Ordinary Time Year B

READINGS: AMOS 7:12-15; PSA 84:9-14; EPH 1:3-14; MARK 6:7-13 THEME: YOU SHOULD NEVER WALK ALONE! Dearest in Christ, today’s readings present us the desire of God to make us part of the mission of Christ, the mission of facing the demons of our society, the mission of calling people to repentance, the mission of bringing […]

Readings: Ezek 1:28b-2:1-5, Psa 123:1-2,3-4, 2 Cor 12:7-10, Mk 6:1b-6 Theme: God’s Power Lies even in the things we consider Ordinary Dearest brothers and sisters, the readings of this Sunday present to us the theme of faith and acceptance of the true message and work of God irrespective of “who” says or does that. In

READINGS: Wis 1:13-15,2:23-24; Ps 29:2,4-6,11-13; 2 Cor 8:7,9,13-15; Mk 5:21-43 THEME: DO NOT BE AFRAID, ONLY BELIEVE! Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s readings present to us the theme of faith in Jesus who has power even against our greatest fear: Death. a. TWELVE YEARS OF WASTED EFFORTS!The gospel reading of today presents to

JOB 38:1,8-11; PSALM 106:23-26,28-32; 2 COR 5:14-17; MARK 4:35-41 THEME: FOCUS NOT ON THE TURBULENCE! Dearest in Christ, today’s readings call on us to look unto Jesus and believe that once he is with us in our boat of life, every other thing that happens around the boat does not matter. We are to focus,

READINGS: Ezek 17:22-24; Psalm 91:2-3,13-16; 2 Cor 5:6-10; Mark 4:26-34 THEME: THROW YOUR SEED ON THE LAND! Dear brothers and sisters, the readings of today challenge us of giving God chance to perform his work in our lives as our God. They remind us that we can only put into use what we have, but

READINGS: Gen 3:9-15; Psalm 129; 2 Cor 4:13-5:1; Mark 3:20-35 THEME: MAY MY SINS NOT KEEP ME HIDDEN FROM GOD! Dearest friends, today, the readings invite us to reflect on our reactions when we find out that we have gone astray from the way God set for us. a. WHERE ARE YOU? The question, “where

READINGS: Deut 5:12-15; Psalm 80:3-8,10-11; 2 Cor 4:6-11; Mark 2:23-3:6THEME: Where there is no complete free human person, there is no Sabbath Rest. a. The Law of Sabbath Dearest friends, in today’s readings, we are being presented with the day of Sabbath and its law. The law of the Sabbath is the third of the

Readings: 1 Sam 3:3-10,19; Ps 39:2,4,7-10; 1 Cor 6:13-15,17-20; Jn 1:35-42 Theme: COMING TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD Dearest friends, after the events of Christmas we now begin the Ordinary Time of the Year. The readings of today calls for three things: importance of proper direction; necessity of personal experience of Jesus; and the ability to lead others to Christ. These three points are joined together by what we call ‘Coming to the Knowledge of God/Christ”. IMPORTANCE OF PROPER DIRECTION In the first reading we see the ‘seminary’ days of Samuel in the Shiloh under the ‘formatorship’ of Eli. As the Scripture says, at this time, Samuel had not come to the knowledge of the Lord and the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. Yet, it was in this situation of ignorance of God and how his words sound that God came to Samuel calling him and anticipating his response. Innocently, Samuel knew only Eli as his master and the only one who dwells in the Shiloh. And so when God was calling him, he kept running to Eli, responding to him. Thanks to Eli’s knowledge of God and God’s way, and his good direction, Samuel was able to respond properly to God’s call. Reflecting on this, I was forced to ask “since God knew that Samuel has not had knowledge of him before and there was no way he would know that it was him (God) who was calling him (Samuel), and having seen the little boy’s confusion in running to Eli, why could God not simply add ‘Hey Samuel, I am God, I am the one calling you?” God wanted Samuel to come to the knowledge of him through Eli. Hence, this particular reading is not only God’s call of Samuel but God’s testing of Eli to see if he would direct the little boy properly. In the gospel, John, seeing Jesus passing, did not waste time to direct the attention of his own disciples to Jesus. Although the two disciples were formerly John’s disciples, John knew that the one they were actually looking and waiting for was Jesus. So when he saw Jesus, he in fact ‘coerced’ them to leave him (John) and follow the Lamb of God. Dearest friends, our vocation is to give people proper direction of where God is. As the disciple said, ‘everybody is looking for Jesus’ (Mk 1:37) for insofar as everybody seeks after happiness and Jesus is the Supreme happiness, everybody seeks after Jesus. Let our actions and words aim always at giving people direction of where Jesus is, and to respond to him properly. Dear parents, we must be attentive to our children in order to be sure that they are listening to the correct voice of God and that they are responding properly to it. If Eli was not around and attentive, he would not have known the confusion of Samuel. Many of our youths are confused, running to different directions seeking for that happiness. They need many Elis and John the Baptist who would not only point the Lamb of God to them, show them the right way, but also give them the proper words and training as to respond properly to our general search for happiness. NECESSITY OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF GOD Yes, we are called to give proper direction to people in their quest to see Jesus (Jn 12:20-]21), but how can we direct others if we ourselves do not know the way? How can we know how to respond to God if we ourselves

Theme: The Former and the Later Life of Children of the Kingdom. In what is known as Syro-Ephramite war, king Ahaz of Judah recoursed to the Assyrian king, Tiglath-pileser III, to rescue him from the attack of king Rezin of Aram and king Pekahof Israel because he refused to join their coalition against Assyrian government. Tiglath Pileser III came to the rescue of Ahaz, and defeated king Rezin and king Pekah. At this time, Israel and Judah had been divided, having different kings and different places of worship. But Israel remained part of that totality of Jewish people whom God delivered from Egyptian slavery. Zebulun and Naphtali are the northern part of Galilee, the part of Israel that was first humbled by foreign military invasions, and the region most influenced by foreign cultures and religions. In the first reading, therefore, Zebulun and Naphtali are used to represent the area of Israel that was mostly oppressed by foreign military attacks, and mostly influenced by pagans. In the first reading, the prophecy of Israel makes a two division of the life of the people: their past days, which were marked with humiliation and darkness, and then the future days which would bring God’s glory to this humiliated people. What they suffered in the past would not matter again because what they will encounter in the future will be greater. Their darkness will be replaced with light, their gloomy days will be replaced with days full of glorious light, their gladness and joy will be increased, they will generally experience new things and new life because it is the time of their redemption from the yoke of the Assyrian terror. They will be liberated of the burden which were placed on them by their oppressors. In the gospel reading, Matthew brings this picture of Zebulun and Naphtali, to show how the prophecy of Isaiah about their future glory is realized by the coming of Christ. But surprisingly, instead of Jesus saying something like: “Zebulun and Naphtali, rejoice, for the time of your glory and light to shine is here”, he said “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand”. Christ therefore shifted the attention from the earthly joy and gladness to a heavenly glory. The emphasis shifts from the kingdom of Israel and Judah to the kingdom of  heaven. The people need to liberate themselves, no longer of the burden of Assyrian but of the burden of sin. Assyrian burden therefore becomes the metaphor of the burden of sin. There is need for the