Morning Voice

February 28, 2021 Second Sunday of Lent - B. Readings:  Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18 ; Ps  116:10, 15, 16-17, 18-19 ;  Rom 8:31b-34 ;  Mk 9:2-10 . A Sicilian proverb asks, “What good is faith if you don't live by it?” And another Arabic proverb adds, “The strength of the heart comes from the soundness of the faith.” Faith is what disposes man to listen to God and obey him. Without faith, man lives on his own, obeying the solo dictate and decision of his conscience. It is only with faith that we can decide to let go of our own and embrace something greater than us. The Lenten journey takes all its meaning when we understand it as a pilgrimage in faith and obedience to God. And faith becomes the reason for us to pay a listening ear to God's will. The liturgical readings of this 2nd Sunday of Lent in the year B are a call to root firmly our faith in God and Christ. The first reading opens this call with the emblematic character of Abraham known as our "father in faith&

February 21, 2021 First Sunday of Lent - B. Readings:  Gn 9:8-15 ;  Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 ;  1 Pt 3:18-22 ;  Mk 1:12-15 . An Avikam proverb says, “During the dry season it is better to befriend the owner of the pirogue.” And a Nigerian proverb adds, “The tree that cannot shed its old leaves in the dry season, cannot survive the period of drought.” The Lenten season, before all else, is the convenient time for repentance and amendment of one's life. It is the time in which each one of us assesses with some seriousness his relationship with God and with his fellow. Lent in that sense is a pilgrimage in righteousness and a school of virtues. It could be seen as the start of a new humanity. For this Lenten journey of this year, the Holy Father exhorts us to travel in the three theological virtues that are Faith, Hope and Love expressed in Charity. In his message entitled, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem” (Mt 20:18), the Pope strengthens the lines on the subtitle, "Lent

February 17, 2021 Ash Wednesday - B. Readings:  Jl 2:12-18 ;  Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17 ;  2 Cor 5:20—6:2 ;  Mt 6:1-6, 16-18 . A Sicilian proverb says, “Repentance washes away sin.” A Swedish proverb adds, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, if the Lord does not understand you, the devil must.” From nothingness to nothingness, dust to dust, ash to ashes, such is the profound symbolism that hides the rite of the imposition of ashes that opens us at the time of Christian Lent. From this day, the Christian people of the Roman Catholic denomination are embarked on a forty-day’s journey which will end with the celebration of the mystery of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus. Lent, as the Holy Father Francis so aptly mentioned in his message this year, is a time of ascension, a going up to the Easter Mountain. “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem” (Mt 20:18). Just as Jesus invited his disciples to walk with him up to the Holy City, so we too begin this ascent to

February 14, 2021 Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - B Readings:  Lv 13:1-2, 44-46 ;  Ps 32:1-2, 5, 11 ;  1 Cor 10:31—11:1 ;  Mk 1:40-45 . An Ashanti proverb says, “If a tree is cursed even its shade is unclean.” And an Italian proverb adds, “Dirty water does not wash clean.” Human beings are community beings. Cutaway from the community and the relationship with others, we die. There are, unfortunately, many sad situations that dissociate man from others and set him aside to live by himself. Sickness and sins are among those situations that cause greater hindrance to our being communitarian and close us in the slavery of the self. The Lord Jesus came to proclaim liberation to all who were enslaved by any kind of chain, the poor and the forsaken or outcasts of our societies. In the Jewish world and culture, leprosy was one of the reasons for one to live as an outcast. The lepers were banned from the towns and villages and forced to live outside, in cemeteries, or caves. With Jesus, a

February 7, 2021 Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - B. Readings:  Jb 7:1-4, 6-7 ;  Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 ;  1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23 ;  Mk 1:29-39 . A French proverb says, “A man who is afraid of suffering suffers from fear itself.” And a Japanese proverb adds, “Only through suffering and sorrow do we acquire the wisdom not found in books.” Where is God when it hurts? Why does God allow suffering? One thing that is far from many people’s understanding and that we always hardly accept is the reality of suffering. We accept all things from God but we refuse to suffer. Mankind dreams of a cross-free life. We always question, where is God in the midst of tragedy and suffering. Many have been questioning the whole of the year 2020, where is God in the midst of the COVID-19 tragedy that has turned into a pandemic? As someone sang it, we love roses but we fear its thorns. We all love life, but we hate suffering. But then, can we dissociate suffering from life? May it be very clear for all: ther