Category: Year A

⏰Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) ????Prov 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31; Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5 (R.v.1a); 1Thess 5:1-6; Matt 25:14-30 With just one more Sunday to go in this Liturgical Year, the Church reminds us in practical terms the need to be ready at all times for the endtime when we shall be required to give an account of our lives. The tone of the Second Reading suggests that the Thessalonians were anticipating an imminent parousia (the second coming of Jesus) and were becoming confused over its delay and the death of their fellow brethren before the time. But the...

⏰Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) ????Wis 6:12-16; Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 (R.v.2b); 1Thess 4:13-18; Matt 25:1-13 For the second time in two weeks, the readings appear so live to me as if they would be fulfilled immediately. I just told someone with me at the time of making this reflection that it is possible that I may not finish it before the Lord calls me. But in case I remain alive, it reminds me that I am living on a borrowed time. The owner of the time, God, may demand of it at any time. How prepared...

Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Mal 1:14b – 2:2b, 8-10; Psalm 131:1, 2, 3; 1Thess 2:7-9, 13; Matt 23:1-12 Today, I remember some words that are ascribed to St. Augustine, “For you, I am a priest; with you, I am a Christian. I rejoice at what I am with you, but what I am for you terrifies me.” As I was going through the readings for today’s liturgy, terrible fear enveloped me. I realized once more how delicate is this precious vocation that I embraced. To be frank, I have enjoyed every minute of my priestly life such...

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Exod 22:21-27; Psalm 18:2-3a, 3bc-4, 47 and 51ab (R.2); 1Thess 1:5c-10; Matt 22:34-40 “LOVE IS THE GREATEST OF ALL (1Cor 13:13) There is really no other commandment than the call to love. A careful consideration of all the commandments of God would show us that that is in the mind of God when giving out the Ten Commandments to the Israelites. Unfortunately, hypocrisy and pharisaism have led to the bastardisation of that original intention of God. That was how the Pharisees led the Jews of Jesus time into the confusion they found themselves...

⏰TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A ????Isa 5:1-7; Psalm 80:8 and 11, 12-13, 14-15 and 17b, 18-19(R. Isa 5:7a); Phil 4:6-9; Matt 21:33-43 My dear, the end is becoming even more imminent, and the reality of accountability at the end is being more emphasized in our readings at this period. May God grant us the wisdom to always take all these messages seriously to avoid being taken unawares in the end. Amen. Today, the theme of the vineyard flows through the Readings and two important issues stare at us from them: ????How do we accept the word of God?...

⏰Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) ????Isa 55:6-9; Ps 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-19 (R.v.18a); Phil 1:20c-24, 27a; Matt 20:1-16a May the peace of Christ which is beyond all things dwell with you. Amen. After a long time of suffering in exile, the prophet of the Deutero-Isaiah had, right from the beginning in Isaiah 40:1 embarked on the project of comforting and encouraging the people. Throughout the book (Isa 40:1 – 55:13), he prophesied restoration and the coming of the Messiah. At the end in Isaiah 55, he reminds the people that God is able to provide all that they need,...

⏰Twenty-FourthSunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) 📖Sirach 27:30 – 28:7; Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12 (R.v.8); Rom 14:7-9; Matt 18:21-35 Last Sunday, in the liturgy, we reflected on the necessity of forgiveness and fraternal correction in order to build up a harmonious community. But today, we are reminded that forgiveness is a norm that must be observed by all. Recall that Jesus had earlier said, “If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you either” (Matt 6:15). Peter might have just recalled that teaching in Matt 6:14-15, and then, since Jesus just brought up the matter...

⌚Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) ????Ezek 33:7-9; Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7abc, 7d-9 (R.7d, 8a); Rom 13:8-10; Matt 18:15-20 Conversion is at the heart of Christs ministry on earth. Right from the beginning, it was obvious that it is the key that opens up the kingdom of God to all. In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, the content of the very first words of Jesus at the beginning of his ministry is based on repentance, Repent for the kingdom of God is near (Matt 4:17; see also Mark 1:15). Even before Christ, right from the moment that man drifted...

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Jer 20:7-9; Psalm 63:2,3-4,5-6,8-9 (R.v.2ab); Rom 12:1-2; Matt 16:21-27 In his famous book, “The Confessions,” St. Augustine declared, concerning God, “You made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” The prophet Jeremiah noted in the First Reading that the more he resisted the Word of God, the more his heart burns towards it (Jer 20:9). It is not as if it is so much of a comfort following God. Both the First Reading and the Gospel talk about the presence of the cross in following him. Jeremiah...