Category: Feasts and Solemnities
⏰Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist (18 October 2019) 📖2 Tim 4:10-17ab; Ps 145:10-11, 12-13ab, 17-18 (R.v.12a); Luke 10:1-9 🎤TRUE DISCIPLESHIP Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Luke the evangelist. He was a physician (cf. Col 4:14) by profession but went on to become a companion of St. Paul during his missionary journeys. There seems to be a consensus that the evangelist Luke did not meet Jesus in person but when he came in contact with the Christian message, he allowed himself to be transformed by it. In the second account of the Missionary journeys in the Gospel, we...
⏰Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time 2 (22 Aug. 2019 – Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary) 📖Judges 11:29-39a; Ps 40:5, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10 (R.v.8a); Matt 22:1-14 🎤”BEHOLD THE HANDMAID OF GOD…” (Luke 1:38) In my little number of years in this pilgrimage of faith, I have come to learn that truth does not subsist in a doctrine I have practiced over the time or what I was taught. I have rather learnt to give reason a chance because God did not make a mistake in creating me with the brain. That is just a...
⏰Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord C (06 August 2019) 📖Dan 7:9-10, 13-14; Ps 97:1-2, 5-6, 9 (R.v.1a, 9a); Luke 9:28b-36 🎤”THIS IS MY SON, MY CHOSEN, LISTEN TO HIM” (Luke 9:35) Among other reasons, the transfiguration of Jesus serves to encourage the disciples and strengthen their faith in view of the impending passion of Jesus. It is true that Peter had just identified him as the Messiah of God (cf. Luke 9:20) but now, God himself puts a stamp upon that answer (Luke 9:35), thus clearing any doubt that might still in their mind. See the conviction with...
⏰Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus C (28 June 2019) 📖Ezek 34:11-16; Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 (R.v.1); Luke 15:3-7 🎤”GOD’S LOVE HAS BEEN POURED INTO OUR HEARTS” (Rom 5:5) My dear, in the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we celebrate love. The Heart of Jesus is the heart of love. Jesus is God and God is love (1 John 4:16). It then means that Jesus is love. In his apparition to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in France, Jesus said, pointing to his heart, “Behold this heart which has so loved men that it has spared...
Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Year C) Gen 14:18-20; Psalm 110:1-2, 3, 4 (R.v.4cd); 1 Cor 11:23-26; Luke 9:11b-17 THIS CHALICE IS THE NEW COVENANT IN MY BLOOD (1 Cor 11:25) The celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, in a very special way, invites us to reflect on the rich deposit of our faith which informs our celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Beyond that however, it affords us of the opportunity to reflect well on what we believe in so as to ensure that we are not dancing...
SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY (Year C) Prov 8:22-31; Psalm 8:4-5, 6-7a, 7b-9, (R.v.2a); Rom 5:1-5; John 16:12-15 GOD’S LOVE HAS BEEN POURED INTO OUR HEARTS (Rom 5:5) Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. The theology of the Holy Trinity remains a mystery which is beyond full human understanding. The reality of the idea of the three persons in one God spreads through the entire scriptures but it is more obvious in the New Testament....
Pentecost Sunday (Year C) Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104:1ab and 24ac, 29bc-30, 31 and 34 (R.v30); Rom 8:8-17; John 14:15-16, 23b-26 THE SPIRIT OF EMPOWERMENT 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, which is empowerment. Remember that towards the end of his earthly life,...
⏰Feast of St. Matthias (14 May 2019) 📖Acts 1:15-17, 20-26; Ps 113:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 (R.v.8); John 15:9-17 🎤CALLED TO A SACRIFICIAL AND SELFLESS WITNESSING As the end of the earthly life of Jesus drew near, he needed to ensure that his disciples’ confidence is harnessed well to face surely-impending challenges of life without him. He did this by reminding them and clarifying for them that it was God who called and chose them. He first of all explained his relationship with the Father so as to now teach them how to relate with the Father also. This relationship is...
⏰Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time 1 (06 February 2019 – Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions) 📖Heb 12:4-7, 11-15; Ps 103:1-2, 13-14, 17-18a (R.v.17ab); Mark 6:1-6 Are you among those who have been making great effort to worship God in spirit and in truth, and yet, things are not going well for you? It could even be that there is one person beside you who is undeniably evil, yet he thrives in all he does while you suffer. Don’t worry! Be happy! It does not mean that you are not doing well. Heb 12:4-15 tells us...
⏰Thursday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time 1 (31 Jan 2019 – Memorial of St. JohnBosco) 📖Heb 10:19-25; Ps 24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6 (R.v.6); Mark 4:21-25 🎤”LET US HOLD FAST TO THE CONFESSION THAT GIVES US HOPE” (Heb 10:23) Today is the feast day of St. JohnBosco, the patron saint of the youth. More importantly to me, he is my patron saint. So I beg you to pray for me today so that I can also achieve the level of sanctity he achieved and so appear before the throne of God on the last day, pure as he did. Once...
