Category: Feasts

Homilía en la Fiesta de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe

• Apocalipsis 11:19 A – 12:1-10
• Judit 13:18
• Lucas 1:26-38

Estoy feliz de ser invitado a celebrar la misa en honor a la Fiesta de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.  Algún día (espero pronto), me gustaría ir a peregrinar a la Ciudad de México.

Esta no es solo la fiesta de los mexicanos o latinos sino también de los filipinos. Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe es la segunda Patrona de nuestro país, Amamos a la Santísima Virgen María. ¡Viva, la Virgen de Guadalupe!

Estamos en el Tercer Domingo de Adviento, por lo que debemos regocijarnos. Necesitamos estar alegres y celebrar juntos como sus hijos. Nuestras lecturas nos imploran que estemos alegres y felices porque nuestro Dios amoroso a través de María está entre nosotros. Nuestro querido Salvador Jesús está en medio de nosotros. Sabemos que desde hace varios años no podemos celebrar juntos por el COVID y las incertidumbres que hemos estado enfrentando por la pandemia. A pesar de nuestra situación, todavía hay motivos para celebrar y alegrarnos.

Es importante destacar que estamos llenos de felicidad porque podemos reunirnos nuevamente como devotos de nuestra Señora. De hecho, estamos llenos de gracia y caminamos juntos para mostrar nuestro amor a Jesús y a María, que siempre están presentes para ayudarnos. Yo sé que ella escucha nuestras oraciones, y llora por nuestro canto de las Mañanitas y el himno Guadalupano. Jesús a través de la Santísima Madre de Guadalupe es la razón por la que todos estamos aquí esta noche. Para mostrar nuestro amor fiel, gratitud y devoción.

En este momento, refresquemos nuestra memoria sobre la aparición y el mensaje de la Santísima Madre de Guadalupe. En diciembre de Mil Quinientos Treinta y uno, la Virgen se apareció varias veces en el cerro del Tepeyac a un indio campesino, convertido al catolicismo, llamado Juan Diego. Después de pedirle a Juan Diego que recogiera unas rosas en lo alto del cerro, y luego de acomodarlas en su Tilma, dejó una imagen de sí misma en la Tilma. Y la milagrosa Tilma de casi quinientos años, aún guardada en la Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en México, ha seguido atrayendo a peregrinos y devotos de todo el mundo. Durante dicha aparición, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe transmitió su compromiso de amor maternal, apoyo y protección para toda la humanidad. Nuestra Señora había hablado con Juan Diego que estaba preocupado por su tío moribundo, le dijo con amorosa preocupación: “¿No estoy yo aquí que soy tu madre? ¿No estás bajo mi sombra y protección? ¿No soy yo tu fuente de vida? ¿No estás en el pliegue de mi manto, en el cruce de mis brazos? ¿Hay algo más que necesitas?”

Creo que mientras continuamos viviendo esta pandemia, junto con sus consecuencias adversas en nuestro trabajo, haciendo vulnerable al mundo de tantas maneras y vidas familiares, este es un mensaje que María, nuestra Madre, quisiera reiterarnos a todos nosotros. Ella quisiera recordarnos hoy, que bajo el manto de su abrazo, no hay nada que temer y preocuparse. Nos hemos asegurado de su aliento para levantar nuestros espíritus de depresión y ansiedades.

Así como la Santísima Madre estuvo presente durante ese tiempo de crisis, todavía camina con nosotros aún más hoy.

Hace quinientos años, el pueblo de México también fue evangelizado por los españoles. En 1531, aún quedaban restos de las prácticas paganas aztecas de ofrecer sacrificios humanos a sus dioses y al mismo tiempo los mexicanos eran oprimidos por los europeos que llegaban a ocupar sus tierras. Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe se les apareció mestiza, hablando y vistiendo como una indígena azteca. Esta Señora que lleva en su seno al único Dios verdadero.

Por lo tanto, por el llamado constante de la Virgen a través de este humilde nativo, San Juan Diego, logró convertir a muchos paganos e hizo su pedido de construir una iglesia donde ella se apareció para que la gente pudiera reunirse para adorar a su hijo e invocar su protección maternal. Hasta el día de hoy, la Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en México sigue siendo el lugar de peregrinaje católico más visitado del mundo y se ha convertido verdaderamente en un lugar de devoción y piedad.

Hoy necesitamos aprender cómo dedicamos nuestras vidas y corazones para encontrar a Jesús a través de nuestra Madre María. Sin una vida de oración constante, no podríamos escuchar sus afirmaciones maternales y no seríamos fortalecidos para estar allí para los demás.

Volvamos a nuestros hábitos de oración y hagamos de Dios el centro de vuestra vida. Solamente así podríamos ser feliz a nuestra Madre en su fiesta. Sabiendo que rezamos, el Rosario, nos confesamos, no solo asistiendo a la misa, sino que recibimos la Sagrada Comunión, ofrecemos sacrificios por la conversión de los pecadores, entonces nuestra vida será ciertamente iluminada y poder gozar de la guía del Espíritu Santo.

Imitemos su amor maternal por todos nuestros hermanos y hermanas y recuperemos una vida que defina la vida de oración como la de la Virgen de Guadalupe, para que podamos estar preparados con sentido y gozo para la venida de su hijo. Que Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe interceda por cada uno de nosotros y nuestras familias.

Madre Nuestra, Virgen de Guadalupe, ruega por nosotros.

¡¡¡¡QUE VIVA LA VIRGEN DE GUADALUPE!!!!

¡¡¡QUE VIVA CHISTO REY!!!

~Padre Arlon, OSA

 

Homily on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

• Revelation 11:19a-12:1-10
• Judith 13:18
• Luke 1:26-38

I am happy to be invited to celebrate mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  How I wished I can al so go for a pilgrimage in Mexico City someday.

This is not only the feast of the Mexicans, or Latinos but also for Filipinos.  Our Lady of Guadalupe is the second Patroness of our country, We love the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Viva, la Virgen de Guadalupe!

We are in the third Sunday of Advent, so we need to rejoice.  We need to be joyful and celebrate together as her children.  Our readings implore us to be glad and happy because our loving God through Mary is among us.  Our dear Savoir Jesus is in our midst.  We know that for several years we cannot celebrate together because of Covid and uncertainties we have been facing because of pandemic.  Despite of our situation, there are still reasons to celebrate and be joyful.

Importantly we are filled with happiness because we can gather together again as devotees of our Lady.  We are indeed filled with grace and journey together to show our love for Jesus and to Mary, who always present to help us. I know that she hears our prayers, and cries by our singing of the Mananita and the Guadalupana hymn.  Jesus through the Blessed Mother of Guadalupe is the reason why we are all here tonight.  To show our filial love, gratitude, and devotion.

This moment, let us refresh our memory about the apparition and message of the Blessed Mother of Guadalupe.  In December 1531, our Lady appeared multiple times on the hill of the Piat to an Indian convert and peasant named Juan Diego. After asking Juan Diego to pick some roses on top of the hill, and after arranging them in his pontio, she left an image of herself on the Tilma. And almost five hundred years old miraculous Tilma, still enshrined in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico and has continued to attract pilgrims and devotees from all over the world. During the said apparition, Our Lady of Guadalupe conveyed her pledge of maternal love, support and protection for all humanity.  Our Lady had spoken to Juan Diego who was worried about his dying uncle, she said with loving concern, “Am I not here who am your mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the fold of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need?”

I believe that as we continue to experience this pandemic, together with its adverse consequences on our work, making the world vulnerable in so many ways and family lives, this is a message that Mary, our Mother would like to reiterate to all of us. She would like to remind us today, that under the mantle of her embrace, there is nothing to fear and worry about. We have assured us of her encouragement to lift up our spirits of depression and anxieties.

Just as the Blessed Mother was present during that time of crisis, then still she walks with us even more today.  Five hundred years ago, the people of Mexico were also newly evangelized by the Spaniards. In 1531, still remnants of Aztec pagan practices of offering humans to their gods and at the same time Mexicans were oppressed by the Europeans who came to occupy their lands. Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to them as a mestiza, spoke and dressed as a native Aztec.  This Lady carrying the one true God in her womb in order to protect and defend against all evils.

Therefore, because of our Lady’s consistent call thru this simple native man, San Juan Diego, became successful converting many pagans and made her request to build a church where she appeared so that the people can gather to worship her son and invoke her maternal protection. To this day, the Basilica in Mexico remains the most visited Catholic pilgrim site in the world and has truly become a center of devotion and piety.

Today we need to learn how we devote our lives and hearts to meet Jesus through our Mother Mary.  Without a consistent prayer life, we would not be able to hear her maternal assurances and we would not be strengthened to be there for others.

Let us go back to our prayer habits and make God the center of your lives. That is how we can make our Mother happy on her feast day. Knowing that we pray, the Rosary, go to confession, not just attending the mass but receive the Holy Communion, offer sacrifices for the  conversion of sinners, then our life will certainly enlightened and enjoy the guidance of the Holy Spirit so that we will always be safe.

Let us imitate her motherly love for all our brothers and sisters and to regain a life defining prayer life that of hers, so that we may be bore meaningfully and joyfully prepared for the coming of her son. May Our Lady of Gudalupe intercede for you and your family.  Be safe and God bless you.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.  Viva La Virgen de Guadalupe!  Viva Cristo Rey!

Fr. Arlon, osa

• Revelation 20:1-4, 11-21:2
• Psalms 84:3, 4, 5-6, 8
• Luke 21:29-33

Learning something about St. Catherine of Alexandria draws everyone to her. The fact is that, in one way or another, we can relate to her struggles and examples of holy life. Every Saint has a magnificent story to share that nourishes our hunger to satisfy our quest for the truth.

St. Catherine of Alexandria, born in Egypt, was an intelligent woman who lived in the 4th century. She converted to Catholicism at the age of 18.  After conversion, she preached the gospel.  Because of her dedication to speak about Jesus, she converted the empress and military officials. She engaged in different debates about faith to the pagan philosophers.  Many were amazed at her profound knowledge of Christian faith and her wisdom and debating skills. She converted them to Christianity.  In Alexandria, she was known for her commitment to evangelize; consequently, she was tortured to death and was martyred. Her dead body was believed to be buried by angels at the foot of the hill of Mt. Sinai. Devotion started in the 9th Century in the East, with an increasing love for her during the time of the crusaders.  She is an example to young girls who are searching to find Jesus.

The first reading today in the Book of Revelation is always a narration of St. John’s vision about heaven. This is a biblical writing which is so powerful that our human condition of frustrations and confusion could be an obstacle in our pursuit of consolation and hope.  Jesus is the Goodnews!  Jesus Christ has already conquered evil and darkness; therefore, we have the hope to enter into a new life with Him.

Through the words of Jesus, our frustrations, dissolutions, and hopelessness will completely end.  What matters most are the words of Jesus, the ones that last forever. After this life, everything will be non-essentials and trivial.

Let us follow St. Catherine’s dedication to follow Jesus.  I believe that beauty, money, prestige, etc., will come to pass but our fidelity to His words and Jesus will be an exchange for eternity.

May St. Catherine pray for us.

Fr. Arlon, osa

• Revelation 14:1-3, 4-5
• Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
• Luke 21:1-4

We are now in the final weekdays of the church’s liturgical calendar.  After this week, we enter the first week of Advent.  My reflections will continue; however, I will limit myself to reflecting on my homily on Sundays for Extraordinary Latin Mass and for the Novus Ordo Mass.  I am not yet fully recovered from my eye problem, and I feel the need to avoid too much exposure to the computer.  It has been more than two years that I have been putting much time and effort to share with you the Dictates of the Heart Gospel Reflections.

Today is the Memorial Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Mother. This feast has been celebrated by both the Orthodox and Catholic Churches.  According to Church tradition, this feast originated in the 2nd Century taken from apocryphal source, protoevangelion or the book of James.  We know that the gospel of Luke 1 narrates to us about the Annunciation of an Angel to Mary; however, the presentation of the Blessed Mary as a child was narrated by James when Joachim and Ann went to the temple for the presentation of their child, Mary.

In today’s gospel, Luke tells us about a widow, who had given up her two small coins for Jesus, “for her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.”  This poor and widowed woman offered all that she had, keeping nothing in reserve for herself in faith. Jesus praises the widow because she gives from her need, not from her surplus. I imagine her humility which we are inspired to follow by her example.

I believe that this is a teaching lesson and good motivation to those who are wealthy people, not to give from their surplus but rather to give according to what they can afford to give. Jesus does not say the gift of the wealthy is not generous, but only makes the comparison to the widow who had given more.  He does not criticize the wealthy, but rather extols the widow’s generous heart.

It is a prayer of action on the part of the poor widow.  She drops the two coins in the treasury expressing two important lessons:

First coin, she offers in thanksgiving to God who provides everything for her; hence, she is ready to give everything back to God, whatever she has and lost.

Second coin, she entrusts everything to God, all of her future or maybe the night of her soul. Then she walks away with resignation and satisfaction.

Today, God is asking us to be generous.  Detachment from material things need to be put into practice. Pray for those people who take advantage of your generosity as well. Let them find out that in the end there is retribution they have to pay due to their lies and deception.  Justice is not ours; our concern is our security with Jesus.

God bless you.

Fr. Arlon, osa

2 Samuel 5:1-3
Psalms 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5
Colossians 1:12-20
Luke 23:35-43

Today is the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe.  It signals the end of the Church liturgical calendar, Year C, in which we have enjoyed reading and hearing the gospel of St. Luke.  As Catholics, we are invited to reminisce about what we have learned during the year with complete love and humility to accept the lordship and authority of Jesus in our lives. We give thanks to God, through the Holy Spirit’s guidance throughout the year, for the knowledge and perseverance to be transformed as His children.

We have three inspiring readings taken from the Old and New Testament.  Our first reading from the book of the Prophet Samuel speaks about David being anointed as King of Israel, after all the elders came to him in Hebron.  He had already been anointed as the King of Judah which was a separate territory.  This event, making David the King of both Judah and Israel, was a very historical event. David was called to unite the divided land and be a king under God.  Then we read in the succeeding chapter of this book that David and his men marched and conquered the place of the Holy Cities in Jerusalem.

Jesus has two natures, human and divine.  His human family is traced from the lineage of King David.  Jesus is also the bone and flesh, not only of Israelites, but of all humanity.  By His coming, He triumphed against evil that besets humanity.  Jesus, as the Son of God, has given the authority that we need to bring the absolute common good of our Leader and Shepherd to our fallen humanity, to restore what has been lost and to bring us back to God.

The second reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians tells us that we must be grateful to the Father who led us out from darkness through the power of His Son, “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  Jesus, the Beloved Son, has the power, the honor and the glory, and sits on the throne as our King. Moreover, St.Paul asserts that all creation emerges through the authority of God’s spoken Word: “All things were made through Him and for Him,” and through that same Word the fullness of life dwells and all things were reconciled.

The gospel for today narrates the drama that happened on top of the hill of Golgotha.  It was at the final moments of Jesus, who was hanging on the cross, that he was being ridiculed and humiliated by the Roman soldiers and one of the criminals.

There are three things that we must reflect on this gospel as we approach the mystery of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

First, Jesus on the cross with the title given to Him, “INRI” ( Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum) is the invitation from God to us that we must accept that Jesus is not only the King of the Jews, but the King of all humanity.  Jesus, hanging on the cross, is His gesture of love and acceptance of all our sins for healing and redemption.

Second, the two criminals crucified at both sides of Jesus represent human response to the Kingship of Jesus.  Some of us would say, as did one of the two criminals, “Save Yourself, and save us.”  If Jesus is the King, then He must save Himself first. This is a “wait and see” attitude, being passive and thinking only of personal benefits and not showing true conviction and faith.  However, the other criminal makes a prayer of faith, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42-43) Jesus immediately offered the unmerited gift of eternal life from His Throne of Fidelity, that is Jesus’ cross.

Third, knowing Jesus our King, we must be filled with gratitude knowing how much He suffered to redeem us by His life and blood. It also gives us courage and hope that amidst our difficulties in the world, being threatened by “secular society” and continuous transgressions against God by many of us, Jesus remains to reign, who emptied Himself becoming a Servant-King even now, with His perfect mercy and love for our eternal salvation.

Today, as we offer this Eucharist in celebration of Christ the King, we too are exultating the Holy Name of Jesus, our King, as we prepare for our Thanksgiving Day. This mass is itself, thanksgiving.  May we reflect on the bounty of gifts, generosity, and goodness of God to provide and to support us with all His abundant blessings of peace and good health, for which we are grateful. It only takes a little time to offer our Thanksgiving Prayer with our family and loved ones.

God bless you.

Fr. Arlon, osa

• 3 John 1:5-8
• Psalm 112:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
• Luke 18:1-8

As we continue to pray for the country of Ukraine and its people to be protected, especially during this time of war and cold weather, we implore the intercession of St. Josaphat on his feast day.  We also pray for the leaders of Russia to heed the call of the peace-loving nations of the world for ceasefire and to come to the table for peaceful negotiations on behalf of those thousands of innocent victims of violence and war.

Who is St. Josaphat?  Maybe most of us don’t know that he was born in Poland, raised Ukrainian Orthodox.  He was a Basilian monk of the Ruthenian Rite at Vilna, then became a Bishop of Polotsk, and noted to be faithful to the Roman See.  His desire was to unite the Ukrainian Church and the Roman Catholic Church.  It happened, but he was murdered in 1623.  He was the first to be canonized a saint of the Eastern Rite in 1867.  Hence, we continuously pray for peace in Ukraine. Let us pray to stop the aggression of Russia as well.

In today’s gospel reading, St. Luke narrates to us the parable of the unjust judge and a persistent and defenseless widow. I’ve mentioned thru my dictates that in biblical times, widows were considered second class citizens with no rightful status in society.  She was poor and her persistence to look for justice was motivated by her need.  Finally, the judge was unable to resist and gave his good and reasonable judgment in her favor.

I would life to present the parable in a different perspective.  Reflecting on this parable, I guess we are the judge and God is represented by the widow.  This is another way to look deeper into the value of the gospel.

First, human beings are considered to be as judge in the parable.   We are hesitant about doing justice or righteousness and we refuse to be faithful to our duty. Maybe part of our being reluctant to pass the right judgment is because we have invested too much in making ourselves comfortable with everything we have, yet being unaware of others who are begging for help.

Second, God has been represented as the widow in the parable.  God knocks at our heart and conscience to be able to do something.  At all times, we hear the word of God .  Hence, we are opening our dormant conscience to take into consideration God’s persistent desire to make His voice be heard.  The Holy Spirit continuously overpowers the unjust judge or humanity’s defiance of what God wants.  However, God’s justice prevails in order to alleviate the many concerns of men.

Therefore, we must be ready to turn ourselves to be good judges and be willing to listen to the voice of God (the Widow) to foster good judgment of our actions, words, and character.

With God’s calling and persistence in prayer,  we must never grow tired asking Jesus for what we need.  Jesus listens to us, and our faith and perseverance in prayer will be rewarded. “Pray always without becoming weary.”  (Luke 18:1)

St. Josaphat, pray for peace in Ukraine and may God protect them.

Fr. Arlon, osa

• 2 John 4-9
• Psalms 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18
• Luke 17:26-37

Today we have another saint to inspire and guide us.  We celebrate the feast of Martin of Tours, who was born in Hungary and grew up in Italy.  He had an exciting childhood, born with a pagan parent.  At his early age of 15, he was forced to serve in the military and wondered about his future.  Though he was at the age of reason, he wanted to enjoy his teenage life.  However, he dedicated himself to search for God and decided to be a Catholic, receiving the sacrament of baptism when he was 18.  Because of his dedication to prayer and practice of his faith, he said that he was more a monk than an active soldier.  It was God’s gift to Martin to consider his inner calling to be dispensed from the military service and to decide to be a soldier of Christ and serve Him.  He believed that  being a soldier of the Lord, he shouldn’t fight and kill his enemies. He became a disciple of Hilary Poitiers, who was a bishop of Gaul, France (315-367).  He was attracted to Bishop Hilary because of his orthodox voice against the Arians, the heretics. He became a monk and had the passion for performing exorcisms and had the willingness to expose the wrong teachings of the Arians and to show mercy towards those who were opposed to the true teachings of the Catholic Church.  He was opposed to putting the heretics to death. He was in the monastery, which has been believed to be the first French monastery near Poitiers, and he lived there for a decade.  The people of Tours, thru public glamour, made him their bishop.  His pastoral zeal made him known because of his passion to offer his life to God.  It was said that his community of monks, when he was dying, asked him not to leave them, and Martin recited this prayer: “Lord, if your people still need me, I do not refuse the work. Your will be done.”

Learning about St. Martin of Tours, we need to realize that his life during his time was difficult and challenging; however, he took a risk. I am aware that as we try to carry out our works, first and foremost, think of how we make decisions according to our conscience. We pray for more guidance and wisdom to think that caring of ourselves is also caring and loving others.  When we put Christ’s teachings first and keep His commandments, then we will never make a bad decision.

The gospel is another reminder that we need not worry when the hour of the “Son of Man” would come and be revealed.  Just do the normal routine we do daily.  Let us not be confused or terrified, preparing for instance to stock up on food.  Our life here on earth will certainly end, but in the last verse Jesus says, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.”  It is clear that our future with God is not about the preservation of the body; surely the body remains on earth and decays, but the spirit lives with God for all eternity.

St. Martin of Tours left us a legacy to be faithful to God and to look forward to our final destiny.  There are so many things we can do to advance our ministry of evangelization.  When we are blessed to know and hear the Word, please make a bold step to share and proclaim God to others.

Choose and be prepared to be with Jesus Christ, our Lord.

St. Martin, pray for us.

Fr. Arlon, osa

• Philippians 3:17-4:1
• Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5
• Luke 16:1-8

Today we have St. Charles Borromeo’s feast day.  He was an Italian bishop in the 1500s.  He was a dedicated priest, who worked in collaboration with his parishioners.  He was also a holy bishop with great power, but he used it with all humility to renew the church during his time. He is the patron of learning, in particular, the formation of seminarians. He is the patron of Priests, Bishops, Cardinals and Catechists.

Being a missionary and a priest, I pray that as I serve the faithful, like St. Charles, I  need to live with unselfishness to do my duty and to do good things wherever I am.  I may not understand the plan of God for me, but I completely understand well that God loves me. 

Reading the gospel today, I have many things to learn so that I would understand God’s Words.  This gospel is the parable of a “Dishonest Steward.” Sometimes reading this gospel, we have disbelief and a sense of confusion. Let me help you be able to understand this particular parable. 

First, the rich man commended the dishonest steward because he had written down the amount falsely which was different from the actual amount borrowed.  He reduced the amount of the debts which is tantamount to malversation of funds.  He was creating a benefit for the debtor, and thus was smart and prudent preparing his future.  The reason for the master’s commendation is that this dishonest steward knows better how to take care of himself, and it was not about his act of dishonesty.

Second, this last verse, “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light.” Well, it is obvious that the present preoccupation of most of the people in the world is chiefly motivated by their desire to acquire material blessings thru dishonesty.   This is what we call the product of false riches.  We accumulate things for our self-satisfaction and prestige, consequently leading us away from the plan of God.  God always invites us “to go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.”

Third, speaking about “The children of the light” refers to those who are motivated by and follow the teachings of Jesus.  The steward was clearly motivated by taking care of himself.  He helps others to ensure his life after his master kicks him off.  His “generosity” to the debtors was not to right an injustice, or to better their condition, but to achieve his personal interest to save face.

What is critically challenging to us is understanding the hidden message of the gospel.  I believe that taking into consideration our being clever on choosing how to get all spiritual riches and to prepare for our future with God as He calls us “Children of Light.”

Let us avoid acquiring false riches which surely lead us away from God. We must do something for the greater good, that is to be faithful to the Lord. Saving face is not the priority at this time but being children of light; thus we must examine how we need to conscientiously work for our salvation.

St. Charles Borromeo, pray for us.

Fr. Arlon, osa