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.

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

How do we express our gratitude to the Lord? Jesus is explicitly clear: “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” In times of desperate need, we call on to God, and rightly so. But it is also “truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give [you] thanks” the God who makes all things possible for us. It is truly right and just that we return to Him with our grateful hearts, praising and glorifying Him in the Eucharist. The Greek word from which we derive the word “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving”.

This weekend is Respect Life Sunday. It is an opportunity for us to listen to the cry of people whose lives are under grave threat. It is an opportunity for us to intervene and to stop the culture of death. Every life is precious. Every person is an irreplaceable gift from God.

Bishop Alberto Rojas calls on the faithful of the Diocese of San Bernardino to vote ‘No’ on Proposition 1, an extreme and unnecessary proposal that would increase abortion in California.

Our Gospel this weekend, the Parable of the Dishonest Steward, is so strange and puzzling that St. Augustine himself said, “I can’t believe that this story came from the lips of our Lord.” It appears that Jesus is praising a dishonest steward for deception, or that he is praising him for stealing money for his own advantage. But he is not. He is rather encouraging the inventory of goods, the prudent use of resources, and the clear anticipation of the future.

I was having coffee with my aunt and cousin outside of Albany the morning of 9/11. My father was a Baltimore firefighter who died in the line of duty back in May 1977, and my stomach tightened when news of the World Trade Center first came on the television. My aunt and cousin were panicked as another one of my cousins works only blocks from Ground Zero. We prayed and cried together before I rushed back to Buffalo. Along the highway, I could see emergency vehicles heading toward New York City. At the rest stops, people were huddled around the TV monitors and crying.

We cannot separate the cross from Jesus. Following him requires detachment from comfort and convenience. We cannot love comfort more than God. Following him requires readiness to face even the difficulties and challenges of life.

Ten (10) years ago, on August 27th, I received the gift of ordination through the laying on of hands of Bishop Joseph Nacua, OFM Cap, DD. It has been such a beautiful journey, filled with joy, contentment and peace. I have nothing in my heart but gratitude to the Lord and to you. You have made seven of those ten years such a wonderful and enriching ride. I hope that you can say the same. With what I have done and accomplished, I thank God and give him back the glory. With what I have failed to do, I ask God to forgive me and give me the grace to be better. I pray for humility. Help me be.

The road to eternal life is narrow. It is necessary to contend, to struggle, to strive. Without it, we will never become the beautiful creation God intended us to be. Our second reading phrases it this way: “Endure your trials as “discipline.” At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.”