Category: Feasts

• Philippians 3:3-8
• Psalm 105:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
• Luke 15:1-10

As an Associate Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus, I have initiated an annual gathering of Knights to offer mass for our deceased members of the Order. This is to remind us that our work in the Order is not ended in death, but is our continuous love and fraternity beyond death.  Today we gather at the St. Therese of Little Flower Catholic Church for a memorial mass for their eternal repose.

Today we also remember the feast of St. Martin de Porres.  He was born in 1579, in Lima, Peru. Martín was considered an exception and became a Dominican lay brother in 1610.  He was a friar noted for his compassion and humble service to the sick and those who were in need.  He was very prayerful and had great devotion to the eucharist, and he was a Dominican brother who attracted every one with his kindness and charity as a humble “Porter,” the one whose duty is to open the door and accept visitors to the monastery. . He died on November 3, 1639, and he was beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI.  He was canonized by Pope John XXIII in 1962.  The life of St. Martin inspires us to look to Jesus as our model for the one to imitate.

In today’s gospel, St. Luke tells us one of Jesus’ most well-known parables about the lost sheep. A man had 100 sheep, and he lost one.  We cannot understand the logic of a man leaving the 99 to go after the one that is lost.  How could it be, abandoning the many for the sake of one?  This is the wonder of God’s wisdom and love. Of course, God loves all but He is also concerned with the one that strayed.

In today’s first reading Paul gives witness to the fact that “whatever gains I had; these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ.”  It means that whatever St. Paul’s accomplishments were, according to what the world valued, meant less than nothing once he encountered Jesus and realized what He meant to the world. His whole understanding of life is importantly geared to this encounter.  God will do much to seek the lost and rejoice for the one who is found as reason for giving us Hope.

Our Christian hope is not purely sentimental, but rational. We must be very smart choosing the way of the Good Shepherd, who always gives preference to those who are lost and seeks them in order to be restored. This is His important mission to rebuild the Kingdom of God. “Let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord” (Ps105).

St. Martin de Porres, pray for us.

Fr. Arlon, osa

• Wisdom 3:1-9
• Psalm 23:1-3A, 3B-4, 5
• Romans 6:3-9
• John 6:37-40

Today, we celebrate All Souls Day.  Many Protestant brethren believe that after death, there is no way to alter the fate of those who died. They believe that at the point of death, one’s eternal destiny is confirmed. Either he is saved through faith in Christ and is in heaven where he is experiencing rest and joy in God’s presence, or he is in torment in hell. No amount of prayer would deliver them from damnation.  Whatever the state of one’s soul, that’s it. They say, “once the person is gone, they’re gone.” Hence, no more prayers would aid the soul for salvation. Death is final, and after that, no amount of praying will avail a person of the salvation he has rejected in life. I believe this is a very sad perspective, thinking that our prayers would be completely futile. That is the reason why they don’t pray for the dead; they believe that their prayer service is to help the grieving family. Their dead are completely on their own, no more hope or more love. Let them find their way, others would say.

Catholic faith is totally different.  There is always room for our deceased brethren to be saved by God’s mercy.  We remember them every November 2nd, offering prayers for their salvation every All-Souls’ Day. We offer novenas on their death anniversary in order to gain eternal repose, and the highest form of prayer is to offer mass for our departed brothers and sisters.  To justify this religious practice is connected with keeping the chief commandment of God, “Love God above all and love your neighbor as yourself.”  Love is not only shared with those who are living.  Our love for our neighbors is beyond death and an integral part to practice charity towards our neighbors.  Jesus did not say love only those who are alive.  Therefore, our love is forever, as long as we live. There is no stopping the manifesting of love for each other.

We cannot make any judgment of any person who has died, even knowing how much they had done bad things.  We must remember that every person does something good in life. If we now think that our prayer won’t help because you have known someone to be an evil person, just believe that God’s mercy is immense.

It is a holy and pious thought to pray for the dead (2 Mc 12:44-45). Those in heaven or in hell don’t benefit from our prayers, because the souls that are already in heaven are enjoying the eternal bliss of God, and those in hell are already condemned.  However, we need to understand that not everyone immediately goes to heaven or hell after they die. Therefore, when we pray for the dead, we must be praying for people in some other place usually called “purgatory,” which other religions cannot accept this teaching. As Catholics, we accept that there is a state of purging and purification. If the souls we are praying for are destined to hell, we believe our prayers won’t be wasted because of the idea that there is the “treasury of prayers” which would be applied to those poor souls who have no one to pray for them.

As early as first century Christians, in catacombs and other graves, they put an inscription, “ PAX TIBI, SPIRITUI TUO, IN AETERNUM, TIBI CUM ANGELIS, CUM SANCTIS.” All these words were written and uttered to signify prayers for the dead.

Today’s Scriptural readings give us great comfort for accepting our own mortality.  The Book of Wisdom expresses consolation into our hearts, “The souls of the just are in the hand of God.”  In today’s gospel, Jesus says, “And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day.”  We are supported by God’s words and encouraged in hope.  We do not fully comprehend this reality, but we know that it is something greater and more powerful than anything else we have known, the great love and mercy of God. For Him, no one is lost.

Then, St. Paul prayed for the Dead, 2 Timothy 1:16-18 “May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me; he was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me eagerly and found me, may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day – and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.”

Today, let us spend time praying for all our departed Brothers and Sisters who have died so that their souls will be in the hands of God.  Being with God, no torment can touch them.  There is no more suffering, pain or worries because we believe that God takes good care of them and comforts them as well.  They are at peace.

“Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through Your mercy, rest in peace. Amen.”

May they rest in peace. God bless you.

Fr. Arlon, osa

• Revelations 7:2-4, 9-14
• Psalms 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
• 1 John 3:1-3
• Matthew 5:1-12a

Today is the feast of All Saints.  We remember these ordinary people, men and women declared officially by the Catholic Church as Saints, who attained glory at the altar of the Lord because of their fidelity to God and their Christian virtues.  I believe that there are also so many Saints in heaven, unknown holy people, who are not declared by the Church, yet they are with God in heaven.

I never thought I’d meet real people here on earth, whom I consider living saints because of the way they serve others and love God faithfully. They work diligently, actively among the poor in a quiet manner, with all humility and generosity.  There is nothing remarkable about them for they are focused on sincerity of heart as genuine witnesses of God’s compassion, care, and deep love for the people whom they serve.

Today’s gospel from St. Matthew tells us about Jesus’ sermon on the Mount. It conveys to us how to become Saints by following Jesus’ words and examples.  This gospel passage is a practical guide to holiness which is attainable, within reach and real, but not expressing who those Saints are.  Jesus is giving us principles which are concrete suggestions to action.

In our Nicene Creed, we express our belief about the communion of Saints.  Thus, we are not far and remote from them, but united.  Through our faith and prayers, we are perfectly in communion with them especially when we ask for their help, for they have this beatific vision granted to them by God to intercede for us. On our part as believers, knowing and meeting living “Saints” in real life, we are encouraged to continue committing to our Faith and the love of God.  We must know thru them how to walk in the path to Holiness.  It is in the ordinary that we encounter Christ and His saints and are given the grace to be the beatitudes.

Let us now reflect profoundly on some points that are significant to us:

First, the blessings that Jesus has mentioned in the Beatitudes are not material blessings, like winning a lottery or becoming richer.  Rather it is about being spiritually rich and successful.  In fact, it is a total opposition to all the world offers us.  It almost turns all our notions of blessedness upside down.

Second, finding ourselves to be “spiritually poor,” we have nothing but God in our lives.  Being poor, we discover God.  St. Augustine promoted poverty of spirit and continence of the heart while living in Hippo with his friends and brothers in the community while doing their pastoral duties.  Our Father, St. Augustine, says, ‘the love of neighbor was simply another expression of the love of God,” in the realm of spiritual poverty.  Being poor, we can share much. In our poverty, we open our hands and our hearts to pray to our God who provides.

Third, when we find ourselves mourning, we shall be comforted because in our helplessness and starving for justice, we have nowhere to find true comfort except from our Savior who satisfies us.

Fourth, when we find God’s mercy for our sins, our pains and wounds heal.  We receive cleansing of our hearts; therefore, we too experience and see God within us thru a purified heart from all the pains and woundedness.  Thus, we can easily offer forgiveness and mercy to others as well.   We become peacemakers, ready to dispense that special blessedness we have received.  I believe that once God has given us His bountiful grace, His mercy overflows in our hearts.  Now, we become true children of God and see Him face to face.

In today’s first reading from the Book of Revelation, St. John has a vision of a multitude of people, impossible to count, “from every nation, race, people, and tongue… These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress.” St. John is reminding us that reaching the promise of salvation has been attached to all kinds of difficulties and challenges in this present world.  This is both a message and a warning to us that we will all succumb to suffering and difficulties here on earth; however, there is an end to suffering when we are faithful to Jesus, who sacrificed His own life so that we may live for all eternity.

This is indeed a great promise because all the saints of God are fully enjoying that “Blessedness.”  We are also called to see and believe that we can also rejoice and be glad about all God’s elect.

May all the Saints of God, pray for us.

Fr. Arlon, osa

• Ephesians 2:19-22
• Psalm 19:2-5
• Luke 6:12-16

Today is the feast of the two apostles, Saints Simon, the Zealot, and Jude, the Son of James. Simon was a member of the party of Jews planning, and eventually executing, a guerrilla war against the Romans.  The party was known as “the Zealot,” emerging as a distinctive group until some 36 years after Jesus was crucified.  So, the question is, why was he called Simon, the Zealot?  The correct answer is, having that nickname was connected to his personality. He was a zealous guy, especially in relation to doing his work pertaining to the faithful following of the will of Jesus Christ.  He became a member of the newly organized party after the death of his master, Jesus.  He was involved in the attempted revolt against the Romans resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem. As for Judas, son of James, he nearly gets lost in the tradition because Mark and Matthew call him Thaddeus. He has emerged in Christian tradition as the saint of the impossible. However, in Luke’s gospel, he is called Jude.  I think he was so involved in a “mission impossible” type situation and became someone whom many devotees turned to for help and intercession.

The reading from the Ephesians reminds me that just like Simon and Jude, who were called to accomplish the task given by Jesus, we too must think of how we can realize our mission work, keeping that call from Jesus with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. St. Paul says in his letter, “So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone” (Eph. 2:19-20).  Since we are no longer strangers, we are all in communion with fellow citizens, together with the Apostles, like Simon and Jude. We belong to a life-giving family, which St. Paul calls the “body of Christ.” Through Christ we grow together in the Spirit. This passage inspires me to continue to belong to a living, growing communion of saints, collaborating with the continued growth of this household. As His disciples, we stand up and move forward, confident in that support.

In today’s gospel, Jesus walks up the mountain to pray and is inspired to choose his disciples.  I believe that Jesus took seriously the decision to select worthy collaborators, who had faith in Him to learn and teach others as well.

We are also called to be Christ’s disciples.  Maybe we’ve entertained this question: Why twelve males when we know that several Galilean women were also key members of the earliest disciples in Luke 8:1-3; 24:10? The reasonable answer to this question is that Jesus’ choice of the number twelve, and specifically twelve men, was a prophetic symbolic act indicating that He was bringing about the expected messianic restoration of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Hence, like Jesus and His disciples, I need to go to a quiet place to allow myself to be in communion with the Spirit of Christ in prayer.  I need to talk to God, not to make any reaction that would jeopardize the voice of God calling me to “faithfully follow Him.” You and I are also encouraged to be Jesus’ disciples to do the work of God for salvation.  Let us pray for others, who are at this time in need of someone to accompany them in clearing up their minds of doubts.

Saints Simon and Jude, pray for us.

Fr. Arlon, osa

• Ephesians 4:7-16
• Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5
• Luke 13:1-9

Today is the feast of the well-loved pope in the history of the Church, St. John Paul II. His name made a great impact not only to Catholics but to all people from different religions. Karol Józef Wojtyla was born on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland. His mother died when he was nine years old, and his older brother Edmund died when he was 12. It was a difficult period for him, but he accepted the loss with strong faith in God. He was very athletic and loved to ski and to swim. When he was in college, he took up theater and poetry.

During the German occupation of Poland, the schools were closed, but he decided to enter the seminary and studied secretly under the archbishop of Krakow. He finished his religious studies, and he was ordained in 1946. He was faithful in his priestly ministry and succeeded to become a bishop in 1958 and the archbishop of Krakow in 1964. Pope Paul VI made him a cardinal in 1967.

He made history in 1978 when he became the first non-Italian pope in more than 400 years of Catholicism. During his papacy, he was loved by young people all over the world and was an advocate of family life. He was very influential to world leaders and different religious leaders. In fact, he started the World Youth Day and the gathering of all-faith leaders in Assisi. Pope John Paul II, at the age of 84, died on April 2, 2005 at his Vatican City residence. More than 3 million people waited in line to say good-bye to their beloved, John Paul. On April 8, 2005, during his funeral at St. Peter’s Square, thousands of people cried out loud in unison: “Santo Subito.” It means in Italian, “make him immediate saint.” Barely five years after, on July 5, 2013, it was announced by the Church that Pope John Paul II would be declared a saint. Pope Francis elevated him to the altar of the Lord as one of the officially canonized Saints of the Catholic Church on April 27, 2014. He was the pope I met when I was in the seminary during his first visit to the Philippines on February 1980.

God wants us to bear much fruit on earth like the ordinary people who became Saints of the Church. Our main purpose is to find life in God and pray for our healing and conversion. However, we need our community of faith to help us in that growth. In Ephesians 4:11-13, Paul speaks about the “building up of the Body of Christ,” which we belong to as believers.

In today’s gospel, Jesus tells a parable to point to the unlimited mercy and patience of our God. He gives us more time to bear many fruits. “If not, you can cut it down,” which is clear that words like these are not coming from a vindictive God, but rather is a wake-up call to realize the limits of life. Everything here on earth has an end, and therefore we must be aware of life’s fragility and its limited dimensions.

Let us be serious in our discernment to live our faith and to be true and faithful living members of Christ’s Mystical Body.

St. John Paul II, pray for us.

Fr. Arlon, osa

• 2 Timothy 4:10-17b
• Psalm 145:10-11, 12-13, 17-18
• Luke 10:1-9

Today is the feast day of St. Luke, the evangelist who wrote the third gospel.  He was a doctor by profession and a Greek gentile from Antioch. We need to learn from St. Luke, a dedicated worker for the Lord, preserving the beautiful teachings and life of Christ. He was also with St. Paul on several occasions. They traveled together on missionary journeys.  He contributed to the Church’s growth and evangelization helping to make the Church truly catholic in its outreach and its membership in the latter years of the First Century. His writing emphases are on forgiveness, justice, love for the poor, for those who suffer, and healing of the sick which were mentioned several times to portray Jesus.  St. Luke has special features to illustrate a loving focus on Mary, the Mother of Jesus: the annunciation to Mary of her vocation in relation to Jesus as His mother; the Magnificat; the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple at Jerusalem so that we could capture the loving relationship with Mary throughout the course of her life after Jesus’ death and resurrection. 
 
Reading Paul’s letter to Timothy, I feel that St. Paul had been abandoned by his friends after preaching Jesus’ message, except for St. Luke.  St. Paul wrote this, “Luke is the only one with me…..but the Lord stood by my side and gave me strength”.  St. Paul was a disciple of deep faith together with Luke.

The gospel today narrates to us that Jesus “appointed 72 disciples whom he sent ahead of Him in pairs to every town and place He intended to visit.”  These disciples were to announce that the Kingdom of God is present among the people there.

The focus of the gospel pericope is about discipleship.  Jesus called his disciples and us to participate in the spreading of the Good News and to minister to each other.  However, to accomplish this challenging task, we must respond with faith, gentleness, mercy shown to those who are lost, and to share the love of Christ which is necessary to express that we are truly disciples of Jesus Christ.  All the things we do for Jesus become our joy, comfort, and peace and not just simply doing our duty.  We do everything for the love of God.  In return, God blesses us and the world we live in. 

Like St. Luke, we are blessed to serve and to dedicate our whole life to Jesus’ invitation to service and love.   May we follow the example of St. Luke and extend our love to those we love so deeply, that is, His Church.

St. Luke, pray for us.

Fr. Arlon, osa

• Ephesians 2:1-10
• Psalm 100:2, 3, 4, 5
• Luke 12:13-21

Today there is another important figure in the Catholic Church, whom we need to know as we celebrate his feast day. He was a bishop of Antioch and a prolific writer. He wrote seven letters to local communities on church unity and structure. He was the first bishop to use the term “Catholic Church” as a collective designation for the universality of the church mentioned in the Roman Canon. St. Ignatius affirms that Catholic Church means “the whole church that is one and the same wherever there is a Christian congregation.” We must be conscious that it was in Antioch (Acts 11:26; 26:28) that followers of Christ were called “Christians” long before the break away protestants claimed to be the “true Christians.” History is necessary in understanding our Catholic faith and affinity with the Lord and his early disciples.

St. Ignatius of Antioch’s letters on his last journey are considered to be treasures of Christianity today. His letters collectively serve as a clear example of Christian theology. Some of the topics are on ecclesiology, sacraments, and the role of the bishops. He was an ideal pastor of his flock, a good example for everyone to be drawn closer to the Lord. He is believed to be a beloved of St. John, the Apostle,and also consecrated by St. Peter as a bishop in 69 AD. He preached the gospel with profound conviction and dedication and taught his followers to surrender fully to Christ so that they could freely die for Him when the time came. On his way to be persecuted in the arena in Rome where he died, he wrote 7 letters to encourage Christians to be faithful and to be united with the Lord. He was martyred in Rome in 107 AD.

Today, we have this gospel from St. Luke where Jesus narrates to us another parable regarding possessions and wealth and how it is difficult to move on with our material baggage. The man in the parable had tremendous harvest, enough to be comfortable for himself. He says to himself that he will build a larger barn and then make it a delightful place of security and satisfaction.

However, Jesus tells this parable to remind His listeners that this man cannot take it with him when the time comes, even if he were to die that night. It is a foolish plan in the eyes of God. It is certainly not wise that we are preoccupied with many things that prevent us from establishing a better relationship with God. Being self-confident and caring only for oneself is foolish. Our mentality that we control our future is a disastrous idea. We have the desire, but not the power, to do what we want with our lives.

Let us follow the path of total dedication of St. Ignatius of Antioch, solely to live for Christ because Jesus has everything we need in order to be happy and to be “rich in matters to God.”

St. Ignatius of Antioch, pray for us.

Fr. Arlon, osa