Fullerton T

RELIGION LITURGY AND LIFE

Archive for the category “Faith”

18 Jan 2014

2Nd Sunday Ordinary Time

Well here we are at the second Sunday of Ordinary time. As our lives grow more pressured, more tired, and more restless, perhaps more than anything else we long for “ordinary time,” quiet, routine, solitude, and space away from the hectic pace of life. The lights of Christmas and Epiphany have all faded. We’ve come from last Sunday’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord into seven weeks in “Ordinary” time. Watch out!  Ordinary time in the liturgy never means going back to “business as usual.” Last Sunday we celebrated the gift of baptism, and now this Sunday we hear the words of  John the Baptist. In The Gospel reading for this weekend we hear  the words of the man who went before the Lord as he says “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  We know these words, so well for we hear them in Church when we are just about to receive the Body and Blood of Christ during the Eucharistic celebration. 

There’s a lot of talk these days in our church about the “new evangelism.” Evangelism is not a notion we Catholics have always claimed as part of our Christian identity and activity. We, like John and Andrew, are supposed to bring others to Christ. Each of us in the church has this responsibility – not just the Priests deacons or religious. In one way or another, like John, we must also announce, “Behold, the Lamb of God.”

We squirm uncomfortably when we attempt – if we ever do attempt – to tell our faith story to others. But our baptism links us to Jesus and to the long line of his followers, who believe Jesus is the Lamb of God and that his death and resurrection is the source of new life for all peoples. We then, are to be like God’s servant in today’s Isaiah reading, “a light to the nations.” Or, to use the seldom spoken, we are to be “evangelists” That is people who get out there and tell the message to those around them about Jesus the lamb of God. 

John promises Jesus will baptise with the Holy Spirit. And so he did, for we received his Spirit when we were baptised and confirmed. Perhaps that Spirit will help us overcome our shyness and hesitancy to speak to others about who Jesus is for us. Most likely, we won’t have to do that from a soapbox in the town square. Probably the Spirit will guide us to share in more personal ways how we have come to freedom, peace, joy and hope through our faith in Christ. We remember that Ordinary time in the spiritual sense never means going back to “business as usual” it means that we are always ready to change and not be afraid to be people of faith. As we continue our faith journey during the next few weeks of Ordinary Time that take us up to Ash Wednesday let us remember that Jesus the Lamb of God is with us. 

Posted in Faith, Life, LITURGY | Leave a comment
04 Jan 2014

The Second Sunday after Christmas in some countries Epiphany

download (1)

Yes you did read the heading correctly it is the second Sunday after the feast of Christmas and we are now almost  at the arrival of the Three wise men on Epiphany which takes place on Monday 6th January or in some countries on Sunday the 5th.  By long standing sacred tradition Christians celebrate Christmas as a season, with the twelve days between Christmas and the Epiphany as one long “Christmas feast.” The season ends with the Baptism of the Lord which is also the first Sunday of ordinary time and that takes place next Sunday.

Epiphany means manifestation. What the Church celebrates today is the manifestation of our Lord to the whole world; after being made known to the shepherds of Bethlehem He is revealed to the 3 kings  who have come from the East to adore Him. As Christians, we will very often find ourselves living in contradiction to the styles and preferences of the present age. The present age which presents I want I get as the normal thing. Regrettably we have to get used to the fact that we will face conflict among friends, and even at times within families, as we seek to live out and the Christian life more generously in word and deed.

 May we not be afraid in the year that has just begun to seek the wisdom that God wants for us, that is the wisdom and the light of faith so that we will have the wisdom of the three wise men to follow the star which is Jesus the light. 

Posted in Faith, LITURGY, RELIGION | Leave a comment
28 Dec 2013

FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY

THE HOLY FAMILY

This weekend  we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family which is the name of the parish in where I live. Just four days ago we celebrated the birth of a tiny Baby, surrounded by the ethereal angel choir, greeted with awe and adoration. Today, we commemorate a family in deep stress because their Son  is seen as a threat to a jealous king: Joseph and Mary are running for their lives from Herod the Great. Tradition says that after three years in exile, another angel informs Joseph that Herod the Great is dead. The Holy Family returns to their homeland, not to Bethlehem, since the new King Archelaus who reigns in his father’s place is also a cruel and barbaric ruler. Joseph brings Mary and Jesus to his native town of Nazareth in Galilee. There, they lived a simple ordinary life, Joseph as a carpenter, and Mary as a housewife and mother. Jesus grew in holiness and in knowledge of God’s will in the same ordinary ways that families do in our day. How their lives resemble the modern scene in Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey as well as in other countries as thousands of Syrian refugee families struggle to stay unified! The scene is repeated in many other countries as well. Families on the run with a few possessions loaded onto a tractor and cart, or on foot, move out of their native land to seek refuge wherever they will be tolerated. Most homes are abandoned and will probably be looted and vandalized. It may never be possible for these people to return to their homelands. Add to this the thousands of broken families, broken by divorce, , or abandonment by one or the other parent, and we may well wonder what is “normal” for the word “family.” Pope Francis is deeply concerned with these threats to family life. He has started the process for an extraordinary synod of Bishops to meet in 2015 to determine how the Church may help remedy the current situation.

St. Paul, in Colossians, gives families, both our own individual families, and the wider family of the Church, a surefire formula for success. We are to act with “heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another.” Who would ever want to escape — whether Dad, Mom, or teenager — from such a happy home?

As we think about the Holy Family we remember the care that Mary and Joseph gave to Jesus. We recognize the sacrifice they made for Jesus, in the same way as we recognize the many sacrifices our own parents made for us  and many more  are making for their children today in our I want what I want and  I get what I want world.   Our families would find the disagreements, stressful relationships, and resentments that spoil the joy of family harmony so much easier to solve by imitating the faith and loving trust of the Holy Family.

 “Lord Jesus, you came to restore us to unity with the Father in heaven. Where there is division, bring healing and pardon. May all peoples and families find peace, wholeness, and unity in you, the Prince of Peace and Saviour of the world.”

 

 

Posted in Faith, LITURGY, RELIGION | Leave a comment
24 Dec 2013

CHRISTMAS 2013

 

 

Well, here we are approaching the big event that all the preparation has been leading up to, but  the even bigger question is this, “Has all our preparation been about tinsel and glitter without anything else, especially the spiritual preparation that the Advent Season calls for?” That is the same type of spiritual preparation that we are called to undertake during Lent when we prepare for Holy Week and Easter. Many people forget the real reason for Christmas as the secular preparations overtake and often undermine the Spiritual reasons which are much more important than the externals of tinsel and glitter.

 Preparing for Christmas is often a very tense time with extra hours at work, standing for hours at the end of queues at the shops as the craziness goes on around us. And spending more time with families and friends can be an endurance test in many ways to say the least!! Having said this, we need to remember that for some people Christmas is not all it seems as they deal with the stresses of not being able to provide a good time for the members of their families.

 We need to remember that in many houses throughout the country things are not as good as they might be or they might have been in the past. Children are not unwrapping the presents as they have none. Many families are not preparing to sit down to a big Christmas dinner because they are going hungry again.  People have lost their faith, faith in God and man. Many others sit in dark despair, wondering where exactly the light will come from and who will bring it to them. And it simply put it is the baby in the manger who is  the reason for the season that brings the light of God into the world.

During these days of celebration we will often have occasion to sing as the angels did long ago, “Glory to God in the highest!” At this time when we celebrate the birth of “a saviour who has been born for us”, the One who is “Wonder- Counsellor and Prince of Peace,” the One who is “a great light” in the darkness of war and strife around us, we welcome an opportunity to put aside our cares and worries, bask in the joy and generosity of the season, and sing out our “Glory to God in the highest as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. And as we do this we cannot forget those who are less well off than we are those who have little or nothing at all. We are mindful of all the organizations such as the Salvation Army and the St. Vincent De Paul who do so much good for so many at this time of year and throughout the whole year.

None of us will travel to Bethlehem to behold the newborn infant in the way the shepherds and the wise men did in their time. But all of us travel the road of daily life, and we are called to see Jesus the newborn Infant in the youngster who needs companionship, the teenager who needs a listening ear, the parent who needs a helping hand, the older person who needs someone to care, to name but a few. There are so many others. We remember in a special way all those who have died since last Christmas and we keep their families in our thoughts and prayers. Some of our Christmas customs seem to turn away from Christ. Or do they? The giving of gifts expresses love of the other person. Festive decorations set this season apart from all others.

Santa Claus was originally St. Nicholas, who was bishop of Myra in Lycia which is now in Turkey he was remembered for his generosity. Every letter sent and received bears the stamp of this special season, tidings of good will, and a reminder that those who are far away are close to us in mind and heart. The customs of this season are veiled announcements of one message: Christ is born for us. To remove the veil, to hear the good news, we gather together in our churches. There the message of Christmas speaks loud and clear. The Letter to the Hebrews says, “In times past, God spoke in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he has spoken to us through his Son.”

 The customs of Christmas speak the message in partial ways, but God speaks the message clearly through his Son, who is born in our midst this Christmas day. On this day the whole community of heaven joins with all believers of good will on earth in a jubilant song of praise and thanksgiving for the good news proclaimed by the angels: Behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people, for to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:10-11). So, with Mary and Joseph with the shepherds and Angels and the Archangels and the whole company of heaven, let us take this story and the good news of great joy into our hearts and let the joy and peace flourish within us and around us this Christmas.

Let us be thankful for this great light that is Christ the light of the world. Let us keep the light burning brightly in our hearts and in our lives.  Let us hold this simple story of Jesus birth in the Manger in our hearts throughout the year as we continue to travel the often bumpy roads of daily life and living.  As we proclaim Come let us adore him Christ the Lord, the child in the Manger, the true reason for Christmas.

 

Posted in Faith, Life, LITURGY, RELIGION | Leave a comment
21 Dec 2013

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT YEAR A

 

This weekend we come to the last Sunday of the Advent season. In our churches we light the last purple candle as well as the other three leaving the last candle the white one for the first Mass of Christmas Day. It’s only in this last week before Christmas that we begin to hear about the “Christmas story” itself. For the past weeks we have been preparing ourselves to greet the Lord, when he comes. Now we prepare to remember how he first came, by listening to the prophecies of his coming, and by hearing of the events before his birth. We meet Mary, who herself had been prepared for the coming of the Messiah. She has received the angel’s greeting, and his strange news, and has accepted her role in God’s plan. Now she hurries to her kinswoman, Elizabeth, who herself bears John the Baptist in her womb. John,  alerts us to the presence of the Lord, as he leaps for joy in his mother’s womb. His joy is that God has kept his promise, and is with his people.

Matthew is well planted in his Jewish tradition. He shows that from the very beginning of his gospel. By quoting the prophet Isaiah, Matthew tells us that God is with us; not in general, but now on the throne of David – as God had promised. The promise found in Scripture has been fulfilled. By referring his readers to the scriptures, Isaiah reminds his readers that believers do well to put confidence in the Scripture – especially to sustain hope and strengthen faith in discouraging times.

God enters into our world: it’s a world where plans don’t always work out and where people have to adjust to the reality presented to them. Joseph was betrothed to Mary; he had his plans. Mary’s pregnancy turns his world and plans upside down. Instead of exposing her, he “decided to divorce her quietly.” He was a “righteous man” and he will protect Mary from being publicly dishonored. He is not vengeful and, though wronged, displays mercy. After his dream Joseph, “took his wife into his home.” The world God chose to enter was not only one of poverty, hard labor and political and military oppression but, from the beginning, messy – even while the child was still in his mother’s womb. God took a big chance being born among us. Surely there must have been neater options for God, to make the savior’s path and work a bit smoother. But who has a “smooth path” through life anyway? It’s good to know that Emmanuel, “God with us,” chose to be with us – people of the real and messy world. God is with us in the mess of our daily lives!

Posted in Faith, Life, LITURGY, RELIGION | Leave a comment
14 Dec 2013

3rd Sunday of Advent

 

 

This week we witnessed  the passing of one of the world’s great leaders Nelson Mandela. I remember sitting watching him coming out of prison in 1990 and wondering where we would be going from there as he came off Robin Island and now 23 years later we have said our final farewells to this great man. His greatness came from the fact that he forgave his tormentors in order to make his country a better place; as a result of this so many countries have held the South African experience  as a blueprint for reconciliation and forgiveness. I also think that there are many individuals out there who should take the example of his life and the way he lived to see how to forgive others for the wrongs that they had done to them. We pray that the soul of Nelson Mandela will rest in peace and that his legacy will continue to inspire countless others to go along the path of forgiveness and reconciliation.

This Sunday is known as Gaudete Sunday. The term Gaudete refers to the first word of the Entrance Antiphon, “Rejoice”. Rose vestments are worn in many churches to emphasize our joy that Christmas is near, and we also light the rose candle on the Advent wreath.As Christmas draws near, the Church emphasizes the joy which should be in our hearts over all that the birth of our Savior means for us or all that it should mean for us especially in our world where so many have little or nothing at all. The readings for this week, particularly the Gospel, express this theme of rejoicing at the imminent coming of the Lord. John’s disciples ask Jesus if he is the one who is to come. ‘Look around you’, they are told. ‘The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the Good News is proclaimed to the poor and happy are those who believe.’ We praise and rejoice in God on this Gaudete Sunday. We thank him for all he has done for us. We rejoice that through the coming of his Son Jesus we have been saved. We do what we can to imitate his life, to follow his Gospel of love and that is all that faith asked of us to do our best in following Jesus. We join together to celebrate the Eucharist, sharing the bread that is his body and the wine that is his blood. We take seriously his plea to the Father: ‘May they be one, Father, even as you and I are one.’ We do all these things, yet mostly we wait. But this is not like waiting for a bus or for the postman to deliver a letter.

We wait with hope in our hearts for the culmination of all things in Christ and the prayer that is on our lips is ‘thy kingdom come!’ As we continue our Advent journeys let us prepare the way for the Lord in our own lives remembering that in  the words of the psalm the lord keeps faith forever and he won’t let us down.

 

Posted in Faith, LITURGY, RELIGION | Leave a comment
07 Dec 2013

2nd Sunday of Advent Year A

 

This weekend we hear about John the Baptist who was the herald of Jesus who said that there is one who is to come after me and I am not worthy to take the sandals of his feet.  We hear in our gospel reading that Zachariah regained his speech when they came to name the child John. John’s task was to announce the coming of Jesus and to point to him when he came. John’s work was extraordinary.  He was called to reawaken a sense of expectation among a people that had grown tired and distant from God as many have done in our present generation.   John was called to bring renewal to institutional expressions of religion which, at the time, had so often become fossilized into mere formulae or external ritual.  This too is what is happening within the Church in our present time under Pope Francis our Church is being renewed for the work that needs to be done in our present time. John attracted thousands to come out into the desert to see him. Tradition sees the desert as the place where God speaks to the heart of his people. It is from this solitary place of spiritual combat, the desert bordering the Jordan, that John appears “with the spirit and the power of Elijah” (Luke 7:17).By his word and his baptism with water, john must called the children of the covenant back to the Lord their God as he calls us today to come back to the Lord our God.

The figure of John serves as a warning, to all believers, to the Church and Church organizations of our need to draw our strength from Christ alone, rather than identifying with the cultural patterns or the Fads and fashions of the time, which in any case come and go. The Church is here in the present as it has been in past times to proclaim and live out the message of Jesus in every generation in season and out of season whether people at large like it or not. The Church and is not there in any way to be inward looking.  The Church that is the people of god, you and I  are called to constant renewal, to tear ourselves away from conventional expectations, attitudes and superficialities and centre ourselves completely on God.  The Church in every age must become like John the Baptist, an uncomfortable reminder of how we must allow the truth of Jesus to break into our lives to enlighten the darkness that can at any moment enter into our lives or the life of the Church. As the journey of Advent continues, as we prepare to celebrate the nativity of Christ, John the Baptist’s call to conversion sounds out in our communities.

It is a pressing invitation to open our hearts and to welcome the Son of God who comes among us to make the kingdom of God manifest to all of us. As we continue our Advent Journey let us hear the call of John the Baptist and put it into action in our lives.

Posted in Faith, LITURGY, RELIGION | Leave a comment
30 Nov 2013

1st SUNDAY OF ADVENT YEAR A

 

Well here we are now in Advent the official run up to the feast of Christmas as we begin the Spiritual preparation we light the first purple candle on the Advent Wreath and we pray that we will make good the preparations for the season of Christmas. The message of the advent season is clear for us. We must continually strive to work for a peaceful and just world, so that Christ may have room in all hearts. How? We must listen carefully to the daily preaching of Pope Francis! Peace starts in the hearts of believers. We start our journey to ascend to the mountain of the Lord, to be illuminated by His Words of peace and to allow Him to indicate the path to tread. (cf. Is 2:1-5). Moreover, we must change our conduct abandoning the works of darkness and put on the ‘armor of light’ and so seek only to do God’s work and to abandon the deeds of the flesh. (cf. Rm 13:12-14). Jesus, through the story in the parable, outlines the Christian life style that must not be distracted and indifferent but must be vigilant and recognize even the smallest sign of the Lord’s coming because we don’t know the hour in which He will arrive. (cf. Mt 24:39-44)Blessed John Henry Newman reminded us in a homily for the Advent Season: “Advent is a time of waiting, it is a time of joy because the coming of Christ is not only a gift of grace and salvation but it is also a time of commitment because it motivates us to live the present as a time of responsibility and vigilance.

This ‘vigilance’ means the necessity, the urgency of an industrious, living ‘wait’ We need to take this Advent seriously, for the coming of the Lord will be not just a beautiful Christmas, but the actual day of judgment. As the inscription on an old sundial in an English garden says, “It’s later than you think!” With joy, let us climb the mountain of the Lord!

Posted in Faith, LITURGY, RELIGION | Leave a comment
23 Nov 2013

CHRIST THE KING

Here we are at the feast of Christ the King which marks the end of the liturgical year as well as the end of the year of faith. We stop today and think about the kingship of Christ the Lord and we also think about the faith that he left us which we have been celebrating in a particular way over the last twelve months. The goal for this Year of Faith has been to conform our lives to Jesus Christ, and to not only learn the Faith but to live faith in the world where we are. 

 The Feast of Christ the King was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as an antidote to secularism, a way of life which leaves God out of man’s thinking and living life as if God did not exist. The feast is intended to proclaim in a striking and effective manner Christ’s royalty over individuals, families, society, governments, and nations. The way to serve Christ our King is to work for the coming of his kingdom. In working for the relief of the deprived, the oppressed and the outcast we are serving Christ in person, because he fully identifies himself with all those in need. Those in the gospel reading who were excluded from God’s kingdom were guilty of the sin of omission. It was the sin of the priest and the Levite who passed by on the other side the side farthest from the battered body of the traveler.

The disciple of Christ the King cannot afford the luxury of saying “I keep myself to myself” or “I do nobody any harm.” To be deaf to the cries of the oppressed is to be deaf to Christ. To be blind to the agony of those about us is to be blind to Christ. To take Christ as our Shepherd involves becoming a shepherd to Christ present to us in the sufferings and deprivations of others.

As we conclude the liturgical year, are you with Christ? Is your life an open sacrifice in a demonstration of love? As we conclude this year, we too embrace the cross and walk in the victory of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. What began as a humble event—the birth of the Messiah—has changed the world. As we conclude the Year of Faith, let’s not forget the beautiful truths that we have learned, but let’s continue to learn more about them, celebrate them, live them, and pass them on. It is our prayer that when people look at us, they will say, “Christ is King.”

 

 

Posted in Faith, LITURGY, RELIGION | Leave a comment
16 Nov 2013

33RD SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

 

 

 

In the world today, we often feel like we need a “time out” or the equivalent of a few “stop the world, I want to get off” moments.   I have been lucky that this week I have had one of those moment as I have been out of action for a couple of days due to a bit of sickness and it has been good to recharge the batteries. Many things and countries around are in turmoil as we see in the Philippines and other places where there have been disasters of one sort or another as well as  non-stop action if not in our own lives then in the lives of someone we know. Sometimes I think that a break in the constant adrenalin flow of the day would be nice,  if even for just a brief time, time enough to collect myself and that is why it was good for me to be able to take time out during the week even though the head and throat were sore for in the run up to Christmas things will as usual get busier and we might not get a chance to think about God and things of the Spirit.

 Our readings for this Sunday tell us about the time that the world has left as well as the time that we have left. The prophet Malachi says that the Day of the Lord is coming. In the Bible, The Day of the Lord refers to the last days of the world. In the Gospel, Jesus Himself gives some details for those who ask Him for signs that will precede the end time. First, He tells them not to believe those who claim to preach in His name that the end is now! “Do not believe them,” Jesus warns.

Then He speaks of natural disasters and wonders from the sky. Even then, He says, the end will not come before a general persecution and imprisonment of His faithful followers. This is the time for them to give witness to His Name. Don’t prepare your defense ahead of time, He says, for “I myself shall give you a witness in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.” It’s all about having courage to cling to our faith. “By your perseverance, you will secure your lives,” Jesus concludes. When we hear the  readings for this weekend we are tempted to dismiss them as something in the far future, something we most probably will not experience. We forget that the end of our own days will certainly come, and much sooner than any of us anticipate as time is flying by. So the father in the story is correct: None of us can allow hatred, anger or upset to destroy the time we have left to serve the Lord.

 In time of trial it is of great profit to us patiently to endure for God’s sake, for the Lord says: “By patient endurance you will win life for yourselves.” He did not say by your fasting, or your solitude and silence, or your singing of psalms, although all of these are helpful in saving your soul. But he said: “By patient endurance” in every trial that overtakes you, and in every affliction, whether this be insolent and contemptuous treatment, or any kind of disgrace, either small or great; whether it be bodily weakness, or the belligerent attacks of Satan, or any trial whatsoever caused either by other people or by evil spirits.This Sunday we are offered the time and grace to commit ourselves to the Gospel’s invitations to faith in his Kingdom and our working for the Widow’s and Orphans and against the possessors who are oppressors” of such poor.

The heavens and earth and all its temples may and will pass away, but for those who accompany Jesus during their days on earth, they will pass along “in that number.”

 

Posted in Faith, LITURGY | Leave a comment

Post Navigation

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →