Repentant hearts (Gospel January 06, 2014)

Monday, January 06, 2014

 

First Reading: 1 John 3:22–4:6

Gospel Reading: Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25

 When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, 
he withdrew to Galilee. 
He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, 
in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 
that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet 
might be fulfilled: 

Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, 
the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, 
Galilee of the Gentiles, 
the people who sit in darkness 
have seen a great light, 
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death 
light has arisen. 

From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, 
“Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 

He went around all of Galilee, 
teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, 
and curing every disease and illness among the people. 
His fame spread to all of Syria, 
and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases 
and racked with pain, 
those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics, 
and he cured them. 
And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea, 
and from beyond the Jordan followed him.

 

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE

(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)

 

In the course of preparing the way of Jesus John the Baptist won the ire of the Jewish leaders. They had him arrested and imprisoned. When Jesus heard about John’s arrest, he left Nazareth and moved to Capernaum, a village by the Sea of Galilee. There he began his preaching career with the theme on repentance. He chose this theme because his mission-vision was the establishment of the kingdom of God, a kingdom that can only flourish in repentant hearts.

 

Jesus ended his preaching career but the work to establish the kingdom on earth isn’t over yet. Let us hasten the perfection of the kingdom on earth by intensifying our works of repentance. We anchor our repentance upon our non-performance of the Commandments. Each time we violate the commandments we should immediately repent because habitual violation takes us farther away from the kingdom. The First Reading of today’s Liturgy underlines the importance of observing the commandments. “Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit whom he gave to us.” (1 John 3:22–4:6) 

 

Ten Commandments there are, and we may get lost in trying to figure out which among the ten to prioritize. St. Augustine has made it simpler for us. He wrote: “Love God and do what you please”. We agree. When we love God we fulfill the commandments because our love for God will never allow us to do anything unpleasant to the God we love. We may fail today and tomorrow but in humility we repent and grow. This way we hasten the establishment of God’s kingdom in our midst.  – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.  

 

Prayer for the day: God our Father, inspire us to genuine repentance so that we may hasten the coming of your kingdom in our midst. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.   

 

CHURCH BULLETIN:  

SAINT OF THE DAY: ST. CHARLES OF SEZZE, had an outstanding spiritual wisdom which made him compose many works of profound doctrinal theology despite his lack of formal theological education. Today, in the past the feast of Epiphany was also celebrated, commemorating the revelation of Jesus Christ to all peoples, represented by the Magi. At present, the feast of Epiphany is celebrated on the first Sunday after New Year’s Day.

 

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God revealed in time (Gospel January 05, 2014)

January 05, 2014

SUNDAY, EPIPHANY OF THE LORD

 

 First Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6

Second Reading: Ephesians 3:2-3,5-6

Gospel Reading: Matthew 2:1-12
 

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in Judea, during the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw the rising of his star in the east and have come to honor him.” When Herod heard this he was greatly disturbed and with him all Jerusalem. He immediately called a meeting of all high-ranking priests and those who taught the people of God his Law, and asked them where the Messiah was to be born.
“In the town of Bethlehem in Judea,” they told him, “for this is what the prophet wrote: And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means the least among the clans of Judah, for from you will come a leader, the one who is to shepherd my people Israel.”

Then Herod secretly called the wise men and asked them the precise time the star appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem with the instruction, “Go and get precise information about the child. As soon as you have found him, report to me, so that I too may go and honor him.”

After the meeting with the king, they set out. The star that they had seen in the East went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. The wise men were overjoyed on seeing the star again. They went into the house and when they saw the child with Mary his mother, they knelt and worshiped him. They opened their bags and offered him their gifts of gold, incense and myrrh.
In a dream they were warned not to go back to Herod, so they returned to their home country by another way.

 

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE

(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)  

   God’s plan was not only to come down to earth to be with his people but also to win their acceptance.  For this he had to disclose himself in time. In appearing to the wise men he manifested himself to the world since they were foreigners and represented the outside world. Today’s feast of Epiphany (which means manifestation) commemorates this event aptly described by Scriptures as the moment when “the kindness and generous love of God our Savior (has) appeared’ (Titus 3:4).

The wise men had reasons to expect the birth of the Messiah to be grandiose since according to Scriptures “The Lord’s throne is in heaven” (Ps 11 [10], 4).” Thus the wise men brought with them gifts fit for a king. But they found exactly the opposite of what they expected. Before them lying in a manger was a child wrapped in swaddling clothes. Nonetheless they still presented to him their gifts: gold to acknowledge him as God, and frankincense to acknowledge him as king. The myrrh which they presented was a prophetic symbol, for it pointed to the child’s role as Savior destined to die for his people.

Today’s feast of the Epiphany invites us to come to the Lord with our gifts: our golden hearts committed to forgiveness; our acts of adoration which shall serve as frankincense offered to the only God of our life; our willingness to die to self which shall serve as myrrh to preserve God’s presence in our hearts. We shall then live in wisdom as the wise men live in us to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: 

 

 Prayer for the day: God our Father, grant us the gift of fidelity so that our lives may always be pleasing gifts to the newborn child – Jesus Christ who is Lord forever and ever. Amen. 

  

CHRUCH BULLETIN:  

SAINT OF THE DAY: JOHN NEPOMUCENE NEUMANN was born in Bohemia, Czech Republic in 1911. Since he had a great desire to dedicate himself to the American missions, he was sent to the United States when still a seminarian. He was ordained in New York in 1836 and worked for four years for the German immigrants near Buffalo. In 1840 he entered the Redemptorist Congregation and became a traveling preacher. After his appointment as Bishop of Philadelphia, he established new seminaries, churches and schools.  He died in 1860 and was canonized in 1977.

 

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A name with a mission (Gospel January 04, 2014)

Saturday, January 4, 2014
 

First Reading: 1 Jn 3:7-10

Gospel Reading: Jn 1:35-42

John was standing in Bethabara beyond the Jordan with two of his disciples. As Jesus walked by,John looked at him and said, “There is the Lamb of God.” On hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. He turned and saw them following, and he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They answered, “Rabbi (which means Master), where are you staying?” Jesus said, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he stayed and spent the rest of that day with him. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.

Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard what John had said and followed Jesus. Early the next morning he found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means the Christ), and he brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John, but you shall be called Cephas” (which means Rock).

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE

(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)

The late Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare movement had this practice of giving spiritual names to her adherents. During my yearlong stay at the Focolare Center in Tagaytay she visited us and gave me this spiritual name: Dio nell’anima (God in the soul). The acronym still forms my religious name “Dan”. From then on the mention of my name became a reminder of the God in me I am supposed to radiate.   

Jesus too had the habit of changing names of his followers. In today’s Gospel he changed the name of Simon to Cephas (Peter).  According to a commentary by St. John Chrysostom, Jesus’ practice of changing names takes us back to the time when God would name a person in accordance with a given mission. Accordingly he renamed Abram “Abraham”, Sarai “Sarah,” and Jacob “Israel,” (Gn 17,5ff.; 32,29). Others he named from birth such as Isaac, Samson, and Hosea’s children (Is 8,3; Hos 1:4,6,9).

While Jesus never had the chance to change our names, we all got our names at our spiritual rebirth in baptism. But society has squandered the opportunity to commission us spiritually by failing to give us names that define our mission.  Funny but true: a mother insisted during mass baptism to name her child armalite in memory of her husband who died as a soldier fighting in Mindanao. Thinking that the mother wasn’t serious, the priest quipped: “Let’s make it baby armalite; he’s still a baby anyway.”

Funnier still is the practice of combining the names of parents such as the parents Bulyong and Lusita who came up with the combination “Bulsita” (small paper bag) for their child. The more ambitious parents borrow American names that are so incompatible with the looks of their babies. Take it from Chiara Lubich: there is more to names than meets the eye. Let’s choose those names that define our God-given mission.   – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.  

 Prayer for the day: God our Father, help us persevere as Christians not only in name but also in action as we strive to fulfill our mission of radiating your presence to the world. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

CHURCH BULLETIN:

SAINT OF THE DAY: ST. ELIZABETH ANN SETON, the first American saint, was born in New York City in 1774 of a wealthy Episcopalian family.  During a trip to Italy, her husband died. Roman Catholic friends displayed great kindness to her that she became interested in their faith. In 1805, she became Catholic. Three years later, she opened a grade school in Baltimore. The following year she established the first house of what later grew into the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph. This laid the foundation for the parochial school system in America.

 

 

 

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The Lamb of God (Gospel January 03, 2014)

January 3, 2014

Friday Before Epiphany

 

1st Reading: 1 Jn 2:29–3:6    

Gospel: Jn 1:29–34

    When John saw Jesus coming towards him, he said, “There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. It is he of whom I said: A man comes after me who is already ahead of me, for he was before me. I myself did not know him, but I came baptizing to prepare for him, so that he might be revealed in Israel.”

   And John also gave this testimony, “I saw the Spirit coming down on him like a dove from heaven and resting on him. I myself did not know him but God who sent me to baptize told me: ‘You will see the Spirit coming down and resting on the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ Yes, I have seen! and I declare that this is the Chosen One of God.”

 

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE

(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience) 

John the Baptist’s description of Jesus as “The Lamb of God” pulled together significant scriptural references to the saving event the Jews experienced on their way out of slavery from Egypt. The term “Lamb of God” recalls Yahweh’s instruction to his people when he decided to bring down upon earth his final disciplinary measure against Pharaoh who refused to let go of the chosen people. The instruction reads: “Each man must take a lamb from the flock… It must be an animal without blemish… Some of the blood must then be taken and put on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where it is eaten… (Exodus 12:3 ff.).  The angel of death was roving around to slaughter the first born of the Egyptians as a way of forcing Pharaoh to allow the chosen people to leave Egypt. The blood of the lamb smeared on their doors saved the firstborn of the chosen people.

The link between Jesus the Lamb of God and the Passover Lamb is obvious. As the blood of the Passover lamb saved the lives of the firstborn of the chosen people, so the blood of “Jesus the Lamb” was to be the ransom for the lives of many. This link is strengthened by St. Luke’s account of the Last Supper. He wrote: “When the hour came he took his place at table, and the apostles with him, and he said to them, I have longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. (Luke 22:16).” Described as “Lamb of God”, Jesus was the fulfillment of the salvation promised to God’s chosen people.

But one scholar suggests (J. Jeremias) that the title “Lamb of God” is a mistranslation of the Aramaic “talya” which can also mean “slave”. We have no problem with this, for it would still make reference to the Old Testament description of the Messiah. Isaiah 53 describes the Messiah as the suffering servant of Yahweh with “no looks to attract our eyes”. Whether “talya” is translated as “lamb” or “slave”, the term still points to Jesus’ supreme self sacrifice  in order to save humanity. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org. 

 

PRAYER FOR THE DAY: God our Father, fill us with gratitude for the gift of salvation through the Lamb that took away the sins of the world. Grant this through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. 

 

CHURCH BULLETIN:

SAINT OF THE DAY: ST. GENEVIEVE, Patroness of Paris, was born in 422. When Bishop Germaine of Auxerre was on his way to Great Britain, he dropped by the village and singled out Genevieve in a crowd, telling her of her life of sanctity. The Bishop’s prediction of her sanctity was confirmed when Attila changed the course of his march. The barbarian was reported to be marching on the streets of Paris but Genevieve persuaded the people to stay and ask God’s protection through fasting and prayer.

 

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Announcing God to the world (Gospel January 02, 2014)

Thursday, January 2, 2014
Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzen

 

Reading: 1 Jn 2:22–28    

Gospel: Jn 1:19–28

    This was the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” John recognized the truth and did not deny it. He said, “I am not the Messiah.”
    And they asked him, “Then who are you? Elijah?” He answered, “I am not.” They said, “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Tell us who you are, so that we can give some answer to those who sent us. How do you see yourself?” And John said, quoting the prophet Isaiah, “I am the voice crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord.”
    Those who had been sent were Pharisees; so they put a further question to John: “Then why are you baptizing if you are not the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?” John answered, “I baptize you with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know; although he comes after me, I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal.”
    This happened in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

 

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE

(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)

John the Baptist could have usurped the role of the Messiah. Many were ready to be taken in for a ride. In fact, in today’s Gospel, the line of questioning of the people regarding his identity indicated that they were more inclined to believe he was the Messiah.  But John did not mince words. He said he was just the poor voice shouting out in the desert,   “Prepare the way of the Lord!”  

 Today’s Gospel is a timely reminder on the importance of a healthy self image to a herald of God. The message concerns us since we are all called to announce the existence of God to the world. If we do not have a healthy self image we deceive ourselves into believing we are the God whose existence we are supposed to announce to the world. We then behave like God. Good if we act like God in his cardinal attributes of love and justice. More often the tendency of people with unhealthy self image is to exact justice from others never from themselves, and exact love from others without loving others as they should.  A person with unhealthy self image turns into a monster because in his attempt to become like God he stops behaving like a human being. A monster like this is not only dangerous to others but also to himself.  

 Let us cultivate a healthy self image by injecting the world its daily dosage of love extracted from our hearts. A tall order? No, not at all! “Nature”, wrote Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Emile, “never deceives us; it is always we who deceive ourselves.”  It is our nature to love; what are our hearts meant for? When not oppressed by inordinate desires and the heart is allowed to beat on its own, loving comes out so naturally in us. With the resultant healthy self image we can be as efficient as John the Baptist in proclaiming God to the world.  – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.  

 

Prayer for the day: God our Father, help us to begin this year with a firm resolve to be heralds of your Word. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 CHURCH BULLETIN:

SAINT OF THE DAY:

St. Basil the Great (329-379). He founded the first monastery in Asia Minor. Later he became Archbishop of what is now Southeastern Turkey. He defended the Church against the heresy of Arianism and built a hospital that was called the wonder of the world. St. Basil said: “The bread which you do not use is the bread of the hungry; the garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of him who is naked; the shoes that you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot; the money that you keep locked away is the money of the poor; the acts of charity that you do not perform are so many injustices that you commit.”

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Mary: God’s mother, our mother (Gospel January 01, 2014)

Wednesday, January 01, 2014

Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God

 

First Reading: Num 6:22-27

Second Reading: Gal 4:4-7

Gospel Reading: Luke 2:16-21

 The shepherds came hurriedly and found Mary and Joseph with the baby lying in the manger. On seeing this they related what they had been told about the child, and all were astonished on hearing the shepherds.

As for Mary, she treasured all these messages and continually pondered over them.
The shepherds then returned giving glory and praise to God for all they had heard and seen, just as the angels had told them.

On the eighth day the circumcision of the baby had to be performed; he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

 

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE

(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience) 

A story is told of a wife who wanted a diamond ring from her husband for the New Year.  “I dreamt that you gave me a very expensive diamond ring”, she told the husband. “What could be the meaning of this dream?” “We’ll soon find out in the New Year,” the husband replied. On the Eve of January the wife received a small package from the husband. Excited about the diamond ring she opened the package only to find a little book with the title: “The meaning of dreams”.

Our New Year’s resolution excites the Lord. There is nothing in our lives more interesting to him than our resolve to live honorably as children of God. But more often than not the Lord’s excitement turns into disappointment because we come up with cheap alternatives. For example, instead of acting on our resolution to abandon the vice of corruption we settle for increasing our donations to charity because we cannot really stop our deeds of corruption. Is this better than not acting on our resolutions at all? No. God resists the lukewarm of heart (Rev. 3:15).

Why do New Year’s resolutions end up either not acted upon or swapped for cheaper alternatives? Blame it on pride spelled with a big letter “I” in the middle. It takes humility to “enflesh” resolutions. When God decided to “enflesh” his Word so much humility was involved. In humility the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. In humility too our resolutions will become incarnate and change lives, improve society and uplift the plight of the poor in our midst.

To “enflesh” our resolutions successfully let us learn the art of humility from Mary; it was through her womb that God joined the world of humans in a supreme act of humility ever recorded in history. She is willing to teach us this art; it is her greatest concern to enthrone Jesus in every heart. With her as our tutor our resolutions will please God all the more. Resolutions acted upon in humility are the real diamonds that last forever in God’s memory. Why? Because God will never forget even a single deed done for him out of love. Happy New Year to all!  – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org. 

 

Prayer for the day: God our Father, grant us the gift of humility so that with the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary we may be true to our resolutions and so live honorably. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.   

 

CHURCH BULLETIN:

 FEAST OF THE DAY: SOLEMNITY OF MARY THE MOTHER OF GOD. The Blessed Virgin Mary has been venerated from the beginning as Mother of God. During the 4^th century, Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, (now Istanbul in Turkey) contested the Greek title Theotokos, insisting that Mary was mother of the man-Jesus, not of God. In 431, the Council of Ephesus solemnly affirmed that Mary, being the mother of Jesus, who was God, was to be called Mother of God. After the Council, the people carried the bishops in triumph throughout the city and Pope Sixtus III as a memorial of that event, built in Rome the splendid basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

 

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The Word made Flesh (Gospel December 31, 2013)

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

7th Day Octave of Christmas

 

1st Reading: 1 Jn 2:18-21

Gospel: John 1:1-18

 In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God; he was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through him and without him nothing came to be. Whatever has come to be, found life in him, life which for humans was also light. Light that shines in the dark: light that darkness could not overcome. A man came, sent by God; his name was John. He came to bear witness, as a witness to introduce the Light so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light but a witness to introduce the Light.

For the Light was coming into the world, the true Light that enlightens everyone. He was already in the world and through him the world was made, the very world that did not know him. He came to his own, yet his own people did not receive him; but all who have received him he empowers to become children of God for they believe in his Name.

These are born, but without seed or carnal desire or will of man: they are born of God. And the Word was made flesh; he had his tent pitched among us, and we have seen his Glory, the Glory of the only Son coming from the Father: fullness of truth and loving-kindness.

John bore witness to him open­ly, saying: This is the one who comes after me, but he is already ahead of me for he was before me.

From his fullness we have all re­ceived, favor upon favor. For God had given us the Law through Moses, but Truth and Loving-kindness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God-the-Only-Son made him known: the one who is in and with the Fa­ther.

 

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE

(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)

 Words can be manipulated. A joke is told of a Pilipino teacher who asked a student to use “kay sa kay” (compared to) in a sentence. One answered correctly with “Mas Masipag si Nolie kay sa kay Miguel” (Noli is more industrious compared to Miguel). But a naughty student who just wanted to attract attention replied with “Si Juan ay mabilis tumakbo KAY SAKAY man siya sa kalabaw” (Juan runs faster because he is riding a horse). This is a harmless example of how words can be manipulated. There are manipulations with dangerous repercussions which you yourselves might have experienced.

 Yes, words can be manipulated, but not the Word that became flesh. Because it is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow it has no meaning other than the truth.  As truth, the Word-made-flesh is also the Way and the Life. To be faithful to this Word, one must embrace the Truth as a Way of Life. How? By respecting the purpose for which God redeemed humanity. God saved us because he cannot allow us to be lost forever to the devil. When our life embraces this truth our way of life will forever exclude the way of the devil. Then shall we run fast the highway of spirituality like we are on horseback.  – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM, Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website:www.frdan.org.  

 

Prayer for the day: God our Father, grant us sincerity of hearts so that we may live the remaining years of our lives as fitting tribute to your truth, through Christ our Lord. Amen.   

 CHURCH BULLETIN:

SAINT OF THE DAY: ST. SYLVESTER I, Pope, was elected pope in 314 and he occupied the chair of St. Peter for more than two decades. He was born in Rome and was able to witness the turbulent days of terror when Christians were persecuted. But he was also able to see the triumph of Constantine the Great whose real donations to the church were the freedom from persecution and the basilicas of St. Peter in the Vatican and of St. John in Lateran.  The most important event of his reign was the Council of Nicaea in 325 which condemned Arianism and defined the divine nature of Christ.

 

 

 

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