Peace says it all

    

Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)

16 April 2023

 

First Reading: Acts 2:42-47

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24

Second Reading: 1 Pt 1:3-9

Gospel: Jn 20:19-31

 

Reflection

By: Pietro S. Albano

 

Peace be with you. (Jn 20:19).

Jon was my friend since high school. Such friendship developed through the years especially when we started serving the parish through the Apostleship of Prayer. We had a misunderstanding once, which caused us to avoid each other in church. One evening, someone called out from outside our house. “Hello! We come here in peace!” It was Jon. Those words thawed away the cold treatment we were showing each other previously. We were reconciled right there and then!

What a relief it was for the fearful disciples when their Risen Lord and Friend appeared to them and said “Peace be with you.” Just three days before that blessed day, these same disciples deserted Him. Shouldn’t they get a tongue-lashing? And yet, here was Jesus giving them peace, showing His wounds, breathing on them the Holy Spirit, and sending them as agents of His mercy.

The Risen Lord is also doing the same to us through Word and sacraments, as well as in the poor condition of the least, the lost, and the last in our communities.  Have we rejoiced and made others rejoice in Jesus’ triumph over sin and death? Have we believed and made others believe in His resurrection? Have we been receptive and made others receptive to His healing?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Word today. Thank You for giving Your peace to our wearied and fearful hearts. May it continuously transform us so that we too may become instruments of Your healing love and mercy throughout the world. Jesus, King of Mercy, we trust in You. Amen.

Understanding Our Friend

   

The Resurrection of the Lord

09 April 2023

 

First Reading: Acts 10:34a, 37-43

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23

Second Reading: Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8

Gospel: Jn 20:1-9

 

Reflection

By: Pietro S. Albano

 

For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. (Jn 20:9).

Sometimes, it’s much easier to love a friend than to understand them. Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John all love their friend Jesus. Mary’s love stands out; she was there at the Cross on Good Friday. Three days later, she came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark (Jn 20:1). However, their reaction when Jesus was nowhere to be found, showed their lack of understanding of Scripture. And if we think of the Scripture as pointing out to and finding its fulfilment in Jesus, then His friends lacked an understanding of Jesus Himself.

St. Bede once said, “Our Saviour revealed the glory of His resurrection to His disciples gradually and over time, also because it was such a great miracle that the weak hearts of mortals could not comprehend it all at once.” If we continue reading chapter 20 of this Gospel, Jesus revealed Himself to Mary Magdalene and commissioned her: Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. (Jn 20:17). Having gained an understanding of this great mystery, Mary went to the apostles and relayed to them what Christ told her. Mary became apostola apostolorum (apostle to the apostles).

We too can be like the disciples who, at first, were unable to understand the Resurrection. Let’s allow the Risen Jesus to pour on us the Holy Spirit, so that like Peter, in today’s first reading, we can also boldly proclaim to the world: We are witnesses of all that Jesus did. (cf. Acts 10:39).

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Word today. Thank You for rising from the dead as You have promised. Send forth Your Spirit among us that we may gain a better understanding of and become courageous witnesses of Your Resurrection. Amen.

Kaibigang Putik

    

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

02 April 2023

 

First Reading: Is 50:4-7

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24

Second Reading: Phil 2:6-11

Gospel: Mt 26:14-27:66

 

Reflection

By: Pietro S. Albano

Then all the disciples left him and fled. (Mt 26:56)

I felt sorry for Jesus as I read the above verse in today’s Gospel. Before He was arrested, these same disciples promised that they will stay by His side no matter what happens. In St. John’s Gospel, Jesus called His disciples as friends because, according to our Lord, “for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (Jn 15:15). Jesus’ offer of friendship was repaid with betrayal, denial, and cowardice. The disciples were not the only ones who turned their backs on the Lord. The crowd, persuaded by the chief priests and elders, wanted Him dead. This same crowd planned to make Him king by force after being fed in the Multiplication of the Loaves (Jn 6:15).

Though Jesus had His share of mga kaibigang putik (fair-weather friends), He also had friends who stood by Him through thick and thin – the women disciples. Even when He was buried, “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained sitting there, facing the tomb.” (Mt 27:61).

St. Thomas Aquinas once wrote, “There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship”. I am pretty much sure that the women disciples’ fidelity gave unimaginable consolation to the Crucified Jesus. This Holy Week, let’s take the time to ask ourselves: How am I as a friend of Jesus? To whom can I relate with: Peter and company or the women disciples? How am I as a friend to others? 

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Word today. Thank You for calling us Your friends. Forgive us for the many times that we took for granted Your friendship, for exchanging it with something that is superficial and fake. Pour on us Your grace that we may constantly acknowledge You as our friend who died on the cross to save us. Amen.