Episodes
Monday Dec 30, 2013
Monday Dec 30, 2013
First
Reading : Numbers 6:22-27
Psalm : Psalm 8
Second
Reading : Galatians 4:4-7
Gospel : Luke 2:15-21
The mystery of
her divine motherhood that we celebrate today contains in superabundant measure
the gift of grace that all human motherhood bears within it, so much so that
the fruitfulness of the womb has always been associated with God’s blessing.
Mary is the mother and model of the Church, who receives the divine Word in
faith and offers herself to God as the “good soil” in which he can continue to
accomplish his mystery of salvation. The spiritual meaning of Mary’s motherhood
was made known by St. Augustine who said “Prium concepit in mente quam
corpore” which means Mary conceived Jesus in her mind before conceiving
Him in her womb. May was filled with Christ her son, she became the
faithful disciple of the Lord. We are called upon to do the same: to put on and
live with the mind of Christ. One of the instructions given to us in the Bible
is to have the mind of Christ. We read in Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be
in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” May the Virgin Mary, whom
today we venerate with the title of Mother of God, help us to contemplate the
face of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. May she sustain us and accompany us in this
New Year: and may she obtain for us and for the whole world the gift of peace.
Amen!
Friday Dec 27, 2013
December 29th : Feast of the Holy Family - Jesus-Mary-Joseph
Friday Dec 27, 2013
Friday Dec 27, 2013
First
Reading : Isaiah 63:7-9
Psalm : Psalm 148
Second
Reading : Hebrews 2:10-18
Gospel : Matthew 2:13-23
On this Sunday we celebrate the feast of “The Holy Family of
Jesus, Mary and Joseph,” which is very much part of this season and it
enables us to continue to ponder the mystery of Christmas and learn the lessons
that this season has to teach us. Actually, the birthday celebration of
the Christ child naturally leads us to contemplate the Holy Family of Jesus,
Mary and Joseph as model of all Christian families. For a large part of his life Jesus
was part of a family, but his family-life is shrouded in mystery. We always
imagine that the Holy Family must have been an extremely happy family. Yet,
like every other family, it too had from time to time its ups and downs, its
joys and sorrows, its problems and difficulties. In fact, challenges faced them
right from the very beginning. In the Gospel Reading of today from St. Matthew
which is unique to his Gospel, we have the story of 'the Flight into Egypt.' It
shows us that not even the Holy Family was spared the trials and sufferings of
every family. But they are called a “HOLY” family because they sought God’s
purposes in their lives and not their own comforts. This family is holy because God is
present in it and also it is responsive to the demanding word of
God spoken in the very trying circumstances of their daily lives. Let
us ask the Holy Family to bless all our families.
Monday Dec 23, 2013
December 25 : Christmas Day - God had visited us
Monday Dec 23, 2013
Monday Dec 23, 2013
First
Reading : Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm : Psalm 96
Second
Reading : Titus 2:11-14
Gospel : Luke 2:1-14,
(15-20)
Today we
celebrate Christmas, the mystery of Incarnation, God becoming man, the
astonishing entrance that God made into our broken world. Again and again the
beauty of this Gospel astonishes us that God makes himself a child so that we
may love him, so that we may dare to love him, and as a child trustingly lets
himself be taken into our arms. It is as if God were saying: I know that my
glory frightens you, and that you are trying to assert yourself in the face of
my grandeur. So now I am coming to you as a child, so that you can accept me
and love me. God is born for us but the question is whether we are ready to
welcome him. The most unfortunate and the saddest sentence is found in the
Gospel of Luke: “There was no place for them in the Inn” (Lk
2:7). Centuries have passed but this stark reality still continues in our
lives. God wants to come in but we keep our doors closed. Why should we not
also be moved by curiosity to see more closely and to know what God has said to
us? At this hour, let us ask him to touch our hearts with the holy curiosity
and the holy joy of the shepherds, and thus let us go over joyfully to
Bethlehem, to the Lord who today once more comes to meet us. Amen
Tuesday Dec 17, 2013
December 22 : Fourth Sunday in Advent: Joseph, the just man
Tuesday Dec 17, 2013
Tuesday Dec 17, 2013
First
Reading : Isaiah 7:10-16
Psalm : Psalm 80:1-7,
17-19
Second
Reading : Romans 1:1-7
Gospel : Matthew 1:18-25
Today is the
fourth Sunday in Advent. Christmas will dawn in few days. Matthew’s story of
the birth of Jesus centres on the person of Joseph. The mystery is so great
that Joseph cannot understand what is happening. In his puzzlement, the Lord
calls Joseph to a remarkable act of faith and obedience. Joseph, in wordless
response to the word of God communicated by an angel, rose and ‘took his wife to
his home’. A total and unquestioning acceptance of the word of God is Joseph’s
first action in Matthew’s infancy story. St. Joseph shows us the value of grace
under pressure. He always found himself in emergency situations during the
brief period of his life on earth: having to accept a young wife who is
pregnant before they are married, having to travel to faraway Bethlehem, having
to flee as refugees into Egypt etc. He had to face a lot of pressure, a lot of
crisis and a lot of emergency situations but God’s grace was sufficient for
him. St. Bernard comments that God never gives us a challenge or a call or a
duty without the sufficient grace to accomplish it. Joseph leads the way and
shows us the quality of trust and commitment to the coming of God, which should
mark the lives of each and every one of us this Christmas.
Thursday Dec 12, 2013
December 15 : Third Sunday of Advent - Rejoice
Thursday Dec 12, 2013
Thursday Dec 12, 2013
First Reading : Isaiah 35:1-10
Psalm : Psalm 146:5-10
Second Reading : James 5:7-10
Gospel : Matthew 11:2-11
Wednesday Dec 04, 2013
Dec 8 : Second Sunday in Advent - A voice crying in the wilderness
Wednesday Dec 04, 2013
Wednesday Dec 04, 2013
First
Reading : Isaiah 11:1-10
Psalm : Psalm 72:1-7,
18-19
Second
Reading : Romans 15:4-13
Gospel : Matthew 3:1-12