God's Word and Daily Life

By Rems Noquiao

June 24 is the celebration of the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin.

There is no way to prepare the Lord’s way, to open our hearts to God’s reign, apart from repentance. It’s our sin that blocks the way, our rebellion that impedes His coming, our pride that leaves no room for Him.

So, John calls all of us to repent. As the other gospel writers tell us, he makes that call explicit for particular groups of people. “Bear fruits that befit repentance… Don’t simply confess your sins and receive baptism but turn from them to God and begin a new life.”

One of the things that we can learn from St. John, according to Pope Francis, was his “spirit of service. St. John was “not interested in having a following for himself, in gaining prestige and success, but he bears witness and then steps back, so that many may have the joy of meeting Jesus,” the pope said.

By Jen Avisado

Corpus Christi is Latin for the “Body of Christ.” We celebrate it as solemnity on the Sunday after the Most Holy Trinity Sunday. It is fitting that after the feast of the Holy Trinity, each of us is assured of the presence of the God that we yearn, in the Eucharist. The Mass is where the real presence of Jesus Christ is. It is in the Mass where we find the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we procession the Body and Blood of Christ on this day, may we be reminded of the real and actual presence of Christ within our midst. He did not abandon us. He kept his promise to be actually present with us through the Eucharist.

How do we treat the Mass? Do we treat it simply an obligatory event? Do we treat it with reverence –a time to meet and spend time with our Lord?

By Rems Noquiao

What is 1 plus 1 plus 1? Mathematics teaches that the answer is 3. But in the dogma of the Holy Trinity the answer is still 1. The fundamental dogma, on which everything in Christianity is based, is that of the Blessed Trinity in whose name all Christians are baptized. 

The feast of the Blessed Trinity needs to be understood and celebrated as a prolongation of the mysteries of Christ and as the solemn expression of our faith in this triune life of the Divine Persons, to which we have been given access by Baptism and by the Redemption won for us by Christ. Only in heaven shall we properly understand what it means, in union with Christ, to share as sons and daughters in the very life of God. Trinity Sunday is an invitation to remember that “[being] Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction”, according to Benedict XVI in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est.

This Trinity Sunday, let us be reminded by the love that binds the Trinity and the Church. This same love binds our family and our relationship with others.

By Nette Pinon

Happy birthday! Don’t be surprised because every Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate the birthday of the Catholic Church.

We may not read so much about the Holy Spirit but the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, is literally “he who is called to one’s side,” advocatus in Latin. The Paraclete is commonly translated by “consoler”, and Jesus is the first consoler. The Lord also called the Holy Spirit, “the Spirit of Truth”.

So, every time we have problems and we pray for consolation, we are in fact, praying for the consoler- the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit – to be at our side to guide us through the pains and trials in life.

And Jesus sends the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Day. How about now? What are the things that bother you? Phone a friend? Yes. Call the Paraclete and he will be there to console you.

By Jen Avisado

On May 21, the Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord.

In the First Reading on Sunday, the Acts of the Apostles talks about Jesus’ earthly mission and ministry. From the healer of the physical body, Jesus is also the healer of souls. He did not only feed the hungry and raised the dead, He also forgave sins and brought men closer to God.

The First Reading tells us that we will all be baptized with the Holy Spirit while in the Gospel, Jesus tells us that are to be his witnesses in His resurrection. He also promised that those who are his disciples and witnesses will be clothed with the Holy Spirit. He knows that they will need help encouragement and strength for the task that lies ahead of them. This promise points and leads us directly to Pentecost which we celebrate next Sunday. Jesus knows that these men and woman will need all the help they can get as they spread the good news of his resurrection.

Is following Christ difficult? Is it easier to do bad things than to do good things? Is it easier to be just than to be corrupt? Jesus tells us to carry on. Let us be witnesses of the Gospel in the family and in the workplace. Let us light the lamp of hope instead of cursing the darkness. Let us not be afraid for we are clothed with the Holy Spirit. ‘God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit,” St. Paul tells us.

By Fr. Bernard Holzer, aa

In a week-long meeting, around twenty theologians from Asia gathered recently in Seoul (South Korea). The theme of the meeting, organized by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) was “The Future and Theological Prospect of the Church in Asia.”

To evangelize today in Asia, is to focus on emerging regional realities such as migration and environment while protecting Asian heritage and values. Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taek of Seoul Archdiocese said: “We must reflect very seriously on how to theologize the Asian heritage and values by illuminating them in the light of Christian faith while preserving them, and how to dynamically testify to the gospel in an Asian context.”

As an Asian, how do I know my own culture and do I savor the Gospel?What are the values of Asia that I find in the Gospel and that the Gospel makes me discover?

Going back to the conversation of Saint Paul to the people of Athens (Acts 17:16-34) could help me to understand our challenge as Asian Christians.

Pope Francis just came back from a three-day apostolic visit to Hungary.

In his homily during his last Mass in the country, on Sunday 30, he sent us a strong message: “Like Jesus, we must become open doors.”

“How sad and painful it is to see closed doors. The closed doors of our selfishness with regard to others; the closed doors of our individualism amid a society of growing isolation; the closed doors of our indifference towards the underprivileged and those who suffer; the doors we close towards those who are foreign or unlike us, towards migrants or the poor. Closed doors also within our ecclesial communities: doors closed to other people, closed to the world, closed to those who are “irregular”, closed to those who long for God’s forgiveness. Please, brothers and sisters, let us open those doors! Let us try to be – in our words, deeds and daily activities – like Jesus, an open door: a door that is never shut in anyone’s face, a door that enables everyone to enter and experience the beauty of the Lord’s love and forgiveness.”

What are the doors I must open? What are the locks I need to blow up to change and to build peace and fraternity?

By Marc Gerona

Jesus said that his sheep belongs to him because he knows them and they follow him. This is the mark of a Good Shepherd; the shepherd knows and follows the sheep. Being a good shepherd is not a matter of entitlement, the shepherd spends time with his sheep. He sometimes bleeds with his sheep to save them from wolves and other wild animals.

We are both shepherd and sheep. We are shepherds because we lead a certain group like our own family and company. We too are sheep because we are followers of Christ. Jesus is the true and only shepherd for he has laid down his life for his sheep. He left the 99 to look for the one, loss sheep. If I were him, I would let go of the one lost sheep. I have 99, anyway! But no, he looked and found the one lost sheep? His only reason? It is his. The sheep is his. That reason is enough.

Are we loving enough like the Good Shepherd? Are we willing to risk our lives for the one lost sheep?

By Rems Noquiao

Next Sunday, our Gospel is Luke 24:28-35, more popularly known as the “Road to Emmaus.”

What is it in journeying and partaking a meal that have become a symbol of God after the resurrection? The disciples walked with Jesus without realizing that it was him. They thought he was an unknown stranger, who did not have any idea about the crucifixion of the Christ. Jesus’ true identity was not revealed to them. Perhaps because Jesus looked differently after the resurrection, or perhaps they were prevented from doing so. They did not see any sign during their travel. Where did they see the sign? In the breaking of the bread! That was the time their eyes were opened to the true identity of the stranger they travelled with. Jesus and the disciples sat down together. He got the bread and the fish and blest them. That act of blessing revealed Christ’s identity to them.

The Holy Eucharist is the event when Christ, in the person of the priest, blesses the bread and wine. It is the summit of our own roads to Emmaus, so that Christ’s identity, too, be revealed in us. And so, every time we hear Mass, our hearts too, should be burning within like the two disciples Jesus travelled with. It is our initial response of love, as the Eucharist is a sacrament of love!