Morning Voice

February 2, 2020: Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.   READINGS:  Mal 3:1-4 ; PS 24:7, 8, 9, 10 ;  Heb 2:14-18 ;  Lk 2:22-40 A German proverb says: “If the eye does not want to see, neither light nor glasses will help.” We are forty days after Christmas, and we are invited to celebrate the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple in a festive way. God became man so that men in search of God could meet him. The place par excellence of this encounter is the Temple, the holy abode of God among men. The feast of the presentation of Jesus in the Temple is the true culmination of the mystery of Christmas. One could, without fear of being wrong, say that today is Christmas dregs. Because in Simeon and Anna meeting the newborn that Joseph and Mary, by obedience to the Law present in the Temple, it is all the thirst for God of human being that is satisfied. To see God is everyone's deepest aspiration. All of man’s life is geared towards this end. Humanity tod...

January 26 2020 :  Third Sunday in Ordinary Time - A READINGS:  Is 8:23—9:3 ;  Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14 ;  1 Cor 1:10-13, 17 ;  Mt 4:12-23 or 4:12-17 A Scottish proverb says, “The good speech of an ass is better than the bad words of a prophet.” We all are prophets in the midst of a world in search of meaning and direction. The day of our Baptism, the priest or the deacon who baptized us said, “You are Priest, Prophet and King.” This seemingly simple sentence to which we pay less attention is in reality a mission. Far from being an option, it is compulsory for all, Christ followers, to be prophets. The question then is, how do we understand and undertake that prophetic mission? The Catechism provides a beautiful answer to that question. It says, “Lay people also fulfill their prophetic mission by evangelization, "that is, the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life." For lay people, "this evangelization . . . acquires a specific ...

January 19, 2020: Feast of Sto. Nino (Philippines) READINGS:  Is 9:1-6; Ps 98; Eph 1:3-6,15-18; Mt 18:1-5.10.12-14. A German proverb says, “He who teaches children learns more than they do.” For having never been a good dancer, I know nothing of the rules of dance. But I like the Latino Salsa Dance. When you a seated, it seems so easy to execute. It looks like making two steps forward and one backward, and so it goes. Analogy is not always logic, but today’s feast looks like a Salsa Dance. We officially closed the Christmas festivities last Sunday with the Baptism of the Lord, and just after one week in the ordinary time, we are like taken back to Christmas with Jesus again as a child. The feast of the Holy Infant, “Santo Niño” is truly a back to Christmas – Balik-Pasko – with great lessons on the child Jesus and on children in general. Beyond the aspect of back to Jesus’ infancy, today’s feast focuses our attention not only on the love that we have or that we owe to t...

January 19 2020: Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - A   READINGS:  Is 49:3, 5-6 ;  Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10 ;  1 Cor 1:1-3 ;  Jn 1:29-34 A Spanish proverb says, “Don't worry if people call you ordinary – worry only if you are too much ordinary.” Another proverb adds, “The highest art is the art of living an ordinary life in an extraordinary manner.” “Behold, the Lamb of God…” For a Christian, all starts at the Baptism. It is from the Baptism we acquire our identify and also the mission attached to that identify. We celebrated last Sunday the Baptism of the Lord marking the end of the Christmas Time. On the other hand, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord also marks the beginning of Ordinary Time. Through it, we are plunged in what will be the ordinary life of Jesus, his public ministry. It marks also for us, his disciples, the ordinary of our life, the moments in which we are called to witness of our faith and of our belonging to Christ. Rightl...

January 12, 2020: The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord - A   READINGS:  IS 42:1-4, 6-7 ;  PS 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10 ;  ACTS 10:34-38 ;  MT 3:13-17 An Arabic proverb says, “Everything is small at the beginning and then grows.” In many African Traditional Societies and religious context, there are initiation rites which are fundamental for human growth. These rites are natural and necessary part for the insertion of an individual in the community. Among them, these five majors: Rite of Birth and Childhood, Rite of Adulthood, Rite of Marriage, Rite of Eldership and the Rite of Ancestorship. By analogy, Baptism, for us Christians, would be a necessary initiation for the growth in faith and in belonging to God. Because, through it, we get our real identity as children of God. The Baptism of the Lord could, therefore, be seen as one of those rites for social and communitarian insertion and ascension. Actually, the Baptism of the Lord marks the end...

January 5 2020: The Epiphany of the Lord - A   READINGS:  IS 60:1-6 ;  PS 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13 ;  EPH 3:2-3A, 5-6 ;  MT 2:1-12 An Italian proverb says, “To him that watches, everything is revealed.” On this day, God reveals his only begotten Son to the Nations by the guidance of a star. We are all brought to contemplate God’s splendid glory and mercy and therefore, to set our faith in him. The Epiphany of the Lord, to use a marketing language, is the propaganda of the Christmas mystery. What had happened in the secret and quiet night of Bethlehem is brought, under a star light, to the universal. Jesus is revealed to all as the rising star that guides all people to God. He is the light that shines in the darkness of this world and reveals God’s presence. The Catechism, in a beautiful and clear introduction says, “The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Saviour of the world. the great feast of...