First Sunday of Advent (December 3, 2023) • Central to the celebration of Advent is the need for a vital space for God in our hearts. Advent as a preparation for Christ’s coming is nothing more and nothing less than a self-emptying patterned upon the self-emptying of Christ himself. (Jesus “emptied himself, by taking the…
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This mystery in the life of Christ is so important that we read this gospel two times a year: on the 2nd Sunday of Lent and on August 6th. [And on Cycle C, it is read a third time on Sat. 6th Week in Ord. Time, which is today Feb. 19.] While Jesus was…
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Is. 8:23 – 9:3; 1Cor. 1:10-13, 17.Matt. 4:12-23. Matthew opens our Gospel passage with a statement of fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah. Galilee, the land of Naphtali and Zebulun, was engulfed in darkness when the Assyrians conquered it in 733-32 and put in pagans occupiers to live among them. Now at Jesus’ coming…
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Is. 9:1-6; Eph. 1:3-6, 15-18Mt. 18:1-5, 10. Why did God enter our country in the image of the Holy Child? What is his message to us? In Mt. 18:3-4 we read, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself…
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Let us Pray for missionaries around the world, but most specially for the great Spanish missionaries who journeyed with us in our 500 years of Christianity–to them our grateful hearts go. During my talk a week ago at the first CBCP-initiated dialogue between the Church and the government under BBM, I was blessed to have…
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“The LORD will reward each man for his justice and faithfulness.” These words of David from our 1st Reading this Sunday reminds us of our responsibility to be just and faithful. To be just is to act justly or with justice, to give what is due to others with respect and dignity. To be faithful…
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“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord.” These are the words of the Prophet Jeremiah in our 1st Reading this Sunday who reminds us where true blessedness and hope is found. This is an invitation for us to examine ourselves of to whom we put entrust our lives.…
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1st Reading 1 Samuel 1:20-22, 24-282nd Reading 1 John 3:1-2, 21-24Gospel Luke 2:41-52 Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. This celebration is very well connected with our celebration of Christmas. Here we celebrate the beauty of family life that God has planned from the beginning. In the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary,…
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1st Reading Micah 5:1-4a2nd Reading Hebrews 10:5-10Gospel Luke 1:39-45 As we are about to end the Advent Season, we are reminded of the right attitude of the one who waits for the coming of the Lord. The Gospel gives us the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the best model of how a Christian…
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