Morning Voice

April 30, 2023. Fourth Sunday of Easter – A. Readings: Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Ps 23: 1-3a, 3b4, 5, 6; 1 Pt2:20b-25; Jn 10:1-10. “A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Jn 10:10 A Romanian proverb says: “A good shepherd must fleece his sheep, not flay them.” And a German proverb adds: “Straying shepherd, straying sheep.” "There was once a young Shepherd Boy who tended his sheep at the foot of a mountain near a dark forest. It was rather lonely for him all day, so he thought of a plan by which he could get a little company and some excitement. He rushed down towards the village, calling out “Wolf, Wolf,” and the villagers came out to meet him, and some of them stopped with him for a considerable time. This pleased the boy so much that a few days afterward, he tried the same trick, and again, the villagers came to his help. But shortly after this, a Wolf actually did come out from the forest and b...

April 23, 2023. Third Sunday of Easter – A. Readings: Acts 2:14, 22-33; Ps 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11; 1Pt 1:17-21; Lk 24:13-35. An Afghan proverb says: “If you don't recognize God, at least know Him by His power.” And a French proverb adds: “You recognize the saint by his miracle.” Every Eucharistic celebration is a moment to encounter the Lord. But oftentimes, even though we encounter him, we fail to recognize him. Blinded by worries and overloaded by worldliness, we do not easily recognize the precious presence of the Lord by our side. So, we need signs and events to open us to His presence. The Eucharist is a three-partied celebration: encounter, recognition, and mission. In that sense, coming at mass, we are like the two disciples on the journey toward Emmaus. We are filled with darkness, deception, questions, reminiscence of our past... We are so loaded with our problems that we do not even recognize the presence of the Lord. We need Him to come, encounter us in our way...

April 16, 2023 Second Sunday of Easter (or Sunday of Divine Mercy) – A. Readings: Acts 2:42-47; Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24; 1 Pt 1:3-9;Jn 20:19-31. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” 1 Pt 1:3 An Ecuadorian proverb says: “The strong forgive, the weak remember.” And a German proverb adds: “God forgives sinners, otherwise His heaven would be empty.” God's mercy surpasses our human weaknesses and even overtakes our wickedness. Though he abhors sin, God loves the sinners and opens him an ever-renewed opportunity to conversion. Thus the affirmation of Pope Francis, “The name of God is mercy.” In the very mystery of the Lord's Resurrection, what hits much our attention is how he forgives. Even while dying on the Cross, the Lord Jesus asked his Father to forgive those who put him to death: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what t...

April 9, 2023. The Resurrection of the Lord - A. Readings: Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Col3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8; Jn 20:1-9. “Now that the days of the Lord’s Passion have drawn to a close, may you who celebrate the gladness of the Paschal Feast come with Christ’s help, and exulting in spirit, to those feasts that are celebrated in eternal joy.” (Cf. Easter Solemn Blessing) A Finnish proverb says: “A new day shows a new way.” And an English proverb adds: “New meat begets a new appetite.” Our current Easter is a door that opens us to the eternal Easter in Heaven. Christ has risen from the dead so that we too, one day may rise to eternal life in God's kingdom. We are celebrating today the mystery beyond all other mysteries. We are celebrating that which we profess at every Eucharistic celebration, “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again in glory.” Here is the mystery of our faith, the second central mystery of the Christian faith. After the m...

April 8, 2023. Holy Saturday - The Holy Night of Easter – A. Readings: Gn 1:1—2:2; Ps 104:1-2, 5-6, 10, 12, 13-14, 24,35; Gn 22:1-18; Ps 16:5, 8, 9-10, 11; Ex 14:15—15:1; Cant. Ex 15:1-2, 3-4, 5-6,17-18; Is 54:5-14; Ps 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13; Is 55:1-11; Cant. Is 12:2-3, 4,5-6; Bar 3:9-15, 32--4:4; Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 11; Ez 36:16-17a, 18-28; Ps 42:3, 5;43:3, 4; Rom 6:3-11; Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Mt 28:1-10. “The night when Yahweh kept vigil to bring them out of Egypt must be kept as a vigil in honor of Yahweh by all Israelites, for all generations.” (Ex 12: 42). A Romanian proverb says: “When the night’s darkest, the dawn’s nearest.” And a Rwandese proverb adds: “The night might be long, but whether you want it or not, the day will announce itself.” In the Quran, the Holy Book of Muslims, one night is to be considered with a unique value and predominance over all other nights. It is said that on that night, the Most High, the Most Merciful and the Almighty, Allah, gave to Mo...

April 8, 2023. Holy Saturday – Black Saturday. A Rwandese proverb says: “When the child falls the mother weeps; when the mother falls the child laughs.” And an Indonesian proverb adds: “A mother’s love is never-ending.” On this day, the Church does not celebrate the liturgy. No Eucharist, no songs, no praises. The author of our Thanksgiving has died. Therefore, there is no reading to reflect on. The Incarnate Word of God has been murdered. Evil and sin seem to have won over life. In our sorrow, the only thing left to us is to mourn with our Mother, the Mother of our Lord. At the hour of the Lord's passion, all his followers, including Peter and his companions, and the great crowd that were always with him fled away. The Evangelist John mentions, however, something particular: “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala.” (Jn 19: 25-27) All fled, but not the Mother. She stood by, mourning her only Son. She s...

April 7, 2023. Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion. Readings: Is 52:13—53:12; Ps 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17, 25;Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9; Jn 18:1—19:42. “Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every other name.” Phil 2:8-9 A Zimbabwean proverb says: “Passion is of greater consequence than facts.” And an English proverb adds: “Love is as strong as death.” The Cross of Jesus speaks one message. It says one word and invites to one principle: supreme and unequal love. In Jn 15:13, the Lord himself said: “There is no greater love than this: that a person would lay down his life for the sake of his friends.” And that is what he concretized on the wood of the Cross. From that hour of Jesus' Passion and Death on the Cross, the Cross stands as the supreme expression of love, the symbol of supreme and sacrificial love. On this Friday, we are celebrating love, not death. Jesus...

April 6, 2023. Holy Thursday - Cena Domini. Readings: Ex 12:1-8, 11-14; Ps 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18; 1Cor 11:23-26; Jn 13:1-15. “I give you a new commandment, says the Lord: love one another as I have loved you.” Jn 13:34 A Swahili proverb says: “Charity is the matter of the heart not of the pocket.” And a Jewish proverb adds: “If charity cost nothing and benevolence caused no heartache, the world would be full of philanthropists.” In the Holy Eucharist, we are made partakers of a mystery. We share in the most Sacred Supper of the Lord to share in his passion, death, and resurrection. We draw from this Sacrament the real meaning of love and life. From it, we draw the fullness of charity and life. For, it is the mystery of God's greatest love. In Sacramentum Caritatis, Pope Benedict says: "The sacrament of charity, the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God's infinite love for every man and woman. This wondrous sacra...