Morning Voice

June 20, 2021 Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time - B. Readings:  Jb 38:1, 8-11 ;  Ps 107:23-24, 25-26, 28-29, 30-31 ;  2 Cor 5:14-17 ;  Mk 4:35-41 . A Japanese proverb says, “A boat that is not tied up will drift along with the stream.” And a Turkish proverb adds, “Fear does not empty tomorrow of its sadness; it empties today of its power.” The Christian life is a life of self-abandonment to the providence of the heavenly Father. As children, we are to entrust our fate unto his care and live believing him to lead our life at a sound and good port. God our Lord is a Father who cares for his children in all their needs. What he asks of them in return is to not be anxious but abandon themselves into his hands. For, when God is in the boat of our lives, there are no winds, no tempests that could frighten us. Faith in him and his providence, that is all that it takes to let him lead our lives. Today's readings, 12th Sunday in the ordinary time of the year B, are an exh...

June 13, 2021   Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - B. Readings:  Ez 17:22-24 ;  Ps 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16 ;  2 Cor 5:6-10 ;  Mk 4:26-34 . A Sicilian proverb says, “God has dominion over your possessions and your life.” And an Albanian proverb adds, “If you don't believe in cooperation, watch what happens to a wagon when one wheel comes off.” We live surrounded by many things humanly hardly understandable. Many are the mysteries that our mind cannot pierce. In front of all these, not that we make no efforts to comprehend, but we must bow down and acknowledge that all things that are on earth have a master who has designed them and fixed them the way they are. God is the sovereign master of all things in heaven above and on earth below. What must we understand through God’s sovereignty? It is all about his supreme and independent power or authority. God has an absolute right to do all things according to his own good pleasure. He alone is in power to command a...

June 11, 2021 Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus - B. Readings:  Hos 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9 ;  Cant. Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 ;  Eph 3:8-12, 14-19 ;  Jn 19:31-37 . A Sicilian proverb says, “True love burns within the heart, better than flax and straw.” And a Malawian proverb adds, “You can measure the depth of the sea but what about a man's heart?” “O God, who in the Heart of your Son, wounded by our sins, bestow on us in mercy the boundless treasures of your love, grant, we pray, that, in paying him the homage of our devotion, we may also offer worthy reparation.” These words of the collect, together with the entrance antiphon, give the deepest meaning of what gathers us for today's celebration. The heart of the Son of God is wounded by human sin but still filled with love for human beings. With our God, we get to know that the heart is the wellspring of love that never dries up. No matter how much it is pierced, hurt, and suffocated by our failures and inconsistencies...

June 6, 2021 The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ - B. Readings:  Ex 24:3-8 ;  Ps 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18 ;  Heb 9:11-15 ;  Mk 14:12-16, 22-26 . A French proverb says, “A good meal ought to begin with hunger.” And a Guinean proverb adds, “If your husband has many wives, the only sure way for him into your bedroom is through a delicious meal.” For a Christian, the Eucharist we celebrate every day, and especially on Sunday is the most delicious meal. It is the memorial of the passion of Christ. But one could be tempted to ask, how is the Eucharistic celebration the memorial of the Easter mystery that started on Holy Thursday, was amplified on Good Friday, and finds its zenith on the day of the Resurrection? Furthermore, knowing that the Eucharist is the consecration of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.   Precisely, because the Eucharist is bread to become Body and wine to become Blood that it takes us back to the altar where ...

May 31, 2021 Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Readings:  Zep 3:14-18a ; Cant.  Isaiah 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6 ;  Rom 12:9-16 ;  Lk 1:39-56 . A Portuguese proverb says, “Visits always give pleasure; if not the arrival, the departure.” And a Bantu proverb adds, “Visitors' footfalls are like medicine; they heal the sick.” According to the account of St. Luke, in the Gospel of the childhood of Jesus, the Visitation is the joyful meeting between the Blessed Virgin Mary who has received the great news of the Annunciation of the Lord and her cousin Elizabeth, soon to give birth to the great prophet John, the precursor of the Lord. In this joyful encounter, two great lessons for us, followers of the Lord: Humility and Fraternal Charity. When praying the Holy Rosary, to the second joyful mystery, we associate as fruit the Fraternal Charity. That is actually what flows from today's feast. Mary, after receiving the glorious news that she was to be the Mother o...

May 30, 2021 Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity - B. Readings:  Dt 4:32-34, 39-40 ;  Ps 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22 ;  Rom 8:14-17 ;  Mt 28:16-20 . An Italian proverb says, “A solitary man is either a brute or an angel.” And a Romanian proverb adds, “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.” “Blest be God the Father, and the Only Begotten Son of God, and also the Holy Spirit, for he has shown us his merciful love.” Here is the entrance antiphon that opens us to this solemn celebration of our God. Is God three in one or one in three? Some people will say it is all the same. But for the truth, the difference is great. To say three in one (3 in 1) means three different entities gathered in one reality, a common wrapper. For example, we have the Nescafe 3 in 1. It is about coffee, creamer, and sugar sharing one common bag. And because they are mixed, they lose their individuality. On the other hand, to say one in three (1 in 3) goes deeper. It is about one substanti...

May 23, 2021 Pentecost Sunday - B. Readings:  Acts 2:1-11 ;  Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34 ;  Gal 5:16-25 ;  Jn 20:19-23 . A Danish proverb says, “Woe be to him whose advocate becomes his accuser.” And a Jewish proverb adds, “A man without a woman cannot defend himself against seductions.” We are used to hearing and to say that life is a trial. In that continual trial, if we are left without an advocate to defend our case, we are at loss. For, we will never find the right words at the right moment to present our defense. In our daily life, many are the things we go through that are always beyond our control. We cannot pretend to become good by ourselves. We cannot seek and attend holiness by ourselves. We cannot reach wisdom by ourselves. In all that we do, we need support; not only human support but a spiritual grace that will always be at work in us. The coming of the Holy Spirit reminds us of this truth. Through its many gifts, the Spirit of God continually re...

May 16, 2021 Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. Readings:  Acts 1:1-11 ;  Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9 ;  Eph 4:1-13 or 4:1-7, 11-13 ;  Mk 16:15-20 . A Spanish proverb says, “It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive hopeless.” And an Afghan proverb adds, “Your aspirations are in heaven, but your brains are in your feet.” Life in Heaven is the reason why we live on earth. Our life here on this earth is heavenly-oriented. We are like pilgrims in the present world on a journey to our home. The solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord comes to remind us of this truth. Jesus who died for our sins ascends today in the glory of his Father. A breach, therefore, is open for us in our journey toward heaven. Jesus becomes a ladder planted on earth and leading to heaven. Besides the aspect of pointing on our first vocation that is heaven, the Ascension raises a second call for every Christians. More than a mere call, this is a mission, the final recommendation and one may...

May 9, 2021 Sixth Sunday of Easter - B. Readings:  Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 ;  Ps 98:1, 2-3, 3-4 ;  1 Jn 4:7-10 ;  Jn 15:9-17 . A Nigerian proverb says, “It is the self-love of the king parrot that made him become talkative.” And a Namibian proverb adds, “Love is a despot who spares no one.” The Lord died and he has risen as a ransom for human sin. The Salvation he brought is not reserved for a specific group or believers nor regionalist or ethnocentric. It is opened to all, Jewish and Pagans, believers and non-believers. No one is excluded from the redemptive work of Christ. Many are there who think that only those who come to church every Sunday, those who are baptized, confirmed, married, or ordained, and who receive every day the Holy Communion will be saved. If that was true, then what about all who have never heard about Jesus? The world, according to the surveys counts 7.8 billion inhabitants. In that 7.8, only 2.382 billion are Christians. And in t...

May 2, 2021 Fifth Sunday of Easter - B. Readings:  Acts 9:26-31 ;  Ps 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32 ;  1 Jn 3:18-24 ;  Jn 15:1-8 . A Kashmiri proverb says, “Good connections always pay off.” And a Chinese proverb adds, “The lotus root may be severed, but its fibered threads are still connected.” Do you have a connection? What no one wants to lack today is connection, data, load... For some people, a day without connection is like hell. Connection, connected, network, relationship... these are words dear to our world today. He who wants to live must have a connection and open or even increase his network. Without connection, man lives away from others and at prey to any danger. You have all the diplomas, you need work. Even though you are qualified, you need a connection. You are leading a small business. You want it to be known and prosper. You need a connection and network. Then comes true the saying that "no man is an island." Cut-away from others we die. But for u...