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

1st Reading     Gen. 14:18-20 Resp. Psalm    Ps. 110:1.2.3,4 (R. 4cd) 2nd Reading    1 Cor. 11: 23-26 Gospel              Luke 9: 11b-17 FEED LIKE JESUS Dear Friends, today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). We celebrate the "source and summit" of our Christian lives, the Holy Eucharist. Consequently, we celebrate the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist as he is present under the Eucharistic species (SC, 7) through the words of consecration spoken by the Priest. By extension, I believe we can also underscore the celebration of unity of the Church, the mystical body of Christ, brought to reality by the Eucharist. The readings of this Sunday are apt in reminding us and teaching us about the Eucharist and the issue of feeding. The first reading from Genesis 14:18-20 is the last event of Chapter 14,and narrates the return of Abram from his defeat of mighty Chedorlao...

  1st Reading    Proverbs 8:22-31 Resp. Psalm   Ps. 8 (R. 2a) 2nd Reading   Romans 5:1-5 Gospel             John 16:12-15 BE ONE Dear Friends, today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. We celebrate the mystery of three divine persons in one God. It is then important to underline the unity in God. God is One and the number one represents Him as such. The First Reading from Proverbs 8:22-31 draws our focus to an element which catches attention —  WISDOM . The first reading is located within the wider context of a poem on WISDOM in chapters 8 and 9 of the Book of Proverbs. We are reading from the end of Chapter 8 which gives us an imaginative, picturesque view of the origin, value and purpose of WISDOM from a poetic perspective.  A particular feature we must take into consideration is that WISDOM is personified, made like a person who speaks and gives credentials about herself. Indeed, WISDOM i...

1st Reading Acts 2:1-11 Resp. Psalm Ps. 104 (R. 30) 2nd Reading Romans 8:8-17 Gospel John 14:15-16. 23b-26 COME, HOLY SPIRIT Today we bring the season of Easter to an end and we begin the Ordinary Time. This is sandwiched by the feast of Pentecost. This feast has been the focus of many Christians as we prepared towards it.  The feast of Pentecost is traced to the Old Testament where it is called Feast of Weeks (Lev. 23:15-22; Num. 28:26-31), or Feast of Harvest (Ex. 23:16), or SHAVUOT and it is part of the three pilgrim feasts of the Jews (Deut. 16:16). All males shall appear before the Lord in the place which he chooses and they shall not appear empty-handed. The males in Jewish houses are leaders and, hence ensure that every member of the household travels to Jerusalem to worship and offer his thanksgiving offering to God for the blessing of harvest . If you like, the Feast of Weeks is a thanksgiving day for Divine Providence. On this day, first fruits a...

1st Reading    Acts 15:1–2,22–29 Resp. Psalm   Ps. 67 2nd Reading   Rev. 21:10-14, 22-23 Gospel             Jn. 14:23-29 BE TEACHABLE Dear friends, we are still within the last days of Jesus' life on earth after his Resurrection. The disciples recieve words on how they will live their lives in relation to one another and to God. Today, Jesus draws a difference between two groups of people as regards their response to his Words. There are those who keep his word (v. 23) and those who do not (v. 24). To them that keep his word on account of their love for Jesus, there is an experience of the Trinitarian life. Three things will happen to such a person. 1. The Father will LOVE him  2. We will COME to him (erchomai) 3. We will make our HOME with him (monē) Monē (home or abode) speaks in a metaphorical sense about the Holy Spirit's indwelling in the person who KEEPS (tēreo), thus guards and gives careful attention to God...

1st Reading        Acts 14:21–27 Resp. Psalm       Ps. 145 2nd Reading      Rev. 21:1–5a Gospel                 Jn. 13:31–33a, 34–35 "LOVE LIKE JESUS" As we enter into the 5th Week of Easter we also draw closer to Ascension Day. This is brought to better perspective when Christ spoke about his soon departure (Jn. 13:33). In view of this, Jesus tells his disciples about what he demands of them. What he demands of them is summed up under the subject of LOVE (àgapē, love of persons and things). One interesting thing to note is that the command of Jesus is a familiar law to his contemporaries. The disciples he is addressing are already aware of the law of love. In Lev. 19:18, it is evident that "you shall love your neighbour as yourself". This is not a new thing to the Jew. Infact, they are required to Love God (Deut. 6:5). What then is new about Jesus' command? What qualifies it to be a new ...

1st Reading       Acts 13:14,43–52 Resp. Psalm      Ps. 100: 3b 2nd Reading     Rev. 7:9,14b–17 Gospel                Jn. 10:27–30 Two Key Features of a Good Sheep, a Good Disciple Happy Sunday! We are still in the season of Easter and today we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday. We thank God for giving us Shepherds (leaders) to whose care we have been entrusted. The image of the Good Shepherd is clear in Christ who laid down his life for us. The Gospel is very short. Inspite of its brevity, it is dense with messages to help us attain blessed happiness.  We can understand the text within a broader scope from vv. 22-30. Here, some Jews supposed to have been wondering whether Jesus is the Messiah asked if he is actually the one. These Jews do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah even when Jesus said it (v. 25). They cannot reconcile their belief in Jesus with the works of Jesus as testimony that he...

1st Reading     Acts 5:27b-32.40b-41 Resp. Psalm    Ps. 30 2nd Reading   Rev. 5:11-14 Gospel             Jn. 21: 1-19 Hope amidst Looming despair Dear Friends, today is the 3rd Sunday of Easter and the Word of God keeps us within the framework of the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus, particularly to his disciples. These appearances are in a bid to inspire hope and affirm in the hearts of the Disciples and believers that Jesus is truly risen. In the Gospel, Jesus reveals himself to 7 of his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias: "Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples" (v. 2). It seem to suggest that these disciples were returning to their 'former way of life', their life prior to their call to discipleship. Hopelessness drives in us a sense of despair and makes us think that we are unredeemable, that the only way to restore hope is to return...