Morning Voice

October 2, 2022. Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - C. Readings: Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4; Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9; 2 Tm 1:6-8, 13-14; Lk 17:5-10. “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.” Lk 17:6 An Arab proverb says: “The strength of the heart comes from the soundness of the faith.” And a Persian proverb adds: “Doubt makes the mountain which faith can move.” Faithfulness is the virtue of those who have faith. It is also one of the greatest attributes every servant should develop. Faithfulness is the virtue of the disciples. As the Lord's followers, we live by our firm faith that we put in him, by our strong hope in the life he promised, and by a vivid love for him as our Lord and Savior. Our lives are fashioned by these theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. Moreover, we are nothing and can do nothing without faith.  Obviously, the theme that links beautifully today...

September 29, 2022. Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels. Readings: Dn 7:9-10, 13-14; OR: Rv 12:7-12ab; Ps 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 4-5; Jn 1:47-51. “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (Jn 1:51) An Egyptian proverb says: “When the Angels arrive, the devils leave.” And a Polish proverb adds: “Nowadays you must go to heaven to meet an angel.” Heaven is not a place of a solitary Old Man with white bear. It is rather a place of community and communion. God reigns surrounded by heavenly creatures that we call Angels and Archangels according to their rank and the mission entrusted to them. We are celebrating today the Feast of Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, and the question someone could be tempted to ask is are they real? Are the Angels and Archangels not a religious invention? The Catechism will help answer: “In her liturgy, the Church joins with the angels to adore the thrice-holy God....

September 25, 2022 Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time – C. Readings: Am 6:1a, 4-7;  Ps 146:7, 8-9, 9-10; 1 Tm 6:11-16; Lk 16:19-31. “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus…” A German proverb says: “A poor person isn't he who has little, but he who needs a lot.” And a Chinese proverb adds: “Rich men accumulate money; the poor accumulate years.” “The Catholic Church prone and makes the eulogies of poverty.” That is what many people believe and say. Because they hear the Church saying "Blessed are poor." And that "God is the friend of the poor." And because we sing lovingly and joyful, "The Lord hears the cries of the poor..." So, their conclusion is direct, the Church promotes poverty and hates the rich. Is that truth? Does the Church says that poverty is a blessing? Why then the mission she entrusts to Caritas and the many Religious Congregat...

September 18, 2022. Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time – C. Readings:  Am 8:4-7; Ps 113:1-2, 4-6, 7-8; 1 Tm 2:1-8; Lk 16:1-13. “I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” Lk 16:9 A German proverb says: “He who lends to the poor gets his interest from God.” And an Irish proverb adds: “We give to the rich, and take from the poor.” The aim of social justice is not so much for equality or equity, but rather to raise the statute of the poor and reduce as much as possible the abyss between the classes of our societies. In practicing social justice, one makes himself friend of the poor and the lest fortunate of this world and consequently, he becomes friend of God. For, God is the friend of the poor.  For a Christian, social justice, or fighting for the rights of the poor is intrinsically linked to faith. It is an act of faith to be just. For, we believe and worship a Lord who made himself equa...

September 14, 2022. Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Readings: Nm 21:4b-9 or Phil 2:6-11; Ps 78:1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38; Jn 3:13-17. “God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name…” Phil 2:9 A Swahili proverb says: “After hardship comes relief.” And a Filipino proverb adds: “There's no glory without sacrifice.” The wood of the Cross of Christ, for us Christians, is symbol of life. It is the tree of salvation. Through it, and on it, the Savior of the world paid the ransom of sin and set free mankind from slavery. From the very day Jesus Christ died on the Cross, the of old instrument of capital and supreme punishment has turned into a symbol of glory. For, through the tree of the Cross flows a source of life. The blood of the Son of God pour out from it to give life to a dying humanity. “The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the "one mediator between God and men". But because in his incarnate divine person he has in some way...

September 11, 2022. Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – C. Readings: Ex 32:7-11, 13-14; Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 17, 19; 1 Tm 1:12-17; Lk 15:1-32. “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Lk 15:2 A Chinese proverb says: “Repentance is the spring beneath our virtues.” And a Latin proverb adds: “He who sins when drunk will have to atone for it when sober.” Among all the attributes of our God, the ones we are most pleased to speak about are his Love and Mercy. Our God is a merciful and loving Father who counts not the downfalls or sins of his children, but is always eager to welcome them and reconcile them to him. Sin leads us away from God. Mercy brings us back to him. Mercy is not something one can say he merits. It is rather the outpouring of God's love, a love we do not deserve, because poor sinners. We honor and worship a God who loves without taking merits into account and who delights more on our conversion than our lost into sin. Today's readings are a litany of God...

September 8, 2022. Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Readings: Mi 5:1-4a or Rom 8:28-30; Ps 13:6ab, 6c; Mt 1:1-16, 18-23 or 1:18-23. “Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.” Mt 1:16 A Congolese proverb says: “The day the monkey is destined to die, all the trees get slippery.” And an Ivorian proverb adds: “When a cock invites a cockroach for a birthday party, he has prepared dinner for himself.” She was predestined to be mother of God. Therefore, her birth was itself part of God's plan of salvation. The Nativity of the Virgin Mary inaugurates the dawn of a new day, the aurora of salvation. Today is born unto us the one who will bear in her virginal wombs the Son of God, the Savior of mankind.  No Scriptures passage, no prophetic announcement, but we believe that Mary’s birth was not a fiction. It can be proved. And not only so, her existence and life is real, historically proved, and factual. Though not found in the Bible, this feast probably originated afte...

September 4, 2022. Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time – C. Readings: Wis 9:13-18b; Ps 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17; Phmn 9-10, 12-17; Lk 14:25-33. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” Lk 14:27 A Latin proverb says: “Man's life is a sojourn in a strange land.” And a Danish proverb adds: “Suffering and patience, obedience and application, help the lowly born to honor.” It is not easy to be a Christian. It has never been and will never be easy to follow Christ. For, the Christian life as such is demanding. The Lord did not promise his followers a peaceful and trouble-free life. Rather, the cross is what defines us the best as Christians. For, the Christian life finds its real meaning at the foot of the tree of the Cross. It is there, when the Lord was dying that our faith got its full meaning. The Lord Jesus did not want to deceive anyone of his followers about the hardships that goes with the choice of walking after him. Today's readi...