Congratulation to our First Communicants!
Once, a gentleman was visiting his son. On Sunday when he went to church he took his little granddaughter with him. While they were in the church, the little girl was observing everything,. Finally they went to receive communion. Grandpa received communion and she got a blessing. On the way back to the pew she asked, “Grandpa when am I going to get one of those?” Grandpa told her, “I will make sure in a couple of years you will receive First Communion.” She kept watching the priest, and grandpa knelt down and prayed. When the priest went to the tabernacle to keep the Blessed Sacrament, she asked grandpa, “What is he doing? Is he putting it in the microwave?” First of all, I would like to congratulate all of our First Communicants! I am sure all of you are excited to receive the Eucharist, the Body of Christ. Look at the Cross, and it tells you how much God loves you. Look at the Easter Candle, and it tells you He loves you and wants to be the light of your life. Look at the Altar. Just as your parents feed you so that you can be strong physically, God feeds you from the Altar so that you can be strong spiritually. At your Holy Communion, Jesus comes to you. He wants your communion/relationship with him to be holy. He wants your communion/relationship with everybody to be Holy. In today’s Gospel of Luke, Luke is presenting two different accounts. Two disciples were explaining how they recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. Among the Jews, this was a ceremonial gesture that began the celebration of an ordinary meal. But among the Christians, it was used as a description of the Eucharist celebration. We read in the Acts of the Apostles 2:42, “They held steadfastly to the apostles’’ teaching and fellowship to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.” While the two were explaining the Emmaus experience Jesus appeared to them again and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He showed them His hands and feet to remove their doubts. We read the Gospel of John 20:27, where Jesus was appearing to the apostles and asking doubting Thomas to come to faith. Jesus showed them His risen body and assures us of the physical nature of our own resurrection on the Last Day. The resurrected body is a spiritual body. Then he reminded them that His suffering, death, and resurrection from the dead are the fulfillment of Moses, prophets, and psalms. There is an emphasis on the term third day, and we can see a couple of references in the Old Testament. In the Book of Genesis 22:13, Isaac was for three days under a death sentence until God intervened to give him back alive to Abraham on the third day. In Jonah 1:17, the experience of Jonah coming forth from a whale after three days in its stomach, foreshadowed Christ’s resurrection from the grave after three days. In Hosea 6:2, Hosea depicted Israel’s restoration from exile as a third-day resurrection. Saint Teresa looked at her with love and said, “My dear sister, have you forgotten that Jesus is still on earth and that He lives near you-yes, in the house with you, and often in your very soul. Have you also forgotten that you can see Him and can speak to Him as often as you like? Is not Jesus with us in the Most Holy Sacrament? Why then do you wish to have lived long ago, since that same Jesus who lived with Mary and Joseph lives also with you?” Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. And we who are united to Him through our baptism have risen with Him. Jesus lives with us and He gives Himself in the Eucharist as nourishment for our journey, so we can grow in Holiness. |
Divine Mercy Sunday
God is love and merciful. He continues to pour out his mercy in the world through new Israel, the Church. In a dream, St. Theresa of Lisieux asked St. Faustina, an apostle of Divine Mercy, to trust in Jesus and she will become a saint. Later St. Faustina wrote in her diary, “God said to me, in the old covenant I sent prophets willingly thunderbolts of my people. Today I am sending you with my mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching humankind, I desire to heal it…” Pope St. John Paul II declared that the second Sunday, the octave day of Easter, should be Divine Mercy Sunday. St. John Paul II has a great role in spreading the message of Divine Mercy. On the 30th of April, 2000, the Second Sunday of Easter, St. Pope John Paul II celebrated the Eucharist in Saint Peter’s Square and proceeded to the canonization of Blessed Sister Faustina. St. Faustina invites us by the witness of her life to keep our faith and hope fixed on God, the Father, rich in mercy, who has saved us by the precious blood of His Son. Pope Francis continues to spread the message of Mercy. During the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis said in one of his homilies, “Dear brothers and sisters, I have often thought about how the Church might make clear its mission of being a witness to mercy. It is a journey that begins with a spiritual conversion.” There are two parts to the message of Divine Mercy: devotion and being merciful. Marion Fathers came up with the acronym for the Divine Mercy celebration: FINCH and ABC. FINCH: F-Feast of Divine Mercy, I-Image of Divine Mercy, N-Novena of Divine Mercy, C-Chaplet of Divine Mercy, H-Hour of Divine Mercy. What is ABC? A - Ask for God’s Mercy. B - Be merciful. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others just as He does to us. C - Completely trust in Jesus. The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles talks about the corporal works of Mercy. Early Christian communities were united as a family in every aspect of life. They shared everything, supported each other, and worshiped together. The second reading from the first letter of St. John talks about keeping love for God and keeping the commandment. In the Gospel of John, we see doubting Thomas. In the first part, Jesus said to his disciples, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." We read in the Book of Genesis 2:7, God breathed on the first man and gave him life. We see other passages in the Old Testament about the breath of God. In Ezekiel 37:9, where God raises an army of corpses to new life by the breath of the Spirit. In the first book of Kings (17:21), we see Elijah revives the dead son of the widow of Zarephath. After the resurrection Jesus breathed on the disciples and gave them new life: spiritual life. Jesus asked them to receive the Holy Spirit, and then he commissioned them to forgive the sins. Jesus' ministry of mercy and reconciliation will continue through the apostles. A week later Jesus appeared to them and Thomas proclaims the faith, “My Lord and My God.” Apostles experience God’s mercy and proclaim it in a loud voice. Jesus empowered his disciples to become the vehicle of his mercy. God sends people to remind us of his mercy. St. Faustina wrote in her diary, “God said to me, in the old covenant I sent prophets willingly, thunderbolts of my people. Today I am sending you with my mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching humankind, I desire to heal it…” On Sunday, April 11 at 2:30 p.m. our cluster will have Divine Mercy Sunday service. It includes Adoration, Divine Mercy Chaplet, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation is available. Please come and join. Thank you. |
On this second Sunday of Lent, the first reading and Gospel take us to the mountain top. We see two different atmospheres and experiences. In the first reading, God asked Abraham to take his beloved son Isaac to the mountain of Moriah and to sacrifice him. Genesis 17:5, “No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.” Abraham means father of a multitude, but God asked him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. How could God’s promise be possible if Isaac were sacrificed? God tested Abraham’s faith. In response to Abraham’s obedient faith, God swears an oath to bless the entire world. Abraham was faithful to God and his readiness to sacrifice his son Isaac is a prototype of God the Father and the sacrifice of His Son Jesus. Isaac carried the wood for his sacrifice on the mountain Moriah and lay down on the wood to become the sacrifice. Jesus carried the cross to Calvary, wood for His sacrifice. If we are reading the Bible for the first time, at the beginning of the story we may think this does not make any sense. God promised Abraham numerous descendants but God asked to sacrifice Isaac, his only son. The Apostles might have felt the same way that Jesus’ crucifixion didn’t make any sense. Jesus came to liberate and restore but He was crucified.
In the Gospel Jesus, we read the transfiguration. Early Christianity and Tradition believed that the transfiguration took place on Mount Tabor. It is a message of hope and encouragement. Prior to Jesus transfigured, Jesus told his disciples that he must suffer greatly, be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days (Mark 8:31). How did they react? Peter rebuked Jesus for saying this and Jesus responded, “Get behind me, Satan.” The transfiguration balances out the shock of Jesus’ first passion prediction and strengthens the faith of the three apostles. What a grace for Peter and James and John to see Jesus transfigured. They got a preview of the glory of risen Jesus and his glory in heaven. Like Jesus’ baptism, this transfiguration reveals the Trinity: Son transfigured, the Father’s voice is heard, and the presence of the Spirit is in the cloud. We can see a similar event in the Book of Exodus 24 the covenant of Mount Sinai. The exodus from Egypt and the covenant at Mount Sinai confirm that God’s covenant love towards the descendants of Abraham. As God directed, Moses took Aaron, Nadab, and Abiud and seventy of the elders of Israel and went up to Mount Sinai. We read in the Book Exodus 25:15-17 “Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered it six days, and on the seventh day, he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the sons of Israel.” The mountain was covered with cloud and God revealed his glory and heard God’s voice. New Moses, Jesus took Peter, James and John went up to the Mountain and revealed the glory. They heard God’s voice. At the transfiguration, Elijah and Moses came as representatives of the prophets and the law of the Old Testament and testify that Jesus is the Messiah and mediator of the New Covenant. When Jesus foretold His death and Resurrection, Peter began to rebuke Jesus, but here Peter likes to prolong the heavenly experience. So he to Jesus said, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents.” Does this tell us something about ourselves? I think we all like mountain top experiences, and we want to stay there. Transfiguration was preparing the apostles for the entry to Jerusalem and witness Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection. May our forty days of prayer, fasting, almsgiving prepare us to celebrate the Holy Week. Congratulations! I would like to congratulate our sophomore Confirmation Candidates and First Communion children. First Communion children, they made their retreat and First Reconciliation last week. Sophomore students were introduced at last weekends Mass. Congratulations to them and their families. Please keep them in our prayers.
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