PRECIOUS DIAMOND

Jesus is back in Nazareth and attends the Sabbath service in the synagogue. He is asked to read one of the readings. Was it accidental or intentional that He read the 66 long chapters of Isaiah? Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit who appeared upon Him during baptism. Jesus was so Spirit-filled that nothing was accidental in His life.

The passage Jesus reads contains the program of His ministry. In His life and ministry, Jesus fulfills what the prophet wrote centuries ago. Luke answers our question about Jesus clearly: He is the fulfillment of the prophecies of old. He did not come without having been announced centuries ago. The prophets actually spoke about their time and the imminent future; they did not think of Jesus Christ yet. But they were inspired by God’s Spirit so that the oracles they uttered turned out to have a much more profound meaning and would be fully fulfilled only in Christ.

Jesus came to proclaim the Good News. He came to free us from the captivity of sin. He opened our eyes and freed us from our spiritual blindness. He saw to it that people would be reminded of Isaiah’s prophecy and recognize Him as the One mankind was waiting for. Jesus started the fulfillment with His ministry.

As Jesus’ disciples, we are challenged to continue proclaiming the Good News. He needs us to open the eyes of those who are spiritually blind. He needs us to bring those bound by sin into His presence to liberate them. This effort even goes beyond spiritual liberation. In Latin America, the Church has contributed much to a social and political liberation of the poor and oppressed.

The Holy Spirit we received in baptism and confirmation is upon us. St. Paul goes a step further and speaks of us Christians as temples of the Holy Spirit, meaning the Spirit is in us. This enables us to continue the great work of Jesus. His program has become ours. Fr. Rudy Horst

Reflection Question: Am I aware that I am called to make Christ’s program my program in life? How can I do this effectively? Lord, You have given us a great task, the task to continue Your work on earth. With the Holy Spirit in us, we are able to do this. Make us more aware of this great responsibility and enlighten us to make Your program our own.

St. William of Bourges, bishop,pray for us.

Who are you?

Who are you? is a question that makes us feel uncomfortable. A person who knows you and loves you has no need to ask this question. It can express curiosity but also suspicion, depending on how the question is asked. Those who came to John the Baptist and asked him, Who are you? were certainly not curious but full of suspicion.

John, who dressed and lived like  the prophet Elijah, was the son of a priest but did not have anything to do with the Temple. He was drawing ever-increasing crowds — very dangerous in a time when the Romans  occupied and oppressed the nation. It could easily lead to rebellion and to a disastrous crackdown by the Romans. John could have said that he was a prophet sent by God. He could have said that he was the Messiah, as several pseudo-messiahs had done before him. In unbelievable humility, John is nothing but  a simple messenger  who prepares the way for a greater person coming after him.

It’s quite human to brag about who we are. We put ourselves in relation to a great politician, or a doctor or an artist or a bishop. We may be relatives of certain great or not-so-great people. Yet, this does not say anything about who we really are. The more boastful our answers are, the more our real being remains hidden.

Who am I? It is a question best asked before God, because before  Him we have to be honest and cannot pretend to be better than we are. We  become small. We cannot but admit that we are sinners. We are humbled like John the Baptist who wanted to be nothing but a voice telling the people to get ready.

We are signposts that point to Christ as the ultimate goal of history, as the answer to all questions. Nothing great is demanded from us signposts. We only show the right direction through our simple Christian way of life. Fr. Rudy Horst

Reflection Question:

What makes me hide my real self from others? Why can I not be honest about myself even before God?

Lord, You know me better than I know myself. You see me as I am – and still You love me more than I love myself. For this I thank You. May the humility of John the Baptist inspire me to be always myself and prevent me from pretending to be more than I am a simple signpost along the way to Your kingdom.

St. Adelard, abbot, pray for us.

adapted from Kyregma

Mary’s Mother of God and our Mother

You Need a Spiritual Family?

It’s another New Year and I guess nearly every one of us today asks the same question: What will this year bring’s. Apart from the good things, we also experienced catastrophes, violence, terror attacks in different parts of the world; there might have been the death of someone close to us; there were personal problems, problems in the family. We feel so vulnerable, often helpless, in this our world and society. It is understandable then that most of us look with some anxiety toward the year we begin today.

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Blessed Mother under the title Mother of God, Mary is rightly called the Mother of God because Jesus, her Son, is God. Both cannot be separated from each other. Mary’s motherhood began when in Nazareth she gave her fiat (let it be done according to your word). But when she stood some decades later beneath the cross of her Son, her maternal vocation and mission received another dimension.

With the words, Woman, behold your Son and Behold your Mother, Jesus gave His Mother to His future community, represented by His beloved disciple. The Mother of God also became our Mother.

Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother, was the best mother one can imagine. She always stayed close to her Son, especially when He was in danger, when He was persecuted, even when He was in His last agony.

We now look at the moving scene of Mother and Child in Bethlehem. We also look ahead to that moment when Mary was given the task to care for us as a loving Mother. Many of us have experienced her maternal closeness and help. We cannot but thank her for carrying us through the difficulties of life and for protecting us from danger and harm.

A consoling answer to our question earlier emerges from today’s feast, it will be another year with our heavenly Mother. Fr. Rudy Horst

Reflection Question:

In which area of my life do I most need the assistance of Mother Mary?

Mary, Mother of God and my Mother too, accompany my loved ones and me this New Year. With you at my side, I can face whatever is God’s plan for me. Mother, I need you. Please, never leave me alone.

St. Clarus, abbot, pray for us.

Jesus
was presented to God. He was presented to His Father. He was Joseph’s
and Mary’s first-born Son. First-born sons, according to the Law of
Moses, must be consecrated to Yahweh. First-born sons belong especially
to God; hence, parents offer a prescribed sacrifice to buy back from
God their first-born sons.

A
first-born opens his mother’s womb. The Jews believe that a barren
womb is an accursed womb. Life is God’s greatest blessing; life
belongs to God, no one can cause it, no one can take it away, no one
except God. God is the Father of Jesus, but He is our Father, too.
Jesus, according to the Pauline epistles,
is the first-born among the dead. God, our Father, bought us back from
sin and death. Jesus, His own Son, was the price He had to pay. The
First-born Son became the ransom price!

At
the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, where I am presently
serving, the Christmas creche at the foot of the sanctuary is just a
few arms away from the crucifix. During our Christmas Eve Mass, I was
looking intently on the two biblical tableaus: one showing us the
humble birth of the Savior and the other reminding us what awaits the
newborn Baby after thirty-three years. Then I catch my self whispering
a prayer: Lord, I hope they notice… I hope they really do… Bethlehem and Calvary are indeed just a few arms away from each other.  Fr. Bobby T.

REFLECTION QUESTION: Bethlehem and Calvary are indeed just a few arms away from each other.

My
Jesus, I present my self to You as You are presented today to the
Father. I unite my self with You so that I, too, like You, may be
pleasing to the Father. Amen.

St. Trophimus, missionary, pray for us.

adapted from Kyregma

Matthew 2:13-18

Today
we remember the ongoing holocaust of abortion that seems to be getting
worse year by year. I find it unbelievable how we can slaughter the
unborn and yet protest about the maltreatment of animals in experiments
and so on. Do not get me wrong, I believe that there should be limits
as to what sort of experimentation should be permitted on animals but
we move the argument to a much higher plane when we begin to talk about
human beings. Either we believe life is sacred or it is not! Either we
respect it from the moment of conception or any other respect is
irreparably compromised! Life has an absolute quality of respect or it
has no protection at all. We can see where it all
leads as we are now also fighting legislation against euthanasia; next
it will be eugenics proper, and from there, who knows?

13 When
they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in
a dream and said, Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him. 14 Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. 15 He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, Out of
Egypt I called my son. 16 When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi. 17 Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet: 18 A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were
no more.

I just happened to find a booklet last night which contains a lot of prayers. I remember some prayers during my high school days. I attended high school in  Notre Dame of Midsayap for Girls back in the Philippines. It is a Catholic school exclusively for girls. I remember that every Wednesday, we used to pray the Novena since our school is near the Church. We also used to have a Mass every first Friday of the Month. Every month of October we also pray the Rosary everyday.  I wanted to post these prayers here in my Blog also for others to read.  You might find these useful.

Salve Regina

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus, O clement, O loving, O sweet virgin Mary. Amen

Matthew 1:1-17

This
genealogy traces Jesus’ origins through Joseph, His foster father,
back to Abraham. This situates Jesus within the context of the work of
God among the Jewish People. It affirms the possibility that He is the
Messiah as we see that He is a descendantof Judah and David. The
genealogy, while somewhat boring to read and listen to, contains many
clues concerning the identity of Jesus and His mission if only we will
study it carefully. For example, what is unusual about all the women
mentioned in it?

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 4 Ram the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became
the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 Salmon
the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz became the father of
Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse, 6 Jesse the father of David the king. David became the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asaph. 8 Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah. 9 Uzziah became the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amos, Amos the father of Josiah. 11 Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the Babylonian exile. 12 After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 Azor the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, 15 Eliud the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah. 17 Thus
the total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen
generations; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations;
from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

Job 42:1-6

Then Job answered the Lord and said: I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer  Me.’ I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore, "I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

THOUGH DARKER, ROUGHER, GROWS THE WAY

AND CARES PRESS HARDER DAY BY DAY,

WITH PATIENCE IN HIS LOVE I REST,

AND WHISPER THAT HE KNOWETH BEST………..Pentecost

*******GOD DOES NOT HAVE TO ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS, BUT HE WILL ALWAYS KEEP HIS PROMISE********