Category: Easter Season

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Easter Season / Second Week / Sunday

THE DOUBTING THOMAS, COMMUNITY LIFE AND THE DIVINE MERCY

⏰Second Sunday of Easter (Year B) 📕Acts 4:32-35; Ps 118:2-4, 15c-16b, and 17-18m, 22-24 (R.v.1); 1 John 5:1-7; John 20:19-31 THE DOUBTING THOMAS, COMMUNITY LIFE AND THE DIVINE MERCYLast year, the liturgy of this very day brought to our view the role of faith in the life of every Christian. This year, while that role is still kept in view, the role of love in Christian life is also made more explicit. The First Reading and the Second point out how that love is lived and harnessed in the Christian community. In the First Reading, which is a summary statement,...

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Easter Season / Octave

“THE LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS, AND DARKNESS COULD NOT OVERPOWER IT” (John 1:5)

⏰Easter Vigil (31 March 2018) 📖Gen 1:1 – 2:2; Ps 104:1-2a, 5-6, 10 and 12, 13-14 and 35c (R.v.30); Exod 14:15 – 15:1; Exod 15:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6, 17-18 (R.v.1b); Ezek 36:16-17a, 18-25; Ps 42:3, 5bcd, 43:3, 4 (R. 42:2); Rom 6:3-11; Ps 118:1-2, 15c-17, 22-23; Mark 16:1-7 My dear fellow pilgrim! I welcome you joyfully to this most sacred night, the mother of all nights, the night that gave way to our freedom. On this night, we celebrate symbolically, the victory of light over darkness. In our lives as believers, darkness means a lot. But in summary, we can summarize...

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Easter Season / Feasts and Solemnities / Sundays / Year A

THE SPIRIT OF EMPOWERMENT

Pentecost Sunday (Year A) Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104:1ab and 24ac, 29bc-30, 31 and 34 (R.v.30); 1Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23 Happy birthday to all of us, sons and daughters of the Church. This is the day when we celebrate the birth of the Church. On this day of Pentecost, we celebrate the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Jesus and those gathered with them (cf. Acts 2:1-11), a fulfillment of Jesus promise to them. This outpouring serves one important purpose – empowerment. Remember that towards the end of his earthly life, Jesus was constantly telling them...

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Easter Season / Seventh Week

FOLLOW JESUS, THE WAY, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS

⏰Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter (03 June 2017 – Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions) ????Acts 28:16-20, 30-31; Ps 11:1-4, 5 and 7 (R.v.7b); John 21:20-25 ????FOLLOW JESUS, THE WAY, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS Most of the books of the New Testament were written to address different theological concerns. Obviously, there were many of such concerns in the Gospel of John but central among them is faith in Jesus Christ as one who is the same with God the Father. There were other minor concerns but all of them center around that want of proof for the...

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Easter Season / Seventh Week

LET US FOLLOW PETER BACK TO JESUS

⏰Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter (02 June 2017) ????Acts 25:13b-21; Ps 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20ab (R.v.19a); John 21:15-19 Did you notice that after his resurrection, Jesus addressed Peter as Simon instead of Peter? Recall that after Peter’s Great Confession at Caesarea Philippi (Matt 16:13ff), Jesus changed his name to Peter, a symbol of the rock on which the Church would be built (cf. Matt 16:17-18). Peter continued to bear that name until he denied Jesus three times at the courtyard of the High Priest (cf. Matt 26:69-75). In other words, Jesus called him Peter by virtue of the great...

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Easter Season / Seventh Week

WE NEED THE SPIRIT OF FORTITUDE AND WISDOM

⏰Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter (01 June 2017 – Memorial of St. Justin) ????Acts 22:30, 23:6-11; Ps 16:1-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11 (R.v.1); John 17:20-26 As we continue to pray for the fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit, let us pray for the gift of fortitude and wisdom. Fortitude is one of the four cardinal virtues and it enables one who receives it to be calm and steadfast even in the face of oppression and persecution. This calmness and steadfastness is governed by a fear of God and complete trust in his omnipotence. This is the virtue...

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Easter Season / Seventh Week

SURRENDER YOURSELF AND YOUR WORRIES TO GOD

⏰Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter (30 May 2017) ????Acts 20:17-27; Ps 68:10-11, 20-21 (R.v.33a); John 17:1-11a As St Paul rounds up his third missionary journey, he gave an account of his stewardship to the people and was ready to move ahead (cf. Acts 20:17-27). He was not sure of what the future holds in stock for him but he entrusted himself to the care of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 20:22). He was not afraid of the future even when it looked unpromising to him. That is the mark of someone who is fulfilled with his relationship with...

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Easter Season / Seventh Week

YOU ARE A VICTOR IN CHRIST JESUS

⏰Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter (25 May 2020) 📖Acts 19:1-8; Ps 68:2-3, 4-5ac, 6-7b (R.v.33a); John 16:29-33 My dear, we surely need the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to courageously offer ourselves to be crucified at the foot of the Cross of Jesus so that we may reap the benefits of his resurrection without any obstruction. The Holy Spirit enables us to understand the words that Christ speaks to us just like the disciples in the Gospel of John 16:29-33 so that we may have a share in his victory over the world....

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Easter Season / Seventh Week / Sundays / Year A

ALL GLORY IS FOR GOD AND FROM GOD

Seventh Sunday of Easter (Year A) – World Communication Day Acts 1:12-14; Psalm 27:1, 4, 7-8a (R.v.13); 1 Pet 4:13-16; John 17:1-11a Beloved in Christ, as we celebrate today, the world communication day, the Holy Father, Pope Francis encourages us to tell our story in the midst of the crisis that has enveloped the world. This story is the story of our faith. He warned us against telling stories that are fake and give false hope. We should rather tell the Gospel story, which will renew and strengthen us and the world. And so today, we tell the story of...

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Easter Season / Fifth Week

DO WE GATHER SOULS FOR CHRIST OR SCATTER THEM?

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter (16 May 2020) 📖Acts 16:1-10; Ps 100:1-2, 3, 5 (R.v.1); John 15:18-21 Do you know that what constitutes a scandal may not really be something sinful? That is the point that St Paul makes in 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 concerning the food offered to idols. That is also why he had Timothy circumcised before he could follow him to a mission (cf. Acts 16:2-3) even after the gentiles had been dispensed of it by the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15). How do you treat matters that could affect the faith of other people negatively? Remember...