God's Word and Daily Life

By Rene Sandoval

Each year, we begin the new liturgical year with a four-week celebration of Advent. Advent is our season of beginning which focuses on waiting. The scripture reminds us to actively wait for the coming of the Lord as king at the end-time.

Henri Nouwen once said, “In our personal lives, waiting is not a very popular pastime. Waiting is not something we anticipate or experience with great joy and gladness! Most of us consider waiting a waste of time. Perhaps this is because the culture in which we live is saying, "Get going! Do something! Show you can make a difference! Don't just sit there and wait!"

For many people, waiting is that place between where we are and where we want to be. We do not enjoy such a place. We want to move out of it and do something worthwhile.  Advent reminds us to be patient as we wait on the Lord.  In the meantime, we are encouraged to look back over our life to see how we have prepared a place for Christ to be born again in our lives and in the lives of those whom we love.  We are watchful and alert! While we are waiting, come Lord Jesus.

By Johnny Cruz

On November 24, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Andrew Dung-Lac, a Vietnamese diocesan priest was among the 117 martyrs in Vietnam. On June 19, 1988, Pope John Paul II canonized a group of 117 martyrs who died for the Roman Catholic Faith in Vietnam during the nineteenth century. The group was made up of 96 Vietnamese, 11 Spaniards, and 10 French. Eight of the group were bishops, 50 were priests and 59 were lay Catholics. Some of the priests were Dominicans, others were diocesan priests who belonged to the Paris Mission Society.

Saint Dung-Lac came from a poor family and was taught by a Catechist. He worked as missionary and was tortured during the persecutions in Vietnam from 1820 to 1840. Today, we have faced with many persecutions. For doing what is right, we face persecutions even in our own family. May we be strong in fighting for what’s right and just in this world. Saint Andrew Dung-Lac and companions, pray for us!

By Fr. Bernard Holzer, aa

As war rages in the Holy Land, Ukraine and Myanmar and in so many other countries, let's take time to pray for peace with Pope Francis.

Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

     We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain.

     Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: "Never again to war!"; "With war everything is lost". Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace.

     Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness.

     Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way, may peace triumph at last, and may the words "division", "hatred" and "war" be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together will be "brother" or sister”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! - Amen.

By Rems Noquiao

On October 24, we celebrate the feast of St. Anthony Mary Claret, founder of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, also known as the Claretians. St. Anthony was a committed evangelist whose zeal for sharing the Gospel continues to inspire the faithful to this day.

Born in Spain in 1807, Anthony Claret was a man of many talents. Following in the footsteps of his father, he worked as a weaver for a time, and also mastered the skill of printing. In addition to his practical skills, Anthony also was driven by a keen intellectual curiosity, becoming fluent in Latin. A deeply spiritual man, Anthony next pursued the priesthood and was ordained in 1835.

Anthony Mary Claret to follow and imitate Jesus Christ always in prayer, work and suffering, and to open himself to the action of the Holy Spirit, who inspired his mission of evangelizing the poor.” As archbishop, he accompanied many people when he was sent into exile during the Spanish Revolution of 1868. Little did he know that he would never return, passing away at a Cistercian monastery in France in 1870.

Like St. Claret, how willing are we to be missionaries to the poor and the marginalized? Let us pray:

St. Anthony Mary Claret, you established your religious order the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in order to bring others into the good works you had already begun. Please continue to bring my prayers before God!

By Rems Noquiao 

October 18th is the Feast of Saint Luke, the Evangelist.

Saint Luke is one of the Four Evangelists, the four traditionally ascribed authors of the canonical gospels. The Early Church Fathers ascribed to him authorship of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. He has been identified with St. Paul's "Luke, the beloved physician”. We know few other facts about Luke's life from Scripture and from early Church historians.

It is believed that Luke was born a Greek and a Gentile. In Colossians 10-14 speaks of those friends who are with him. He first mentions all those "of the circumcision" -- in other words, Jews -- and he does not include Luke in this group. Luke's gospel shows special sensitivity to evangelizing Gentiles.

It is only in his gospel that we hear the parable of the Good Samaritan, that we hear Jesus praising the faith of Gentiles such as the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian (Luke 4:25-27), and that we hear the story of the one grateful leper who is a Samaritan (Luke 17:11-19).  According to the early Church historian Eusebius Luke was born at Antioch in Syria.

The focus of Saint Luke makes him an important figure in including the outcasts in Jesus’ time and today. How do we treat the outcasts today? They may not be Samaritans or lepers. But who are our outcasts? Let us pray the prayer for inclusion:

Lord, give us new strength so that we can build places of belonging: To create a community for all to share their gifts, to know that each of us is loved, to help us to see the light of Christ in all that we serve. Let us remember that each of us is loved, each of us is willed and each of us is necessary. Amen.

By Jen Avisado

On September 28, the entire Philippine nation will rejoice for the Feast of the first Filipino saint- Saint Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila!

St. Lorenzo’s sainthood tells that anyone can be a saint. Saint Lorenzo Ruiz or more known to Filipinos as San Lorenzo Ruiz is an ordinary man.  Just like us, he simply wants to have a happy, peaceful, harmonious life.  However, his circumstances changed and he was thrust into a situation so complicated.   Yet, even if he didn’t want what was happening in his life, Saint Lorenzo Ruiz faced it with unwavering courage and unyielding faith and trust in God.  In the end, he willingly gave his life to a God who is truly deserving of all Saint Lorenzo Ruiz can offer.

Saint Lorenzo Ruiz encourages us to never lose faith and to always trust in God no matter what.  Surely, God was with him during those terrible last days and though his body was suffering, his soul found happiness, peace and assurance that his suffering was not in vain.

Let us pray to San Lorenzo:

O most merciful and almighty God, You bestowed as a gift to Lorenzo Ruiz the strength to withstand the overpowering forces of death for the sake of his faith in You. Through his prayers, help us to follow his example by overcoming all life's trials and eventually, increase our hope and love in You. Amen.

By Rems Noquiao

On Sept. 24, the Catholic Church celebrates the National Seafarers’ Day, an annual celebration organized by the Apostleship of the Sea. The day lets Filipino Catholics remember Filipino seafarers who on account of employment at sea are often deprived of the grace and comfort of the Holy Mass.

The role of seafarers often goes under-appreciated within the maritime industry and by the general public. Seafarers are an essential component in world trade, keeping the economy moving and delivering the goods and fuels we use every day.

Thus, on Sunday, we pray for seafarers’ safety and grace so that their bonds of love and loyalty to their families may remain strong in spite of their physical separation.

Let us pray:

Watch over all who go down to the sea in ships – on business, for leisure, or to rescue those in peril or difficulty. Keep them from danger, befriend them in loneliness, and bring them safely home to those they love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.