Reflections

Reflection: Feast of Sto. Niño

By Fray Hubert Dunstan Decena, OAR / January 11, 2021 / Comments Off on Reflection: Feast of Sto. Niño

Is. 9:1-6; Eph. 1:3-6, 15-18; Mk. 10:13-16. A Jewish child was not considered mature until he reaches twelve years of age when he was given permission to read and study the Law or Torah. Before that age the child did not possess knowledge of the Law which rabbinic teaching held indispensable for salvation. It was…

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Reflection: Baptism of the Lord, Cycle B

By Fray Hubert Dunstan Decena, OAR / January 7, 2021 / Comments Off on Reflection: Baptism of the Lord, Cycle B

Is 42:1-4, 6-7; Acts 10:34-38; Mt 3:13-17 The first thing that comes to mind when we consider this feast, is the question, “Why does Jesus have to be baptized?” Even John the Baptist asked that same question: “I ought to be baptized by you and yet you come to me?” The answer of Jesus was,…

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Reflection: The Epiphany of the Lord

By Fray Hubert Dunstan Decena, OAR / January 2, 2021 / Comments Off on Reflection: The Epiphany of the Lord

Is 60:1-6; Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6; Mt 2:1-12. Epiphaneia means an act of appearing. Jesus appears to the non-Jews. At Christmas Jesus was revealed by angels to the shepherds who were Israelites. Angels were part of Jewish faith. Now Jesus appears to non-Jews, magi coming from the east guided by a star, because they were astrologers.…

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Reflection: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

By Fray Hubert Dunstan Decena, OAR / December 28, 2020 / Comments Off on Reflection: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

Nm 6:22-27; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21. Let us take this occasion to reflect on the Biblical passages on the Blessed Mother. The earliest passage is found in Gen 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.”…

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Reflection: Feast of the Holy Family

By Fray Hubert Dunstan Decena, OAR / December 26, 2020 / Comments Off on Reflection: Feast of the Holy Family

Sir 3:2-6, 12-14; Col 3:12-21; Mt 2:13-15; 19-23; Lk 2:22-40; & 41-52. Mother Church honors the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph on the Sunday between Dec 25 and Jan 1, or on Dec 30. Mother Church wants us to look at the Holy Family and imitate their love for God and care for…

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Reflection on the Nativity of the Lord

By Fray Hubert Dunstan Decena, OAR / December 25, 2020 / Comments Off on Reflection on the Nativity of the Lord

A Tagalog conversation between Jesus and Sta Claus has been passed around, it narrates: Jesus= “Alam mo, naiinggit ako sa ‘yo.”  (You know, I envy you.) Sta Claus= “Bakit naman po?”   (But why?) Jesus= “Kasi sa Kaarawan ko, ikaw ang inaabangan nila.”  (Because on my birthday, they are waiting for you.) Sad but true. Many…

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Misa de Gallo Day 9 Reflection: THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS

By Agustinos Recoletos / December 24, 2020 / Comments Off on Misa de Gallo Day 9 Reflection: THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS

by Br. Justine Luis Zafra Luke 1:67-79 As we prepare for the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, we reflect today on an important part of God’s plan; the birth of John the Baptist and Zechariah’s canticle. In today’s readings, we can pick up three points to reflect and to pray upon. When God fills…

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Misa de Gallo Day 8 Reflection: TRULY HE IS COMING!

By Agustinos Recoletos / December 23, 2020 / Comments Off on Misa de Gallo Day 8 Reflection: TRULY HE IS COMING!

by Br. Nestor R. Lloren, Jr. Luke 1:57-66 We are filled with the spirit of joy and wonder because the hand of God is active in our lives. We prepare the way for those in need then we prepare the way of the Lord and hasten the advent of His kingdom in our midst. The…

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Misa de Gallo Day 7 Reflection: THE VOICE OF MY HEART

By Agustinos Recoletos / December 22, 2020 / Comments Off on Misa de Gallo Day 7 Reflection: THE VOICE OF MY HEART

by Br. Christian J. Peralta Luke 1:46-56 Our Gospel today talks about Mary’s Magnificat. Mary sung the canticle during her visit to her cousin St. Elizabeth. We can observe that the hymn has a lot of parallelism in the Old Testament especially with the Song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2: 1-11. Hannah is giving…

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Misa de Gallo Day 6 Reflection: THE ROAD TO JOY

By Agustinos Recoletos / December 22, 2020 / Comments Off on Misa de Gallo Day 6 Reflection: THE ROAD TO JOY

by Br. Kaiser R. Castañares Luke 1:39-45 Risk takes us somewhere. Mary’s visit to her cousin was believed to have been a risky travel for a pregnant woman. Her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with the future John the Baptist, lived in Ein Karem in Jerusalem which was about 100 miles away from Nazareth. Ein…

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