3rd SUNDAY OF ADVENT, C

-


INQUIRING FAITH LEADS TO JOY



Christmas is just around the corner and Simbang Gabi (Filipino Dawn Christmas Novena Masses) are starting.  Like the people in the gospel crowding around John, we come to church in droves, driven by tradition yes, but for many of us, driven by a thirst for the meaning of this season of grace and salvation.  I am sure, many of you are asking the Lord, while preparing for this birthday, “What should we do?”  Like the people in the gospel, we expect answers, guidance, directions.

What should we do?  First, FOCUS ON JESUS!  It is so tempting to be drawn to the glitters of Christmas, its decorations, its gifts, its lures of shopping and parties.  As we go to Mass in these days leading to Our Lord’s birth, let us open our hearts to him and dedicate our lives to him.  Simbang Gabi is a crowded and congested occasion in our churches but Jesus has a message for each of us.  We come as families and as groups of friends but let us remember that this is above all a spiritual and not a social event.  Let love for Jesus prevail.  Focus on the Lord.

What should we do?  FOCUS ON SACRIFICE! Simbang Gabi needs commitment.  We wake up so early.  Or we rush to it in the evening after work, for those who like the anticipated Mass.  And we must do it for 9 complete days.  For many though, we go to Simbang Gabi excitedly in the first 3 days and then disappear for the rest of the novena. But we re-appear on the last day!  There is sacrifice in completing a promise, a vow, a pledge of love.  There is sacrifice in praying for our families, in reflecting on our lives, in renewing our desire to be holy and whole again.  Focus on sacrifice.

What should we do?  FOCUS ON LOVE! Before Christmas, we begin to dream of what we will receive as gifts. But it is also the moment to reverse the impulse and think of what we can offer to others, especially to those who need our love the most. Are there people in your family, school, neighborhood who you need to greet, visit or reconcile with?  Do you have space in your heart for the suffering people and the poor? 

Popular posts from this blog

HOLY MASS IN FILIPINO (TAGALOG)

-
Image
ANG BANAL NA MISA PAMBUNGAD NA AWIT Pari:    Sa ngalan ng Ama, at ng anak, at ng Espiritu Santo. Bayan: Amen P.         Sumainyo ang Panginoon. B.        At sumainyo rin. P.         Mga kapatid, aminin nating ang ating mga kasalanan upang tayo’y maging marapat sa pagdiriwang ng banal na paghahaing ito.             Sinugong Tagapagpagaling sa mga nagsisisi,             Panginoon, kaawaan mo kami. B.        Panginoon, kaawaan mo kami. P.        Dumating na Tagapag-anyayang mga makasalana’y magsisi,             Kristo, kaawaan mo kami. B.         Kristo, kaawaan mo kami. P.         Nakaluklok ka sa kanan ng Diyos Ama para ipamagitan kami             Panginoon, kaawaan mo kami. B.         Panginoon, kaawaan mo kami. P.         Kaawaan tayo ng makapangyarihang Diyos,             Patawarin tayo sa ating mga kasalanan,             At patnubayan tayo sa buhay na walang hanggan. B.        Amen. GLORIA/ LUWALHATI
Read more

SIMBANG GABI DAY 1: READINGS AND REFLECTIONS

-
Image
FIRST DAY: DECEMBER 16   (from the book: Where is the Child?by Fr. R. Marcos (Makati: StPauls);  pls responsibly acknowledge source when using publicly)   fr tam nguyen's photo First Reading: Isaiah 56:1-3, 6-8   Thus says the Lord: Observe what is right, do what is just, for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed.   Hay is the one who does this, whoever holds fast to it: Keeping the sabbath without profaning it, keeping one’s hand from doing any evil. The foreigner joined to the Lord should not say, “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people”; Nor should the eunuch say, “See, I am a dry tree.” And foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, to become his servants—All who keep the sabbath without profaning it and hold fast to my covenant, them I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will
Read more

SIMBANG GABI DAY 2: READINGS AND REFLECTIONS

-
Image
SECOND DAY: December 17   (from the book: Where is the Child?by Fr. R. Marcos (Makati: StPauls);  pls responsibly acknowledge source when using publicly)   fr tam nguyen's photo   First Reading: Genesis 49:2, 8-10   Jacob called his sons and said [to them]: “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob, listen to Israel, your father. “You, Judah, shall your brothers praise—your hand on the neck of your enemies;the sons of your father shall bow down to you. Judah is a lion’s cub, you have grown up on prey, my son. He crouches, lies down like a lion, Like a lioness—who would dare rouse him? The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his feet, until tribute comes to him, and he receives the people’s obedience.”     A.             Short Background on the First Reading   1. Who was Judah? Judah was one of the twelve sons of Jacob (or Israel). Jacob was considered the father of the nation of Israel and his twelve sons were cons
Read more