Morning Voice

December 8, 2023. Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Readings: Gn 3:9-15, 20; Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4; Eph 1:3-6,11-12; Lk 1:26-38. A vintage holy card of Our Lady of the Miraculous medal has this Latin invocation, "O Maria, sine labe concepta, ora pro nobis, qui confugimus ad te." Transliterated, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” A Nigerian proverb says: “An ant-hill that is destined to become a giant ant-hill will definitely become one, no matter how many times it is destroyed by elephants.” A Jewish proverb adds: “Sins hide not in your sleep but in your dreams.” I read on one blog this beautiful introit that can open our meditation on the Immaculate Conception. "From the very beginning, and before time began, the eternal Father chose and prepared for his only-begotten Son a Mother in whom the Son of God would become incarnate and from whom, in the blessed fullness of time, he would be born into ...

December 3, 2023. First Sunday of Advent – B. Readings: Is 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7; Ps 80:2-3, 15-16,18-19; 1 Cor 1:3-9; Mk 13:33-37. "Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming..." Mk 13:35 A French proverb says: “Hope is the dream of a soul awake.” A Nigerian proverb adds: “The pillar of the world is hope.” Advent, from Latin ADVENTUS, “coming”, in the Catholic Church’s calendar, is the period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus at Christmas and also of preparation for the Second Coming of Christ. We await the coming of the Lord, his first coming in the body that we commemorate every December 25th, and his second coming in the glory that nourishes our hope. Advent is, therefore, a prophetic season. It is the time of expectation. And that expectation does not deceive, for the Lord will come. Through this Sunday's celebration, we enter into this season of reflective and active preparation for Christ's Nativit...

November 26, 2023. The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe – A. Readings: Ez 34:11-12, 15-17; Ps 23:1-2, 2-3, 5-6; 1 Cor15:20-26, 28; Mt 25:31-46. "And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats..." A Sudanese proverb says: “A big chair does not make a king.” And a Russian proverb adds: “Without the shepherd, sheep are not a flock.” Christ is king. His Kingship is about caring, serving, loving, and finally judging. To him belong all glory, sovereignty, power, and honor. In truth, Christ's Kingship is of a totally different kind. He does not reign to oppress but to serve and save. He is a shepherd king who cares for the life of his sheep to the point of giving his own life for them. Having him as the king of our lives, we are assured of wanting for nothing, sing the Psalmist: “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.” For, he will lead us to the right and verdant pastures, defend us...

November 19, 2023. Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Readings: Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31; Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5; 1Thes 5:1-6; Mt 25:14-30.           A Hebrew proverb says: “Laziness likes to justify itself for not doing anything because it cannot do everything.” A Welsh proverb adds: “The seed of all evil is laziness.” With your talents, are you industrious or lazy? We all have received gifts and talents from God. We will have to give an account of those gifts. How do we deal with them? How do we use them? Are we industrious or lazy stewards of God's gifts? As per the dictionary definition, laziness means disinclined to activity or exertion. Laziness is the greatest sign of infertility. It can be as well spiritual or physical. Lazy people are an insult to their creator who himself is industrious through creation, recreation, and redemption. They seem to say that God has given them no ability or capacity for anything. There is no handicap worse than...

November 12, 2023. Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time – A. Readings: Wis 6:12-16; Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8; 1 Thes4:13-18; Mt 25:1-13. "Five of them were foolish and five were wise." Matthew 25:2 An Ashanti proverb says: “Wisdom is like a good skin bag. Every man carries his own.” A Spanish proverb adds: “What the fool does at last the wise man does at first.” The liturgical year draws closely to its end. We are today, the 32nd Sunday, in the Ordinary Time A. And as people walking toward the end of a time and a season, the attitude that is required from us is not only that of vigilance but also wisdom. We are urged to be wise to make the right choices and foresee things before they happen. Wisdom is a very prophetic virtue. And as such, wisdom is called to be the most Christian attitude. For, by Baptism, we are made prophets, people capable of predicting events and getting ready for them. We are talking of the end of the liturgical year, which we are used to, for it ...

November 5, 2023. Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time – A. Readings: Mal 1:14b-2:2b, 8-10; Ps 131:1, 2, 3; 1 Thes2:7b-9, 13; Mt 23:1-12. “…Do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice.” Mt 23:3 A Turkish proverb says: “As the crow tried to imitate the partridge, it forgot its own walking style.” A Nigerian proverb adds: “If one imitates the upright, one becomes upright; if one imitates the crooked, one becomes crooked.” There has always been a great tension between two categories of religiosity and religious leaders. On one side, we have those people tagged as Traditionalists or Conservatives (averse to change and who hold traditional values), and on the other side, we have the Progressivists or Modernists (those who hold that it is possible to improve human societies through reforms). The first group focuses on the orthodoxy of practices and the praxis, while the other speaks of adaptation and op...

November 2, 2023. The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls). Readings: Wis 3:1-9; Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6; Rom 6:3-9; Jn6:37-40. “For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.” Romans 6:5 A Corsican proverb says: “The soul to God, and the body to the Earth.” And a Swahili proverb adds: “If you don't know death look at the grave.” Love goes beyond death. And death has no power to separate us from the people we love. Even though we may be physically split apart, away from senses and sensuality, the bond of love unites us always with them and gives us a motive to pray for them. Today, the Church invites us to remember in a very singular and special way our brothers and sisters who have gone ahead of us into the journey toward eternity, but whom, we believe, are on a journey of purification before entering God's glory. Our remembering or commemoration of the faithful departed is n...