Category: Year A

1

Fifth Week / Lent / Sundays / Year A

CHRIST: THE RESURRECTION AND LIFE

⏰Fifth Sunday of Lent Year A (2 April 2017) ????Ezek 37:12-14; Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-7a, 7b-8 (R.v.7b); Rom 8:8-11; John 11:1-45 The three readings that we have in our liturgy of today center on the life which God gives to all people. While the First and the Second Readings reflect the promise of that life, the Gospel presents Jesus as that promised Life. The First Reading falls within the division of the book of the Prophet Ezekiel that deals with the restoration of Israel. Before the three verses that form our First Reading today, the Prophet had seen a vision...

1

Lent / Sundays / Year A

CHRIST IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Fourth Sunday of Lent Year A (26 March 2017) 1Sam 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 (R.v.1); Eph 5:8-14; John 9:1-42 “The people who lived in darkness have seen great light; on those who lived in the land of the shadow of death, a light has shone” (Isa 9:2; Matt 4:6). The evangelist Matthew connected the above prophecy of Isaiah with the person of Jesus, when Jesus visited the territory of Zebulum and Naphtali. In the Gospel of John, Jesus would make that association himself when he declares, “I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). What...

0

Lent / Sundays / Year A

JESUS: THE LIVING WATER

Third Sunday of Lent Year A(19 March 2017) Exod 17:3-7; Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7abc, 7d-9 (R.v.7d, 8a); Rom 5:1-2, 5-8; John 4:5-42 Gods love for us is an unconditional love. He does not consider our status or our righteousness before visiting us. In fact, it would seem that it is when we are more into sin that he visits us the more. That is a confirmation of what Jesus said in his mission statement, I did not come to call the righteous but sinners (Matt 9:13) though that should not be misconceived as a licence to dwell in sin. This fact...

0

Lent / Sundays / Year A

CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN IN FAITH WITH JESUS

Second Sunday of Lent (Year A) Gen 12:1-4a; Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20 and 22 (R.v.22); 2 Tim 1:8b-10; Matt 17:1-9 In Lent, we embark on a journey back to God our Father. Jesus’ coming is to aid us on that journey. We may not be sure of the way nor what we are to encounter but with Jesus as our guide, safety and comfort are assured. Therefore, we are invited today to trust Jesus and follow him faithfully up to the mountain. Indeed, no one can embark on a journey back to God faithfully unless he truly believes in him....

2

Lent / Sundays / Year A

“BE GONE SATAN!” (Matt 4:10)

First Sunday of Lent (Year A) Gen 2:7-9, 3:1-7; Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17 (R.v.3a); Rom 5:12-19; Matt 4:1-11 No one is above temptation. If Satan summoned the courage to tempt Jesus, who is God, there is nobody who can avoid his pranks. With that in mind, the liturgy of this First Sunday of Lent presents the temptation of Jesus as a warning and guide to us. Compare that temptation of Jesus in the Gospel and that of Eve in the First Reading. While Eve was busy in dialogue with Satan, Jesus resisted him with the word of...

0

Ordinary Time (Year 1) / Sundays / Year A

IN GOD ALONE BE AT REST, MY SOUL (Ps 62)

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A (26 Feb 2017) Isa 49:14-15; Psalm 62:2-3, 6-7, 8-9 (R.v.6a); 1Cor 4:1-5; Matt 6:24-34 IN GOD ALONE BE AT REST, MY SOUL (Ps 62) The Liturgy of today, in a special way, sets out to remind us of the importance of putting all our trust in God because he is the source of our help (cf. Ps 121:2). The First Reading and the Gospel brought this out more clearly while the Second Reading admonishes us to be more concerned rather with what God thinks of us than what men think of us. The...

0

Ordinary Time / Sundays / Year A

“YOU SHALL BE HOLY; FOR I THE LORD YOUR GOD AM HOLY” (Lev 19:2)

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 “YOU SHALL BE HOLY; FOR I THE LORD YOUR GOD AM HOLY” (Lev 19:2) “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him” (1 John 4:16). So it is only through loving others that we can come to be holy as God is holy, following the calls we have in the First Reading and in the Gospel. Christian vocation is a vocation to love because in it we are called to live in...

0

Ordinary Time / Sundays / Year A

THE TWO WAYS: FOLLOW THE PATH OF LIFE

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Sirach 15:15-20; Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34 (R.v.1b); 1 Cor 2:6-10; Matt 5:17-37 THE TWO WAYS: FOLLOW THE PATH OF LIFE In Deut 30:15-18, Moses presented to the people of Israel, the dual way, one which leads to life and prosperity and the other which leads to death and calamity. The project of follwing any of the ways depends on individual choices and the consequences must equally be borne on individual bases (also see Psalm 1:1-6; Jer 21:8; Rom 6:21-23). That is the point that Ben Sirach, the author of the Book of...

0

Ordinary Time / Sundays / Year A

LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE (Matt 5:16)

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Isa 58:7-10; Psalm 112:4-5, 6-7, 8a and 9 (R.v.4a); 1Cor 2:1-5; Matt 5:13-16 LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE (Matt 5:16) Two Sundays ago, the prophet Isaiah prophesied the rise of a great king whose light would enlighten the darkness of mens lives and make them radiate with joy. The Gospel of Matthew presented Jesus as the fulfilment of that prophecy (cf. Matt 4:12-23). Providentially, few days ago, we celebrated the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and in the Gospel reading (Luke 2:22-40), the righteous Simeon prophesied that Jesus would be light for...

1

Ordinary Time / Sundays / Year A

“BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT, FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN” (Matt 5:3)

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Zeph 2:3, 3:12-13; Psalm 146:6c-7, 8b-9a, 9bc-10 (R. Matt 5:3); 1Cor 1:26-31; Matt 5:1-12a “BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT, FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN” (Matt 5:3) Do you remember that Jesus said that even though we are in the world, we do not belong to the world (cf. John 15:19)? As Christians, our ways must be different from the ways of the world. This is the message of today’s liturgy. Looking closely at the Beatitudes which are presented in the Gospel of today, we shall see that they completely uphold...