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Category: Advent

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Advent / Second Week / Weekdays

HE WHO FOLLOWS THE LORD WILL HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE (cf. John 8:12)

⏰Friday of the Second Week of Advent (14 December 2018 – Memorial of St. John of the Cross) 📖Isa 48:17-19; Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6 (R. John 8:12); Matt 11:16-19 Coming into the presence of the Lord yields a much desired positive transformation. The prophet Isaiah informs us today that it would earn us peace, righteousness and every good thing, including having our names in his book of life (cf. Isa 48:17-19). To be in the presence of the Lord is to be without sin. The prophet Isaiah had also noted that it was our sins that separated us...

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Advent / Second Week / Weekdays

“FEAR NOT, I WILL HELP YOU” (Isa 41:13)

⏰Thursday of the Second Week of Advent (13 December 2018 – Memorial of St. Lucy) 📖Isa 41:13-20; Ps 145:1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13ab (R.v.8); Matt 11:11-15 Think of the shame and trauma the Israelites had while they were being led to exile. They suffered humiliation and were helpless in the face of opposition. To worsen the case, they were helplessly turned to slaves in exile. This was the same nation that had been empowered by God to conquer all the nations that stood on their way to the Promised Land. But by now, their self confidence and esteem have been...

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Advent / Second Week / Sundays / Year C

“GOD WILL LEAD ISRAEL WITH JOY… WITH THE MERCY AND RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT COME FROM HIM” (Bar 5:9)

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT (YEAR C) Bar 5:1-9; Ps 126:1-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6 (R.v.3); Phil 1:4-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6 As we celebrate the Second Sunday of Advent today, the three readings we have for today’s liturgy invite us to anticipate the mercy of God and to prepare ourselves to receive it. In the First Reading, the prophet Baruch, who was, historically, the Secretary of the prophet Jeremiah, encouraged the exiled Jews who were suffering in foreign lands that God is going to restore their joy and visit them with mercy and righteousness (cf. Bar 5:9). Today, I pray that God...

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Advent / First Week / Weekdays

“THE LORD IS MY LIGHT AND MY SALVATION” (Ps 27:1)

⏰Friday of the First Week of Advent (07 December 2018 – Memorial of St. Ambrose) 📖Isa 29:17-24; Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14, (R.v.1a); Matt 9:27-3 The transition from darkness to light is one of the phenomena that is often used to describe the messianic era in the scriptures. The prophet Isaiah used it to describe the events surrounding the birth of the Child, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. A light has dawned upon those who lived in the land as dark as death” (Isa 9:2). The evangelist Matthew also borrowed that passage to describe the...

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Advent / First Week

“COME, LET US GO UP TO THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD” (Isa 2:3)

⏰Monaday of the First Week of Advent (03 December 2018 – Memorial of St. Francis Xavier) 📖Isa 2:1-5; Ps 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5, 6-7, 8-9 (R.v.1); Matt 8:5-11 My dear, at the beginning of this new working week, and just as we kick off the advent period to the fullest, the prophet Isaiah reminds us that God is set to do something new and better for us. And that would be achieved in our perfect union with God. Recall what happened in 1 Kings 12:26ff. In a bid to protect his newly formed dynasty, King Jeroboam built an altar at Bethel...

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Advent / First Week

YOU SHALL WEEP NO MORE! (Isa 30:19)

⏰Saturday of the First Week of Advent (09 December 2017) ????Isa 30:19-21, 23-26; Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 (R. Isa 30:18); Matt 9:35 – 10:1, 5a, 6-8 My dear, listen to Isaiah talking to all of us, Blessed are all those who wait for the Lord (Isa 30:18). The people of Israel had neglected Gods earlier warnings against forming alliance with foreign nations (see Isa 7). Here, in Isa 30:18-26, the prophet tries to assure the people that God has not given up on them, and that if they come back to God and remain with him, he will wipe their...

Advent / First Week / Weekdays

“THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD; THERE IS NOTHING I SHALL WANT” (Ps 23:1)

⏰Wednesday of the First Week of Advent (06 Dec. 2017) ????Isa 25:6-10a; Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 (R.v.6cd); Matt 15:29-37 My dear, our journey of hope continues with the prophet Isaiah in a setting on the mountain of God (cf. Isa 25:6-10). Remember that the mountain is a place of encounter with God. Isaiah gives us a picture of what comes out of that encounter: our hunger is satisfied, our thirst quenched, and our tears wiped away. Does that not fit into the attitude of the Shepherd as the psalmist depicts in Psalm 23? Notice that the psalmist stated from...

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Advent / Weekdays

“BLESSED BE THE LORD THE GOD OF ISRAEL” (Luke 1:67)

⏰24 December 2019 (Morning Mass) 📖2 Sam 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27 and 29 (R.v.2a); Luke 1:67-79 🎤”BLESSED BE THE LORD THE GOD OF ISRAEL” (Luke 1:67) Do you not have any cause in your life to give thanks to God? Zechariah bursted out to sing the ‘Benedictus’ (Luke 1:67-79); Mary sang the ‘Magnificat’ (Luke 1:46-56) just like Hannah (1 Sam 2:1-11). Even if you think that your life and situations have been something close to hell this year, St Paul still encourages you, “Give thanks to God in all circumstances for that is the will of...

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Advent / Weekdays

“I WILL SEND YOU ELIJAH, THE PROPHET, BEFORE THE DAY OF THE LORD COMES” (Mal 4:3)

⏰23 December 2019 ⏰Mal 3:1-4, 4:5-6 (or May 3:1-4, 23-24); Ps 25:4-5ab, 8-9, 10 and 14 (R. Luke 21:28); Luke 1:57-66 🎤”I WILL SEND YOU ELIJAH, THE PROPHET, BEFORE THE DAY OF THE LORD COMES” (Mal 4:3) We thank the Lord for the gift of life and for the grace and opportunity to share his Word this morning. He has shown me so great love and I will continue to serve him even with my last breadth till it pleases him that I should breath my last. May his name be glorified both now and for ever. Amen. The Day...

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Advent / Weekdays

“ARISE, MY LOVE… AND COME AWAY” (Song 2:10)

⏰21 December 2019 📖Song 2:8-14; Ps 33:2-3, 11-12, 20-21 (R.v.1a, 3a); Luke 1:39-45 🎤”ARISE, MY LOVE… AND COME AWAY” (Song 2:10) My dear, give thanks at all times to God for always restoring our joy and laughter and giving us ceaseless opportunities to be happy. Indeed, no matter the hardship we encounter in life, we still have cause to celebrate. May his name be praised and glorified in us both and forever. Amen The Book of the Song of Songs contains some poems that expresses a kind of love between the lover and the beloved. A theological interpretation of that...