Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Sunday Reading Reflections:

Sunday, August 3, 2008
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The first reading is taken from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah 55:1-3:

The prophet, living among the Jewish exiles in Babylon, utters words of consolation for the despairing exiles. Here he tells them that Yahweh is inviting them to a banquet which he freely gives them. Yahweh alone can provide for their real needs; they are foolish to look elsewhere for consolation or help. If they cooperate he will fulfill the promise he had made to David, the promise of a future Messiah.

The second reading is from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 8:35, 37-39:

St. Paul concludes this chapter with a hymn in praise of God's love for us: "with God on our side," he says, "who can be against us?" Then come today's verses, which are rhetorical questions, showing that there is no power in heaven or on earth that can take away or lessen God's love for us as manifested in Christ, his Incarnate Son.


The Gospel is from St. Matthew 14:13-21:

This miracle was an act of kindness and loving thoughtfulness on the part of Christ. He saw the people's need - it was late for them to return to their homes and they had had nothing to eat all day - and He worked a miracle to provide for this need. The miracle also helped to convince the people of Galilee - the news spread around quickly - that He was the expected Messiah, but especially it prepared the way for the announcement of the greatest miracle of all - the miracle of the Eucharist. As St. John tells us Jesus referred to this miracle the next day in order to introduce His promise of the heavenly bread which He would give them and which was to be His own body and blood, under the form of bread and wine. The bread He miraculously multiplied that day to supply the bodily needs of the Galilean multitude was but a foreshadowing of that heavenly food which He was about to give as spiritual nourishment to the millions who would become His followers down through the centuries until the end of time.


The Galileans were grateful to Him for providing so kindly and so thoughtfully for their needs. How much more grateful should we not be for the miracle by means of which He has left us Himself to be our daily spiritual food? We are grateful, of course, to our loving Lord who not only handed up His Body to His enemies to be crucified for us, but through His divine power, arranged that His glorified body, triumphant over death, should remain with us, His Church, forever under the Eucharistic species.




<- The picture on the left is the Altar over rock of the Multiplication of Loaves & Fish
Though invisible to mortal eyes, He is as truly present on our altars as He was that day in Galilee, when He miraculously fed the multitude. He is present under the form of bread and wine — so that we can partake of Him as spiritual nourishment during our earthly life. Could love go any further? He Himself said: "A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends" (Jn. 15 :13). Yes, once a man has given his life he has given his all; there is nothing more he can give. But Christ was more than man.


He was God as well, and, therefore, He was able not only to lay down His human life for us, but was able and willing to remain with us after death under the Eucharistic species: to be our strength and nourishment until we join Him in the promised land of heaven.

When we compare our own unworthiness with this, almost incredible, love and thoughtfulness of Christ for us, all we can do is simply to say: "Lord, you know I am not worthy to receive you, but you say you want to come into my poor and untidy home, please make me less unworthy, forgive all my past sins and offenses, and give me the grace and strength to be better in the future."

-Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Sunday Reading Reflections:

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time



The first reading is taken from the first Book of Kings 3:5, 7-12:


God gives Solomon a choice of gifts. Solomon asks God for "an understanding mind," so that he could always do what was just and best for his subjects. God rewards him with the gift of wisdom making him the wisest man that ever lived.


— The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.


The second reading is from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 8:28-30:


The theme of this reading concerns the graciousness and mercy of God at work in calling men to himself, justifying them, and glorifying them as well. The point of the reading is the eternal mystery of the ineffable love of God for man, even before man existed.


— A Celebrants Guide to the New Sacramentary - A Cycle by Kevin W. Irwin



The Gospel is from St. Matthew 13:44-52:


The lesson of these two parables is as true for us today, as it was for those Palestinians to whom Christ spoke. All Christians are called on to imitate the two wise men, and surrender all their earthly possessions if necessary in order to gain eternal life. Does this "giving all" mean that we are all expected to abandon the world and take on the religious vows of poverty, chastity and obedience? There are many who do just this. But it is not the only way, nor the normal way, to purchase the eternal treasure. Heaven is within the reach of all, who follow the ordinary vocations of life and partake of this world's joys and pleasures within the framework of God's commandments, but never lose sight of the goal toward which they are moving.


Keeping within the framework of God's commandments is the difficulty. We need not have a vow of obedience, but we must obey all legitimate authority. We may possess the goods of this world, but only such goods as we lawfully and justly acquire. Nor may we withhold all of these from a fellow man who is in need. We do not have to take a vow of chastity, but yet we must be chaste, we must use the gifts and the pleasure of sex only within the limits set down by God's wise laws.
All of this is not easy for human nature. But we are not relying on weak human nature, we have within our reach in the Church all the spiritual and supernatural aids we need. Our twentieth century, it is true, is so engrossed in chasing after the earthly comforts and pleasures of the body, and so devoid of any spiritual or other-worldly outlook, that even those who know and believe that there is an eternity after death, find it hard to allow their faith and convictions to govern and direct their daily actions. Yet, the evil example of others will never justify our wrong-doing. The commandments of God are still binding, even though they are openly and flagrantly violated by individuals and whole nations today.


Remember this: we shall not be asked at the judgment, "What did your neighbor do?", but "what did you do?" If we lose the pearl of great price in the eternity of happiness God has offered to us-it will not be the fault of others. The fault will be ours and ours only. We refused to pay the price. We did not think it worth the "paltry all" which we possessed in this life.


-Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Sunday Reading Reflections:

Sunday, July 20, 2008
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The first reading is taken from the Book of Wisdom 12:13, 16-19

Where the author reminds us that the kind of judgment we receive depends not on the scales of godless justice, but instead on the mercy and love of God for those who strive to live life in response to His love.

— A Celebrants Guide to the New Sacramentary - A Cycle by Kevin W. Irwin

The second reading is from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 8:26-27

The theme is the activity of the Spirit in helping us in our weakness to pray as we ought, for it is the Spirit who makes intercession for us and intercedes for us before God.

— A Celebrants Guide to the New Sacramentary - A Cycle by Kevin W. Irwin

The Gospel is from St. Matthew 13:24-43

Today's parable is Christ's answer to the question so frequently asked: "Why does God permit evil to triumph so often in this world, why are the wicked allowed to prosper?" The triumph of the wicked is short-lived, the reward of the Christian who suffers from their wickedness is everlasting. The very wickedness and injustices of evil-doers are one of the ways that God uses to perfect his elect. It is only on a battlefield that a true soldier can be proved.

In the parable, the weed does not destroy the wheat. It only makes it more difficult for the wheat to grow to maturity. So it is with the Christian. No one can take his faith from him, but living up to it is made more difficult by the evil influence and bad example of sinners. If some succumb to this evil influence and give up the practice of their faith, the fault is theirs. God can force no man to serve him.

The patience of the farmer in letting the weed grow on until harvest time, exemplifies the infinite mercy of God toward sinners. The weed could not change its nature, but the sinner can change his ways and God gives him every chance and every help to do this, up to his last moment of life. No sinner will be excluded from heaven because of the sins he committed but because he did not repent of these sins while he had the opportunity.

We must learn a double lesson of patience from this parable. First, to be patient with those who make our spiritual progress more difficult for us—they are actually helping us to be better Christians if we bear with patience the injuries they inflict on us. Second, we must try to imitate the patience God shows in his dealings with sinners. While we must not approve of their evil deeds, or their sins, we must still look on them as our brothers and do all in our power to put them back on the right road to heaven. We can do this by good example, and by fervent prayer for their conversion. This is not easy for human nature, but we can be certain that God will give us the necessary grace and strength to subdue our natural weakness and aversion, if we try to act with charity and true brotherly interest toward our erring fellowmen.
By acting thus, we will not only be helping a weak brother on the rugged road to heaven, we will also be making doubly sure of our own arrival there, for God will never be outdone in generosity.
-Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

Monday, July 07, 2008

Sunday Reading Reflections: 13th July, 2008

Sunday, July 13, 2008
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The first reading is taken from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah 55:10-11.

The word of God which came to the Chosen People through the prophets, and the divinely inspired writers, came out of God's loving interest in His people. He wanted to prepare them for the inheritance, the real "promised land," that, when the messianic age (the "fullness of time") came, would be theirs, provided their lives on earth were lived as they should be.

— The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

The second reading is from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 8:18-23

Is about the present suffering and the glory of God. Suffering is an essential part of the Christian life and one who truly believes will have his or her share of hardships and trials. Yet, these are not ends in themselves, as there is hope that they will terminate with the full revelation of the glory of God. The theme and message of St. Paul is not to lose hope in the Lord into whose risen life we have been initiated by Baptism.

— A Celebrants Guide to the New Sacramentary - A Cycle by Kevin W. Irwin

The Gospel is from St. Matthew 13:1-23.

Christ's description of His audience, that day in Galilee, is unfortunately as true today as it was then. His message of salvation has been preached to a great part of the world's population, but the proportion of those who accept it and live up to it, is about the same today as it was then. There are millions of men and women today, in what was once Christian Europe, who are like the seed sown on the unplowed path. They refuse to accept the message, they have no thought for their future, they are content to end in the grave after their few years of misery and hardship on this planet.

There are others who see the truth and the consolation of the Christian gospel, but when it comes to making sacrifices for it, they give up. The message did not sink into their hearts and minds. They are like the seed which fell on rocky ground because the faith had no deep roots in their lives. Others again, and they are legion, are like the seed that fell among the briars and thorns. They accepted the faith and it took root in them, but later on, "the cares of the world and the delight in riches chokes the word and it proves unfruitful,"—these are our Lord's own words.
The last class of Christians, are like the seed sown on good soil. They not only accept Christ and his teaching, but they live up to it, and, come what may, they are faithful to it. These will produce fruit and will earn for themselves eternal happiness.

Each one of us can look into his own conscience today and discover to which class he or she belongs. Are some of us perhaps, like the seed that fell on the rocky ground? While Christianity makes no very difficult demand we are all for it, but when it demands mortification, the curbing of passion, real sacrifices for our neighbor, do we forget our Christian calling then and ignore its precepts? And how does our type of Christianity stand up to the temptations of the world—the desire to get all the enjoyment we can out of this life, licit or illicit, breaking God's commandments weekly or maybe daily? Are we chasing after wealth and power, using all our energies to rise in the world to be above our neighbor by fair or foul means? If the above are our aims in life, our Christianity has been or is being choked out of us.

There are millions of saints in heaven today, enjoying eternal happiness, who had some, if not all, of our present failings. We, too, can be with them one day, provided we do what they did. They repented sincerely and remained God's close friends, until he called them to himself. May the merciful God give us the grace to imitate them while we yet have time.

- Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Sunday Reading Reflections:

Sunday, July 6, 2008
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The first reading is taken from the Book of the Prophet Zechariah 9:9-10

Indicates that the humility asked for by Jesus is the kind that he himself endured, for he came in meekness and without pageantry, yet his dominion would be to the ends of the earth. The example of the humble servant is the very person of Jesus himself who invites us in the second part of the gospel to come to Him for refreshment and rest.

— A Celebrants Guide to the New Sacramentary - A Cycle by Kevin W. Irwin


The second reading is from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 8:9, 11-13

Contains one of the most important yet often misunderstood themes of St. Paul. The hellenistic dichotomy between the lower and higher nature is not found here, for flesh and spirit mean the whole man and the whole man stands in need of redemption by Christ. The Pauline teaching is not that part of man is redeemed and part of him is damnable. Rather man's whole personality is redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ. The vocation of the Christian, both "body" and "soul," is to conform his already redeemed person to the same Spirit he has already received at baptism.

— A Celebrants Guide to the New Sacramentary - A Cycle by Kevin W. Irwin


The Gospel is from St. Matthew 11:25-30.

Pagans and Jews had the same hardships of life to face as we have, and even greater ones. They earned their daily bread with the sweat of brow and body. Their illnesses were more frequent and less bearable than ours, for they had not the medical helps that we have. Death came to young and old then as it does now, but for them it was a final parting from loved ones, and no hope of a future happy meeting served to lighten their sorrow. All their crosses were crushing weights, sent to make life more miserable. Life on earth was passed in gloom and darkness and there was no shining star in the heavens to beckon them on or give them hope.

Surely God is good to us, to put us into this world at this day and age, and give us the light of faith, and the knowledge of God and of His loving plans for us, which make the burdens of this life so relatively light and even so reasonable for us. We still have to earn our bread. We still have sickness and pains. We still have death stalking the earth, but unlike the people before Christ we now see a meaning to all these trials.

The yoke of Christ is not really a yoke but a bond of love, which joins us to Him, and through Him, to our loving Father in heaven. The rule of life which He asks us to keep, if we are loyal followers of His, is not a series of prohibitions and don'ts. It is rather a succession of sign-posts on the straight road to heaven, making our journey easier and safer. He does ask us to carry our cross daily, that is, to bear the burden of each day's duty, but once the cross is grasped firmly and lovingly it ceases to be a burden.

Ours is a world which is in an all-out search for new idols. It is a world which has left the path marked out by Christ, and forgotten or tried to forget, that man's life does not end with death. To be a Christian and to have the light of faith to guide our steps in this neo-pagan darkness, is surely a gift, and a blessing from God, for which we can never thank Him enough. Thank you, God, for this gift. Please give us the grace and the courage to live up to it and to die in the certainty that we shall hear, as we shut our eyes on the light of this world, the consoling words, "come you blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you."

-Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

MESSAGE FROM THE HOLY FATHER: POPE BENEDICT XVI

The Holy Father's Monthly Intentions for the year 2010:

http://www.hyscience.com/archives/Pope20Benedict20XVI_1.jpg

SEPTEMBER 2010


The Word of God as Sign of Social Development

General: That in less developed parts of the world the proclamation of the Word of God may renew people’s hearts, encouraging them to work actively toward authentic social progress.

The End of War

Missionary: That by opening our hearts to love we may put an end to the numerous wars and conflicts which continue to bloody our world.

RCAM NEWS:

***************************************************
CELEBRATION OF THE SOLEMNITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI
Parents of Priests' Day

PARENTS AND FAMILY OF PRIESTS
(On the Year for Priests)

Archdiocese Recognizes Parents of Priests

Photogallery
*************************************************** Source: www.rcam.org

LITURGICAL NEWS:

Ministry of Liturgical Affairs
121 Arzobispo St. Intramuros, Manila


ON-GOING FORMATION FOR EMHC 2010

ON-GOING FORMATION FOR LECTORS AND COMMENTATORS

ALC CIRCULARS


Liturgical Music Module
Read


On-going Formation for Altar Servers
Read


Schedule of Basic Formations
Read


Seminar-Workshop on Proclamations Skills for Lectors
Read


PROPORMAS

Application for Basic Seminars
click here


Letter of Acceptance
click here


Letter of Endorsement
click here


Performance Appraisal for Lay Liturgical Ministers
click here


Recommendation
click here


Please see below link:


Archdiocese of Manila (a 3-year Plan for 2008, 2009 and 2010


POSTER on Proper Attire in Church


Circular on Proper Attire in Church


LITURGICAL BOOKS (Ministry of Liturgical Affairs)


Source: http://www.rcam.org/

About Us:

Philippines
"IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD ..." (John 1:1) The Word service proclaims, not only the contents of the readings, but also the bigger reality that God speaks continually to his people that we are called to a dialogue with God and with one another. To proclaim their inspired content in the midst of the worshipping community is a ministry entrusted to a few. The manner of proclamation is important for the delivery of the message in order to enable the community to enter into the spirit of the Word. The magnificence of this ministry cries out for the excellence that the Word of the Lord deserves. As lectors at the Mass we transmit that Word to human hearts and minds. The readings remind the people of the vision of the Christian community . . . of the things that truly matter.