God's Word and Daily Life

By Fr. Bernard Holzer, aa

 In his Message for the World Day of the Sick (on February 11), Pope Francis is inviting us to meditate about illness and about care: “Take care of your brothers.” He is inviting us to get involved after the Covi-19 pandemic.

“These past years of the pandemic have increased our sense of gratitude for those who work each day in the fields of healthcare and research. Yet it is not enough to emerge from such an immense collective tragedy simply by honoring heroes. Covid-19 has strained the great networks of expertise and solidarity, and has exposed the structural limits of existing public welfare systems.  Gratitude, then, needs to be matched by actively seeking, in every country, strategies and resources in order to guarantee each person’s fundamental right to basic and decent healthcare...”

Sick people, in fact, are at the center of God’s people, and the Church advances together with them as a sign of a humanity in which everyone is precious and no one should be discarded or left behind.

By Father Bernard Holzer, aa

On the last day of 2022, God has called to eternal life Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

In his last breath, he said, "Jesus, I love you."

What better summary of a life given to the Church. What better program for the year that opens before us: to know Jesus better in order to love him better and thus become better servants of the Church and of society.

What better resolution is there than to put Jesus and his Message at the center of our lives?

Thank you, Lord, for the life and teaching of Pope Benedict XVI. Thank you, Lord, for the gifts you give us and for inviting us to put ourselves at the service of others and the planet. Thank you for all the companions, sisters and brothers, you had blessed us on our way. They lead us to You.

Happy and Blessed New Year!

By Tony Morales

On Sunday, we will already celebrate the birth of our Lord. Every Christmas, we have the beautiful tradition of giving gifts. But why do we give gifts at Christmas? Christmas is a traditional time for giving presents. There are personal reasons behind why people give Christmas presents. The motivations vary by the individual, but there are some common themes.

The nativity story has a significant influence on the tradition of Christmas gift-giving. We cite the Three Wise Men, or Magi, as the Biblical context for giving presents during the Christmas season. The Magi brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to Baby Jesus in the manger.

These precious items showed the respect and reverence the Wise Men had for the Son of God. Christians likewise bestow presents on family members, friends and the needy as a way of remembering the Three Wise Men honoring of the Christ Child. A modern interpretation of the custom is the recognition that Christmas is Jesus' birthday. Since giving material birthday presents to Him is not possible, instead people give gifts to each other in celebration of the day.

Christmas presents are a time to surprise and delight those we love. People enjoy finding that perfect gift. Once wrapped and delivered, the giver watches the recipient's happy face as he or she unwraps it. So, what are you waiting for? Let us share something with one another this Christmas season. Merry Christmas!

By Fr. Bernard Holzer, aa

It’s amazing to notice that Pope Francis, who often says that the Church is not a NGO (Non-Governmental Organization), chose for December a prayer intention for volunteer not-for-profit organizations! He said :

“We pray that volunteer non-profit organizations committed to human development find people dedicated to the common good and ceaselessly seek out new paths to international cooperation.”

These organizations seek to fulfill the promises of the prophets that we meditate on during this Advent Season and that Jesus himself repeats:

“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” (Luc 7: 22)

But Jesus does not just repeat the prophets, he puts their message into action, as St. Luke recounts in his Gospel:

“At that time Jesus cured many of their diseases, sufferings, and evil spirits; he also granted sight to many who were blind.” (Luc 7: 21)

As signs that he is "the one who is to come," Jesus does not mention the worship but the fulfillment of the promises of the prophets.

As Christmas approaches, as we celebrate God's coming among us, let us support those who work with the blind, the deaf, the sick, the suffering, the marginalized. Let us support those who go to the peripheries and pray for them. They are God's hands, the signs of his presence among us!

By Fr. Bernard Holzer, aa 

Since September, we can hear Christmas’ songs on the radio, TV, the internet, in the jeepneys, in the malls and in the banks… But let us prepare our hearts to welcome the Good News of Christmas: it’s about the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

As Pope Francis explained last Saturday, during the blessing of a nativity scene handmade by 30 artisan craftsmen in Guatemala: “the nativity scene tells of the birth of the Son of God who became man to be close to each of us. In its genuine poverty, the nativity scene helps us to rediscover the true richness of Christmas.”

“Simple and familiar, the nativity scene recalls a different Christmas from the consumerist and commercial one. … It reminds us how good it is for us to cherish moments of silence and prayer in our days, which are often overwhelmed by frenzy.”

Pope Francis, thus, recommended silent prayer and contemplation of the Christ Child in a nativity scene as an intimate experience of God’s humility and tenderness.

“And if we really want to celebrate Christmas, let us rediscover through the nativity scene the surprise and wonder of littleness, the littleness of God, who made himself small, who was not born in the splendor of appearance, but in the poverty of a stable.”

Let’s us rediscover and prepare for this real Christmas! There will be joy and happiness!

By Tony Morales

The Gospel for the incoming Second Sunday of Advent is about John the Baptist, repentance, and preparing the way for the coming King. John’s baptism was for repentance. Repentance is from the Greek word metanoia which literally means to change one’s mind, to change one’s direction.

This repentance literally means to be open minded, and not to be close minded to what God is going to do. He is doing a new thing beyond the ordinary, and outside our expectations. John’s purpose is to prepare the way of the Messiah, and get the people ready for his coming so they don’t miss it.

God would at last come back, bringing comfort and rescue. Yes, John is saying; that’s what’s happening now. It’s time to get ready! The king, God himself, is coming back! Get ready for God’s kingdom! And John’s striking message made everyone sit up and take notice. In today’s language, they saw the blue flashing lights, and stopped what they were doing to get ready…Real repentance meant a complete and lasting change of heart and life. That was the only way to get the road ready for the coming king. 

So, during Advent, we wait for God’s coming, we need to be awake, and prepared. The King is coming. John’s words were prophetic since he brought words of correction. No one likes being called out, yet if we don’t wake up, we will miss God’s appearance and what he has for us.

By Tony Morales

This Sunday we begin a new season in the liturgical calendar of the Church. Today, we begin the great Season of Advent. There are two messages that we will hear over the next four weeks. One message and set of values will come to us from the media and the shops. We will be told that we will have to move faster, stay busy, queue longer in the shops and spend more money on those ‘must have’ presents so that we will have the ‘perfect’ Christmas, as if such a thing exists.  We will be told and sold the idea that unless we buy more and more and surround ourselves with all the trappings of Christmas, we won’t be happy. This most definitely is ‘fake news.’ However, there is a very different message and set of values that will be offered to us through the gospels, the prayers and the liturgy of Advent. We are being asked to prepare a way for the Lord, to stay awake, to make a straight a path for the Lord and to get ourselves ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus. This is most definitely is ‘Good News! 

The message of Advent is an invitation and it also a challenge to us. We are called to be looking forward, to be ready, to be prepared and we are asked to wait in joyful hope. Let us, therefore, stay awake this Advent season and wait for the Lord with hope and gladness!

By Tony Morales

On November 20, the universal Church celebrates the Solemnity of Christ the King. We remember that Jesus alone is King of the universe.

Jesus is King. There is no doubt about it. In His lifetime and especially concentrated in His ministry, Jesus preaches about the Kingdom of God His Father. Moreover, in His parable He indicated His kingship by His parables referring to Himself as the Son of Man coming in glory and seated in His throne. Today’s gospel reading, the eschatological parable of judgment, Jesus refers to himself as the one sitting in the judgment throne over the lambs and goats.

The Kingship of Jesus is an enduring mystery that pervades the very fabric of salvation history. Having the idea of a “king” especially in the newer contexts of leadership, is not that appealing much less a next-to-skin experience. For most of us who lives in the present setup of democracy ruled by a “president” rather than a “king”, we cannot readily settle in to the concept. We may only have a “historical” or “ideal” concept which cuts away from us the “contextual feeling” of having a King in our midst. This proves a real challenge to us in understanding the kingship of Jesus as a mystery of our faith. Sometimes, we loosely shout with no sentimental proximity to the acclamation “Viva, Cristo Rey!” We do not know what we really shouting about. Why Christ is King? It deepens therefore the mystery to us.

By Father Bernard Holzer, aa

In his closing address in the “Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human Coexistence" (November 4, 2022) in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Pope Francis gave us some orientations on how to build peace in our daily life pursuing a single path of fraternity, dialogue and peace.

Let us open your hearts to your brothers and sisters.

Let us press forward on the journey towards greater knowledge and understanding of one another.

Let us strengthen the bonds between us, without duplicity or fear, in the name of the Creator who has put us together in this world as guardians of our brothers and sisters.

Let us show that another path of encounter is possible, not based on interests, money and power plays.

Let us encounter one another for the sake of humanity and in the name of the One who loves humanity, the One whose name is peace.

Let us promote concrete initiatives to ensure that the journey of the great religions will be ever more effective and ongoing, a conscience of peace for our world!

Let us oppose the race to rearmament, to the commerce of war, to the market of death. Do not support “alliances against some”, but means of encounter with all.

The call is clear: what can I do to be peacemakers?

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9)