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  • PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD’S PASSION—C

    PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD’S PASSION—C ( Isaiah 50: 4-7 Philippians 2: 6-11 Luke 22: 14-23: 56) We have begun a Holy Week; a week during which the love of God manifests itself in an act that defies all logical reasoning, as this love is met with our outright rejection of it. It is a week in which God reconciles and reclaims obstinate sinful human beings to Himself. Come to think of it! It is a paradox, an absurdity, and an enigma to grasp the full meaning of God’s love for us. The...

  • FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT—C

    FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT—C (Isaiah 43: 16-21 Philippians 3: 8-14 John 8: 1-11) Last week, we talked about the need to acknowledge our weakness in order to trust in the strength and power of God’s grace in and with us, as we repent. Today, we have a sequel to the quest of repentance: we are to let go our past lives and fix our eyes on the glory of God that is about to be rewarded us. In fact, this is the essence of the symbolism of the Forty days of Lent and the Fifty days of Easter: that...

  • SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT—C

    SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT—C (Genesis 15: 5-12, 17-18 Philippians 3: 20—4: 1 Luke 9: 28-36) Throughout our human history, God has regularly initiated and made various covenants with us. All these were in a bid to draw our attention to God so that we might give him all glory and honor. Jesus then comes to be the fulfillment of all the various past covenants as he made for us the New and Everlasting Covenant by his Paschal Mystery. A prominent promise of the old covenants, especially those with...

  • THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT—C

    THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT—C (Zephaniah 3: 14-18 Philippians 4: 4-7 Luke 3: 10-18) The readings of today amplify the nearness of our God. As St Paul would say: If God is for us, who can be against us? Indeed, with God, we have everything and we have no fear for any adversary, because our God is the Immanuel who is mighty in strength and power. A careful study of the Book of Psalms will unveil the hidden joy of the Israelites who were deprived of the presence of God because of their unfaithfulness...

  • SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT—C

    SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT—C (Baruch 5 1-9 Philippians 1: 4-6, 8-11 Luke 3: 1-6) It is really amazing and incomprehensible how God does love us (see Psalm 8); God constantly and persistently calls us to his bosom, despite our many faults. Today’s readings even make this goodness of God more vivid: God will make all that he has begun in us complete and perfect; so, why do we doubt so much? Ever since mankind began to misuse and misapply free will, we have all the more been falling away from...

  • PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD’S PASSION - B

    PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD’S PASSION (Isaiah 50: 4-7 Philippians 2: 6-11 Mark 14: 1—15: 47) The celebrations from today until Easter Sunday are what we celebrate in the Mass. In the Mass we have either a solemn entrance or just a procession. Today, we celebrate the solemn entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem to accomplish his Paschal Mystery. The Paschal Mystery is Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection with its accompanying Ascension. To redeem mankind from eternal damnation, Christ...

  • TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME—A

    TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME—A (Isaiah 25: 6-10 Philippians 4: 12-4, 19-20 Matthew 22: 1-14) As the liturgical year slowly draws to a close, we are reminded of the end of our earthly journey; those who do the will of God will enjoy his glory, but those who reject the way of the Lord will be rejected from the Kingdom of God. For some reasons there is a group of people who think that to be in heaven is automatic. It is true to be in Heaven is by God’s will, but how can one enjoy...

  • TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME—A

    TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME—A (Ezekiel 18: 25-28 Philippians 2: 1-11 Matthew 21: 28-32) To pray to God is to inter into his mystery as God. Jesus would tell us that no one knows the Father except as the Son reveals Him. With this in mind we do not pretend to know God more than He is. We understand God with our limited knowledge, and therefore we cannot claim to know the fullness of God. Otherwise what we think is the fullness of God is in fact not what God is; rather it will be our...

  • TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME—A

    TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME—A (Isaiah 55: 6-9 Philippians 1: 20-24, 27 Matthew 20: 1-16) The desire to have more than one can possess paves the way to break the laws of God and those of the society. The Book of Genesis gives the etiology of sin as a result of avarice and envy: Humankind wanted to be like God, as it was promised by the tempter. In fact, we go against the rules anytime we allow transient and elusive happiness borne in concupiscence takes full control of our wills. One...

  • THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS - A

    THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS (Numbers 21: 4-9 Philippians 2:6-11 John 3: 13-17) Todayʼs feast dates back to the fourth century when the Holy Cross of Jesus was venerated. The feast marks the rescue of the true cross of Jesus by Emperor Heraclius when he had victory over the Persians, but in a more and intense sense, it is a day to sing with joy the triumph of the Holy Cross of Christ over death. Thus, the Cross becomes the instrument of salvation to all mankind. Through the disobedience of one...

  • PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD’S PASSION—A

    PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD’S PASSION—A ( Isaiah 50: 4-7 Philippians 2: 6-11 Matthew 26: 14—27: 66) Today, Jesus entered Jerusalem the Holy City to accomplish his paschal mystery. During this time, many who questioned the authenticity of Christ would be waiting for him to have him handed over to death in Jerusalem. The message of Jesus poked a lot of holes in their philosophy of life and religion, but since they could no longer contain Jesus, they sought to eliminate him. At the same...

  • PALM SUNDAY—C

    PALM SUNDAY—C (Isaiah 50: 4-7 Philippians 2: 6-11 Luke 22: 14—23:56) We begin a holy week in which we commemorate the events that have brought us into a new and an everlasting covenant with God. The covenant of old, which has a concentration of identification in a promise which is built upon prosperity of posterity, is now replaced with a new and everlasting one that has the salvation of the whole world and being in view. Jesus now becomes the Lamb whose blood takes away the sins of the...
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