. We can see this in His response to the anxious inquiry of His mother Mary: "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"

In reflection, today's Gospel is really a story about growing up. It is about Mary and Joseph growing up in their understanding of their roles as Jesus' human parents. It is about us also growing up. But growing up is not about how old we are. It is really about moving into deeper and more authentic relationship with God.

And growing up spiritually involves leaving our comfort zone, letting go of what is safe and familiar, and moving to a bigger place, to the Father's place in the heavenly kingdom. It means, letting go is a necessary detachment from worldly concerns if we are to grow in the love and likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thus, the Gospel incident should remind us that our devotion to the Holy Child should not stop only at His infancy. Because the Holy Child we revere in today's Feast grew up to be Jesus of Nazareth who inaugurates the kingdom of God by His preaching, healing and missionary work. So also our devotion to the Sto. Nino must grow and deepen so that we become witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ by our words and good examples of Christian living.  In other words, our devotion to the Sto. Nino must bear good fruits in practical life for it to be meaningful. Because our heavenly Father also call each of us to a unique task and mission in this life. All we need is to understand and cooperate with God's plan in our lives. For the Lord gives us the grace to say "yes" to His will and grace to persevere in our calling.

May the Feast of the Sto. Nino inspire us to grow spiritually so that we become witness of Christ and missionaries for His saving work on earth. And may our devotion to the Sto. Nino also inspire us to have a special love for the "little ones" in our midst: the poor, defenseless, persecuted, and all those who rely on God for their support.

Happy Feast of the Sto. Nino. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!