SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD/ NEW YEAR C

-



RECEIVE HOPE, SHARE HOPE





How do we enjoy this year in such a way that our hope will remain and that we can serve the Lord worthily? Here are some suggestions.



First, be a positive force in your environment. Look at how the first reading (Num 6) recalls Moses and Aaron receiving the assurance of God’s blessings. From the hand of God come only good things. From the lips of the Lord issue forth only blessings. From his heart, flows only divine love and mercy.



We live in a world saturated with angry and hateful speech, suspicious and divisive insinuations, crooked and forced reasoning. As Christians let us share our thoughts and ideas, sentiments and feelings, with constructive and healing words. As the prayer of St Francis says: where there is hatred, love; where there is injury, pardon; where there’s despair, true faith. How can we learn to think and speak positively? Read the Word of God this year, spend time in silent prayer, practice gentleness in acting and speaking. Be a positive force!



Second, start to live simple. While there are many suffering and poor around us, the truth is that many of us have excesses in our homes – clothes we don’t actually wear, purchases we never opened and used, food nearing the expiration date, and trinkets. An ancient father of the church said these things no longer belong to you but to the poor.



How do we learn simple living? Have an attitude of sharing and generosity. Learn to control your urge to accumulate and hoard. Live an uncluttered life by having a spacious heart for God and others.



Third, discover the joy of little virtues. Aside from Jesus we can learn from the the gospel characters of this day, Mary and Joseph (Lk 2). They played important, crucial roles in the history of salvation. They are remembered and honored through the ages. But they were also very simple people, who cannot boast of great personal achievements.



Neither Mary and Joseph died a martyr for the faith. They did not evangelize foreign lands. They did not build churches and schools. They only tried to follow God’s leading in their lives through the so-called “little virtues.” They were obedient, faithful, gentle, humble and simple and good neighbor. Not in great accomplishments did they offer themselves to the Lord, but in the little things they could give to the Christ Child. We too, can easily please the Lord through little things we do with love and devotion, wherever we are and whatever our situation.



 A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!


-->

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