The gospel of the Mass on Thursday after Ash Wednesday (cfr. Lk 9,22-25) talks about Christ telling his disciples that He must suffer and be rejected, and calls his followers to take up their cross daily and deny themselves to follow him, for losing one’s...
WITH Ash Wednesday, we once again begin the season of Lent when as a way to pursue spiritual growth, self-reflection and preparation for Easer, we are encouraged to go through the process of repentance and conversion, deepening our relationship with God through prayer, fasting and...
WE get this happy assurance from the Letter of St. James. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive a crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him.” (1,12) God can allow temptations to...
THERE are two ways of asking for a sign from heaven—the good one and the bad one. The former is when we do it to see if what we intend to do is really what God wants us to do. This happens when we are...
IF we want to be like Christ, we need to be the world’s salt and light. This, in fact, Christ said so very clearly in the gospel of St. Matthew (5,13-16). We have to seriously figure out how we can conform ourselves to what Christ...
THAT’S what happened to St. John the Baptist. (cfr. Mk 6,14-29) Just because he did not want to lose face before his guests, King Herod finally chose to give in to the request of a dancing girl who, advised by her scheming mother, asked for...
THAT’S from the Gospel of St. Mark (1,15), words spoken by Christ himself when he went into Galilee and proclaimed the Good News of God after John the Baptist was put in prison. After saying this he immediately said: “Repent and believe in the good...
WE should not be surprised by this phenomenon. In the gospel, there are many instances when Christ would leave even those close to him questioning and skeptical about his teachings and ways. When he went to his hometown, for example, and entered the synagogue and started...
THAT’S a verse from the Gospel of St. Matthew. (8,17) It’s actually from the Book of Isaiah (53,4) expressing a prophecy that Christ fulfilled through the many miraculous healings he made while going around preaching. It’s a truth of faith that we need to cultivate and...
THAT’S what we can gather from the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Imagine Christ, the very son of God, submitting himself to some ritual when it would have been unnecessary for him. Obviously, the child Jesus could be exempted from this law, and we...