"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...