Making Friends With The Lord Jesus

We celebrate today the feast the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We recall that her parents presented her to the Temple's high priest when she was only 3 years old. She was offered to the Lord. Jesus in today's gospel is shown to us to be driving out the merchants-turned-thieves in the Temple. He did this because the Temple was supposed to be a house of prayer. That means that that edific...

The gospel tells us that Jesus wept when felt Israel's rejecting Him in an acute way as he crested the summit of the mount of Olives on His way to Jerusalem. He was going to spend His last Passover there, readying Himself for His Passion and Death on the Cross. And so the Lord prophesied Jerusalem's absolute destruction and its Temple razed to the ground by the Roman armies under Titus in 70 AD. T...

The Church is preparing us for the most certain of events in any man's existence in this side of the veil. That is the moment we transition to the next life, the real life. But what that life would be depends on how we spend this life on earth. We need to prepare ourselves for the move out there from here. For that we need to take stock of what God gave us and then check what we have been doing wi...

The Church reinforces our conviction today regarding Our Lord's commitment to look for us sinners. In fact, the best way to forge our union with the Saviour is by that avenue. Since He is Saviour, then we want to be found by him since we are essentially sinners in the present life.

The question about the advent of the Kingdom of God pops up today in the Gospel. Jesus reveals that the Kingdom cannot be observed. Neither can it be announced. The reason is that such a kingdom has already come. It is Jesus Himself. Such a kingdom is the union of God and Man in the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Listen now to the homily to find out more about this special kingdom.

We learn several things from the gospel today. First, we need to recognize that we are limited and acknowledge it. Second, after realizing we need something —like the lepers in today's gospel —we go to the one who can help us. Hence, we pray to God also and ask for help from others. Third, we are not the source of our gifts. We have only been recipients. Fourth, we need to thank that Source of all...

Today, we read in the gospel about an aspect of the relationship between master and servant. Jesus points out that the servant is such and is asked to be of service to his master. His services are part of the agreement or contract. It is expected that he honors that accord. When he accomplishes his commitment, then he is a good servant. Otherwise, he would be typically classified as being out of o...

We celebrate today the Anniversary of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. This temple is described as the Mother of all the churches in Rome and in the World because it is the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome. Just like any diocese anywhere in the world, it has a bishop whose seat or cathedral is the principal church of the territory. The Lord is portrayed in the gospel toda...

The gospel today tells us about a corrupt steward who his master fired. He cheated him. So, he wondered what he would do without a job. He thought about it long and hard. He decided to ensure his safety by undoing the unfair business he conducted with his master's clients. He corrected the unfair terms with which he conducted himself with them. Our Lord described that steward as prudent. Prudence...

The Lord teaches us about the virtue of prudence today. We need to learn this well especially in those who are government officials or our politicians who have defrauded the people of their hard-earned money. They have not extended the services they were supposed to perform by virtue of their office. The Filipinos are clamoring louder and louder for accountability. Part of accountability is for th...

Jesus reveals to us today the joy in heaven over the repentance of a sinner. He employs the imagery of a shepherd who has a hundred sheep. One of them gets lost. He describes the shepherd leaving the 99, in search of the lost one. What joy he has when he finds it. The same thing happens in the realm of God and man. We are the sheep and each of us experiences being lost somehow and sometimes. The g...

self-surrender to God will happy to us in forms similar to martyrdoms of old. However, the Lord seeks us to prove our absolute allegiance to Him in small things like in our attitudes to living according to our prayer schedule, that we smile even when we all the reason to explode in angry frustration and taking the pinpricks of ordinary life with hopeful demeanor, etc.

As we approach the end of the current liturgical year, the Church prepares us with such messages to remind us about being prepared for the end, be it for the end of the world or the end of our lives. We do not know when, but what is most certain is that it will happen at a time we do not know or expect. She reviews us today in the gospel of the mass that Heaven is our proper place, our home and ou...

The lesson today is about rectitude of intention. The Lord points out the danger in doing good. Such a pitfall happens when we secretly or not so secretly do good expecting the other party to do good to us in return. This may be the minimum to expect in normal and ordinary interpersonalr elationships. But the Lord encourages us to correct that so that we only expect the reward the Lord will give u...

The Gospel today tells us about the compassion Jesus felt for a woman who was a widow and presently weeping, while bringing her only son to be buried. The poor widow grieved over losing her only means of supporting herself in that society. Women did not work to earn. They largely depended on the men in their lives. Jesus then resurrected her son and gave him to his mom. This example of compassion...

Today we celebrate All Saints' Day. We recognize all of them in Heaven, acknowledging the great multitude of them who are unknown to us. We praise God's work in them. The gospel reminds us of the beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. Lucky are those saints, since they practiced the values on that list. Although they went through what others may refer to as pitiable traits and experiences, such as...

We need to learn how to think and exercise our intelligence and come to a correctly reasoned out conclusion and decide what to do and to do it. We gather all the premises regarding the issue and ask for help or advice from knowledgeable people to guide us in the process. The issue the Lord brings up in the gospel today is what is to do on the Sabbath. His listeners were paralyzed in committing the...

Jesus proceeds to Jerusalem, where he will be condemned to death. He is forthright in doing his part to save us. Each of us needs to contribute our share to the process of salvation. Objectively, Jesus has already saved us, but we still need to go along with it personally. He cannot save those who are unwilling to be saved.

The Lord replies to that question by posing a challenge. We need to strive to enter the narrow gate. That is how we can get into heaven. We need to exert effort. We need to struggle to enter that narrow opening.

Jesus spent the entire night praying about what he would do the next day, i.e., choosing his closest collaborators to be called apostles. That was going to be a significant move for the continuity of what he was doing in the Church he was setting up.

The Lord taught the Pharisee who insisted that people who are sick should not come to be cured on the Sabbath. He corrected that view by curing the woman on the Sabbath. He proved His teaching by performing the miracle. Thus, it is not bad to do good on the Sabbath.

The publican prayed for God's mercy, with humility accepting his state as a sinner. The Pharisee prayed differently by comparing his accomplishments with those of the publican. He justified himself. But in God's eyes, he displeased God. He was pleased with the humble publican.

The gospel clearly calls us to repent from our personal sins, and not to compare our better fortunes with the misfortunes of others. Before God we will need to account for our personal sins, and thus, we need to repent of them now.

The Lord uses an analogy to illustrate our ability to predict the weather by paying attention to signs in nature. If we can do that, then why are we so complicated in reading the Lord and His holy Will? The problem is that we muddle the matter because of our lack of better dispositions in finding out what God wishes.

We should not rest on our laurels. We are not called to become selfish just because we are secure for the future with material goods. We need to be prepared always for being summoned by God to His presence.