Episodes
Friday Nov 25, 2016
November 27 - First Sunday in Advent : Be awake and be Prepared
Friday Nov 25, 2016
Friday Nov 25, 2016
First Reading Isaiah 2:1-5
Isaiah describes his vision in which all nations are gathered together by God in peace.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 122:1-2,3-4,4-5,6-7,8-9
Rejoicing, let us enter the house of the Lord.
Second Reading Romans 13:11-14
Be prepared, salvation is near.
Gospel Reading
Matthew 24:37-44
Today we begin a new season of Advent and it is its 1st Sunday. Now, in the general literal sense, the word 'advent' means 'coming of someone,' but in the Christian Liturgical sense it specifically implies to 'the coming of Christ.' So specifically therefore, with the start of Advent today, we begin the period of expectation and waiting for the coming of Christ, our Savior — his birth on the first Christmas day. But actually, the Lord comes to us in three ways: the first coming of Jesus about 2000 years ago when he came as our Savior (Coming in history), the second coming is the glorious return of Jesus in future at the end of time (Coming in Majesty) and the third coming is situated between the first two comings. It is Jesus' daily coming into our hearts here and now at every moment of every day in the sacraments – very specifically through the Eucharist, and therein lies a challenge for us as well as a comfort (Coming in Mystery). Thus in a general sense, the period of Advent encompasses all time viz. Past, Present & Future. So, a Christian in this sense is always a citizen of Advent. Therefore, it is not surprising that we begin the new Liturgical Year this Sunday, with the same theme of 'the coming of Christ', where we ended it last Sunday.
Wednesday Nov 16, 2016
Wednesday Nov 16, 2016
First Reading 2 Samuel 5:1-3
David is anointed king.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 122:1-2,3-4,4-5
Enter the house of the Lord rejoicing.
Second Reading Colossians 1:12-20
Hymn to Jesus as the first-born of all creation.
Gospel Reading Luke 23:35-43
Today, the last Sunday of ordinary time the Church in a special way invites us to celebrate Jesus Christ our anointed king who overcame suffering and death, and so brought us out of darkness into his kingdom of light. On 7th July 2009, during the funeral of Michael Jackson, the presiding pastor said: “Behold the king of pop ready to face the King of the world.” Today (34th Sunday), the entire world stands still and bows to the King of kings and the Lord of lords (Rev 17, 14), and the Holy Mother Church celebrates the feast of Christ the King and Sovereign ruler of the Universe (Dan 7, 14). Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King in 1925 in response to growing nationalism and secularism. In initiating this feast, the Church wanted to take our worship of Jesus from the privacy of our hearts and to proudly proclaim his public reign as well. The title of the feast was “Jesu Christi Regis” (Our Lord Jesus Christ the King). Again, in his 1969 motu proprio Mysterii Paschalis, Pope Paul VI gave the celebration a new title: “Iesu Christi universorum Regis” (Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe). He also gave it a new date: the last Sunday in the liturgical year and assigned to it the highest rank, that of “Solemnity.” As we celebrate this feast let us ask ourselves: “Who reigns in my heart? Jesus or the evil one? Am I happy to be a subject of His kingdom? What are the values of his kingdom that I admire and try to inculcate into my life?
Tuesday Nov 08, 2016
Tuesday Nov 08, 2016
First Reading Malachi 3:19-20
The day of justice is coming, says the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 98:5-6,7-8,9
Sing praise to God, who rules with justice.
Second Reading 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12
Paul urges the community to follow his example and to earn their keep.
Gospel Reading
Luke 21:5-19
In today’s Gospel Jesusportrays for us, graphically, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. ForJews, the destruction of these two things was equivalent to the end of theworld. Precisely for this reason, the Church uses this gospel passage as one ofits readings for the end of the liturgical year. It wants us to reflect on theend of the world. But what’s the significant it has in our lives? What does itmean to us personally? We read the Gospel of Matthew that Jesus, before Hisprediction of the destruction of the Temple, ‘left the Temple and departed fromit’ (24:1). Jesus not only went out of the Temple, He also departed from it andnever returned to it. He did not depart on His own accord, they drove Him off;He did not reject them, rather they had rejected Him. When He departed from theTemple, its sanctity, glory and defense departed. The most beautiful and magnificentTemple in the world turned into the most ruinous heap. Three days after Hedeparted the veil of the Temple was rent – making everything in the Templecommon and unclean. Woe descends upon anyone from whom the Lord departs. If wedrive away His presence from our souls, it will become desolate, as desolate asthe Temple of Jerusalem. That will be the end of the world to us. When Jesusdeparts from my life, that is going to be my experience of the end of theworld.
Thursday Nov 03, 2016
November 6 – Thirty second Sunday in Ordinary Time : Heaven is our Home
Thursday Nov 03, 2016
Thursday Nov 03, 2016
First Reading 2 Maccabees 7:1-2,9-14
Jewish martyrs give witness to their faith, even unto death.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 17:1,5-6,8,15
The just person will live in God's presence.
Second Reading 2 Thessalonians 2:16—3:5
Paul encourages the Thessalonians and asks for their prayers.
Gospel Reading
Luke 20:27-38
In today’s Gospel we find Jesus in reply rejecting the caricature thatthe Sadducees present of heaven, a caricature that suggests that it is a simplecontinuation of the earthly relationships of the spouses. Eternal beatitude isnot just an increase and prolongation of terrestrial joys, the maximization ofthe pleasures of the flesh and the table. The other life is truly another life,a life of a different quality. It is true that it is the fulfillment of allman's longings on earth, yet it is infinitely more, on a different level.Interpreting Jesus' answer to the Sadducees, in an erroneous way, some haveclaimed that marriage has no follow-up in heaven. He does not deny that theymight rediscover in God the bond that united them on earth. If God united themon earth, how could he divide them in heaven? According to this vision,matrimony does not entirely end with death but is transfigured, renewed andmade holy -- it loses those limits that mark life on earth -- in the same waythat the bonds between parents and children or between friends will not beforgotten. In the preface of the Mass for the dead, the liturgy says that withdeath "life is changed, not taken away"; the same must be said ofmarriage, which is an integral part of life. Let us look forward to a gloriouslife in heaven.