Category: Year A

WE ARE A CHOSEN RACE (cf. 1Pet 2:9)

⏰Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) 📖Exod 19:2-6a; Psalm 100; Rom 5:6-11; Matt 9:36 – 10:8 🎤WE ARE A CHOSEN RACE (cf. 1Pet 2:9) All the readings of today, including the responsorial Psalm, and especially the First Reading and the Gospel, point out the fact of God’s choice of us to be his people. In the first reading, the people of Israel became our representatives in that choice. Remember that Israel as a nation is made up of 12 tribes corresponding to the 12 sons of Jacob. Then, as Israel is considered the vessel of God’s salvation following their...

JESUS THE LAMB OF GOD!

⏰SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A) 📖Isa 49:3, 5-6; Ps 40:2 and 4b, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10 (R.v.8a and 9a); 1 Cor 1:1-3; John 1:29-34 🎤JESUS THE LAMB OF GOD! The bulk of the cult of Isaiah (Isaiah’s prophecy) recorded in chapters 40 to 55 is regarded as the Second Book of Isaiah, which is as well seen as coming from the exilic era. That is the period when the people of Israel were on exile. Let us remember that the prophet had, in the First Book (Isaiah 1 – 31) called the people to turn from their sins, otherwise...

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BY THEIR FRUITS YOU SHALL KNOW THEM (Matt 7:20)

⏰Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) 📖Ezek 18:25-28; Psalm 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 (R.6a); Phil 2:1-11; Matt 21:28-32 🎤BY THEIR FRUITS YOU SHALL KNOW THEM (Matt 7:20) It is said that actions speaks louder than voice. That is the major focus of our Liturgy today. The Gospel brings out this point clearer in that parable of the two sons of a man, both of whom he asked to go into his vineyard to work. While the Gospel seems to pay more attention on the action, the First and Second Readings help us to understand that the action that is meant...

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THE ASCENT OF FAITH AND THE UNIVERSAL MERCY OF GOD

⏰Twentienth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) 📖Isaiah 56:1.6-7; Psalm 67:2-3.5.6 and 8 (R.4); Rom 11:13-15, 29-32; Matt 15:21-28 🎤THE ASCENT OF FAITH AND THE UNIVERSAL MERCY OF GOD In the readings of last Sunday, we saw audacity of faith that Peter displayed by daring to accept Jesus invitation to come to him walking on the sea. However, the insufficiency of that faith showed up when he was faced with the troubled sea and took his gaze off Jesus. In the gospel reading of today, the Canaanite woman is set before us as example of undoubting faith which does not...

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LOOK ONTO JESUS!

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) 1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a; Psalm 85:8ab and 9,10-11, 12-13 (R.v.7); Rom 9:1-5; Matt 14:22-33 LOOK ONTO JESUS! Every sportsman knows the importance of fixing his gaze on the target that would win him the desired point. For instance, every goalkeeper that wants to be efficient at the goalpost must not keep his eyes away from the ball. The same thing happens in our journey of faith. Jesus is object of faith. To win the prize, which is salvation, we must focus our gaze on him. Consider the drama that occurred in today’s Gospel...

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“YOU OPEN YOUR HAND, LORD, AND YOU SATISFY US” (Ps 145:16)

⏰Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) 📖Isa 55:1-3; Psalm 145:8-9, 15-16, 17-18 (R.v.16); Rom 8:35, 37-39; Matt 4:4b; Matt 13:44-523 🎤”YOU OPEN YOUR HAND, LORD, AND YOU SATISFY US” (Ps 145:16) After their return from Babylonian exile, the Israelites observed that their once glorified city has been reduced to a state of ruin. Many of them could not just bear the sight of that and they started losing the hope of ever rising again. That was the origin of the invitation which the prophet Isaiah gave out to the people in the First Reading of today. There was the...

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GOD IS BIGGER THAN ALL YOUR PROBLEMS

⏰Fourtenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) 📖Zech 9:9-10; Psalm 145; Rom 8:9,11-13; Matt 11:25-30 🎤GOD IS BIGGER THAN ALL YOUR PROBLEMS Are you a Christian? Then you must be a friend of Jesus, and if you are a friend of Jesus, you have nothing to worry about because Jesus always takes care of the worries of his friends. The Gospel says that much. In the first place, Jesus thanks God for revealing the mysteries about God and salvation to those considered as the little ones of the world. Mark that word, ‘little ones’. That does not just mean little...

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“GIVE PRAISE TO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD, HIS MERCY ENDURES FOREVER” (Ps 118:1)

⏰SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER (DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY YEAR A) 📖Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 118:2-4, 22-24, 25-27a (R.v.1); Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19; John 20:19-31 🎤”GIVE PRAISE TO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD, HIS MERCY ENDURES FOREVER” (Ps 118:1) Dearly beloved in Christ, in the midst of the challenges of the present time, we celebrate today, the Feast of the Divine Mercy. Through this celebration, we get the reassurance that God, in his infinite mercy, will not abandon us to our fate but will come to our aid to rescue us all. Amen. As we prayerfully await the reign of that mercy...

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BE PERFECT AS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS PERFECT

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Lev 19:1-2, 17-18; Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13 (R.v.8a); 1 Cor 3:16-23; Matt 5:38-48 BE PERFECT AS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS PERFECT Christian vocation is a vocation to love because in it we are called to live in imitation of Christ who is love par excellence. 1 John 4:16 tells us that “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him.” So it is only through loving others that we can come to be perfect as our heavenly Father, following the calls we have in the First...

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WE HAVE A SHARE IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST

⏰The Baptism of the Lord (Year A) 📖Isa 42:1-4, 6-7; Ps 29:1a and 2, 3ac-4, 3b and 9c-10 (R.v.11b); Acts 10:34-38; Matt 3:13-17 🎤WE HAVE A SHARE IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST According to the Catholic Catechism of Christian Doctrine, “Baptism is a sacrament which cleanses us from original sin, makes us Christians, children of God and members of the Church.” Johns baptism, which Jesus participated in was also called a “baptism of repentance.” With the above in mind, it is of little wonder why the early Christians felt embarrassed at the thought of the Baptism of Jesus. Would that...