God's Word and Daily Life

Does the Cross truly make sense?  If we could separate ourselves from all we have learned about the Cross of Christ and just look at it from a secular and historical perspective, the Cross is a sign of great tragedy.  It’s connected to the story of a man who became quite popular with many, yet was vehemently hated by others.  In the end, those who hated this man arranged for His brutal crucifixion.  So, from a purely secular point of view, the Cross is an awful thing.

But Christians do not see the Cross from a secular point of view.  We see it from the divine perspective.  We see Jesus lifted up on the Cross for all to see.  We see Him using horrible suffering to eliminate suffering forever.  We see Him using death to destroy death itself.  Ultimately, we see Jesus become victorious on that Cross and, therefore, forever we see the Cross as an exalted and glorious throne!    

Moses’ actions in the desert prefigured the Cross.  Many people were dying from snake bites. Therefore, God told Moses to lift up the image of a snake on a pole so that all who looked upon it would be healed.  And that’s exactly what happened.  Ironically, the snake brought life instead of death!

Suffering occurs throughout our lives in various ways.  Perhaps for some it’s daily aches and pains from ill health, and for others it may be on a much deeper level, such as an emotional, personal, relational or spiritual one.  Sin, in fact, is the cause of the greatest suffering, so those who struggle deeply with sin in their lives suffer deeply from that sin.

By Fr. Bernard Holzer, AA

Today is a day of great celebration in the Philippines and around the world.

We celebrate the birth of the Virgin Mary.

What a gift for humanity! What a gift for all of us!

What a sign of the goodness and the tenderness on the part of God, our Father:

He gives us a mother, a Mom or Mama!

The "Hail Mary" best sums up the deep meaning of this feast:

“Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed are thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary Mother of God,

Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. »

During that day,

with the angels and all the saints,

with men and women of all times and of all races,

let us simply associate ourselves with Mary's song:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;

my spirit rejoices in God my savior.

For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;

behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.

The Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

His mercy is from age to age

to those who fear him.

He has shown might with his arm,

dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.

He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones

but lifted up the lowly.

The hungry he has filled with good things;

the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped Israel his servant,

remembering his mercy,

according to his promise to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” (Luke 1: 46-55)

During the first days of the week, the liturgy invites us to listen to the Gospel according to Saint Luke (Chapter 4). Saint Luke offers us to accompany Jesus in his healing ministry.

On the day of the Sabbath, he did not perform a miracle in Nazareth. But the following week, in the City of Capernaum at the crossroad of the nations, he cast out a demon and then, in front of the synagogue and the house of Simon Peter, healed his mother-in-law with a fever. At sunset, he cured a lot of sick people with various diseases.

So when we pray for Jesus to come and heal us and those we love, let us open our hearts and hands. Let us ask for the grace of faith. Let us become like children confident in his parents.

O Lord, teach us how to love, to be compassionate and kind like you!

“The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness.

The Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all his works…

The Lord is faithful in all his words and holy in all his works.

The Lord lift up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.” – Psalm 145

By Ada Escopete

With the Passion of St. John the Baptist on August 29, we reflect upon the life and legacy of he who was “great in the sight of the Lord.” St. John is perhaps best known for his baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, marking the beginning of Jesus’ public career.

John was born to Elizabeth, who had been barren for years and advanced in age when she conceived. When the angel Gabriel appeared to her husband Zechariah to tell him of John’s conception, he declared of the child:

 [H]e will be great in the sight of [the] Lord. He will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.” (Luke 1:15-17)

A child of the desert, John grew up and lived as a hermit in the Judean wilderness, eating a diet of locusts and wild honey, and clad in camel hair clothing – details which may be reflective of strict commitments to Nazarite law (Matthew 3:4). In his late twenties John left and began his ministry preaching by the Jordan River, yet the wilderness of Judea remained a definitive aspect of John’s identity. In John 1:23, when the Pharisees ask him who he was, he answered with the language of Isaiah, saying:

I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord.’

By Ada Escopete

Scarcely 32 years old when he died, it is generally accepted that Saint Roch (San Roque) was born about 1295 in Montpellier, France and died in 1327. St. Roch was the only child of rich and noble parents in southern France. John, his father, descendant of the kings of France, was also governor of their home city of Montpel­lier. He and his wife, Libera, were good Christian people. They had one cross. It was that they were aging and still childless. God at length heard their prayer. In due time a child was born, a boy, whom they named Roch, (pro­nounced rock).

Roch responded to the virtu­ous training his parents gave him. He was twenty when the turning point came to his life. It was the death of his parents. First there was his Christian father. He had hardly laid his aged father to rest amid the pomp due his rank and fortune, when Almighty God asked of him also the sacrifice of the dearest soul he still had on earth, his good mother.

Led by the loss of his par­ents, he renounced his principality and whatever property there was in favor of his uncle. The rest of his rich in­heritance he sold and distributed among the poor. He kept nothing for himself but a "PILGRIM'S GARB" and pittance. It is not known how he meant to spend his life; only that his thought for the time being was of making a pilgrimage to Rome, to visit the tomb of the Apostles.

Secretly he stole away and went to Rome. There he satisfied his devotion to the holy Apostles. But he found more of the same kind of work waiting for him there. The mortality from the plague was frightful in Rome.

To all other suffering, there was now added that of complete abandonment by every­body when they should have helped him in his need as he had helped them in theirs.

But God did not abandon him. Tradition has it that rainfall helped refresh him and slaked his thirst, and when he at length felt the appetite for something to eat, a well-groomed hound appeared with a fresh roll between his teeth.

Learning that the plague had flared up again in Piacenza, yet hardly able to get about, he went to town daily to tend the victims, returning each night to his dilapidated hut.

Miraculous happenings fol­lowed Roch's death. Not only did the governor and all the surviving members of the relationship come forward to acknowledge their kinsman with a magnificent funeral, there was a steady issue of cures upon invocation of his name. A special church was built to enshrine the remains. Many years later in 1414, when the plague broke out at the General Council of Constance, it was a ready thought to invoke the aid of the saintly "pilgrim." His image was carried about in procession with the astound­ing result that the plague abated at once. The fame of this event was spread by the members of the Council to every corner of Europe and devotion to Roch increased rapidly.

The images of St. Roch show him either ministering to the sick or alone, attired in pilgrim's cloak and cap. A staff is in his hand, with the traditional pilgrim's wallet, sometimes indicated as· a scallop on his shoulder. A dog is at his side, recalling the story of his rescue on the Trebbia at Piacenza. At times, he points to a mark on his side or his thigh, indi­cating either the storied birthmark or the pain which attacked him at Piacenza.

Today, we pray to him in the Oratio Imperata to deliver us from the Covid-19 pandemic. Saint Roch, pray for us!

To prepare for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us recite her own prayer, the Magnificat.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

the Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his Name.

O Lord, I thank you for all your blessings to me, my family and relatives, and friends

(Let us say their names and the blessings we have received…)

I thank you Lord for your creation, for your bounty, for your goodness and compassion…

He has mercy on those who fear him

in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

O Lord, I thank you for your saints, your martyrs, your witnesses,

for Pope Francis, our Bishops, the frontliners, the public servants…

for all those who work for the common good.

(Let us say their names)

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

O Lord, I thank you for all those who commit themselves with mercy and compassion for the poor, the disadvantaged and the most vulnerable of our society.

Give us the grace to become peace makers and to stand up when the values of your Kingdom are trampled down.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel

for he remembered his promise of mercy,

the promise he made to our fathers,

to Abraham and his children forever.

O Lord, I thank you for your fidelity, your mercy and compassion, for your forgiveness and your promises.

I entrust to you all our departed loved ones. May they rejoice with you and the saints forever, according to your promise.

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By Judith Ayo

Discipleship is the act of being a disciple. Biblically, a disciple is somebody who studies about Christ, a student who believes and follows the teachings of Christ. He has his mission and that is to continue and fulfill the Lord’s work by spreading the Good News, witnessing for Him, and recruiting other disciples in Jesus’ name.

Discipleship carries with it a sincere meaning of commitment for Christ’s mission of LOVE and TRUTH. Social standing does not matter for only a real love for Jesus and His people is required. Whether a person is rich or poor, young or old, he is called for this sacred task. And he can always avail of the many ways offered these days to enrich discipleship like holy retreats and recollections, bible study, liturgical celebrations and many more.

However, it is the VIRTUOUS man who is likely to be a true disciple; the man who answers the call of the times; the man who shares his resources to those in need; the man who teaches about the faith and serves in humility.

The present time and even in Christ’s time, the meaning of discipleship does not vary. The challenge is the same: to live Christ’s life and hope to reach its fullness when the time comes.