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

1st Reading              Acts 12: 1-11 Psalm                         34: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 (R. cf 5b) R:// "From all my terrors, the Lord set me free" 2nd Reading           2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18 Gospel                      Matthew 16: 13-19 THE CHRIST BEYOND NEEDS AND WANTS Peace and Goodness, friends! Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, two great apostles. Today is also the last Sunday in the month of June. We thank God for his graces and providence. Let us look at the readings, especially the Gospel passage from Matthew 16:13-19. The Gospel passage has parallels to Mark 8: 27-29 and Luke 9: 18-20.  The passage can be seen in the light of various themes. It could be seen as Peter's declaration of faith or the identity of Jesus. Regardless, I suggest we consider a few points from the na...

1st Reading               Genesis 14: 18-20 Psalm                          110: 1, 2, 3, 4 (R. 4cd) R:// "You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek" 2nd Reading            1 Corinthians 11: 23-26 Gospel                      Luke 9: 11b-17 GIFT OF SELF Peace and Goodness, friends! We celebrate today the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Year C) — Corpus Christi. This is the second of the Solemnities of the Lord during Ordinary Time. Today's celebration has to do with the Holy Eucharist, the source and summit of the Christian life. Let us quickly dive into the readings.  Our first reading is from Genesis 14: 18-20. This is a relatively short passage but dense from all perspectives. Suddenly, we hear of a mysterious person, Melchizedek. He met Abram when Abram was returning...

1st Reading            Proverbs 8: 22-31 Psalm                       8:4-5, 6-7a, 7b-9 (R. 2a) R:// "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name through all the earth!" 2nd Reading          Romans 5:1-5 Gospel                     John 16: 12-15 WALKING IN WISDOM Peace and Goodness, friends! We resume Ordinary Time, and today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. The dogma of the Holy Trinity holds a special place in Christianity in that it makes Christianity a distinct religion. The Christian God is not merely a God but a Triune God. The dogma is that in the Godhead, there are 3 persons — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Let us try and untangle the Word of God and see what possible meanings they could hold for Trinity Sunday. Right from the Gospel passage (Jn. 16:12-15), we begin to see the three persons ...

1st Reading       Acts 2: 1-11 Psalm                 104: 1ab and 24ac, 29bc-30, 31 and 34 (R. 30) R:// "Lord, send forth your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth" 2nd Reading     Romans 8: 8-17 Gospel                John 14: 15-16, 23b-26 UNITE IN THE SPIRIT Peace and Goodness! Friends, as we draw the curtain down on the Season of Easter, today, we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit — Pentecost Sunday. Let us quickly dive into the readings for the day. We need to realise that in all three liturgical years, the first reading is from Acts 2:1-11, and it is about the event of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. What is actually the event of Pentecost? Understanding this will serve as a background to understanding the events of the first reading. What we know as "Pentecost" as a word comes from the Greek language. "Penta" is the Greek for "five". Pent...

1st Reading                   Acts 7: 55-60 Psalm                             97:1&2b. 6& 7c. 9 (R. 1a9a) R:// "The Lord is king, the most high above all the earth" 2nd Reading                Revelation 22: 12-14. 16-17. 20 Gospel                           John 17: 20-26 KEEP THE GAZE AND FOCUS Peace and Goodness, friends! Today is the 7th Sunday of Easter (Year C). It is the last Sunday of Easter. This means that next Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, and, as expected, we ought to prepare adequately towards that day. The second thing about today is that it is not only the very first day of the new month of June but doubles as its first Sunday. We are halfway through the year. Despite the setbacks we have in view of our resolutions and goals, we just have to keep the f...

1st Reading              Acts 15: 1-2, 22-29 Psalm                         67: 2-3, 5, 6 and 8 (R. 4) R:// "Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!" 2nd Reading           Revelation 21: 10-14, 22-23 Gospel                      John 14: 23-29 TRUE PEACE COMES FROM THE WORD OF GOD Peace and Goodness, Beloved! Today, the 6th Sunday of Easter (Year C), the Gospel passage we have is from John 14: 23-29. Last Sunday, we got to know that Jn. 13-17 is Jesus' Farewell Discourse with his disciples. Our Gospel passage today is within that space; it is part of the Farewell Discourse. Why go back to those words of Jesus? Well, I think that the text today brings our minds to the fact that the Ascension of Jesus is near, and Jesus will soon depart from the world after his resurrection. In fact, Thursday...

1st Reading          Acts 14: 21b-27 Psalm                    145: 8-9, 10-11, 12-13ab (R. 1) R:// "I will bless your name forever, my king and my God" 2nd Reading       Revelation 21:1-5a Gospel                  John 13:31-33a, 34-35 LOVE WITHOUT MEASURE Beloved, today is the 5th Sunday of Easter (Year C). We should remind ourselves that we are still in the month of May, the Rosary Month. Let us continue in our devotion to praying the Holy Rosary to obtain many graces from God. Let us quickly look at the readings for today.  The Gospel passage for today is John 13: 31-33a, 34-35. This pericope forms part of the section having to do with the Last Supper and the Discourses (Jn. 13-17). Actually, on every 5th Sunday of Easter, in the Church's every liturgical year, the Gospel passage is taken from this section. Getting very close to the end of Easter ...