Make Disciples

    

The Ascension of the Lord

21 May 2023

 

First Reading: Acts 1:1-11

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9

Second Reading: Eph 1:17-23

Gospel: Mt 28:16-20

 

Reflection

By: Fely C. Santiago

“And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age”.

The disciples watched Jesus being lifted up to heaven and it must have been so sad and difficult for them to see Jesus depart from them. They must have felt abandoned again because it took a while before they left the place. But God promised that Jesus will return again in the same way that He ascended. But no one knows when. Meantime, the Lord promised to send His Helper the Holy Spirit. 

Are you ready for the second coming of the Lord? I’ve learned to live my life thinking each day as if it is my last and because of that I treasure every moment with my loved ones and all my relationships. I treasure my prayer time with the Lord because His presence gives me strength and I’ve learned to find God in all things. And I always ask the Lord to guide me that I may always do His will and share His love to everyone. 

I also share in His mission to make disciples and bring even one soul at a time back to Jesus. It is not always easy. Sometimes it requires getting out of my comfort zone. But the journey helps me grow to greater love and service to others. God is always with us so let’s spread His love to all the world and make disciples in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, we rejoice today in Your ascension to the Father’s right hand. Thank You, Lord, for offering us a share in your heavenly life. By Your Spirit, help us to lay hold of our inheritance in You—the hope, the glory, and the power that are the right of every child of God.

Better Today than Yesterday

   

  Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

07 August 2022 

 

First Reading: Wis 18:6-9

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 33:1, 12, 1819, 20-22

Second Reading: Heb 11:1-2, 8-19

Gospel: Lk 12:32-48

 

Reflection

By: Grace Madrinan

 

"Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come." - Luke 12:39-40

If the Son of Man comes tomorrow, are you ready? Am I ready? Your answer is most likely the same as mine, "I do not know". But they said the way to find out is to ask ourselves, "What have I done to the least of my brothers?"

Oh no! If you had asked me five years ago, I must have been beaming with pride and would have said "Yes, I am ready!" I was so active in the community that my mom would miss me since I am barely home. But now, I have come back to my usual Sunday mass-goer kind of thing. How would I answer this question? I do tithe and give to charities every now and then. Does that count?

And then, some of nudge of light came in and heard these questions. "How are you with your neighbor or your friends? Have you been a good daughter or sister? Have you forgiven your enemies?" I was thinking of grander gestures of righteousness when I had not even considered the basic yet often overlooked aspect of our Christianity.

I cannot completely say I am ready if Jesus is to come today, but I am a work in progress. I know my journey is not perfect but I believe my efforts will not go in vain. "What have you done to make yourself better today than yesterday?" This is what Fr. Dave Concepcion says in most of his sermons. Let us examine ourselves and prepare for what is to come.

Prayer

Prepare our hearts for Your second coming oh Lord, that you may find us pleasing. May we welcome You not with fear but with a joyful heart. In Jesus' Name, we pray. Amen.

Eleven Years

 

   
19th Sunday In Ordinary Time
7 August 2016

First reading	Wisdom 18:6-9 ©

That night had been foretold to our ancestors, so that,

once they saw what kind of oaths they had put their trust in,

they would joyfully take courage.

This was the expectation of your people,

the saving of the virtuous and the ruin of their enemies;

for by the same act with which you took vengeance on our foes

you made us glorious by calling us to you.

The devout children of worthy men offered sacrifice in secret

and this divine pact they struck with one accord:

that the saints would share the same blessings and dangers alike;

and forthwith they had begun to chant the hymns of the fathers.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 32:1,12,18-20,22 ©

Happy are the people the Lord has chosen as his own.

Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you just;

  for praise is fitting for loyal hearts.

They are happy, whose God is the Lord,

  the people he has chosen as his own.

Happy are the people the Lord has chosen as his own.

The Lord looks on those who revere him,

  on those who hope in his love,

to rescue their souls from death,

  to keep them alive in famine.

Happy are the people the Lord has chosen as his own.

Our soul is waiting for the Lord.

  The Lord is our help and our shield.

May your love be upon us, O Lord,

  as we place all our hope in you.

Happy are the people the Lord has chosen as his own

 

Second reading                                                                         Hebrews 11:1-2,8-19

Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen. It was for faith that our ancestors were commended.

  It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the call to set out for a country that was the inheritance given to him and his descendants, and that he set out without knowing where he was going. By faith he arrived, as a foreigner, in the Promised Land, and lived there as if in a strange country, with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. They lived there in tents while he looked forward to a city founded, designed and built by God.

 

 It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that he who had made the promise would be faithful to it. Because of this, there came from one man, and one who was already as good as dead himself, more descendants than could be counted, as many as the stars of heaven or the grains of sand on the seashore.

 

  All these died in faith, before receiving any of the things that had been promised, but they saw them in the far distance and welcomed them, recognising that they were only strangers and nomads on earth. People who use such terms about themselves make it quite plain that they are in search of their real homeland. They can hardly have meant the country they came from, since they had the opportunity to go back to it; but in fact they were longing for a better homeland, their heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, since he has founded the city for them.

  It was by faith that Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He offered to sacrifice his only son even though the promises had been made to him and he had been told: It is through Isaac that your name will be carried on. He was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead; and so, figuratively speaking, he was given back Isaac from the dead.

 

Alleluia, alleluia!

Stay awake and stand ready,

because you do not know the hour

when the Son of Man is coming.

Alleluia!

Gospel                                                                                                        Luke 12:35-40

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘See that you are dressed for action and have your lamps lit. Be like men waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks. Happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. I tell you solemnly, he will put on an apron, sit them down at table and wait on them. It may be in the second watch he comes, or in the third, but happy those servants if he finds them ready. You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what hour the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his house. You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’

 

 

Reflection:

 

by Gary Tulabut

 

If one of my former employers, Intel, did not close its operations in the Philippines, this would have been my 20^th year with the company. But some good things must come to an end.

Intel was then one of the most admired companies not only in the Philippines but in the world. The company would always be part of Forbes or Fortune in their list of great companies to work for, just like how Facebook, Google, and Apple are nowadays.

I stayed at Intel for eleven years and during those days even now that I am not with the company anymore, I would say that it is really one of the best (if not the best) employers in the Philippines.

And because of my contentment, I did not plan to go anywhere else. I did not apply for any work. I did not update my resume. And I did not bother to have any interviews outside.

Then came retrenchment in 2008 and 2009.

Even with a handsome separation package and some business plans ahead, I still needed a steady cashflow. Therefore, I sent out resumes and letters of application; updated my JobStreet account; and soon enough, I got my first invitation for an interview.

From which company?

Apple.

But after eleven years of no interviews, not knowing anything about job hunting, guess what happened on my first interview via phone call from Singapore.

Well, I did not get a second call.

I still had other interviews and I was eventually hired by another tech giant, Texas Instruments.

But that Apple gig would have been something really big.

But I was not prepared. I did not prepare… For 11 years.

Today in the Gospel, Jesus is telling us to always be prepared. Because when we fail that interview (and of course, background investigation) by St. Peter, there would be no second chance.

In my management classes, I always tell my students that no matter how satisfied they will be with their would-be employers after graduation, they must always prepare themselves, upgrade themselves through continuous education. I even encourage them to test the waters of job hunting from time to time even if they are not really looking for a job.  So that when opportunities come, they are always on the right position to grab them.

 Prayer 

THANK You, Father, for reminding us to be always on the watch so that when Your Son returns to take us back to You, we will not be left behind. Amen.

 

Spot Audit

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

November 15, 2015

First reading
Daniel 12:1-3

‘At that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who mounts guard over your people. There is going to be a time of great distress, unparalleled since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, your own people will be spared, all those whose names are found written in the Book. Of those who lie sleeping in the dust of the earth many will awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting disgrace. The learned will shine as brightly as the vault of heaven, and those who have instructed many in virtue, as bright as stars for all eternity.’

Psalm                                                                                                           Psalm 15:5,8-11

Second reading                                                                                 Hebrews 10:11-14,18  All the priests stand at their duties every day, offering over and over again the same sacrifices which are quite incapable of taking sins away. He, on the other hand, has offered one single sacrifice for sins, and then taken his place forever, at the right hand of God, where he is now waiting until his enemies are made into a footstool for him. By virtue of that one single offering, he has achieved the eternal perfection of all whom he is sanctifying. When all sins have been forgiven, there can be no more sin offerings.

Gospel	Mark 13:24-32

Jesus said, ‘In those days, after the time of distress, the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will come falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory; then too he will send the angels to gather his chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the world to the ends of heaven.

  ‘Take the fig tree as a parable: as soon as its twigs grow supple and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. So with you when you see these things happening: know that he is near, at the very gates. I tell you solemnly, before this generation has passed away all these things will have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

  ‘But as for that day or hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son; no one but the Father.’

Reflection

By Edgardo Tulabut

In my two previous corporate employment, never did I experience any unannounced audit. Different types of audits happen very often in my line of work. There were customer audits, ISO audits, 5S audits, etc. But they were always scheduled ahead in such a way that we, the auditees, had time to prepare to make things better in the workplace than on a typical day.

Unlike in what a community sister told me about how they were audited in the bank where she works. She said that aside from the same announced audits, there are also times when a mystery auditor comes in disguised as a client or sometimes even as person who pretends to wait for someone else while observing the transactions going on. An example of what they check was whether the 'no noon break' policy is being followed or not.

Some of my siblings had experienced being the official mystery customers for a fast food chain in the 90s. They do what a regular customer would do but only taking notes of everything they observe, good or bad, such as attitudes of servers and the guards, the quality of food, the cleanliness of the place and the restrooms, and so on.

In the school where I now teach, the dean and the department chairperson do observe classes unannounced. But they usually happen towards the end of the semester. But it’s good that I just discovered earlier before writing this article that the dean conducts one of her classes next to my classroom so I’ll just assume that an observation may happen anytime she wishes. So I better be at my best every day.

Jesus has not announced when His final audit will be. But he’s given us hints when he’s coming and a lifetime to prepare. We may not live long enough to witness the Second Coming, but a spot audit may happen any time, that is when we will be called to leave our life on earth.

So we better be at our best every day.

But you know what, even before that big day, we can always do self-audits by examining ourselves, correcting our mistakes, confessing our sins, asking for forgiveness, and aligning ourselves to God’s specs through daily one-on-one conversation with Him and regular confession.

Prayer

Father, thank You for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the 24/7 open line of communication with You. May these keep us calibrated to how You designed us to be—Your future saints in heaven. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Prepare Rather Than Fear

33rd Sunday In Ordinary Time
15 November 2009


Come, let us rejoice in the Lord: let us acclaim God our salvation, alleluia.
First reading Daniel 12:1-3

‘At that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who mounts guard over your people. There is going to be a time of great distress, unparalleled since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, your own people will be spared, all those whose names are found written in the Book. Of those who lie sleeping in the dust of the earth many will awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting disgrace. The learned will shine as brightly as the vault of heaven, and those who have instructed many in virtue, as bright as stars for all eternity.’

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 15:5,8-11

Second reading Hebrews 10:11-14,18

All the priests stand at their duties every day, offering over and over again the same sacrifices which are quite incapable of taking sins away. He, on the other hand, has offered one single sacrifice for sins, and then taken his place forever, at the right hand of God, where he is now waiting until his enemies are made into a footstool for him. By virtue of that one single offering, he has achieved the eternal perfection of all whom he is sanctifying. When all sins have been forgiven, there can be no more sin offerings.

Gospel Mark 13:24-32

Jesus said, ‘In those days, after the time of distress, the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will come falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory; then too he will send the angels to gather his chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the world to the ends of heaven.
‘Take the fig tree as a parable: as soon as its twigs grow supple and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. So with you when you see these things happening: know that he is near, at the very gates. I tell you solemnly, before this generation has passed away all these things will have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
‘But as for that day or hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son; no one but the Father.’

Reflection
By Mayzelle Atienza
… when you see these things happening, you know that it is near…

I always hear about ‘signs of the times’ and that the ‘end is near’ and it almost always brings fear to my heart. I usually get panic attacks as I look into my half-finished life and think about all those other things I want to accomplish and do – like I want to get married, have kids, travel around the world, etc! And I guess that is a normal reaction, normal faithless reaction! What is there to fear really? Isn’t meeting God face to face which will happen when we die and in his Second Coming, the end-all and be-all of our Christian life here on earth? Isn’t it what we’re striving for?

The recent back-to-back typhoons and extreme flooding here in our country and the earthquakes which happened concurrently in Indonesia and Somalia brought new discussions of the ‘signs of times’. Is the end really near? As I reflect on this question, I realized that yes, indeed, maybe these are indeed the signs of the times and that the end is really near. But should I be afraid of it? I shouldn’t fear it but I need to prepare for it. I need to live each day for God in preparation for our destined face-to-face meeting. And when I am ready and prepared, the unknown day or the hour wouldn’t really matter so much after all.







Lord, allow us to prepare for that fateful unknown day and hour when we will meet you face to face. Pacify our hearts Lord that we may not be afraid but rather be excited at the prospect of an eternity with you.


Next week on God-speak
Textbook God