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

  1st Reading           Acts 9: 26-31 Psalm                      22. 26b-27. 28 and 30. 31-32 (R. 26a) 2nd Reading        1 John 3: 18-24 Gospel                    John 15: 1-8 GROWTH MUST BE GUIDED Dear friends, today is the 5th Sunday of Easter (Year B). Today is also the last Sunday of April, and we should give thanks to God for his providence. The Gospel passage for this Sunday is replete with images that draw our attention to growth in the spiritual life, a kind of growth that affects other aspects of life, recognizing that we have been redeemed from sin and death. We should not forget that we are still in the season of Easter.  Let us zoom in on the Gospel and say a few words about it. The Gospel is from John 15: 1-8. Reading this passage, we come across words like vine, vine master (or vine dresser), fruit, branch, prune, ...

1st Reading     Acts 4: 8-12 Psalm               118: 1 & 8 -9. 21 -23. 26 & 28-29 (R. 22) 2nd Reading    1 John 3: 1-2 Gospel              John 10: 11-18 BEYOND HIRED LABOUR, BEING PROTECTIVE SHEPHERDS Dear friends, today, the 4th Sunday of Easter, has been designed to be called Good Shepherd Sunday or Vocations Sunday . The Gospel passage for this Sunday, from which we shall look at a few details, throws more light on the theme of the Good Shepherd.  Before that, let us look at how Good Shepherd Sunday relates to Vocations Sunday. We have to recall that in Israel, there are three groups of shepherds (in terms of leadership); Priests, Prophets, and Kings . What is clear is that for these three groups, it is God who appoints. If God is appointing, then he is the one calling people to work. Technically and in reality, it is God who is the priest, the king, and the prophet. Ho...

1st Reading           Acts 3: 13-15, 17-19 Psalm                     5: 2, 4, 7, 9 2nd Reading         1 John 2:1-5 Gospel                    Luke 24: 35-48 LET DOUBT BE PURPOSEFUL AND BE OPENED TO CLARIFICATION AND FAITH  Dear friends, we welcome ourselves to the 3rd Sunday of Easter. We are still in the Easter season, and we continue to reflect on the events revolving around Christ's resurrection. The Word of God for this Sunday brings this to our focus. The first reading narrates Peter's declarations and affirmations about the Resurrection, and the Gospel brings one of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances to the fore.  Let us look briefly at the Gospel passage. The Gospel is taken from Luke 24: 35-48. Let us put this Gospel within a larger context. The whole of Luke 24 talks about Jesus' Resurrection. From vv. 1-12, we hear that so...

  1st Reading      Acts 10: 34a. 37-43 Psalm               118:1-2. 15c-17. 22-23 (R. 24) 2nd Reading   Colossians. 3: 1-4/ 1 Corinthians. 5:6b-8 Gospel             John 20:1-9 THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE Dear friends, we have finally arrived at Easter. Lent prepared us, Holy Week brought us closer, and the Triduum led us into Easter.  We celebrate our redemption from sin and death. In this way, hope and everlasting joy have been restored. Our sins affected God, and one who is equal to God or above God could plead on our behalf. Because no one is equal to or above Him, God himself took human flesh to effect that redemption. He took human nature so that he might be one of us to plead and redeem us. Therefore, we have every cause to be happy and grateful for such a great and unfathomable love. Easter is the Sunday of all Sundays. It is the mother of all Sundays because, without the ...

A. Gospel before Procession     Mark 11: 1-10 B. Readings after Procession  1st Reading         Isaiah 50:4-7 Psalm                    22. 8-9. 17-18a. 19-20. 23-24 (R. 2a) 2nd Reading       Philippians 2: 6-11 Gospel                  Mark 14: 1-15:47 FROM BETHPHAGE, BETHANY, MOUNT OF OLIVES TO DISCIPLESHIP Dear friends, today is Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord. With this celebration, we launch into the crucial moments of the Holy Week. Many activities pertaining to Jesus in the Scriptural passages are going to have Jerusalem in view. In fact, the Word of God for this Sunday (Gospel before procession) tells us this when it starts by saying,  "when they drew near to Jerusalem" (Mk. 11: 1-10).  I would like us to focus on a few details from Mark 11: 1-10. Of course, this passage is Mark's account of Jesus' triumphal ent...

  1st Reading          Jeremiah 31:31-34 Psalm                    51:3-4, 12-15 2nd Reading        Hebrews 5: 7-9 Gospel                   John 12: 20-33 A HEART THAT CONTEMPLATES GOD'S LAW Dear friends, today is the 5th Sunday of Lent, and we are gradually drawing the curtain on the season of Lent, and we have the week of Weeks, the Holy Week, in view. As we prepare to enter this Holy Week, the Word of God for this 5th Sunday zooms in on the issue of Covenant , which is very clear in the First Reading. I believe that we are beginning to talk about COVENANT because we are about to enter into a new relationship with the Lord after the season of Lent has offered us the opportunity to assess our previous life and journey with the Lord. The first reading comes from Jeremiah 31: 31-34. It is a very interesting passage in many ways. One of such...

  1st Reading        2 Chronilces 36: 14-16, 19-23 Psalm                  137:1-2. 3. 4-5. 6 (R. 6ab) 2nd Reading      Ephesians 2: 4-10 Gospel                John 3:14-21 FINDING HOPE IN EXILE We have arrived at a very significant part in our journey through Lent. Today is the 4th Sunday of Lent, popularly called LAETARE SUNDAY , because this Sunday calls us to Rejoice as indicated in the Entrance Antiphon taken from Isaiah 66: 10-11. We are rejoicing because "we are almost there." Our sorrow and penitence (violet) are met with the hope of redemption (white). It is the mixture of this violet and a little white (the glimpse of Easter joys) that we have the Rose colour for this Sunday. Today, we reassure ourselves that all is not lost, and the Word of God gives us this assurance when the 1st Reading ends by saying "LET HIM GO UP" (2 Chronicles 36:23). Let us loo...