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Showing posts from December, 2023

Mary Mother of God Homily - Year B| Homily for 1 January 2024

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  My dear friends all around the world, today there are going to be 2 celebrations. The first, is the New Year, a change in the calendar year, which is going to be celebrated by all people irrespective of their country and religion. The second celebration, and the more important one is the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Unfortunately, this solemnity doesn’t receive the attention it deserves and it is often overshadowed by New Year celebrations. The Church puts the feast of this solemnity on the first day of the New Year to emphasize the importance of Mary’s role in the life of Christ and of the Church. We commemorate the various saints on different days of the year, but Mary is the most prominent of them all.  She has a special role and mission given to her by God and she is a powerful intercessor for all of our needs here on earth. As I have covered the historical setting behind this feast in an earlier video, the link to which you can find up here, I’ll reflect more on th...

Homily 4th Sunday of Advent year B- Homily for 24 December 2023

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  My dear friends today we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year B and the readings build up an anticipation to the revelation of Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. In the 1st reading taken from the book of 2nd Samuel, we see two stories running parallel to each other. The first is about the building of the temple for God by David and the second is about the covenantal promise that is made to David by God. God reminds David of his humble origins and God’s decision to elevate David to the throne. The initiative and action were totally of God, not the merit of David. In this narrative, it does appear that the question of the building of temple leads the reader to the real subject - the promises concerning the establishment of David’s house, from which the Messiah will come. God promises David a dynasty that will last forever. This covenant is known as the Unconditional covenant in contrast to the Conditional or Sinai covenant which applied to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. H...

Homily 3rd Sunday of Advent year B

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  My dear friends, we celebrate today the Third Sunday of Advent, in Year B. During the season of Advent, over four weeks, we prepare our hearts for Christmas in penitential reflection. But in the middle of the season, Gaudete Sunday calls us to rejoice in hope! Gaudete means “rejoice” in Latin. The readings for this Sunday encourage us to rejoice because our salvation is near. Similar to the First Sunday of Advent, the first reading today comes from the section of Isaiah which is set in the context of the disappointed hopes of the earliest returnees from the Babylonian Exile. The first question that arises as we listen to the text is about the identity of the speaker. Who is saying, “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me”? Who has the Lord anointed? In the previous chapters of Isaiah, the suffering servant, the messianic figure features prominently and the texts taken together suggest that it is this Suffering servant who is speaking these words. Come to the New Testament and we...

Homily 2nd Sunday of Advent year B

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  My dear friends today we celebrate the Second Sunday of Advent, Year B and the readings focus on the theme of God’s imminent coming. In the 1st reading taken from the prophet Isaiah, we come across a very caring and sensitive image of God. The prophets had made it clear that the destruction of the city and the exile to Babylon were not due to Babylonian strength; they were a fallout of their turning away from God. Set at a time when the long arduous exile is coming to an end, Isaiah declares that now the time of Israel’s punishment is at an end. God commands that the people be comforted. We hear the words of Isaiah which are then repeated by John the Baptist, “A voice cries out: “In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” This highway, however, is not for the people but for Yahweh. These verses assure the people that the time of Yahweh’s long absence from Jerusalem has come to an end.   Yahweh has punished Jerusal...

Homily 1st Sunday of Advent year B- Homily for 3 December 2023

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  At last, December is here, which means it's time to start preparing for Christmas. We have got to buy new clothes, start planning the menu and the holidays…where shall we go this Christmas break? Surely these must be the thoughts at the top of our minds as we look forward to Christmas. However, for the Church, the preparation for Christmas entails something quite different. This season of preparation is known as the season of Advent. The liturgical year brings us the life of Christ from his birth at Christmas to his death, resurrection, and bestowal of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It continues for the remaining weeks of the year to show us the life of the faithful in and through that gift of the Holy Spirit. Advent is seen as the introduction to this whole mystery. The word advent comes from the Latin word ‘adventus’ which means coming. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, a Cistercian monk and mystic, mentions there are three comings – the first is that of Christ taking b...