Morning Voice

April 05 2020: Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion - A READINGS:  Mt 21:1-11 ;  Is 50:4-7 ;  Ps 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24 ;  Phil 2:6-11 ;  Mt 26:14—27:66 or 27:11-54 . An Arabic proverb says, “It is good to know the truth, but it is better to speak of palm trees.” Another Japanese proverb adds, “The extreme form of passionate love is secret love.” Suffering is a reality which has always and will always be hard to understand and accept. And when we go through hardship, the first temptation is to ask where is God. Many are they who think when exposed to trials and difficulties that God has forsaken them. How many times, in this moment of the COVID-19 pandemic, have we not heard or even felt the temptation to ask, “Where is God?” Today’s liturgy comes to teach us that we have a God who suffers with us, more, we have a God who suffers for us. Glory and suffering, sorrow and love are intrinsically linked. No one can dream of glory without suffering, nor can love be authent

March 29 2020: Fifth Sunday of Lent - A READINGS:  Ez 37:12-14 ;  Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 ;  Rom 8:8-11 ;  Jn 11:1-45 . A Blackfoot proverb says, “Life is not separate from death. It only looks that way.” And Ashanti proverb adds, “Life is the beginning of death.” “I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will never die.”   Entering today’s liturgy, one could think it is already Easter Sunday. For, all the readings are about life after death. They all speak of resurrection, and that raises higher our hope and faith in that mystery. The Catechism, speaking of our faith in the Resurrection, states, “Christ will raise us up "on the last day"; but it is also true that, in a certain way, we have already risen with Christ. For, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, Christian life is already now on earth a participation in the death and Resurrection of Christ” (CCC. 1002). The resurrection, therefore, is not a utopia, nor a mer

March 25 2020: Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord READINGS:  Is 7:10-14; 8:10 ;  40:7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 11 ;  Heb 10:4-10 ;  Lk 1:26-38 . A Congolese proverb says, “Children are the reward of life.” Another Tibetan proverb adds, “Who saves a life, saves the whole world.” Today’s solemnity marks the starting point of a mystery which will be fully manifest in nine months, the Mystery of Incarnation. God, today, becomes man into the womb of a humble Virgin. At the Annunciation, the Archangel Gabriel reveals to Mary God’s plan on her life. To that project, Mary gives her “Fiat voluntas tua!” (Thy will be done), and in her humility, she conceives the Son of God, the Savior of humanity, by the power of the Holy Spirit. At the very moment of Mary’s consent to God’s will, the Son of Man started his being as a man. One of the most beautiful lessons we can learn from the mystery of the Annunciation is about “where and when does life start?” This is also one greatest bioethics’ ques

March 22 2020: Fourth Sunday of Lent - A READINGS:  1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a ;  Ps 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 ;  Eph 5:8-14 ;  Jn 9:1-41 A Tunisian proverb says, “There is no blindness but the blindness of the heart.” And another American proverb adds, “None are so blind as those who refuse to see.” Even amid the greatest sorrow, there is always a cause for joy. From the darkest night sparks a ray of light. No obscurity last forever. It is true that COVID-19 confines us outside the churches and plunges us into fear and uncertainty. But the light of Christ will come forth. Life always arises from death. Therefore, the call to rejoice and the invitation of today’s entrance antiphon, “Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning; exult and be satisfied at her consoling breast.” We are on the 4th Sunday of Lent. Though being is this special season of great sorrows for our sins and of call for conversion, the liturgy is filled with joy, “Laetare Sunday

March 19 2020: Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary READINGS:  2 Sm 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16 ;  PS89:2-3, 4-5, 27.29 ;  Rom 4:13, 16-18, 22 ;  Mt 1:16, 18-21, 24a  or  Lk 2:41-51a An American proverb says, “Good fathers make good sons.” And another Italian proverb adds, “Any man can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad.” Faith without trials is absolutely nothing. For, unshakable and deep-rooted faith comes from faith being shaken and for us to determine how genuine our faith is we have to put it into a test. The events that happen in one’s life can constitute the greatest challenges to one’s belief. One grows in his reliance on God, only when he accepts to surrender his dreams and projects and take up God’s plan on him. As long as we are not able to submit to God's will, we are still neophytes in our faith or even non-believers. The Holy Bible presents many examples of people with great faith, many schools or lessons on faith. Amo

March 15 2020: Third Sunday of Lent - A READINGS:  Ex 17:3-7 ;  Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 ;  Rom 5:1-2, 5-8 ;  Jn 4:5-42 A Dutch proverb says, “Who has no thirst has no business at the foundation.” Another proverb adds, “Water that has been begged for does not quench the thirst.” What do you thirst for? When Jesus was on the cross, one of his last words, before he died, was, “Sitio” in Latin, translated, “I thirst!” (Jn 19: 28). This is an expression that each one of us thirsts for something. We all have expectations in life. Who then, or what can satisfy our thirst? We live in a world filled with so many expectations, hunger, and thirst. The sad, however, is that many know not how to name their thirst, or by feeling so thirsty, many feeds at any source, even in dirty waters. For them, the most important seems to have something to quench their thirst, no matter what it is. Lent is a time to look deep inside the well of life. It is a time to look deep within ourselves with t