Monday, April 8, 2024
Sunday, April 7, 2024
Daily Catholic Reflection: Monday, April 8, 2024, Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, Year B
Mary's Fiat
Brethren, this year's feast of the Annunciation is celebrated on April 8, instead of March 25, because March 25 fell in Holy in which we do not celebrate any feast and solemnity but only focus on our Lord Jesus Christ, his passion, death and resurrection. The feast of Annunciation of the Lord is celebrated exactly nine months before Christmas, when Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a fulfillment of the prophecy in the first reading of today. The Church gives us this Solemnity today to invite us to walk with Mary over these coming nine months so as to join her in her rejoicing over the birth of her divine Son. God has become man, to live among us and like us except sin, and He is Emmanuel, “God is with us.” God takes the first initiative to come to us, to save us according to his promises. Therefore, the sole purpose of Annunciation is for our salvation as Matthew 1.21 puts it clearly that he will be called Jesus meaning that he will save his people from their sins. The Name Jesus therefore means Saviour.
Saturday, April 6, 2024
Daily Catholic Reflection: Sunday, April 7, 2024, Second Sunday of Easter Sunday of Divine Mercy, Year B
Saint John Baptist de La Salle
Sent to Be Instruments of Mercy
Brethren, today, the eighth day of Easter, marks the end of Octave Easter but in a special way the mother church celebrates the Divine Mercy Sunday. When Jesus appeared to St Faustina Kowalska, he gave her ways in which devotion to his Mercy in life should be lived. One of the ways was through the celebration of Divine Mercy on this eighth day after Easter. On this day the door gates of Mercy are opened and “every soul which feels sorry, go for confession and receive Holy Communion will receive complete forgiveness of sins and no punishment.” Therefore, this is a very important Sunday in the life of the church which needs God's mercy always because the church is Holy but with sinful human beings.
Friday, April 5, 2024
Daily Catholic Reflection: Saturday, April 6, 2024, Saturday in the Octave of Easter, Year B
Go, Preach the Gospel to the Whole Creation
We come to the end of the Easter Week and the final readings sets from the apostolic witness, which is to come, aided by the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the belief in the resurrection of Jesus. So, having been with Jesus, learning from him, and having come to the full belief in the resurrection of Jesus, then Apostles are now set and commissioned by Jesus when he appears to them in the room, to go to the whole world to proclaim the good news to all creation. Saint Augustine of Hippo commenting on the Apostles' commissioning says that:
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Daily Catholic Reflection: Friday, April 5, 2024, Friday in the Octave of Easter, Year B
Acts 4:1-12,
Ps 118:1-2 and 4.22-24.25-27ab,
John 21: 1-14 Full Readings
Cast into the Deep
Brethren, today Jesus appears to the Apostles again, at Lake Tiberias, which is called the Sea of Galilee. We remember the significance of this sea in Jesus' mission. It is where he called his first disciples and did many miracles around there and it was where his ministry started from. The disciples had gone back for fishing and could not get anything the whole night. Jesus then orders them to cast into the deep for a big catch. What an amazing catch! This Gospel has a fundamental message which Jesus gives to his disciples and to all of us.
Jesus showed Peter and his fellows that they are not meant to fish the fish but the souls of people for God and therefore Jesus wanted to show them that there should not be any going back to old ways, though we know the disciples had lost hope and were discouraged by Jesus' death. They went back to their old ways of fishing but could not work out, for whoever places his hands on the ploughshare should not look behind for he is not fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). Fishing fish is no longer meant for them but a ministry higher than this.
This is probably why St Jerome interpreted the number 153 involved in this miracle as representing all the species of fish. He then stated its meaning is that there was enough room within the church for all the "races" of man. Augustine also believed that this fish miracle represented all kinds of men being saved by the gospel "net." This shows that the Apostles would now become fishers of all people, not only in Jerusalem but throughout all the corners of the earth, so that everyone will come to believe in the name of Jesus Christ through repentance and believing the gospel.
Most times we have been tempted and have gone back to our old ways of life even after we had seen the light, for instance our separated brethren and fallen ones from the church. Going back is denying that light, it's burying ourselves again in sin after having resurrected with him at our baptism, and it is distancing ourselves from our Saviour. Today let us examine ourselves on how we have fallen back and ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit to rise again and walk in the light again.
When Jesus told them, cast into the other side of the boat, i.e., to cast into the deep, and there was a big catch, he showed them a perfect example for fishing the souls of people. With this sign they recognized him, and he had even prepared for them breakfast. Jesus still cares for his disciples. Though they had gone back to their old lives, he understands them and knows they are hungry, but on the other hand, he wants to show them that there is a more mission beyond that.
This is the mission of fishing souls for the Lord by preaching repentance and salvation through his name as we saw in the gospel yesterday. The big catch was to show them how they should cast into the deep in evangelising the world as the witnesses of the resurrection and the first receivers of the Holy Spirit. This is not only a mission for disciples but also for us. Jesus sends to evangelise the world in our deeds and words, to cast our lives into the deep ends of the world to win people for the Lord. He doesn't want us to step back but to continue that mission entrusted to us.
This mission is not all that easy, we will be abandoned, rejected even arrested like Peter and John in the first Reading, but we don't need to quit nor to go back but we to continue preaching that only through Jesus' name can we be saved, because he has given us the Spirit and by that Spirit, we shall indeed accomplish our mission.
Reflect today on how you have embarked on your mission in your life, are there moments you have felt like giving up, like abandoning the mission and going back to the old ways. This would be at work, in your marriage, in your celibacy, in raising your children, serving the church and in all responsibilities entrusted to you. Pray to God that as we celebrate this Easter his light and Spirit may pilot us to do his will in our lives. As we are witnesses to the resurrection let us go proclaiming the risen Christ who is among us and give people hope not to be afraid of any situation for Jesus, the risen Lord, is among us. May the Lord help us as we place all our trust in him.
Let us Pray.
Lord Jesus, help me to sincerely listen and follow the direction You give me as I participate in your saving mission, for I know that where you guide me is where you want me to cast into the deep and make known your Gospel to all the people. Use me, dear Lord, to save many souls for Your Kingdom. Amen
Blessed Easter
Today: Day 8 of the Divine Mercy Novena
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Daily Catholic Reflection: Thursday, April, 2024, Thursday in the Octave of Easter Year
Acts 3:11-26
Ps 8:2ab and 5, 6-7, 8-9
Lk 24:35-48 Full Readings
Peace Be with You
Brethren, Jesus after appearing to various groups of people, we see him today appearing to his disciples in the room they were hiding and greeted them "Peace be with You." They were all astonished and thought they were seeing a ghost, but Jesus proved by showing himself, the wounds, the flesh and by eating with them so that they may come to believe. Why did Jesus really have to appear to different groups of people and do everything to prove that he is alive with his body and soul?
We have to remember that even his Apostles did not believe as such in what he was teaching them about his death and resurrection and how he was going to save people from their sins. They were perhaps, as other Jews were, expecting a political messiah who would free them from political oppression. In fact, all their hopes were shuttered seeing Jesus die on the Cross, and such experience could not even allow them to think of what he told them that he would rise on the third day. Jesus had then to appear to them after resurrection not only to show them his physical body as a proof of his resurrection, but also to commission them to continue the mission which Jesus himself had started, that is, the good news, and the preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins, in his name. This was to be done with the help of the Holy Spirit which Jesus had breathed on them or had to send to them. That is the power we see Peter and John using to heal the lame man in yesterday's and today's first reading.
Jerome (347-420 AD), an early church bible scholar, comments: "As he showed them real hands and a real side, he really ate with his disciples; really walked with Cleophas; conversed with men with a real tongue; really reclined at supper; with real hands took bread, blessed and broke it, and was offering it to them...Do not put the power of the Lord on the level with the tricks of magicians, so that he may appear to have been what he was not, and may be thought to have eaten without teeth, walked without feet, broken bread without hands, spoken without a tongue, and showed a side which had no ribs." (From a letter to Pammachius against John of Jerusalem 34). The Lord was real and had really resurrected.
It was indeed, an "aha moment" for the apostles and the disciples. The Gospel tells us that Jesus “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. He reminded them of something they had apparently forgotten that long before he was crucified, he had told them that it would happen. He had foretold it over and over again. It must have come as an “aha moment” to the disciples. Into their minds, which had been so full of doubt and disbelief, came the memories of those moments on the road, in towns throughout Israel, when again and again Jesus had said, “The Son of Man will be killed, and on the third day rise again.” They remembered the arguments they had about it, the feeling of confusion, even the angry rejection of such prophecies. Now they saw that the suffering was all part of his plan. And they also realized that each of them was called to witness to what they had experienced. Our Lord also grants us insight when we pray with the Scriptures. Our “aha moments” draw us closer to Christ and fill our hearts with gratitude. As our gratitude and love grow, they overflow, and we become his enthusiastic witnesses.
Sometimes in our life, we also become hesitant to believe in the resurrection, or to believe in the Mysteries that God invites us to because of being overwhelmed by our daily experiences. This does us no good but shatters our spiritual growth. It makes us stuck in our old ways of sin and we cannot see the light ahead of us. It needs a radical turn to see that light. Jesus Christ is always inviting us daily to look at his victory over death and the evil, giving us hope and assurance that we are victors with him. No need of hesitancy but to believe in him the risen one for he is with us.
The “greeting of Peace” was not only for his disciples but for us all. The gift of resurrection he gives is peace, both peace of mind and of the body. He gives them peace to calm down their minds which were filled with a lot of thoughts of his crucifixion and the experiences they had undergone. In the same way, it was peace of the body, to live well again with one another and the whole world. It's there that he commissions them by calling them "witnesses" so that they carry this peace to all, an instrument of peace.
This same greeting is to us. The Risen Lord is giving us peace, the peace of mind not to fear anything, any situations, and whatever kills the body, for we are victors with him. This is the peace we need in the present world full of chaos from every corner because when we are at peace, we can easily conquer it. He also invites us to live in peace with one another and also share this peace with one another. Invite others to live in peace and also create peace where you are in the name of Jesus Christ. One way is by preaching forgiveness and reconciliation so that all may come to believe in the Risen Christ as Peter is preaching in the first Reading.
Reflect today on how you have created peace, how you have been an instrument of peace, how have you lived in peace with yourself and others and how do you correct and on how you have responded to those who destroy the peace the Lord gives. How have you been a witness of the risen Christ in both word and deed.
Let us Pray.
That the Lord may make us the witnesses of his resurrection and in witnessing him to make us the instruments of peace to his people as St Francis prayed. May he always be with us at all times and may you be blessed forever. Amen
Be blessed.
Today: Seventh Day of Divine Mercy Novena
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
daily Catholic Reflection: Wednesday, April 3, 2024, Wednesday in the Octave of Easter, Year B
Acts 3:1-10
Ps 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9
Lk 24:13-35 Full Readings
Recognising Jesus in the Eucharist
Brethren, we continue to celebrate Easter and Jesus continues to appear to different groups of people while on the other hand, the Apostles are using the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the light of the Risen Lord to perform miracles and show that really the Lord who was crucified died, was buried and now is indeed alive; he has risen. Do we ourselves believe in this Resurrection, if Yes, let us take that light of resurrection to others.
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