Reflections

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…

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,…

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.…

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.”…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…