Reflections

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…

by Br. Jonathan Rodriguez, Jr. Luke 1:26-38 The socio-cultural background of the Hebrews has the strong command on as to how religion and faith should be regarded. Considering also the deep chauvinistic tradition of the Semitic world, it has created an ambience of fear and anxiety, and of confusion and delusion. One could really understand…

by Br. John Lowell N. Jacob The Gospel of Luke presents Jesus as the Messiah and Lord whose life, death and resurrection make salvation available to all people on earth. We can reflect on three things:   First, the biblical passage today presented us the divine power of God using human instrument to promulgate and…

2 Sm. 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Rom. 16:25-27; Lk. 1:26-38. We are presented today the scene of the Annunciation to Mary by the Angel Gabriel concerning the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God. God has decided that His Son will become man to carry out our salvation, and he needs a Mother.…

by Br. June Clark Solas Matthew 1:18-25 As a seminarian for 1 and a half year now, I have discovered a lot about myself. Looking back to the yesteryears I spent with the people around me inevitably led me to the reality of my first seminary formation, my HOME, my FAMILY. As I slowly move…

Reflections by Br. Mel Archie Vergara Matthew 1: 1-16 The gospel of Matthew presents to us the genealogy of Jesus. Here, we could see that Matthew traces the origin of Jesus from King David to Joseph. He traces the lineage of Jesus to let the Jews see that through Jesus the promise of a messiah…