Spiritual blindness is very common in modern times. Perhaps, the most awful disease in our country today is the spiritual blindness which refuses to see the truths of God’s revelation, and even to admit that God exists. Similarly, we also have personal blind-spots - in our marriages, our parenting, our work habits, and our personalities. We are often blind to the presence of the Triune God dwelling within us and fail to appreciate His presence in others. Even practicing Christians can be blind to the poverty, injustice, and pain around them.

We need to allow Jesus free entry into our personal lives. A sign that God is active in our lives is Him entering in to our personal, “private” lives. Jesus wants to “get personal” with us, especially during this Lenten Season. Jesus wants to get into our “private” lives because we have a “private” personal life which is contrary to the will of God. Christ wishes to come into that “private” life, not to embarrass us, not to judge or condemn us, not to be unkind or malicious to us, but to free us, to change us, and to offer us what we really need: living water.

The Gospel of the Transfiguration is proclaimed every year on the Second Sunday of Lent. During this liturgical season, the Lord takes us with him to a place apart. While our ordinary commitments compel us to remain in our usual places and our often repetitive and sometimes boring routines, during Lent we are invited to ascend “a high mountain” in the company of Jesus and to live a particular experience of spiritual discipline – ascesis – as God’s holy people.

Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. These are the three pillars of Lent. “Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated,” St. Peter Chrysologus says. “If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God’s ear to yourself.”

Christ Jesus is really and truly present in the Eucharist

In the ancient world, salt was highly valued. The Greeks called salt divine, and the Romans said, “There is nothing more useful than sun and salt.” The English word “salary” literally means “salt money.” In the time of Jesus, salt was connected in people’s minds with three special qualities... PURITY-PRESERVATIVE-FLAVOR

Being poor in spirit is the fundamental condition for becoming blessed and happy. We are blessed when we know our need for God and do His will every day. We are poor in spirit when we surrender our plans to God and ask for His help. We are poor in spirit when we admit our sins, mourn for them repenting, ask His grace and forgiveness for them, and promise to “sin no more and avoid the near occasions of sin.”

'Jesus is the Light’ which the people in darkness are rejoicing to see, but he will soon say to his followers, ‘You are the light of the world.’ This is his purpose in choosing his followers and this is the mission he entrusts to us today, his modern-day disciples.

No doubt, the Lamb of God is the most meaningful title given to Jesus in the Scriptures. It sums up his love, sacrifice and triumph on the Cross - for our sake. This puts upon us the challenge to be like him – to live and die like Jesus, the Lamb of God. To live like a lamb is to lead pure, innocent, humble and selfless lives. To die like a “sacrificial” lamb is to share our blessings of time, talent and treasures to others in the family, church and community. We cannot do this unless we have an intimate relationship with him. We cannot be a disciple of Jesus at a distance. To be like him is to be drawn close to him – to know him, love him and serve him. Amen.

Our Church now enters a period of mourning, so let us receive this moment as time to unite ourselves in prayer and reflection on a great leader of our Universal Church. Further information will be provided in the coming days about our local diocesan observance of the passing of Benedict XVI.

Since we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God and the World Day of Peace on January 1st, the beginning of a new year, I want take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy and Peaceful New Year. “The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!”

This Christmas, let us all come together and be people of one accord, united in the Lord. Come home. Come back home. Let the sin of division and separation be healed by the sacrament of unity, the Holy Eucharist. Around the table of plenty, let us pray that the Lord may give us peace, that He may not look on our sins but on the faith of the Church, and that He may graciously grant us peace and unity in accordance with His will. It is true - a truly meaningful Christmas is not possible without the Eucharist.

On the first Christmas, our Savior Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, which literally means the House of Bread. He was then laid in a feeding trough called manger. In the Eucharist, Jesus comes to us truly, really, and substantially, in the form of bread and wine. He gives himself to us to be partaken, for “whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.” (Jn. 6, 54)

When we open our eyes, we can see the miraculous actions of God in our midst. God is alive and active. We are able to rejoice always when, in the eyes of faith, we see how God blesses us with endless graces each and every day. Amen!

Be reconciled with others and with God! This is the overarching theme of our readings this weekend.

We begin a new liturgical calendar with the season of Advent. From the Latin “ad-venire” or “to come” is the season encompassing the four Sundays (and weekdays) leading up to the celebration of Christmas. It is an opportune time to direct our hearts and minds to the coming of Christ.

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Going through the readings this weekend, it is tempting to get stuck in the prediction of calamities, divisions and persecutions. But really, what Jesus wants us to focus on is what he says in the end: “By your perseverance, you will secure your lives.” Jesus’ purpose is to invite us to persevere in faith.

The hope of our resurrection and eternal life with God gives us lasting peace and joy amidst the tensions and pains of our daily lives. But it should also inspire us to honor our bodies (and the bodies of those whom we come in contact), keeping them holy and pure, for they will also be resurrected on the last day