I am Sending You

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

06 July 2025

 

First Reading: Isaiah 66:10-14c

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20

Second Reading: Galatians 6:14-18

Gospel: Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

 

Reflection

By: Fely Santiago

 

“The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few” - Luke 10:2

Go out to all the whole world and tell the good news. This is a calling for all of us. In the Gospel today, God appointed seventy-two others aside from the twelve apostles to help Him spread the good news. God is also asking us to help Him. We live in a world today where many people are hurting and I believe they need to experience God’s unconditional love for them. The world is just so noisy with negative news especially in the social media that we do not know who to believe anymore or what is the truth anymore. That is why I believe that in this present time God is also sending us to spread the good news of His love. And we can turn the negative or the bad news into positive with the power of social media by sharing our stories of how the Lord have accompanied us and how He have shown His love for us amidst many ups and downs of life. We can create many contents of how God’s love is shown to us everyday from the simple blessings to the big ones. We can be a living witness of God’s love and mercy. Let us tell the world of His love.

We are being called to a mission to bring heaven to earth, bring many souls to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus and establish God’s kingdom on earth. Only then can we truly experience the peace that God speaks to us many times.

Prayer

Lord the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Give me a discerning heart to listen to your voice may I realize the purpose of my life and the mission you have given me. Lead me Lord. Help me to listen and follow your will in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

Reassurance and Commissioning

5th Sunday In Ordinary Time 7 February 2016

First reading   Isaiah 6: 1-2, 3-8

In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord of Hosts seated on a high throne; his train filled the sanctuary; above him stood seraphs, each one with six wings.
  And they cried out to one another in this way,
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts.
His glory fills the whole earth.’
The foundations of the threshold shook with the voice of the one who cried out, and the Temple was filled with smoke. I said:
‘What a wretched state I am in! I am lost,
for I am a man of unclean lips
and I live among a people of unclean lips,
and my eyes have looked at the King, the Lord of Hosts.’
Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding in his hand a live coal which he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. With this he touched my mouth and said:
‘See now, this has touched your lips,
your sin is taken away,
your iniquity is purged.’
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:
‘Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?’
I answered, ‘Here I am, send me.’

Psalm                                                                            Psalm 137:1-5,7-8

               

Second reading                                                          1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, the gospel that you received and in which you are firmly established; because the gospel will save you only if you keep believing exactly what I preached to you – believing anything else will not lead to anything.
  Well then, in the first place, I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; and that he was raised to life on the third day, in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared first to Cephas and secondly to the Twelve. Next he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died; then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles; and last of all he appeared to me too; it was as though I was born when no one expected it.
  I am the least of the apostles; in fact, since I persecuted the Church of God, I hardly deserve the name apostle; but by God’s grace that is what I am, and the grace that he gave me has not been fruitless. On the contrary, I, or rather the grace of God that is with me, have worked harder than any of the others; but what matters is that I preach what they preach, and this is what you all believed.

Gospel                                                                       Luke 5:1-11

Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
  When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.
  When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.

Reflection

By Pietro S. Albano

Sensing the divine in the big catch he had, Simon Peter blurted out to the itinerant preacher, 'Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man' (Lk 5:8).  Surprisingly, Jesus told Peter: 'Do not be afraid; from now on it is people you will be catching.' (Lk 5:10). No wagging of fingers. No blaming.  Only reassurance AND commissioning.

Peter did follow Jesus, but there were instances when he failed. On one occasion, Peter stood out as the staunch supporter of the Lord. But in the face of trials, he denied his Master.  We too have those ups and downs in our lives as Christians.

Whenever I think of my sins, I feel so ashamed of myself, so unworthy of serving God and His people. Humbly acknowledging my own sinfulness, I keep on approaching the Lord through prayer, the sacraments, Sacred Scripture, and the community. All alone, I will fail, but with the Merciful Lord I won't! We won't!

In the many moments that we feel inadequate in responding to God's call for us to do a particular vocation or ministry; in the many moments when our sins (or the sins of others) get in the way of our service to the Lord and His people, let us take to heart Jesus' words to Peter: "Do not be afraid". 

Prayer

Merciful Father, You qualify those whom You call.  Thank You for Your trust and confidence in us, poor sinners, unworthy children of Yours. Help us to remain faithful in catching people for You. In Jesus' mighty Name. Amen.

We are Disciples

Ascension of the Lord
5 June 2011

Alleluia! Come, let us worship Christ the Lord as he ascends into heaven. Alleluia!


First reading Acts 1:1-11 3
In my earlier work, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had done and taught from the beginning until the day he gave his instructions to the apostles he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. He had shown himself alive to them after his Passion by many demonstrations: for forty days he had continued to appear to them and tell them about the kingdom of God. When he had been at table with them, he had told them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for what the Father had promised. ‘It is’ he had said ‘what you have heard me speak about: John baptised with water but you, not many days from now, will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’
Now having met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, has the time come? Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth.’
As he said this he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. They were still staring into the sky when suddenly two men in white were standing near them and they said, ‘Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking into the sky? Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, this same Jesus will come back in the same way as you have seen him go there.’

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 46:2-3,6-9

Second reading Ephesians 1:17-23
May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit and how infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers. This you can tell from the strength of his power at work in Christ, when he used it to raise him from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand, in heaven, far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination, or any other name that can be named not only in this age but also in the age to come. He has put all things under his feet and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation.

Gospel Matthew 28:16-20
The eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.’

Reflection
By Benj Santiago

“Jesus Commissions His Disciples”…

The happiest moments during our family reunions are when we start to gather and our siblings arrive. The saddest part on the other hand, is when we bid our farewell. I suppose it is what was in the hearts of the disciples as Jesus prepares to ascend to heaven. And what eases the pain of the separation is the hope to meet again. In fact, not only did they felt sadness, some of them even doubted… “When they saw Him, they worshiped, but they doubted.” (Mt 28:17). And then, He reassured them by approaching them and commissioning them to make disciples of all nations and not just the Jews. Thus, I believe that we are also commissioned to proclaim the Good News to the world. We are in fact “commanded” if we consider ourselves disciples of Jesus. “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching then to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Mt 28:19-20). And what makes it exciting to accomplish this, is His promise that He will be with us always, until the end of ages! What a wonderful assurance!

Heavenly Father, remove all our doubts, fears, and sadness. Make us Your effective and unwavering disciples following all what You have commanded us to do which is to bless the people whom we meet in our daily lives, and making them disciples as well to spread the good news to the whole world. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Go out and be a disciple to others!