Faith that triggers Miracles

Monday, March 31, 2014

4^th Week of Lent

1^st Reading: Is 65:17-21

Gospel: Jn 4:43–54 

In those days Jesus left Samaria for Galilee. Jesus himself said that no prophet is recognized in his own country. Yet the Galileans welcomed him when he arrived, because of all the things he had done in Jerusalem during the Festival and which they had seen. For they, too, had gone to the feast. Jesus went back to Cana of Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. 

At Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill, and when he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked him to come and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 

Jesus said, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe!” The official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” And Jesus replied, “Go, your son is living.” 

The man had faith in the word that Jesus spoke to him and went his way. He was already going down the hilly road when his servants met him with this news, “Your son has recovered!” So he asked them at what hour the child had begun to recover and they said to him, “The fever left him yesterday in the afternoon about one o’clock.” And the father realized that it was the time when Jesus told him, “Your son is living.” And he became a believer, he and all his family.  

Jesus performed this second miraculous sign when he returned from Judea to Galilee. 

 D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE

(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience) 

  Each time the Jews came to Jesus, it was almost always to ask for a miracle, as if saying “give us this one last miracle and we will believe in you.”  Jesus had performed many miracles yet they never believed in him. Worse, they kept asking for miracles even up to the time of Jesus’ Passion, as when they asked him to come down from the cross so that they might believe in him (Matt. 27:42). It was no longer a question of sheer addiction to miracles for it already amounted to bad faith. By asking him to come down from the cross they were in effect tempting him to abandon his mission.

Faith works like the little amount of water used to prime up a water pump. Even the smallest amount of faith can trigger the outpouring of miracles from God.  Consider the case of the official whose story we read in today’s Gospel. Compare his case with that of a blind man we read in yesterday’s Liturgy.   Jesus cured the blind man with all the details of work consisting of taking mud and mixing it with spittle and massaging the blind eyes of the man with it (John 9:1-41-). None of these details were done to the official. At Jesus’ bare words the official believed. This manifestation of faith was like little amount of water to a hand pump; it extracted an instant miracle from Jesus.

To a faithless person asking for miracles, on the other hand, God sees no urgency to intervene. To do so would be to succumb to their temptation. – 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 wisdom to see and appreciate the marvels you are doing to our lives in the ordinariness of the daily grind. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.  

CHURCH BULLETIN:

ST. OF THE DAY: ST. CELSUS OF ARMAGH, Bishop, was born in 1079 and at age 26 he was appointed Bishop by virtue of hereditary succession. He remained in the position until he died and he gained a reputation as a reformer and an effective administrator.

 

 

 

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The Healing of a Blind Man

 March 30, 2014

4^TH SUNDAY OF LENT 

1^st Reading: 1 S 16:1, 6–7, 10–13

2^nd Reading: Eph 5:8–14

Gospel: Jn 9:1–41 (or 1, 6–9, 13–17, 34–38) 

As Jesus walked along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. He made paste with spittle and clay and rubbed it on the eyes of the blind man. Then he said, “Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.” (This name means sent.) So he went and washed and came back able to see. 

His neighbors and all the people who used to see him begging wondered. They said, “Isn’t this the beggar who used to sit here?” Some said, “It’s the one.” Others said, “No, but he looks like him.” But the man himself said, “I am the one.”

The people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made mud paste and opened his eyes. The Pharisees asked him again, “How did you recover your sight?” And he said, “He put paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he works on the Sabbath”; but others wondered, “How can a sinner perform such miraculous signs?” They were divided and they questioned the blind man again, “What do you think of this man who opened your eyes?” And he answered, “He is a prophet.” 

They answered him, “You were born a sinner and now you teach us!” And they expelled him.

Jesus heard that they had expelled him. He found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “Who is he that I may believe in him?” Jesus said, “You have seen him and he is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe”; and he worshiped him.

 

 D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE

(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience) 

A story is told of a blind man who entered a convenience store with a dog for a guide. Upon entering the store the man picked up his dog and swung it around. When asked what he was doing, he answered: “Just looking around”. 

It was brilliant of the blind man to have someone do the looking around for him. But getting the solution to the problem right is one thing, executing it correctly is another. Even if the blind man’s dog had perfect eyesight there was no way the dog could transfer data to him. He should have asked a friend to do the looking around for him.

The same can be said of spiritual blindness which sin perpetuates. Many sinners have remained spiritually blind even though they have gone to confession often. Blame it on the failure to make good resolutions. Going to confession without making concrete resolutions is contrition poorly executed, and the penitent is back to the same sins thereafter. 

The penitent kneeling at the confessional box can safely rely upon Matthew 16:16ff (Jesus’ assurance to Peter that whatsoever sins he’d forgive on earth will be forgiven in heaven).  But while sacramental confession will always forgive sins it cannot guarantee freedom from sin. Unless one makes a firm resolve to avoid occasions of sin every confession becomes prelude to another fall. We know that frequent falling is as bad at the spiritual level as it is at the physical. At the spiritual level it hurts one’s conscience and renders a person spiritually blind. When the blindness becomes permanent, the soul goes to the dogs! — 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,   we ask you for the light of your Spirit so that we may be healed of the blindness that sin has continually inflicted on us. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

  CHURCH BULLETIN:

SAINT OF THE DAY: St. Pope Pius V, the initiator of the feast of the Holy Rosary. Born near Tortona, Italy, in 1504, this zealous Dominican vigorously implemented the reform of the church. Following the decrees of the council of Trent, he instructed bishops to reside in their diocese, and parish priest to teach catechism to the youth. After removing corruption and nepotism from the Roman Curia, he cleansed the Papal state from brigands and prostitutes. It was during his pontificate that the new breviary, missal and catechism, were published. The Pope’s greatest success was the Naval Battle of Lepanto, fought off the coast of Greece on October 7, 1571. In commemoration of that event, Pius V instituted on October 7 the feast of Out Lady of the Rosary and inserted the title Help of Christians in the Litany of the Virgin Mary. He died in 1572, and was canonized in 1712.

 

 

 

 

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The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Saturday, March 29, 2014

3rd Week of Lent

1st Reading: Hos 6:1–6

Gospel: Lk 18:9–14

    Jesus told another parable to some persons fully convinced of their own righteousness, who looked down on others, “Two men went up to the Temple to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and said: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people, grasping, crooked, adulterous, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give the tenth of all my income to the Temple.’

    “In the meantime the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying: ‘O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’     “I tell you, when this man went down to his house, he had been set right with God, but not the other. For whoever makes himself out to be great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be raised.”

 

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE

(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience) 

The beating of breast of the tax collector in today’s Gospel passage takes us to the Calvary scene where, after Jesus gave up his spirit at Calvary, people went home beating their breasts (Luke 23:48). It is in this context that we take the tax collector’s act as sign of repentance. The Pharisee, on the other hand was proudly enumerating his good works. He was justified until he elevated himself above the tax collector. By lumping together the tax collector and the crooked and the adulterous and deriding them before God he descended to the level of a charlatan usurping God’s sole power to judge humanity. This stripped his good works of merits. To God they appeared nothing but fruits of a poisonous tree.

Justification is God’s prerogative and cannot be arrogated by man to himself and on himself. The contrary would put justification to the sole discretion of human beings. This was the problem of the Pharisee. He arrogated unto himself the power to justify and shamelessly justified himself before God on the strength of his good works.  “Human beings,” wrote Laurens Van Der Post, “are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right.” (From ‘The Lost World of the Kalahari’). He should just have offered his good works to God and allowed God to do the justifying. By assuming the power to justify he declared God irrelevant to his life. What did he need God’s mercy for? Thus it was not to him that God gave mercy but to the humble Tax Collector.  

 We too may have done many good works. But in this sinful world it is impossible for one to outnumber his frequency of sinning with the frequency of his charitable acts. Even a just man falls seven times a day (Prov. 24:16). While good works are necessary in order to substantiate our faith, there is no vested right over heaven in the doing of good works. The better option is to do good works and offer them before God while striking one’s breast. – 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 your mercy as we come before you beating our breasts in sorrow for our sins. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

 CHURCH BULLETIN:

SAINT OF THE DAY: Sts. Gundleus and Gwladys, Hermits. Gundleus was a Welsh chieftain who kidnapped Gwladys whose father, King Brychan, refused to give her in marriage. He married Gwladys and they lived a very violent kind of life because they were involved in banditry. It was their son who convinced them to repent and lead separate lives as hermits.

 

 

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Loving God and Neighbor

Friday, March 28, 2014

3rd Week of Lent

1st Reading: Hos 14:2–10

Gospel: Mk 12:28–34

    One of the teachers of the Law came up to Jesus and asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?”

    Jesus answered, “The first is: Hear, Israel! The Lord, our God, is One Lord; and you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. And after this comes another one: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these two.”

    The teacher of the Law said to him, “Well spoken, Master; you are right when you say that he is one and there is no other. To love him with all our heart, with all our understanding and with all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves is more important than any burnt offering or sacrifice.”

    Jesus approved this answer and said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” But after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE

(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)

   Jesus considered one of the Teachers of the Law closer to the kingdom for his display of a certain level of understanding of the Law which disposed him to receive deeper teachings such as the teaching on love of God and neighbor.

To his question Jesus replied with one of the three texts recited two times a day by every pious Jew. “Hear, Israel! The Lord, our God, is One Lord; and you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:4-9;11:13-21). The man only asked what the greatest of all the commandments was. But Jesus answered by giving both the first (love of God, a quote from Deuteronomy supra) and the second (love of neighbor, a quote from Leviticus 19:18). Although biblical scholars say this was not an attempt to equate both, they acknowledge that the juxtaposition of love of God and love of neighbor was Jesus’ original creation.  

While Jesus may not have intended to equate both, he must have intended to define one with the other, to the effect that without loving the neighbor one’s manner of loving God is not the way God wants to be loved. Similarly without loving God, one’s love for the neighbor is not the way a neighbor should be loved as child of God. Thus, while a philanthropist is not far from the kingdom, he enters into it only when he affords the neighbor a taste of love reserved for the gods. Similarly while one who loves God is not far from the kingdom, he won’t gain access to it until he substantiates love of God with love of neighbor. “Not all those who say “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 7:21).   

Put it simply, it is active faith that takes one past the portals of heaven. A person who masters the first two commandments as the Teacher of the Law did will hover above the kingdom without touch-down rights. – 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, may our knowledge of you lead to love, and may our love of you be strong enough to empower us to love our fellowmen. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

 CHURCH BULLETIN:

SAINT OF THE DAY: ST. NICHOLAS OF FLUE, Patron of Switzerland, is honored by Swiss Protestants and venerated by Swiss Catholics. He had completed 20 years of married life when, in complete agreement with his wife, he decided to live in a hermitage. For 19 years he lived without food or drink; he was only taking the Eucharist. His great influence made many to seek his advice

 FIESTA AT CEBU CARMEL: Today is the 499^th Birthday of St. Teresa of Avila, founder of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns. As declared by Archbishop Jose Palma the year of grace leading to next year’s 500^th anniversary of her birth opens today. Devotees can gain plenary indulgence by doing pilgrimages to the Carmelite Chapel until March 28, 2015. Fiesta Mass today is at 5:30 p.m. with Msgr. Rey Penagunda presiding.

 

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Prince of Demons

March 27, 2014

Thursday, 3^rd Week of Lent

1^st Reading: Jer 7:23–28

Gospel: Lk 11:14–23

One day Jesus was driving out a dumb demon. When the demon had been driven out, the mute person could speak, and the people were amazed. Yet some of them said, “He drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the chief of the demons.” So others wanted to put him to the test by asking him for a heavenly sign.

But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every nation divided by civil war is on the road to ruin, and will fall. If Satan also is divided, his empire is coming to an end. How can you say that I drive out demons by calling upon Beelzebul? If I drive them out by Beelzebul, by whom do your fellow members drive out demons? They will be your judges, then.

“But suppose I drive out demons by the finger of God; would not this mean that the kingdom of God has come upon you? As long as the strong and armed man guards his house, his goods are safe. But when a stronger one attacks and overcomes him, the challenger takes away all the weapons he relied on and disposes of his spoils.

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me, scatters.” 

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE

(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)

The word “Beelzebul” comes from Baalzebul, the name given to the innumerable local gods controlling the fertility of the soil and domestic animals of Canaan. A corruption of the term by the Hebrews eventually associated the term with a ‘dunghill’ which in a way is also akin to a god as it was often playfully referred to as “Lord of the flies”. The Hebrews later used this insulting term on the devil. When the Jews used it on Jesus they did so for no other reason than to insult him.  

 Jesus faced them squarely on this. He asked: “If I drive them out by Beelzebul, by whom do your fellow members drive out demons?” They were trapped. If they insisted on their theory that Jesus could have only drawn power from Beelzebul, they would be forced to admit that their ancestors too were casting out evil spirits by the same power. But that would make them descendants of Beelzebul’s agents! The only option was to keep mum. Truth choked them and they could hardly say a word. Silent waters, after all, do not always run deep.   

Their theory was flawed from the start. By attributing Jesus’ power to the devil they were in effect installing the devil as the only source of supernatural power. In one syllogism Jesus exposed their intellectual ineptness. But they were too proud to stand corrected. They chose to continue hovering outside the domain of truth like restless flies with no dunghill to land on. Beelzebuls!

Pride is sanitized stupidity, a front to cover up intellectual ineptness. To the humble alone God will infuse wisdom. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com.   

Prayer for the day: God our Father, strengthen our fundamental option in this Season of Lent, so that we may never succumb to temptation but deepen our faith in you. Grant this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

 CHURCH BULLETIN:

SAINT OF THE DAY: ST. JOHN OF EGYPT lived in the fourth century and his lifestyle is a good example especially during the penitential season. He stripped himself of any material possession and he devoted himself to prayer, meditation and penance. He was renowned for cures, prophecies, miracles and the knowledge of secret sins of his visitors. He died on his knees at prayer at the age of 90 in 394.

 

 

 

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Fulfilling the Law

March 26, 2014

Wednesday, 3^rd Week of Lent

1^st Reading: Dt 4:1, 5–9

Gospel: Mt 5:17–19

Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not think that I have come to remove the Law and the Prophets. I have not come to remove but to fulfill them. I tell you this: as long as heaven and earth last, not the smallest letter or stroke of the Law will change until all is fulfilled.

“So then, whoever breaks the least important of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be the least in the kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys them and teaches others to do the same will be great in the kingdom of heaven.”

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE  

(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)

Under pressure from the Romans and burdened by many rules imposed by their religious leaders, the Jews looked forward to a Messiah to liberate them. When they observed Jesus violate stringent Sabbath prohibitions, they thought they finally had the hot blooded rebel driven by the passion to go against the political tide. Meanwhile the Pharisees who were self-appointed guardians of the Law were alarmed as they saw in Jesus the rebel to shake the Law of Moses to its foundations. But Jesus clarified that he came not to destroy but to fulfill the Law and the (teachings of) Prophets.

So the Pharisees were wrong. Jesus was, after all as concerned about the fulfillment of the Law of Moses as they were. But Jesus had in mind an implementation altogether different from what the Pharisees were advocating. The Pharisees were advocates of the literal interpretation of the Law, (though they were slow to apply this kind of interpretation unto themselves but quick to impose it upon others) while Jesus was for the liberation of the Law’s life-giving spirit from “the letter that kills”. 

What about the people who hailed Jesus as the hot blooded rebel they could count on for their liberation, were they correct? The answer is yes and no. No because Jesus did not intend to disobey the Law; yes because by submitting himself to the Law, Jesus was effectively liberating them. Reflecting on this St. Paul wrote to the Galatians:  “God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law and to enable us to be adopted as sons” (Galatians 4:4). But this was a kind of liberation altogether different from what they expected.

Among us today the Pharisees are alive in those who advocate the literal interpretation of the Bible. Consider how heavy a burden they impose upon their followers. Would any of them do the same by plucking their eyes should these lead them to sin in literal compliance of Matthew 18:9? We cannot promote the literal interpretation of the Bible, for God is never inclined to condemn us to the literal interpretation of his Word. “For the letter kills,” St. Paul wrote, “but the spirit gives life.”(2 Cor. 3:6). – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: http://www.frdan.org.  

Prayer for the day: God our Father, imbue us with your wisdom so that we may live in freedom as we observe your commands. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 CHURCH BULLETIN:

SAINT OF THE DAY: ST. LUDGER, was born in the Netherlands and was trained under St. Gregory in England and under Alcuin in the Old England City of York. He was ordained a priest in 777 in Cologne, Germany and was consecrated the first Bishop of Munster in 804.

CARMEL-CEBU NOVENA: 8^th day of Novena in honor of Sta. Teresa de Avila. Mass at 5:30 p.m. by Rev. Fr. Ransom Rapirap, OCD. Theme: A requisite for prayer: Teresa and Charity

 

 

 

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Feast of Annunciation: The Word was made Flesh

March 25, 2014 Tuesday

 Annunciation of the Lord

 

1st Reading: Is 7:10–14; 8:10    

2nd Reading: Heb 10:4–10    

Gospel: Lk 1:26–38
    In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a young virgin who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean.
    But the angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call him Jesus.” He will be great and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his ancestor; he will rule over the people of Jacob forever and his reign shall have no end.”
    Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be if I am a virgin?” And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the holy child to be born shall be called Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child, and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”
    Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the angel left her.

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE

(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience) 

 Msgr. Bruno Forte, the Archbishop of the Italian Diocese of Chieti-Vasto wrote a pastoral letter in 2006 on the theme “Reconciliation and the Beauty of God”. He said that in sending his Son with human flesh, God showed preference to “encounter us through a direct contact that passes through the signs and language of our human condition”.  In other words God came out of himself in humility to meet us at our level – the level of the flesh. But God’s act of reaching out to us will only be fruitful when we come out from the clutches of the flesh to meet God.

Humility is the official language at this meeting. It was God who first used this language when his Son took the form of the flesh being born in the likeness of men. Humanity must likewise speak this language for the encounter to bear fruit. The most opportune time to speak this language is the time of Confession. Indeed there is nothing more humbling than confessing to a priest who may even be more sinful than his penitent.   This act of humility is important to the Lord. For this he empowered Peter to forgive sins and even went to the extent of declaring that heaven will not forgive those sins that Peter won’t (Jn. 20:23).  

When we match God’s humility with our humble submission to the Sacrament of Confession, the Word can take flesh in us. – 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, as we thank you for the incarnation of your Son through the Blessed Virgin Mary, lead us to acknowledge our sins and so come to the fountain of your mercy. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.   

 FEAST OF THE DAY: Today is the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, exactly 9 months before the birth of Jesus (December 25). Today’s Feast commemorates both the Annunciation of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Incarnation of the Son of God.

 CARMEL-CEBU NOVENA: Seventh Day of Novena in honor of Sta. Teresa de Avila. Mass at 5:30 p.m. by Rev. Fr. Ransom Rapirap, OCD. Theme: A requisite for prayer: Teresa and Humility

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Declaration of a “SPECIAL YEAR OF GRACE” for the Church of the

CARMELITE MONASTERY in Mabolo, Cebu City

 

WHEREAS the Order of the Discalced Carmelites will celebrate the 500th anniversary of the death of their Holy Mother St. Teresa of Jesus (of Avila) on March 28, 2015;

WHEREAS the Mother Superior of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns in the Carmelite Monastery in Mabolo, Cebu City, has requested for a declaration of a Special Year of Grace in Churches where St. Teresa of Avila is their patroness, namely:

CHURCH OF THE CARMELITE MONASTERY, Cebu City;

The Church of St. Teresa of Avila, Talisay City

Chapel of the Motherhouse of the Daughters of St. Teresa, Valladolid, Carcar, Cebu

 

As Archbishop of Cebu, I hereby declare for the

Church of the Carmelite Monastery in Mabolo Cebu City,

a

SPECIAL YEAR OF GRACE

from March 28, 2014 – March 28, 2015

I therefore further declare the Church of the Carmelite Monastery in Mabolo, Cebu City as a PLACE OF PILGRIMAGE, within the specified period, and I grant to every Catholic Person who visits this parish church a PLENARY INDULGENCE after praying the one Credo, and one Salve under the usual conditions.

Given this 21st day of February 2014 at the Archdiocesan Chancery, Cebu City, Philippines

(SGD) +Jose s. Palma, D.D.

Archbishop of Cebu

By Mandate of the Archbishop:

(SGD) REV. MSGR. RENATO C. BELTRAN, JR., P.C.

Archdiocesan Vice-Chancellor

 

Book VI

No. 385/14

Page 186

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Rejected in his hometown

March 24, 2014

Monday, 3^rd Week of Lent

 

1^st Reading: 2 K 5:1–15ab

Gospel: Lk 4:24–30 

Jesus added, “No prophet is honored in his own country. Truly, I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens withheld rain for three years and six months and a great famine came over the whole land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in the country of Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet, and no one was healed except Naaman, the Syrian.” 

On hearing these words, the whole assembly became indignant. They rose up and brought him out of the town, to the edge of the hill on which Nazareth is built, intending to throw him down the cliff. But he passed through their midst and went his way.

 

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE

(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience) 

From the start Jesus never experienced warmth from any human heart, except perhaps from his immediate family and from some disciples who followed him all the way. Recall how he was born on a manger on Christmas day, with no one rolling the red carpet to welcome him hospitably. We have to be grateful that somehow we were represented by Joseph and Mary, who stood in faith to receive the Father’s gift in the name of humanity. We bow in shame as we read in the Gospel of today how humanity rejected Jesus and drove him away. Jesus could only take a deep breath and say, “No prophet is honored in his own country.” 

Jesus was hurt but it was humanity rejecting him that got wounded. They drove away a God who wanted to live with his beloved. We may not be driving God the way the Jews did. But are we better today in accepting Jesus in word and deed?  Considering how we make compromises, we can’t really say that our faith is splendid. We can only strike our breast, admit our wickedness and confess those sins so sordid. With hearts humble and contrite may Jesus never again say, “No prophet is honored in his own country”.

In this Season of Lent let us do penance to show how truly we repent. By avoiding meat every Friday and abandoning our folly, by going to confession promptly and by making our devotions diligently, we manifest this sincere Lenten intent. But beyond these may the poor find Lent a privileged moment, as we open our eyes to their plight and turn benevolent. If life had been to them so harsh and violent, this time may they see in us God’s generous agent. 

If God really is hungry and thirsty in the poor, may poor people find in our hearts a wide open door, where they feel the warmth of Christian love galore! So that Christ will never ever say as he said before, “Except in his own country no prophet is without honor.”  – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: http://www.frdan.org.    

Prayer for the day: God our Father as we thank you for sending us your only son, we ask you to dispose our hearts to welcome him in the way we embrace the teachings of the Church. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

CHURCH BULLETIN:

SAINT OF THE DAY: ST. IRENAEUS OF SIRMIUM in Yugoslavia was arrested during the time of Diocletian for refusing to sacrifice to the gods. He was sentenced to be drowned in the river, but he protested stating that a true Christian could face his executioner. So he was beheaded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Living Water

March 23, 2014

3^rd Sunday of Lent

 

1^st Reading: Ex 17:3–7

2^nd Reading: Romans 5:1–2, 5–8

Gospel: Jn 4:5–16, 19–26, 39–42

 

Jesus came to a Samaritan town called Sychar…   Tired from his journey, Jesus sat down by the well; it was about noon. Now a Samaritan woman came to draw water and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”  

The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan and a woman, for a drink?” (For Jews, in fact, have no dealings with Sama­ritans.) Jesus replied, “If you only knew the Gift of God! If you knew who it is that asks you for a drink, you yourself would have asked me and I would have given you living water.” 

The woman answered, “Sir, you have no bucket and this well is deep; where is your living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well after he drank from it himself, together with his sons and his cattle?” 

Jesus said to her, “Those who drink of this water will be thirsty again; but those who drink of the water that I shall give will never be thirsty; for the water that I shall give will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 

The woman said to him, “Give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty and never have to come here to draw water.” The woman then said to him, “I see you are a prophet; tell me this: Our fathers used to come to this mountain to worship God; but you Jews, do you not claim that Jerusalem is the only place to worship God?” 

Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you shall worship the Father, but that will not be on this mountain or in Jeru­salem. You Samaritans worship with­out knowledge, while we Jews worship with knowledge, for salvation comes from the Jews. But the hour is coming and is even now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for that is the kind of worshippers the Father wants. God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 

The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah, that is the Christ, is coming; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” And Jesus said, “I who am talking to you, I am he.” 

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE

(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience) 

 A story is told of a man who was lost in the desert and was dying of thirst.  Finding an old water pump he used his remaining strength to pump it furiously. No water came. Suddenly he saw an old rusty tin can with a piece of paper in it. On the paper this was written: this pump has a leather washer. The washer must be wet for the pump to work. Under the big board there is a small bottle of water: just enough to prime the pump. If you drink any of it there won’t be enough to wet the washer. If you pour it all on the washer you will have water to spare.” -Signed, Desert Pete.

It was risky to give up the water and pour it over the pump; the pump may have already given itself up to rust. But if the man drank the water he’d only live for a few hours anyway. Poor man, his best option was to put faith on a rusty pump! We would have been similarly situated had Jesus not come to offer us the water of eternal life. But like the Samaritan woman we have to ask Jesus to give us this living water. Some may have to pump vigorously while others to come closer to the source. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: http://www.frdan.org.    

Prayer for the day: God our Father, change our hearts so that we may return to you and come close to Jesus the well spring of salvation. Grant this through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.    

 CHURCH BULLETIN:

SAINT OF THE DAY: ST. TURIBIUS DE MOGROVEJO was born in 1538 at Majorca, Spain. He was Professor of Law at the University of Salamanca, President of the Court of the Inquisition at Granada, and the Bishop of Lima in Peru even while he was still a layman. The rest of his life, for 25 years was dedicated to the service of his people in the diocese. He died in 1606.

 

 

 

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