God's Word and Daily Life

By Mel Jasmin

On March 25^, the universal Church, celebrates the Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord.

The feast of the Annunciation, now recognized as a solemnity, was first celebrated in the fourth or fifth century. Its central focus is the Incarnation: God has become one of us. From all eternity God had decided that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity should become human. Now, as Luke 1:26-38 tells us, the decision is being realized. The God-Man embraces all humanity, indeed all creation, to bring it to God in one great act of love. Because human beings have rejected God, Jesus will accept a life of suffering and an agonizing death: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

Mary has an important role to play in God’s plan. From all eternity, God destined her to be the mother of Jesus and closely related to him in the creation and redemption of the world. We could say that God’s decrees of creation and redemption are joined in the decree of Incarnation. Because Mary is God’s instrument in the Incarnation, she has a role to play with Jesus in creation and redemption. It is a God-given role. It is God’s grace from beginning to end. Mary becomes the eminent figure she is only by God’s grace. She is the empty space where God could act. Everything she is she owes to the Trinity.

Mary is the virgin-mother who fulfills Isaiah 7:14 in a way that Isaiah could not have imagined. She is united with her son in carrying out the will of God (Psalm 40:8-9; Hebrews 10:7-9; Luke 1:38).

Do we announce the Good News to our neighbors through our actions?

By Mel Jasmin

This week, we will celebrate the Solemnity of Saint Joseph as Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Joseph’s example and patronage come at the perfect time. At a time when a global pandemic has forced millions to live hidden away, isolated and alone, we can see Joseph as a model of the hidden life. We know, too, that Joseph died before Jesus’ public ministry ; Mary’s husband was undoubtedly familiar with suffering. So, we can see him as our patron, too, praying for us as he understands our struggles with illness.

Like many saints whose lineage can be traced back to the earliest days of the church, very little is known of St. Joseph, besides what we learn from the few lines written about him in the Gospels. He was of King David’s line and engaged to a young woman from Nazareth. Mary was found, quite unexpectedly, to be pregnant. But Joseph, “being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace,” as the Gospel of Matthew tells it, planned to dissolve his betrothal quietly. Even before Jesus was born, then, Joseph’s tender compassion and forgiving heart were on full display.

But God had other plans. As with another troubled Joseph—a patriarch in the book of Genesis—God used a dream to reveal his redemptive plans for the carpenter from Nazareth. In the dream, an angel let Joseph in on Mary’s secret: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” That same angel, after the birth of Mary’s son, advised Joseph to take the child and his mother to Egypt to flee the murderous King Herod. And Joseph listened.

Like Saint Joseph, may we also listen to the will of God.

By Father Bernard Holzer, aa

With Pope Francis, let us pray for peace: with the “Prayer of the Children of Abraham” said during the Interreligious Meeting in the Plain of Ur (Iraq) on Saturday, 6 March 2021

We ask you, the God of our father Abraham and our God, to grant us a strong faith, a faith that abounds in good works, a faith that opens our hearts to you and to all our brothers and sisters; and a boundless hope capable of discerning in every situation your fidelity to your promises.

Make each of us a witness of your loving care for all, particularly refugees and the displaced, widows and orphans, the poor and the infirm.

Open our hearts to mutual forgiveness and in this way, make us instruments of reconciliation, builders of a more just and fraternal society.

Welcome into your abode of peace and light all those who have died, particularly the victims of violence and war.

Assist the authorities in the effort to seek and find the victims of kidnapping and in a special way to protect women and children.

Help us to care for the earth, our common home, which in your goodness and generosity you have given to all of us.

Guide our hands in the work of rebuilding this country, and grant us the strength needed to help those forced to leave behind their homes and lands, enabling them to return in security and dignity, and to embark upon a new, serene and prosperous life. Amen.

By Father Bernard, AA

We are familiar with the three pillars of Lent: prayer, fasting and sharing. These means of conversion not only concern our personal life but also involve our living together in society.

How am I going to get out of our comfort zone to open our prayer, fasting and sharing to those who are hungry, afflicted and oppressed?

By Mel Jasmin

 We just celebrated the feast of the Chair of Saint Peter yesterday.

Saint Peter, our first pope. Prayer for us!

By Mel Jasmin

Ash Wednesday marks the first day of the 40 days of Lent, a six-week period (excluding Sundays) dedicated to prayer, fasting, and reflection in preparation for the great celebration of Christ’s Paschal Mystery in the Easter Triduum.  Lent is a time to re-focus and to re-enter a place of truth. It is here where we find our true identity.

Ash Wednesday is the best way to begin a season which calls us into self-examination as well as self-denial, into deeper contemplation about the mystery and grace of God's mercy, and towards more radical giving towards those most in need of comfort, sustenance, and hope.

The ancient practice of Ash Wednesday reminds us that we are mortal. It causes us to pause and look at our lives– remember what we are made of, remember where we are going- and encourages us to fully immerse ourselves in the Lenten season.

During this Wednesday, let us remember what the priest says while sprinkling ashes on our forehead – “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

By Father Bernard Holzer, aa

At the end of this week, in communion with millions in Asians, we celebrate the Lunar New Year. During this special week, the liturgical texts invite us to meditate on the first chapters of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, to meditate « the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation ».

They tell us God’s visions for humanity, God’s vision for a new year:

“God created mankind in his image;

in the image of God he created them;

male and female* he created them.

God blessed them and God said to them:

Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.

Have dominion over the fish of the sea,

the birds of the air, and all the living things

that crawl on the earth.”

Let us find time to reread quietly Chapter 1 of the Book of Genesis, and to ask God to inspire us for the beginning of this Lunar New Year. What can I do to save the creation, the environment and mankind?

February 4 marks the First International Day of Human Fraternity, established by a recent Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly. This initiative also takes note of the meeting on 4 February 2019 in Abu Dhabi, when the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyib and Pope Francis signed the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living together.

Pope Francis is inviting us to join in this celebration, aimed at promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogue. He himself will take part in a virtual meeting with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, with the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, and other leaders:  

“The United Nations Resolution recognizes “the contribution that dialogue among all religious groups can make towards an improved awareness and understanding of the common values shared by all humankind”. May this be our prayer today and our commitment every day of the year.”

Let us meet during this week a person from another religion or a person I have difficulty to meet.

By Ada Escopete

God’s Word has powerful transforming impact on the national life. In world history, as well as in our own, the Holy Bible is regarded as a powerful book containing timeless principles that when heeded and obeyed can change a nation for the better. And after having tried so many alternative methods in the past, the call for us now is to heed God’s Word, to follow its statutes and obey its precepts if we want to see true development and lasting change in our lives as a people and as a country.

The Philippine Bible Society has endeavored to introduce people to the Bible’s transforming power through all means possible. One such means is the celebration of the National Bible Month backed up by Presidential Proclamation No. 124 declared by incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte last January 5, 2017.

Every year, the nation commemorates and celebrates the importance of the Bible in nation building. Churches have come together through parades, motorcades, and rallies proclaiming the yearly themes of the Bible celebration. Sermons and homilies have focused on the Bible’s role in changing the people’s lives during the National Bible Sunday. Streamers and posters called attention to this significant event, as well as Scriptures that are distributed on the streets and other public places.

Let us pray that we may be strengthen by the Word of God through Scriptures.