Morning Voice

February 5, 2023. Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time – A. Readings: Is 58:7-10; Ps 112:4-5, 6-7, 8-9; 1 Cor 2:1-5; Mt5:13-16. A Native American Pueblo proverb says: “A good man does not take what belongs to someone else.” And a Chinese proverb adds: “One more good man on earth is better than an extra angel in heaven.” “Do good always. Do good to all. Never harm anyone...” (Don Orione) I watched an American-Mexican series on Netflix (Señora Acero) and one of the actors was named 'El Bueno' (the Good Man). One thing that caught my attention about him was his definition of being good and what he was able to do for goodness' sake. He even died in a war that was not his just by being good and defending the poor and the oppressed Sara Aguilar and her son Salvador Acero. He was ready to do good to all. To do good always. And without counting the price. The life of 'El Bueno' matches with the words of Don Orione we quoted ahead: do good always and to all. We learn through th...

January 29, 2023. Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – A. Readings: Zep 2:3; 3:12-13; Ps 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10; 1 Cor1:26-31; Mt 5:1-12a. “Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters…” 1 Cor 1:26 A Hebrew proverb says: “Whoever has not tasted sinfulness does not qualify for holiness.” And a Latin proverb adds: “No man acquires perfection all at once.” There is a kind of universal call or vocation for each one of us. We are called to perfection. Holiness is our vocation. God wants us all holy. But the fulfillment of this vocation remains a journey each one must undertake every day and in our ordinary endeavors. According to the teachings of the Church, the call to holiness is often referred to as the universal vocation or sometimes the primary vocation. It is for every one of us. Although this vocation is supernaturally given at baptism, which literally engrafts the Christian into the body of Christ, God beckons every human being to a life of holiness. The Catechism says: ...

January 22, 2023. 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. “…The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen…”Mt 4:16 An Ivorian proverb says: “However long the night, the dawn will break.” And an Irish proverb adds: “There is light at the end of the tunnel.” There are times when life seems to be a succession of shadows and darkness. Times when we travel in confusion and uncertainties. In those times, what we need is a new dawn, a new opportunity that can lead us to a new hope. The Lord Jesus comes to raise in us that hope. Last Sunday, we spoke about the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, marking the beginning of his ordinary life and so the Ordinary Time of the year of the Church. We are today the 3rd Sunday in this Ordinary Time of the Year A, and the Word of God tells us what this time is made of. It is our time to shine bright l...

January 15, 2023. Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – A. Readings: Is 49:3, 5-6; Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10; 1 Cor1:1-3; Jn 1:29-34.  "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” Jn 1:29 A Kurdish proverb says: “To find your place in life is easier than to occupy it.” And a Tibetan proverb adds: “The highest art is the art of living an ordinary life in an extraordinary manner.” Every one of us lives for a reason and a purpose. We all have a vocation and the universal call for us all is to be holy. That holiness is not something beyond our reach. It is something we build day after day in the ordinary of our life. Therefore, the Ordinary Time is the per excellence time of holiness and grace. The Catechism says: "The hidden life at Nazareth allows everyone to enter into fellowship with Jesus by the most ordinary events of daily life..." CCC 533 It was in the ordinary of his life at Nazareth that the Lord Jesus learned the virtues needed for his m...

January 8, 2023. Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord – A. Readings: Is 60:1-6; Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13; Eph3:2-3a, 5-6; Mt 2:1-12. “We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” Mt 2:2 A Spanish proverb says: “Stars are not seen by sunshine.” And a Nilotic proverb adds: “The voyager's path is marked by the stars and not the sand dunes.” God often uses those things most familiar to us, things that are part of our daily life, to send forth His calling and reveal to us his glory. Our God manifests himself to us in the ordinary. It is only by entering into that ordinary that extraordinary things happen and tell us of His grandeur. A star or a light is nothing extraordinary.  A little child has nothing extraordinary. Thousands are born every single day. The sky is always filled with billions of stars. Even though times, we cannot notice their presence due to rains or bad weather conditions, stars are always shining. But then, the extraordinary comes fro...