REFLECTIONS TODAY Words do not come in abundance from Mary. Yes, she gave her Fiat to the angel Gabriel, agreeing to bear the Son of the Most High; she sang her Magnificat to the Lord for looking down at her lowliness; she voiced out her gentle “complaint” to the boy Jesus when he was “lost...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The liturgical year presents to us the arch of the mystery of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. At the close of this year, it is fitting that we go back to the very beginning, not just of his earthly life, but to his divine existence as the Logos or the Word of God. The...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Luke loves to present his characters in pairs by way of complementarity and contrast. He contrasts Zechariah and Mary in their response to the message of the angel Gabriel. He pairs Simeon and Anna as both aged ang prophesying. During the presentation of the Child Jesus in the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY First Reading • 1 Sm 1:20-22, 24-28 [or Sir 3:2-6, 12-14] In those days Hannah conceived, and at the end of her term bore a son whom she called Samuel, since she had asked the Lord for him. The next time her husband Elkanah was going up with the rest of his household to...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Matthew interprets the flight to Egypt and the succeeding massacre of the infants of Bethlehem with two prophetic oracles. The first — “Out of Egypt I called my son” (Hos 11:1) — recalls Israel, God’s son, being called out of Egypt at the time of the exodus. Jesus,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Following the celebration of St. Stephen who shed his blood for the faith is the feast of St. John, apostle and evangelist. He is believed to be “the other disciple whom Jesus loved” (v 2) who outruns Peter to the tomb but lets him enter first. The evangelist alludes to the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY When he took the Child Jesus in his arms, the old man Simeon tells Mary that the Child is destined for the fall and the rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (Lk 2:34). This is immediately manifested on the day after Christmas, the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY On Christmas Midnight, we celebrate the Savior’s birth as a human being, one like us. On Christmas Day, we celebrate the Word taking flesh (Greek sarx)—our humanity in its finiteness and mortality, so different from his former state. The Word Incarnate—Jesus Christ—became...
REFLECTIONS TODAY At the threshold of Christmas, we hear Zechariah’s canticle of praise at the Lord’s coming to visit his people. God finally makes good his promise to his people through the prophets by sending his Son Jesus, the Davidic Messiah. Jesus’ entry into the world is like a streak...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Every birth entails a mission. In ancient Rome, the predictive power of a person’s name was captured by the Latin proverb “Nomen est omen,” meaning, the name is a sign. Yehoshua, the Hebrew name of Jesus (and Joshua, the successor of Moses), means “Yahweh (God) is...
REFLECTIONS TODAY After years of anticipation prolonged by the global coronavirus pandemic, the World Youth Day (WYD) 2023 happened in Lisbon, Portugal on Aug. 1-6, 2023. Throughout the week, young people from all over the world had the opportunity to attend catechism, masses, youth festival and...
REFLECTIONS TODAY When the angel Gabriel delivers God’s message to Zechariah, the old priest does not believe in the message and is rendered speechless. Mary puts in the same question, “How can this be?” (v 34) but does not share Zechariah’s fate. Definitely, it is not out of...
