"STAY WITH US, LORD" (Luke 24:29)

1st Reading              Numbers 6: 22-27 Psalm                        67: 2-3. 5. 6 & 8 (R. 2a) R:// "O God, be gracious and bless us" 2nd Reading           Galatians 4: 4-7 Gospel                      Luke 2: 16-21 BLESSED AND KEPT IN GOD'S PEACE  Beloved, Happy New Year. Today is the first day of the first month of the new year, 2025. Let's deal with this identification. What we know from Scripture, especially the New Testament, is that the "first day" is the day of Resurrection. The Resurrection marked a new beginning for mankind because, without the Resurrection, our hope would have been in vain. Similarly, today, the "first day" of the Year 2025, we have renewed hope. May the light of our Hope in the blessings of God for us this year never go dim.  The important reason for today's liturgy is the...

1st Reading                1 Samuel 1: 20-22. 24-28 Psalm                         84: 2-3. 5-6. 9-10. 11 (R. 5a) R:// "Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord" 2nd Reading            1 John 3: 1-2. 21-24 Gospel                        Luke 2: 41-52 SEEK AND FIND Beloved, today is Holy Family Sunday and the Last Sunday not only of the month but also of the year. We thank God for how far He has helped us through thick and thin. Today's celebration of the Holy Family puts family life into perspective. I suggest that we pay particular attention to the Gospel passage for this Sunday.  The Gospel passage is from Luke 2: 41-52. Note that we are reading from the Infancy Narrative presented by Luke. The Infancy Narrative relays to us what Jesus' childhood looked like, including the circumstances...

1st Reading           Isaiah 52: 7-10 Psalm                      98: 1.2-3ab. 3cd-4. 5-6 (R. 3cd) R:// "All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God" 2nd Reading         Hebrews 1: 1-6 Gospel                     John 1: 1-18 WALK IN THE LIGHT Merry Christmas!  This is the Day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Today is the day we prepared for, and we are grateful to God for enabling us to see the light of this joyful day. May the Lord fill our lives with Peace and Goodness as we celebrate this day of joy.  We have as our first reading Isaiah 52: 7-10. This is part of the second part of the book of Isaiah, called "Deutero-Isaiah (Chaps. 40-55), and we are heading towards the end of this second part. Again, we are reading from the core of chapter 52. The message of  Deutero-Isaiah is simply c...

1st Reading                 Isaiah 62: 1-5 Psalm                           89: 4-5. 16-17. 27 & 29 (R. cf. 2a) R:// "I will sing forever of your mercies, O Lord" 2nd Reading              Acts 13:16-17. 22-25. Gospel                        Matthew 1:1-25. YOUR LEGACY MATTERS Dear friends, this evening is the Vigil of the Nativity of the Lord. We are keeping vigil to meet the arrival of the King. We have three sets of readings as usual but I would prefer that we say a few words about the Gospel passage from Matthew 1:1-25.  The Gospel passage is the Genealogy of Jesus Christ. We have a very tall list from Abraham to the man Jesus with names and towns and even events. This genealogy and, of course, of genealogies, critical events and relevant persons a...

1st Reading            Micah 5: 2-5a Psalm                      80: 2ac & 3b. 15-16a. 18-19 (R. 4) R:// "O God, bring us back; let your face shine on us, and we shall be saved" 2nd Reading         Hebrews 10: 5-10 Gospel                    Luke 1: 39-45 LOVE FROM THE MARGINS Dear friends, we have arrived at the 4th Sunday of Advent (Year C), and, of course, the 4th Advent Candle is lit — the Candle of Love. We are also within the second part of Advent, which runs from 17th to 24th December. In the second part, the emphasis is on the immediate preparation for Christmas. We are very close to Christmas. In just three days, we shall celebrate what we were expecting and preparing for. However, there is still preparation to be done. We, "Captive Israel", is still mourning in exile. The preparation we shall do is in regard to love. The f...

1st Reading                   Zephaniah 3: 14-18a Psalm                              Isaiah 12: 2-3. 4bcde. 5- 6 (R. 6) R:// "Shout, and sing for joy, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel" 2nd Reading               Philippians 4:4-7 Gospel                          Luke 3: 10-18 REJOICE! THE LORD IS IN OUR MIDST Beloved, today is the 3rd Sunday of Advent (Year C). The mood of this particular Sunday is quite unusual because the liturgical colour changes to Rose/Pink, the tone and voice of the readings shift in focus, and there is a sudden glimpse of Christmas. Additionally, the third Advent Candle is lighted and its colour is Rose/Pink. The Rose is the result of the addition of white to violet or purple. What it means is that we are beginning to feel Christmas...

1st Reading             Baruch 5: 1-9 Psalm                        126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6 (R. cf. 3) R:// "The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy" 2nd Reading           Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11 Gospel                      Luke 3:1-6 REMOVE THE OBSTACLES TO PEACE Beloved, I welcome you to the 2nd Sunday of Advent (Year C) and the 2nd Sunday of December. On this Sunday, we shall light the Second Advent Candle, the Candle of Peace. Peace is a whole big term whose dimensions are limitless. If there is anything we can say about it for now, then it should be that ability to enjoy one's true identity aided by God's Grace. There are life's occurrences that rob us of this. What shall we do to restore that Peace that we have been robbed of? Our Peace consists also in our status, influence, and knowing the obst...

1st Reading                Jeremiah 33: 14-16 Psalm                          25: 4-5ab. 8-9. 10 and 14 (R. 1) R:// "To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul" 2nd Reading             1 Thessalonians 3: 12-4:2 Gospel                        Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 NEWNESS EVERYWHERE Beloved, Happy New Liturgical Year! With the start of the first Sunday of Advent, we begin a new Liturgical year, YEAR C. Today is also the first day of the new month of December. The foremost realization is Newness. Advent, the new Liturgical season, is a hopeful anticipation of Christ. The immediate anticipation is the coming of Christ as Saviour. The further anticipation is the coming of Christ as Judge at the end of time. We shall also align our readings today with newness, thus, "God is about to recreate us and our condition...

1st Reading                   Daniel 7: 13-14 Psalm                             93: 1ab. 1d-2. 5 (R. 1a) R:// "The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed" 2nd Reading                Revelation 1: 5-8 Gospel                           John 18: 33-37 ESTABLISHING THE REIGN OF TRUTH WITH CHRIST'S EVERLASTING KINGSHIP Dear friends, we have finally arrived at the 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B). This is the Last Sunday of the liturgical year, and the 34th week closes the YEAR B. We shall be ushered into YEAR C the following Sunday. The 34th Sunday has an added speciality because it is the Solemnity of Christ King of the Universe. At the end of the liturgical year, Mother Church centralises the kingship of Christ over the year. Regardless of whatever happened throughout the l...

1st Reading               Daniel 12: 1-3 Psalm                          16:5,8,9-10, 11 (R. 1) R:// "Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you" 2nd Reading            Hebrews 10: 11-14, 18 Gospel                       Mark 13: 24-32 STANDING FIRM IN THE FAITH Beloved, today is the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B). Today is the last but one Sunday of the liturgical year. Next Sunday is the Solemnity of Christ, King of the Universe (Christ the King). As we draw very close to the end of the liturgical year, our readings focus on the issue of ENDS . The Word of God for this Sunday deals with the issue of what happens at the end of life. Let us dive into the readings. The first reading is from Daniel 12: 1-3. The book of Daniel has a very high apocalyptic tone. We cannot talk about today's readings without l...

1st Reading                1 Kings 17: 10-16 Psalm                           146:7, 8-9, 9-10 (R. cf. 1b). R//: Praise the Lord, my soul! 2nd Reading             Hebrews 9:24-28 Gospel                        Mark 13: 38-44 CONFRONT INJUSTICE; SUPPORT THE MARGINALIZED Beloved, today is the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B). We are just two weeks away from the end of the liturgical year. Practically, we should begin to assess our journey through the year and see how well we can improve in the next. Let us take a quick look at the readings for today. The first reading is from 1 Kings 17: 10-16. Elijah is asked to go to SIDON (or Zarephath) at the command of the Lord. To understand why he is going there, we need only to go a little backwards to get the whole picture right. In 1 Kings 17: 1, Elij...

1st Reading                Deuteronomy 6: 2-6 Psalm                          18: 2-3a. 3bc-4. 47 and 51ab (R. 2) R//: "I love you, Lord, my strength"  2nd Reading             Hebrews 7: 23-28 Gospel                        Mark 12: 28b-34 MANAGE YOUR GIFTS WITH WISDOM TO ADVANCE THE KINGDOM  Beloved, today, the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) is also the first Sunday of November (2024). We ask the Lord to keep us under the shadow of his wings and continue to shield us from the darts of our salvation's enemies. Traditionally, in the Catholic Church, November is dedicated to praying for the faithful departed, especially souls in Purgatory. This is inspired by the Commemoration of All Souls on November 2. Our belief in the resurrection will be strengthened if we pay particular a...

1st Reading             Jeremiah 31: 7-9 Psalm                       126: 1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6 (R. cf. 3) R//: The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy 2nd Reading         Hebrews 5: 1-6 Gospel                    Mark 10: 46-52 THE LORD PREPARES A ROAD FOR YOU People of God, today is the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B). We are just 3 weeks away from the end of the liturgical year. We shall realise that our readings will start focusing on the end of certain things. Today is also the last Sunday of October (2024). We shall bring our community and ecclesial praying of the Holy Rosary to an end. Let us, however, endeavour to continue praying it individually to deepen our Christian lives and continually unite ourselves to Mary, the Mother of our Blessed Lord. The first reading is from Jeremiah 31: 7-9. Let us ke...