The Word Exposed - Reflections (December 21, 2014)

The Word Exposed - First Reading (December 21, 2014)

The Word Exposed - Gospel (December 28, 2014)

The Word Exposed - Second Reading (December 28, 2014)

The Word Exposed - First Reading (December 28, 2014)

The Word Exposed - Gospel (December 21, 2014)

12. Though it is true that this mission demands

great generosity on our part, it would be wrong

to see it as a heroic individual undertaking, for it

is first and foremost the Lord’s work, surpassing

anything which we can see and understand. Jesus

is “the first and greatest evangelizer”.9 In every

activity of evangelization, the primacy always

belongs to God, who has called us to cooperate

with him and who leads us on by by the power

of his Spirit. The real newness is the newness

which God himself mysteriously brings about

and inspires, provokes, guides and accompanies

in a thousand ways. The life of the Church

should always reveal clearly that God takes the

initiative, that “he has loved us first” (1 Jn 4:19)

and that he alone “gives the growth” (1 Cor 3:7).

This conviction enables us to maintain a spirit of

joy in the midst of a task so demanding and challenging

that it engages our entire life. God asks

everything of us, yet at the same time he offers

everything to us.

(Evangelii Gaudium11)

Eternal newness

11. A renewal of preaching can offer believers,

as well as the lukewarm and the non-practising,

new joy in the faith and fruitfulness in the work

of evangelization. The heart of its message will

always be the same: the God who revealed his

immense love in the crucified and risen Christ.

God constantly renews his faithful ones, whatever

their age: “They shall mount up with wings

like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they

shall walk and not be faint” (Is 40:31). Christ is

the “eternal Gospel” (Rev 14:6); he “is the same

yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8), yet

his riches and beauty are inexhaustible. He is for

ever young and a constant source of newness.

The Church never fails to be amazed at “the

depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge

of God” (Rom 11:33). Saint John of the Cross

says that “the thicket of God’s wisdom and

knowledge is so deep and so broad that the soul,

however much it has come to know of it, can

always penetrate deeper within it”.7 Or as Saint

Irenaeus writes: “By his coming, Christ brought

with him all newness”.8 With this newness he

is always able to renew our lives and our communities,

and even if the Christian message has

known periods of darkness and ecclesial weakness,

it will never grow old. Jesus can also break

through the dull categories with which we would

enclose him and he constantly amazes us by his

divine creativity. Whenever we make the effort

to return to the source and to recover the original

freshness of the Gospel, new avenues arise, new

paths of creativity open up, with different forms

of expression, more eloquent signs and words

with new meaning for today’s world. Every form

of authentic evangelization is always “new”.

(Evangelii Gaudium)

10. The Gospel offers us the chance to live

life on a higher plane, but with no less intensity:

“Life grows by being given away, and it weakens

in isolation and comfort. Indeed, those who

enjoy life most are those who leave security on

the shore and become excited by the mission

of communicating life to others”.4 When the

Church summons Christians to take up the task

of evangelization, she is simply pointing to the

source of authentic personal fulfilment. For

“here we discover a profound law of reality: that

life is attained and matures in the measure that it

is offered up in order to give life to others. This

is certainly what mission means”.5 Consequently,

an evangelizer must never look like someone who

has just come back from a funeral! Let us recover

and deepen our enthusiasm, that “delightful

and comforting joy of evangelizing, even when

it is in tears that we must sow… And may the

world of our time, which is searching, sometimes

with anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled

to receive the good news not from evangelizers

who are dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious,

but from ministers of the Gospel whose

lives glow with fervour, who have first received

the joy of Christ”.6

9. Goodness always tends to spread. Every authentic

experience of truth and goodness seeks

by its very nature to grow within us, and any person

who has experienced a profound liberation

becomes more sensitive to the needs of others.

As it expands, goodness takes root and develops.

If we wish to lead a dignified and fulfilling life, we

have to reach out to others and seek their good.

In this regard, several sayings of Saint Paul will

not surprise us: “The love of Christ urges us on”

(2 Cor 5:14); “Woe to me if I do not proclaim the

Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16). 

(Evangelii Gaudium 9)

8. Thanks solely to this encounter – or renewed

encounter – with God’s love, which blossoms

into an enriching friendship, we are liberated

from our narrowness and self-absorption.

We become fully human when we become more

than human, when we let God bring us beyond

ourselves in order to attain the fullest truth of

our being. Here we find the source and inspiration

of all our efforts at evangelization. For if

we have received the love which restores 

meaning to our lives, how can we fail to share that love

with others? 

(Evangelii Gaudium 8)

7. Sometimes we are tempted to find excuses

and complain, acting as if we could only be

happy if a thousand conditions were met. To 

some extent this is because our “technological

society has succeeded in multiplying occasions

of pleasure, yet has found it very difficult to engender

joy”.2 I can say that the most beautiful

and natural expressions of joy which I have seen

in my life were in poor people who had little to

hold on to. I also think of the real joy shown

by others who, even amid pressing professional

obligations, were able to preserve, in detachment

and simplicity, a heart full of faith. In their own

way, all these instances of joy flow from the infinite

love of God, who has revealed himself to

us in Jesus Christ. I never tire of repeating those

words of Benedict XVI which take us to the very

heart of the Gospel: “Being a Christian is not the

result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the

encounter with an event, a person, which gives

life a new horizon and a decisive direction”.3

6. There are Christians whose lives seem like

Lent without Easter. I realize of course that joy

is not expressed the same way at all times in life,

especially at moments of great difficulty. Joy

adapts and changes, but it always endures, even

as a flicker of light born of our personal certainty

that, when everything is said and done, we are

infinitely loved. I understand the grief of people

who have to endure great suffering, yet slowly

but surely we all have to let the joy of faith slowly

revive as a quiet yet firm trust, even amid the

greatest distress: “My soul is bereft of peace; I

have forgotten what happiness is… But this I call

to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast

love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never

come to an end; they are new every morning.

Great is your faithfulness… It is good that one

should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord”

(Lam 3:17, 21-23, 26).

(Evangelii Gaudium 6).

5. The Gospel, radiant with the glory of

Christ’s cross, constantly invites us to rejoice. A

few examples will suffice. “Rejoice!” is the angel’s

greeting to Mary (Lk 1:28). Mary’s visit to

Elizabeth makes John leap for joy in his mother’s

womb (cf. Lk 1:41). In her song of praise,

Mary proclaims: “My spirit rejoices in God my

Saviour” (Lk 1:47). When Jesus begins his ministry,

John cries out: “For this reason, my joy has

been fulfilled” (Jn 3:29). Jesus himself “rejoiced

in the Holy Spirit” (Lk 10:21). His message

brings us joy: “I have said these things to you,

so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy

may be complete” (Jn 15:11). Our Christian joy

drinks of the wellspring of his brimming heart.

He promises his disciples: “You will be sorrowful,

but your sorrow will turn into joy” (Jn 16:20).

He then goes on to say: “But I will see you again

and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will

take your joy from you” (Jn 16:22). The disciples

“rejoiced” (Jn 20:20) at the sight of the risen

Christ. In the Acts of the Apostles we read that

the first Christians “ate their food with glad and

generous hearts” (2:46). Wherever the disciples

went, “there was great joy” (8:8); even amid persecution

they continued to be “filled with joy”

(13:52). The newly baptized eunuch “went on

his way rejoicing” (8:39), while Paul’s jailer “and

his entire household rejoiced that he had become

a believer in God” (16:34). Why should we not

also enter into this great stream of joy?

(Evangelii Gaudium 5)

4. The books of the Old Testament predicted

that the joy of salvation would abound in messianic

times. The prophet Isaiah exultantly salutes

the awaited Messiah: “You have multiplied

the nation, you have increased its joy” (9:3). He

exhorts those who dwell on Zion to go forth to

meet him with song: “Shout aloud and sing for

joy!” (12:6). The prophet tells those who have

already seen him from afar to bring the message

to others: “Get you up to a high mountain, O

herald of good tidings to Zion; lift up your voice

with strength, O herald of good tidings to Jerusalem”

(40:9). All creation shares in the joy of

salvation: “Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O

earth! Break forth, O mountains, into singing!

For the Lord has comforted his people, and will

have compassion on his suffering ones” (49:13).

Zechariah, looking to the day of the Lord,

invites the people to acclaim the king who comes

“humble and riding on a donkey”: “Rejoice greatly,

O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter

Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant

and victorious is he” (9:9).

Perhaps the most exciting invitation is that

of the prophet Zephaniah, who presents God

with his people in the midst of a celebration

overflowing with the joy of salvation. I find it

thrilling to reread this text: “The Lord, your God

is in your midst, a warrior who gives you the

victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he

will renew you in his love; he will exult over you

with loud singing, as on a day of festival” (3:17).

This is the joy which we experience daily,

amid the little things of life, as a response to the

loving invitation of God our Father: “My child,

treat yourself well, according to your means…

Do not deprive yourself of the day’s enjoyment”

(Sir 14:11, 14). What tender paternal love echoes

in these words!

(Evangelii Gaudium4)

3. I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very

moment, to a renewed personal encounter with

Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting

him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this

unfailingly each day. No one should think that

this invitation is not meant for him or her, since

“no one is excluded from the joy brought by the

Lord”.1 The Lord does not disappoint those who

take this risk; whenever we take a step towards

Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there,

waiting for us with open arms. Now is the time to

say to Jesus: “Lord, I have let myself be deceived;

in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet

here I am once more, to renew my covenant with

you. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take

me once more into your redeeming embrace”.

How good it feels to come back to him whenever

we are lost! Let me say this once more: God

never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who

tire of seeking his mercy. Christ, who told us to

forgive one another “seventy times seven” (Mt

18:22) has given us his example: he has forgiven

us seventy times seven. Time and time again he

bears us on his shoulders. No one can strip us of

the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless

and unfailing love. With a tenderness which never

disappoints, but is always capable of restoring

our joy, he makes it possible for us to lift up our

heads and to start anew. Let us not flee from the

resurrection of Jesus, let us never give up, come

what will. May nothing inspire more than his life,

which impels us onwards!

(Evanglii Gaudium 3)

KYE 2014 @ SILPNC God Will Guide Us

KYE 2014 New New Corella ( God Will Guide Us )

2. The great danger in today’s world, pervaded

as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish

born of a complacent yet covetous heart,

the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and

a blunted conscience. Whenever our interior

life becomes caught up in its own interests and

concerns, there is no longer room for others,

no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer

heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt,

and the desire to do good fades. This is a very

real danger for believers too. Many fall prey to

it, and end up resentful, angry and listless. That

is no way to live a dignified and fulfilled life; it is

not God’s will for us, nor is it the life in the Spirit

which has its source in the heart of the risen

Christ.

(Evangelii Gaudium2)

1. The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and

lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept

his offer of salvation are set free from sin,

sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With

Christ joy is constantly born anew. In this Exhortation

I wish to encourage the Christian faithful

to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization

marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths 

for the Church’s journey in years to come.

 (Evangelii Gadium 1)

Tuesday of the First Week of Advent

December 2, 2014 

Lectionary: 176

Reading 1IS 11:1-10

On that day,
A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:
a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
A Spirit of counsel and of strength,
a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,
and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.
Not by appearance shall he judge,
nor by hearsay shall he decide,
But he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide aright for the land’s afflicted.
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,
together their young shall rest;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the cobra’s den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,
as water covers the sea.

On that day,
The root of Jesse,
set up as a signal for the nations,
The Gentiles shall seek out,
for his dwelling shall be glorious.

Responsorial Psalm PS 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17

R. (see 7) Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.

Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.

He shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.


May his name be blessed forever;
as long as the sun his name shall remain.
In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed;
all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

Alleluia 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Behold, our Lord shall come with power;
he will enlighten the eyes of his servants.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel LK 10:21-24

Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,
“I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and who the Father is except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Turning to the disciples in private he said,
“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

Monday of the First Week of Advent

December 1, 2014

Lectionary: 175

Reading 1IS 2:1-5

This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz,
saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

In days to come,
The mountain of the LORD’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
That he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths.”
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and impose terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
One nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.

O house of Jacob, come,
let us walk in the light of the LORD!

Responsorial Psalm PS 122:1-2, 3-4B, 4CD-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

I rejoiced because they said to me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD."
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, built as a city 
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up, 
the tribes of the LORD.

According to the decree for Israel, 
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats, 
seats for the house of David. 

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! 
May those who love you prosper!
May peace be within your walls, 
prosperity in your buildings. 

Because of my relatives and friends
I will say, “Peace be within you!"
Because of the house of the LORD, our God,
I will pray for your good.

Alleluia SEE PS 80:4

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Come and save us, LORD our God;
let your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.

Gospel MT 8:5-11

When Jesus entered Capernaum,
a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying,
“Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.”
He said to him, “I will come and cure him.”
The centurion said in reply,
“Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I too am a man subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes;
and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes;
and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,
“Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.
I say to you, many will come from the east and the west,
and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.”