Thursday, February 25, 2010

Sunday Reading Reflections:

February 28, 2010
Second Sunday of Lent



Reading 1 Reflection:

Many of us have had the difficult experience of having to pack up and move on, leaving our homes and friends behind. We can imagine how Abram, later known as Abraham, might have felt when God called him to journey to a new and unfamiliar land. Despite his doubts and questions, Abram "put his faith in the Lord."

He gave up everything, including his pagan gods, and accepted God's promise of countless descendants. The covenant between God and Abraham was sealed in a special ceremony of sacrifice. The smoke and flame in that ceremony represent the presence of God moving between the broken animal halves. This is a sign that neither Abram, who stays with the sacrificial animals, nor God, whose presence is signaled, will break the covenant.

Reading 2 Reflection:

Today's second reading reminds us that as Christians sharing in God's life we are already citizens of heaven. Neither our earthly homes nor our physical bodies are lasting. But one day our bodies will be transformed and become like the glorified body of the risen Jesus. This is the great and final hope of every Christian.

Gospel Reflection:

Wouldn't it be wonderful to see your best friend transformed, or turned into his or her glorified self, right before your eyes? That's the kind of experience Peter, James, and John have in today's gospel. While they are up on a mountain with Jesus, they have a splendid vision of him in his glorified body.

They see him talking with Moses and Elijah, two long-dead figures from the Old Testament. Moses represents the Law, while Elijah represents the prophets. In Jesus, both find the fulfillment of God's plan of salvation.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Sunday Reading Reflections:

February 21, 2010
First Sunday of Lent

Reading 1 Reflection:

Lent is more than a season of preparation for Easter. It is a time for the Christian community to repent and be reconciled with God and one another. It is a time of journeying with and praying for the catechumens who will be initiated into the Church at the Easter Vigil. We also pray for those baptized candidates who will be confirmed and/or will be receiving the Eucharist for the first time.

Finally, it is a time to appreciate and profess our faith, as God's people do in today's first reading. As they celebrate a liturgy of thanksgiving, Moses retells the story of the marvelous way God guided and saved them. He reminds the people that God sees their suffering and hears their cry for help.

Discussion Questions for Reading 1:

Remembering the story of God's people?our story?is a very important part of the liturgy and our lives as part of God's family. The "wandering Aramean" referred to here is Abraham. He is the father of the Jewish people. We Catholics also call him, in Eucharistic Prayer I, "our father in faith." Abraham answered God's call to leave his own land and to worship the one true God. Have you ever been asked to leave familiar things behind and go into the unknown? If you have, you know something of what Abraham experienced. How did God help you at that time? What other help did you have?

In this reading, we remember the hard times of God's people. We also "make merry over all these good things" that the Lord has given us. Because we belong to God's family, we are a part of all these events. Without them, we would not be where we are today: inheritors of eternal life in Jesus Christ. If you have ever experienced difficult times, you know what it is to remember them after they have passed! What difficult times do you remember? How did God help you through them? How did they bring you to where you are today?

The liturgy enables us not only to remember the past but to make it present today in action. "Do this in memory of me," said Jesus, as he broke the bread and shared the wine of his Body and Blood. The priest does what Jesus said to do. When we receive the Eucharist, we are "in communion" with Jesus, and in him, with all the people of God?those in the past, those living now, and people yet to come. In Jesus, the Son of God, we become more deeply a part of God's family. Each one of us can say, "My father was a wandering Aramean." We too can rejoice in God's goodness to his people. What good gifts of God will you rejoice in today?

Reading 2 Reflection:

Just as Moses wanted the people to express their faith, Paul calls on the Christians of Rome to "confess with their lips that Jesus is Lord." He reminds them and us that we must truly believe that Jesus rose from the dead if we hope to be saved. Through Jesus, God's great mercy embraces us and makes us "justified," or right with God.

Discussion Questions for Reading 2:

In the early Church, two cultures of people were listening to the preaching of the apostles and becoming Christians: the Jews and the Greeks. These two cultures were very different. What Jews and Greeks thought about religion was very different from one another. The Jews had a long history of worshiping the one true God. The Greeks had always been pagans, with many gods and goddesses. The Jews were used to their own religious rituals and prayers. The Greeks had their own customs. How could these two very different groups of people get along in the same Church? Paul's answer is: Our belief in the Lord Jesus, risen from the dead, makes us one. This is what matters. It is calling upon the name of the Lord that saves us.

Look around your parish and the Church throughout the world. Discuss the differences you find among people?in language, customs, national origin, race, or any other differences. You may want to make a list of the various differences you find. Find pictures to illustrate your list. Above your list, write, "ALL HAVE THE SAME LORD." Show and explain your chart to another group in your school or parish.

The French have a saying that expresses a joyful acceptance of differences: "Vive la différence!" This means, "Long live difference!" or "Hurray for differences!" How do we express our oneness and our differences in our parish? in the worldwide Church?

Gospel Reflection:

Lent is a period of forty days during which the whole Church renews itself through prayer and fasting. Today we are reminded that the Israelites wandered for forty years in the desert after God led them out of captivity. We are now observing the forty days of Lent. During the Easter Triduum, we will celebrate being led from slavery into freedom. According to today's gospel, Jesus retreated to the desert for forty days to prepare for his mission after being baptized by John the Baptist.

Luke dramatically describes what happened to Jesus while he was alone in that deserted place. The devil tempts Jesus with promises of bread (a symbol for material comforts), of power (authority over others), and of false glory (to be gained by daring to test God). But Jesus defeats the devil by defending himself with God's word from the Old Testament. Even then the devil does not give up. He "awaits another opportunity" to tempt Jesus

Discussion Questions for Gospel:

Look up the Scriptural quotes Jesus uses. They are all from the Book of Deuteronomy 8:3; 6:13; and 6:16. How might you use one of these quotes to protect yourself in a time of temptation?

There is an old folk saying that probably came from this gospel account. It goes: "The devil can quote Scripture, too." This means that good things (like Scripture, or an idea that seems to be harmless or even good) can be used to trip us up or deceive us. We have to be careful and consider how good or trustworthy a person or an idea is. While we are to be open and accepting of everyone as loved by God, we sometimes have to examine how well people can back up the truth of what they say.

Here the devil used a beautiful psalm verse about God's care for us to suggest that Jesus, as the Son of God, could recklessly, for no good reason, throw himself from the Temple. Jesus rejected the idea of "testing" God's love and care for him. Do we ever "test" God's love and care? How might this work against trust in God?

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Ash Wednesday Reflection

ASH WEDNESDAY

" Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return."
Gn. 3:19

Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God. (Joel 2:13)

Reflection.

The liturgical use of ashes originated in the Old Testament times. Ashes symbolized mourning, mortality and penance.

In the Book of Esther, Mordecai put on sackcloth and ashes when he heard of the decree of King Ahasuerus to kill all of the Jewish people in the Persian Empire (Esther 4:1).

Job repented in sackcloth and ashes (Job 42:6). Prophesying the Babylonian captivity of Jerusalem, Daniel wrote, "I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes" (Daniel 9:3).

Jesus made reference to ashes, "If the miracles worked in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have reformed in sackcloth and ashes long ago" (Matthew 11:21).

In the Middle Ages, the priest would bless the dying person with holy water, saying, "Remember that thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return." The Church adapted the use of ashes to mark the beginning of the penitential season of Lent, when we remember our mortality and mourn for our sins. In our present liturgy for Ash Wednesday, we use ashes made from the burned palm branches distributed on the Palm Sunday of the previous year.

The priest blesses the ashes and imposes them on the foreheads of the faithful, making the sign of the cross and saying, "Remember, man you are dust and to dust you shall return," or "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel."

As we begin this holy season of Lent in preparation for Easter, we must remember the significance of the ashes we have received: We mourn and do penance for our sins. We again convert our hearts to the Lord, who suffered, died, and rose for our salvation. We renew the promises made at our baptism, when we died to an old life and rose to a new life with Christ. Finally, mindful that the kingdom of this world passes away, we strive to live the kingdom of God now and look forward to its fulfillment in heaven.

Lenten Question

Q: What is Lent?

A: Lent is the forty day period before Easter, excluding Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter Sunday). [This traditional ennumeration does not precisely coincide with the calendar according to the liturgical reform. In order to give special prominence to the Sacred Triduum (Mass of the Lord's Supper, Good Friday, Easter Vigil) the current calendar counts Lent as only from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday, up to the Mass of the Lord's Supper. Even so, Lenten practices are properly maintained up to the Easter Vigil, excluding Sundays, as before.]

Lenten Action.

Invite a non-practicing friend to Mass with you. PrayerAlmighty and everlasting God, you despise nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent.Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our brokenness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness;through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.Amen.

Ash Wednesday is a day of both fasting and abstinence.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Sunday Reading Reflections:

February 14, 2010
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Reflection:

We can tell from Jeremiah's opening complaint today that the leaders of Judah had become corrupt. The people had again wandered away from God. Jeremiah warns that it is useless to place our trust in anyone "whose heart turns away from the Lord."

If we do so, we are "cursed." But if we place our trust and hope in the Lord, we will be like trees growing near a stream. Because their roots are watered by the stream, they bear fruit even in time of drought. That is the blessing Jeremiah prays all of us will experience.

Reading 2 Reflection:

Paul, too, has a complaint today. He is upset with those Christians of Corinth who no longer believe in the resurrection of the dead. He lets them know that they are way off base. If they do not believe in the resurrection, their faith is not worth a wooden nickel.

Gospel Reflection:

You might have noticed that this gospel reading sounds very similar to Matthew's account of the eight beatitudes in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. In Luke's account today, Jesus names four categories of people who are "blest." They are: the poor who place their trust in God; those who hunger for God and God's reign; those who weep because there is so much suffering and evil in the world; and those who are persecuted because they live their faith.

Jesus then names four categories of people who will suffer misery because they do not put their trust in God. They are: the rich; the well-fed; the uncaring; and those who are accepted because they live by the world's values instead of the gospel. These people have woes because they may forget that we must all be dependent on God and not on things.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Sunday Reading Reflections:

February 7, 2010
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Reflection:

As Isaiah describes how God called him to be a prophet, he remembers the scene as though it had just happened. In a vision, Isaiah has "seen" the Lord on a magnificent throne in the Temple. Glowing angels called seraphim hover above the throne, and the Temple shakes with their praise.

Isaiah is overcome with the reality of his own sinfulness and God's holiness. He protests that he cannot be a prophet because of his "unclean lips." But an angel purifies his lips with a glowing coal from the altar. This is a sign that Isaiah is now completely worthy to speak for God. Cleansed of his sin, Isaiah answers the Lord's call by saying, "Here I am, send me!"

Reading 2 Reflection:

Often when we want to convince others of an important truth, we point to the testimony of the experts who believe that same truth. Paul wants to be sure that the Christians of Corinth believe in the resurrection of Jesus. If they fail to grasp that central truth, their faith will be without meaning.

So Paul lines up all the important "experts," or witnesses, from Peter (Cephas) on down to himself. Paul is probably the most convincing witness of all, because Christ himself converted Paul from being a persecutor of Christians to a zealous apostle.

Gospel Reflection:

We can be sure that Peter remembered the scene in today's gospel story as clearly as Isaiah recalled his own vision of God. Even though Simon is convinced that there are no fish available, he tells Jesus, "At your command, I will lower the nets."

His trust is rewarded not only by a huge catch of fish, but by Jesus' call to become a disciple. Peter, James, and John, overwhelmed by the presence of Jesus, drop everything and follow Him.

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:

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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
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ON-GOING FORMATION FOR EMHC 2010

ON-GOING FORMATION FOR LECTORS AND COMMENTATORS

ALC CIRCULARS


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Please see below link:


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


POSTER on Proper Attire in Church


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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.