Archive for the ‘Personal Thoughts & Reflections’ Category

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 30, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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In those days the light of King David shone like no other! He led Israel out of darkness uniting them with the Lord their God. He was anointed and truly Blessed by the Lord our God.

Let us not forget however that he was far from Saintly. He was blinded by power, driven by ambition and gave in to his insatiable sexual appetites. He was one of us in all regards, for just like us he too was conceived with original sin. Yet each time he fell into sin and awoke in realisation, his heart was in great anguish. His contrite spirit cried out to the Lord our God and he repented. Then once again He was able to sing beautiful psalms of gratitude and praise to God. It is with his ever grateful heart that he continued to serve the Lord and was able to shine once again for Him!

Let us never wallow in our sin but turn back always to our Jesus Christ who awaits to embrace us in His mercy and love. So that we can once again shine for Him in all that we say and do. Amen

First reading

2 Samuel 7:18-19,24-29
‘The house of your servant will be blessed for ever’

After Nathan had spoken to him, King David went in and, seated before the Lord, said: ‘Who am I, O Lord, and what is my House, that you have led me as far as this? Yet in your sight, O Lord, this is still not far enough, and you make your promises extend to the House of your servant for a far-distant future. You have constituted your people Israel to be your own people for ever; and you, Lord, have become their God.
‘Now, O Lord, always keep the promise you have made your servant and his House, and do as you have said. Your name will be exalted for ever and men will say, “The Lord of Hosts is God over Israel.” The House of your servant David will be made secure in your presence, since you yourself, Lord of Hosts, God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, “I will build you a House”; hence your servant has ventured to offer this prayer to you. Yes, Lord, you are God indeed, your words are true and you have made this fair promise to your servant. Be pleased, then, to bless the House of your servant, that it may continue for ever in your presence; for you, Lord, have spoken; and with your blessing the House of your servant will be for ever blessed.’

Gospel

Mark 4:21-25
A lamp is to be put on a lampstand. The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given

Jesus said to the crowd, ‘Would you bring in a lamp to put it under a tub or under the bed? Surely you will put it on the lamp-stand? For there is nothing hidden but it must be disclosed, nothing kept secret except to be brought to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to this.’
He also said to them, ‘Take notice of what you are hearing. The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given – and more besides; for the man who has will be given more; from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away.’

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 29, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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All our offerings, physical or otherwise, of praise and thanksgiving, adds nothing to the Lord our God. He has neither need or want of them. We offer them up to Him nonetheless for ourselves. For we acknowledge with deepest gratitude, the great love of God for us. Our greatest act of love for Him is when we lay down our lives for Him and our brethren, we can do so without physical death for very few are chosen for martyrdom. We are simply called to love beyond what we think ourselves capable often with great sacrifice. And we can surely do so, for He is with us always and reigns in our hearts when we embrace His Word in our daily lives.

Therefore it is imperative that we guard our hearts against all forms of sin and temptations so that our Lord’s Word can take root deeply. And we will yield a great harvest for Him by our lives. Amen

First reading

2 Samuel 7:4-17 ·
‘Your house and sovereignty will stand secure’

The word of the Lord came to Nathan:
‘Go and tell my servant David, “Thus the Lord speaks: Are you the man to build me a house to dwell in? I have never stayed in a house from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until today, but have always led a wanderer’s life in a tent. In all my journeying with the whole people of Israel, did I say to any one of the judges of Israel, whom I had appointed as shepherds of Israel my people: Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” This is what you must say to my servant David, “The Lord of Hosts says this: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader of my people Israel; I have been with you on all your expeditions; I have cut off all your enemies before you. I will give you fame as great as the fame of the greatest on earth. I will provide a place for my people Israel; I will plant them there and they shall dwell in that place and never be disturbed again; nor shall the wicked continue to oppress them as they did, in the days when I appointed judges over my people Israel; I will give them rest from all their enemies. The Lord will make you great; the Lord will make you a House. And when your days are ended and you are laid to rest with your ancestors, I will preserve the offspring of your body after you and make his sovereignty secure. (It is he who shall build a house for my name, and I will make his royal throne secure for ever.) I will be a father to him and he a son to me; if he does evil, I will punish him with the rod such as men use, with strokes such as mankind gives. Yet I will not withdraw my favour from him, as I withdrew it from your predecessor. Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be established for ever.”’
Nathan related all these words to David and this whole revelation.

Gospel

Mark 4:1-20
The parable of the sower

Jesus began to teach by the lakeside, but such a huge crowd gathered round him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there. The people were all along the shore, at the water’s edge. He taught them many things in parables, and in the course of his teaching he said to them, ‘Listen! Imagine a sower going out to sow. Now it happened that, as he sowed, some of the seed fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground where it found little soil and sprang up straightaway, because there was no depth of earth; and when the sun came up it was scorched and, not having any roots, it withered away. Some seed fell into thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no crop. And some seeds fell into rich soil and, growing tall and strong, produced crop; and yielded thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.’ And he said, ‘Listen, anyone who has ears to hear!’
When he was alone, the Twelve, together with the others who formed his company, asked what the parables meant. He told them, ‘The secret of the kingdom of God is given to you, but to those who are outside everything comes in parables, so that they may see and see again, but not perceive; may hear and hear again, but not understand; otherwise they might be converted and be forgiven.’
He said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? What the sower is sowing is the word. Those on the edge of the path where the word is sown are people who have no sooner heard it than Satan comes and carries away the word that was sown in them. Similarly, those who receive the seed on patches of rock are people who, when first they hear the word, welcome it at once with joy. But they have no root in them, they do not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, they fall away at once. Then there are others who receive the seed in thorns. These have heard the word, but the worries of this world, the lure of riches and all the other passions come in to choke the word, and so it produces nothing. And there are those who have received the seed in rich soil: they hear the word and accept it and yield a harvest, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 28, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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There is nothing more freeing than to lie in the palm of the Lord my God’s hand. Having renounced all sin and sinful pleasures and to accept unreservedly that I do not know much of anything except that I must do the will of God with every fibre of my being. When all of us seek only to do our Lord’s Will, we come to the realisation that we are most fully united and One with Him. While we are all not connected by blood we are are most fully connected by the waters of our baptism. We are more than sisters and brothers, we make up His one Body that is Christ Jesus our Lord.

Only then like David, can we raise our hands high in the air, dancing, singing hymns and shouting our Lord’s praises as we worship in glad adoration!

Thy Will O Lord, be done, now and forever. Amen

First reading

2 Samuel 6:12-15,17-19 ·
David dances before the ark of the Lord

David went and brought the ark of God up from Obed-edom’s house to the Citadel of David with great rejoicing. When the bearers of the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fat sheep. And David danced whirling round before the Lord with all his might, wearing a linen loincloth round him. Thus David and all the House of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with acclaim and the sound of the horn. They brought the ark of the Lord in and put it in position inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered holocausts before the Lord, and communion sacrifices. And when David had finished offering holocausts and communion sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Hosts. He then distributed among all the people, among the whole multitude of Israelites, men and women, a roll of bread to each, a portion of dates, and a raisin cake. Then they all went away, each to his own house.

Gospel

Mark 3:31-35
Who are my mother and my brothers? Those that do the will of God

The mother and brothers of Jesus arrived and, standing outside, sent in a message asking for him. A crowd was sitting round him at the time the message was passed to him, ‘Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for you.’ He replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking round at those sitting in a circle about him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.’
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On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 27, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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We must all strive for unity that is Christians, united as one in our Lord Jesus Christ. For our Lord has taught us that if a kingdom is divided then it will not last. And we have many enemies prowling and waiting to tear all that we believe in down. They spread propaganda and insists on imposing their own belief systems on us. Such as the right to choose, to take life through abortion or euthanasia. The right to same sex marriage. Pornagraphy and vulgarity are allowed to spread rampantly wiring the young to think it is OK to objectify and to be objectified. How are we to stand up to combat all these if we are not One in our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ?!

For through Him alone we are delivered from all evil and sin. Through Him we have the power to overcome evil and bring healing and peace. By His flesh and blood we are nourished, grace filled and fully united with Him and one another. Let us all stand faithfully united with Him and in Him for the sake of our future and that of all children’s. So that One in prayer, and grounded on His Word we all have hope of eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

First reading

2 Samuel 5:1-7,10
‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel’

All the tribes of Israel then came to David at Hebron. ‘Look’ they said ‘we are your own flesh and blood. In days past when Saul was our king, it was you who led Israel in all their exploits; and the Lord said to you, “You are the man who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you shall be the leader of Israel.”’ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a pact with them at Hebron in the presence of the Lord, and they anointed David king of Israel.
David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty years. He reigned in Hebron over Judah for seven years and six months; then he reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel and Judah for thirty-three years.
David and his men marched on Jerusalem against the Jebusites living there. These said to David, ‘You will not get in here. The blind and the lame will hold you off.’ (That is to say: David will never get in here.) But David captured the fortress of Zion, that is, the Citadel of David.
David grew greater and greater, and the Lord, the God of Hosts, was with him.

Gospel

Mark 3:22-30
A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand

The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, ‘Beelzebul is in him’ and, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts devils out.’ So he called them to him and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last. And if a household is divided against itself, that household can never stand. Now if Satan has rebelled against himself and is divided, he cannot stand either – it is the end of him. But no one can make his way into a strong man’s house and burgle his property unless he has tied up the strong man first. Only then can he burgle his house.
‘I tell you solemnly, all men’s sins will be forgiven, and all their blasphemies; but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of an eternal sin.’ This was because they were saying, ‘An unclean spirit is in him.’

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 25, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Can a leopard change it’s spots? Certainly not on the outside! But through Jesus our Lord, all the spots from within are removed. Purified, sanctified made Holy to know God’s will and to share in His love. 1 Peter 3:3-4 1 “Your adornment should be not an exterior one, consisting of braided hair or gold jewellery or fine clothing, but the interior disposition of the heart, consisting in the imperishable quality of a gentle and peaceful spirit, so precious in the sight of God.” By our obedience and through the grace of the Lord our God, we become powerful witnesses to what we have seen and heard of our Lord Jesus Christ. So that the many who come to believe shall be saved through Him.

And so we are sent into the world to combat evil, to bring His healing grace and to share in the good news of our salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

St Paul pray for us….

May the abundant Blessings of our Almighty and loving God be upon you my sisters and brothers who are celebrating the Lunar New Year. May the peace and love of Lord Jesus be in your hearts and homes. Amen

Happy New Year!

First reading

Acts 22:3-16 ·
‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

Paul said to the people, ‘I am a Jew and was born at Tarsus in Cilicia. I was brought up here in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was taught the exact observance of the Law of our ancestors. In fact, I was as full of duty towards God as you are today. I even persecuted this Way to the death, and sent women as well as men to prison in chains as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify, since they even sent me with letters to their brothers in Damascus. When I set off it was with the intention of bringing prisoners back from there to Jerusalem for punishment.
‘I was on that journey and nearly at Damascus when about midday a bright light from heaven suddenly shone round me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” I answered: Who are you, Lord? and he said to me, “I am Jesus the Nazarene, and you are persecuting me.” The people with me saw the light but did not hear his voice as he spoke to me. I said: What am I to do, Lord? The Lord answered, “Stand up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told what you have been appointed to do.” The light had been so dazzling that I was blind and my companions had to take me by the hand; and so I came to Damascus.
‘Someone called Ananias, a devout follower of the Law and highly thought of by all the Jews living there, came to see me; he stood beside me and said, “Brother Saul, receive your sight.” Instantly my sight came back and I was able to see him. Then he said, “The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Just One and hear his own voice speaking, because you are to be his witness before all mankind, testifying to what you have seen and heard. And now why delay? It is time you were baptised and had your sins washed away while invoking his name.”’

Gospel

Mark 16:15-18
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News

Jesus showed himself to the Eleven and said to them:
‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned. These are the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.’

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 24, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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We are all called to discipleship but the Lord our God had appointed amongst us leaders; fallible men and women alike to lead us closer to Him through holiness by the grace in which He anointed them. They may very be far from perfect but just like us, it is through Christ alone that we and our endeavours are perfected. Even if they sometimes lead us to the wrong path, still the Lord can make straight crooked lines. We must always be obedient to His anointed leaders so long as it not opposed to our faith and morals in our Lord Jesus Christ. And if they stray, His justice will prevail.

By our confirmation we have all already been commissioned, that is by our anointing sent to share the good news of our faith in our Lord Jesus. We have received the power from on high to share in His love, teach, heal and through many other gifts for which we are to build His Kingdom. What are we waiting for? Are we seeking further confirmation or affirmation by our brethren before doing anything or for some anything more? As St Paul aptly puts it across to us in Galatians 1:10 “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Let us Go! already, as we have been called to; to make disciples of all nations. Amen

First reading

1 Samuel 24:3-21
I will not raise my hand against the Lord’s anointed

Saul took three thousand men chosen from the whole of Israel and went in search of David and his men east of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. He came to the sheepfolds along the route where there was a cave, and went in to cover his feet. Now David and his men were sitting in the recesses of the cave; David’s men said to him, ‘Today is the day of which the Lord said to you, “I will deliver your enemy into your power, do what you like with him.”’ David stood up and, unobserved, cut off the border of Saul’s cloak. Afterwards David reproached himself for having cut off the border of Saul’s cloak. He said to his men, ‘The Lord preserve me from doing such a thing to my lord and raising my hand against him, for he is the anointed of the Lord.’ David gave his men strict instructions, forbidding them to attack Saul.
Saul then left the cave and went on his way. After this, David too left the cave and called after Saul, ‘My lord king!’ Saul looked behind him and David bowed to the ground and did homage. Then David said to Saul, ‘Why do you listen to the men who say to you, “David means to harm you”? Why, your own eyes have seen today how the Lord put you in my power in the cave and how I refused to kill you, but spared you. “I will not raise my hand against my lord,” I said “for he is the anointed of the Lord.” O my father, see, look at the border of your cloak in my hand. Since I cut off the border of your cloak, yet did not kill you, you must acknowledge frankly that there is neither malice nor treason in my mind. I have not offended against you, yet you hunt me down to take my life. May the Lord be judge between me and you, and may the Lord avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be laid on you. (As the old proverb says: Wickedness goes out from the wicked, and my hand will not be laid on you.) On whose trail has the king of Israel set out? On whose trail are you in hot pursuit? On the trail of a dead dog! On the trail of a single flea! May the Lord be the judge and decide between me and you; may he take up my cause and defend it and give judgement for me, freeing me from your power.’
When David had finished saying these words to Saul, Saul said, ‘Is that your voice, my son David?’ And Saul wept aloud. ‘You are a more upright man than I,’ he said to David ‘for you have repaid me with good while I have repaid you with evil. Today you have crowned your goodness towards me since the Lord had put me in your power yet you did not kill me. When a man comes on his enemy, does he let him go unmolested? May the Lord reward you for the goodness you have shown me today. Now I know you will indeed reign and that the sovereignty in Israel will be secure in your hands.’

Gospel

Mark 3:13-19
He appointed twelve to be his companions

Jesus went up into the hills and summoned those he wanted. So they came to him and he appointed twelve; they were to be his companions and to be sent out to preach, with power to cast out devils. And so he appointed the Twelve: Simon to whom he gave the name Peter, James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom he gave the name Boanerges or ‘Sons of Thunder’; then Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the man who was to betray him.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 23, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Envy often builds into jealousy and is prevalent everywhere. It can be found in the workplace, in church even at home between siblings. Why does it happen? Well for one it is due to our fallen nature which makes us susceptible to sin. However that is not to say we cannot resist it entirely. Especially if we are grounded in our faith and in our love for our Lord Jesus Christ; and in the certitude that we are all children so loved by our Heavenly Father who has no favourites.

Yes jealousy can happen even in church, even though everyone starts with the purest of intentions to simply serve the Lord and our brethren. Let us not forget that even the disciples squabbled amongst themselves at who among them was the greatest. They at that point walked with Christ, but did not walk in Christ. They like many in our day are not filled with the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore they struggle with insecurities but lash out at others thinking they know better, are holier, are more prayerful, are more Christ centric then others. Some leaders shut their ears with palm facing out to ideas or concerns raised which are not align to their own. They often force their agendas in the guise that it is for the greater good.

Let us pray for one another, our families, especially our Church leaders. That our eyes, ears and hearts will always be open to recognise that we need the Son of God, our Lord Jesus in the very centre of our lives. And so we strive each day to unite ourselves more fully with Him. So that through Him, with Him and in Him, we will glorify the Lord our God in all that we say and do. Amen

First reading

1 Samuel 18:6-9,19:1-7
Saul’s envy and Jonathan’s loyal friendship

On their way back, as David was returning after killing the Philistine, the women came out to meet King Saul from all the towns of Israel, singing and dancing to the sound of tambourine and lyre and cries of joy; and as they danced the women sang:

‘Saul has killed his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands.’

Saul was very angry; the incident was not to his liking. ‘They have given David the tens of thousands,’ he said ‘but me only the thousands; he has all but the kingship now.’ And Saul turned a jealous eye on David from that day forward.
Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants of his intention to kill David. Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, held David in great affection; and so Jonathan warned David; ‘My father Saul is looking for a way to kill you,’ he said ‘so be on your guard tomorrow morning; hide away in some secret place. Then I will go out and keep my father company in the fields where you are hiding, and will talk to my father about you; I will find out what the situation is and let you know.’
So Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father; he said, ‘Let not the king sin against his servant David, for he has not sinned against you, and what he has done has been greatly to your advantage. He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it yourself and rejoiced; why then sin against innocent blood in killing David without cause?’ Saul was impressed by Jonathan’s words and took an oath, ‘As the Lord lives, I will not kill him.’ Jonathan called David and told him all these things. Then Jonathan brought him to Saul, and David attended on him as before.

Gospel

Mark 3:7-12
He warned them not to make him known as the Son of God

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lakeside, and great crowds from Galilee followed him. From Judaea, Jerusalem, Idumaea, Transjordania and the region of Tyre and Sidon, great numbers who had heard of all he was doing came to him. And he asked his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, to keep him from being crushed. For he had cured so many that all who were afflicted in any way were crowding forward to touch him. And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, would fall down before him and shout, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he warned them strongly not to make him known.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 22, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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No mountain too high, no odds too great, no obstacle too wide, no problem too huge to overcome when the Lord our God is by our side. For we have been anointed His Holy ones. And He is ever Faithful to those who are faithful. What have we carefully chosen to bring with us to battle? What are the smooth stones we carry? The Word of God our beloved treasure trove? Our devoted life of prayer? Our conviction and work ethic towards building our Lord’s kingdom? Our humble contrite spirit ever seeking our Lord’s grace through reconciliation and Holy Eucharist?

If we say Jesus is our Lord and saviour then we must always choose good over evil, life over death. Let us then strive this day and everyday, with all our hearts, with all our minds, to do good and to save lives; through Him, with Him and in Him. Amen

First reading

1 Samuel 17:32-33,37,40-51
David and Goliath

David said to Saul, ‘Let no-one lose heart on his account; your servant will go and fight the Philistine.’ But Saul answered David, ‘You cannot go and fight the Philistine; you are only a boy and he has been a warrior from his youth.’
‘The Lord who rescued me from the claws of lion and bear’ David said ‘will rescue me from the power of this Philistine.’ Then Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the Lord be with you!’
He took his staff in his hand, picked five smooth stones from the river bed, put them in his shepherd’s bag, in his pouch, and with his sling in his hand he went to meet the Philistine. The Philistine, his shield-bearer in front of him, came nearer and nearer to David; and the Philistine looked at David, and what he saw filled him with scorn, because David was only a youth, a boy of fresh complexion and pleasant bearing. The Philistine said to him, ‘Am I a dog for you to come against me with sticks?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, ‘Come over here and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.’ But David answered the Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel that you have dared to insult. Today the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I shall kill you; I will cut off your head, and this very day I will give your dead body and the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord gives the victory, for the Lord is lord of the battle and he will deliver you into our power.’
No sooner had the Philistine started forward to confront David than David left the line of battle and ran to meet the Philistine. Putting his hand in his bag, he took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead; the stone penetrated his forehead and he fell on his face to the ground. Thus David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone and struck the Philistine down and killed him. David had no sword in his hand. Then David ran and, standing over the Philistine, seized his sword and drew it from the scabbard, and with this he killed him, cutting off his head. The Philistines saw that their champion was dead, and took to flight.

Gospel

Mark 3:1-6
Is it against the law on the sabbath day to save life?

Jesus went into a synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand. And they were watching him to see if he would cure him on the sabbath day, hoping for something to use against him. He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand up out in the middle!’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it against the law on the sabbath day to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?’ But they said nothing. Then, grieved to find them so obstinate, he looked angrily round at them, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was better. The Pharisees went out and at once began to plot with the Herodians against him, discussing how to destroy him.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 21, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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The Lord our God will qualify those that He calls.

Wonderful, affirming, encouraging and certainly true! However many have used this loosely to serve their own purpose in the time they had decided upon. They failed to discern with patience the Lord’s choice after His own heart. Yet had the audacity to say that the Lord will qualify those that He calls when the folks they chose were of their own calling! See then the quality of the fruits if any at all! Samuel patiently waited on the Lord; even after going through seven sons one might assume the perfect number, yet it was the eighth in whom the Lord saw fitting. Not quite a man yet a man after God’s heart.

So then who is in charge? If we call our Lord Jesus Christ master, then would it not be wise to wait on Him? For it is He who will anoint us and those He has chosen. Amen

First reading

1 Samuel 16:1-13
Jesse’s youngest son David is anointed king

The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you go on mourning over Saul when I have rejected him as king of Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen myself a king among his sons.’ Samuel replied, ‘How can I go? When Saul hears of it he will kill me.’ Then the Lord said, ‘Take a heifer with you and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.” Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and then I myself will tell you what you must do; you must anoint to me the one I point out to you.’
Samuel did what the Lord ordered and went to Bethlehem. The elders of the town came trembling to meet him and asked, ‘Seer, have you come with good intentions towards us?’ ‘Yes,’ he replied ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.’ He purified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
When they arrived, he caught sight of Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed one stands there before him’, but the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Take no notice of his appearance or his height for I have rejected him; God does not see as man sees; man looks at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart.’ Jesse then called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel, who said, ‘The Lord has not chosen this one either.’ Jesse then presented Shammah, but Samuel said, ‘The Lord has not chosen this one either.’ Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The Lord has not chosen these.’ He then asked Jesse, ‘Are these all the sons you have?’ He answered, ‘There is still one left, the youngest; he is out looking after the sheep.’ Then Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send for him; we will not sit down to eat until he comes.’ Jesse had him sent for, a boy of fresh complexion, with fine eyes and pleasant bearing. The Lord said, ‘Come, anoint him, for this is the one.’ At this, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him where he stood with his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord seized on David and stayed with him from that day on. As for Samuel, he rose and went to Ramah.

Gospel

Mark 2:23-28
The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath

One sabbath day, Jesus happened to be taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples began to pick ears of corn as they went along. And the Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing something on the sabbath day that is forbidden?’ And he replied, ‘Did you never read what David did in his time of need when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the loaves of offering which only the priests are allowed to eat, and how he also gave some to the men with him?’
And he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; the Son of Man is master even of the sabbath.’

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 20, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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If we are to grow in our faith and love of the Lord our God then we must turn away from old habits, even people who will lead us to temptation and sin. We cannot hold back or retain a tiny bit fooling ourselves into believing we have the power to resist the lures. How many turn back to gambling, clubs seeking reprieve from stress through alcohol and sexual escapades. Or some other form of sinful habits. How many turn to the cliques that will cheer us on as we spiral downwards? Why look back when we have found the Lord? Or rather He had found us, carried us on His shoulders and had set us free. Why allow ourselves to fall back into slavery?

Obedience to the Lord our God must always be our first and even perhaps our only priority. For His call to purity and Holiness is so that we can live fully alive and free in His love. We have new life in Him! New wine, fresh skins!’

Strengthen me Lord Jesus in Your love, that I may be Holy as You are Holy. Amen

First reading

1 Samuel 15:16-23 ·
Saul disobeys the Lord and the Lord rejects him

Samuel said to Saul, ‘Stop! Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.’ Saul said, ‘Tell me.’ Samuel continued, ‘Small as you may be in your own eyes, are you not head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord has anointed you king over Israel. The Lord sent you on a mission and said to you, “Go, put these sinners, the Amalekites, under the ban and make war on them until they are exterminated.” Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you fall on the booty and do what is displeasing to the Lord?’ Saul replied to Samuel, ‘But I did obey the voice of the Lord. I went on the mission which the Lord gave me; I brought back Agag king of the Amalekites; I put the Amalekites under the ban. From the booty the people took the best sheep and oxen of what was under the ban to sacrifice them to the Lord your God in Gilgal.’ But Samuel replied:

‘Is the pleasure of the Lord in holocausts and sacrifices
or in obedience to the voice of the Lord?
Yes, obedience is better than sacrifice,
submissiveness better than the fat of rams.
Rebellion is a sin of sorcery,
presumption a crime of teraphim.

‘Since you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.’

Gospel

Mark 2:18-22
‘Why do your disciples not fast?’

One day when John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, some people came to Jesus and said to him, ‘Why is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of fasting while the bridegroom is still with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they could not think of fasting. But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then, on that day, they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak; if he does, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. And nobody puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins too. No! New wine, fresh skins!’

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 18, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Our Lord Jesus Christ has come for me and you. To save us from our sins and to set us free. Let us listen to His call to follow Him. Have we already forgotten that by our baptism we have been anointed priest, prophet and King?

Yes we had been consecrated, set apart to light and guard, to rule and guide others unto Him. To build His Kingdom. Are we then living in the light of Christ? Are we then sharing His light with others? Proclaiming His love for one and all?

Thank You Jesus for in Your love, You have called me to follow You. You have healed and set me free. Let me be a disciple after Your own heart. Amen

First reading

1 Samuel 9:1-4,17-19,10:1 ·
The Lord chooses Saul as king; Samuel anoints him

Among the men of Benjamin there was a man named Kish son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah; a Benjaminite and a man of rank. He had a son named Saul, a handsome man in the prime of life. Of all the Israelites there was no one more handsome than he; he stood head and shoulders taller than the rest of the people.Lord Jesus Christ has ch Now some of the she-donkeys of Saul’s father Kish had strayed, so Kish said to Saul, ‘My son, take one of the servants with you and be off; go and look for the she-donkeys.’ They passed through the highlands of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but did not find them; they passed through the land of Shaalim, they were not there; they passed through the land of Benjamin, but did not find them.
When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, ‘That is the man of whom I told you; he shall rule my people.’ Saul accosted Samuel in the gateway and said, ‘Tell me, please, where the seer’s house is?’ Samuel replied to Saul, ‘I am the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place. You are to eat with me today. In the morning I shall take leave of you and tell you all that is in your heart.’
Samuel took a phial of oil and poured it on Saul’s head; then he kissed him, saying, ‘Has not the Lord anointed you prince over his people Israel? You are the man who must rule the Lord’s people, and who must save them from the power of the enemies surrounding them.’

Gospel

Mark 2:13-17

Jesus went out to the shore of the lake; and all the people came to him, and he taught them. As he was walking on he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus, sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.
When Jesus was at dinner in his house, a number of tax collectors and sinners were also sitting at the table with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many of them among his followers. When the scribes of the Pharisee party saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard this he said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.’

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 17, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Jesus You are my Lord of Lords, King of Kings!

But…..

My family, decisions, plans and all, must take first priority.
My business is my business, decisions, plans, I run it as I see fit.
A full hour is set aside for You on Sundays Lord, the rest is ‘me time’ ok? OK.
I won’t trouble You with my travel and leisure plans afterall I have to make my own decisions no? Yes!
There’s more… But after all else…

Jesus You are my Lord of Lords, King of Kings!

Unless we submit ourselves to the full authority of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ we have not truly lived! For He is the source of all life! Disconnected from the vine, the branches no matter how rich and plump will ever eventually whither and die. Many however still think or even believe that coming under the lordship of Jesus we become His slaves with no free will, and so they are fearful. How far from the truth! We are not slaves but are in actual fact, sons and daughters of God our Father fully alive and free. For through Jesus His Son, our sins are forgiven. Through His mercy and love, He bestows His healing grace upon us. Through Him we have life to the full. Serving Him and our brethren brings us great joy, love and peace.

And so sisters and brothers let us cry out to our Lord and God…..

Jesus You are my Lord of Lords, King of Kings! And I submit myself to Your Holy Will. Amen

First reading

1 Samuel 8:4-7,10-22 ·

The people of Israel demand a king

All the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. ‘Look,’ they said to him ‘you are old, and your sons do not follow your ways. So give us a king to rule over us, like the other nations.’ It displeased Samuel that they should say, ‘Let us have a king to rule us’, so he prayed to the Lord. But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for it is not you they have rejected; they have rejected me from ruling over them.’

All that the Lord had said Samuel repeated to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, ‘These will be the rights of the king who is to reign over you. He will take your sons and assign them to his chariotry and cavalry, and they will run in front of his chariot. He will use them as leaders of a thousand and leaders of fifty; he will make them plough his ploughland and harvest his harvest and make his weapons of war and the gear for his chariots. He will also take your daughters as perfumers, cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields, of your vineyards and olive groves and give them to his officials. He will tithe your crops and vineyards to provide for his eunuchs and his officials. He will take the best of your manservants and maidservants, of your cattle and your donkeys, and make them work for him. He will tithe your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out on account of the king you have chosen for yourselves, but on that day God will not answer you.’

The people refused to listen to the words of Samuel. They said, ‘No! We want a king, so that we in our turn can be like the other nations; our king shall rule us and be our leader and fight our battles.’ Samuel listened to all that the people had to say and repeated it in the ears of the Lord. The Lord then said to Samuel, ‘Obey their voice and give them a king.’

Gospel

Mark 2:1-12

The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins

When Jesus returned to Capernaum, word went round that he was back; and so many people collected that there was no room left, even in front of the door. He was preaching the word to them when some people came bringing him a paralytic carried by four men, but as the crowd made it impossible to get the man to him, they stripped the roof over the place where Jesus was; and when they had made an opening, they lowered the stretcher on which the paralytic lay. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘My child, your sins are forgiven.’ Now some scribes were sitting there, and they thought to themselves, ‘How can this man talk like that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God?’ Jesus, inwardly aware that this was what they were thinking, said to them, ‘Why do you have these thoughts in your hearts? Which of these is easier: to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven” or to say, “Get up, pick up your stretcher and walk”? But to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,’ – he turned to the paralytic – ‘I order you: get up, pick up your stretcher, and go off home.’ And the man got up, picked up his stretcher at once and walked out in front of everyone, so that they were all astounded and praised God saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this.’

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 16, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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With all religious piety of attending daily Eucharist, praying our daily devotionals and reading the word have we truly grown in our love for Jesus and for one another? How is this evident in our lives? Are others drawn to our faith by the way we live our lives? Do we have every confidence that when we face the challenges and battles ahead, the Lord our God is truly present with us every step of the way?

The Lord our God truly sees into the depths of our heart. There is nothing we can hide from Him. He not only sees our pain and struggle, He profoundly identifies and shares in it. And so in His mercy and love He truly wants to set us free when we cry out to Him. And He will do so, so that we can live freely in His love. The grace and power of the Lord our God resides in the hearts of His faithful not in the physical weapons they wield in their fight against evil. So let us guard our hearts against all evil and sin striving always to grow in Holiness through the grace of our ever loving God.

Jesus my Lord, be present with me this day and everyday. Amen

First reading

1 Samuel 4:1-11 ·
Israel is defeated and the ark of God is captured

It happened at that time that the Philistines mustered to fight Israel and Israel went out to meet them in battle, encamping near Ebenezer while the Philistines were encamped at Aphek. The Philistines drew up their battle line against Israel, the battle was hotly engaged, and Israel was defeated by the Philistines and about four thousand of their army were killed on the field. The troops returned to the camp and the elders of Israel said, ‘Why has the Lord allowed us to be defeated today by the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of our God from Shiloh so that it may come among us and rescue us from the power of our enemies.’’ So the troops sent to Shiloh and brought away the ark of the Lord of Hosts, he who is seated on the cherubs; the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, came with the ark. When the ark of the Lord arrived in the camp, all Israel gave a great shout so that the earth resounded. When the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, ‘What can this great shouting in the Hebrew camp mean?’ And they realised that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp. At this the Philistines were afraid; and they said, ‘God has come to the camp.’ ‘Alas!’ they cried ‘This has never happened before. Alas! Who will save us from the power of this mighty God? It was he who struck down Egypt with every kind of plague! But take courage and be men, Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been slaves to you. Be men and fight.’ So the Philistines joined battle and Israel was defeated, each man fleeing to his tent. The slaughter was great indeed, and there fell of the Israelites thirty thousand foot soldiers. The ark of God was captured too, and the two sons of Eli died, Hophni and Phinehas.

Gospel

Mark 1:40-45
The leprosy left the man at once, and he was cured

A leper came to Jesus and pleaded on his knees: ‘If you want to’ he said ‘you can cure me.’ Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. ‘Of course I want to!’ he said. ‘Be cured!’ And the leprosy left him at once and he was cured. Jesus immediately sent him away and sternly ordered him, ‘Mind you say nothing to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest, and make the offering for your healing prescribed by Moses as evidence of your recovery.’ The man went away, but then started talking about it freely and telling the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into any town, but had to stay outside in places where nobody lived. Even so, people from all around would come to him.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 15, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Lord help me listen to Your sweet voice.

So caught up with the many challenges in life that we face our prayer life if any, is often about asking, asking, more asking even pleading for ourselves, our loved ones or those who have asked us to pray. If not it is about telling, telling, more telling, a running commentary of our days and nights, with instructions for our Lord on how and what help is needed. What kind of relationship do we have with the Lord our God? Is it a right relationship? Is the Lord our God a vending machine or an ATM? Where we select what we want and automatically it must be dispensed? And if we don’t receive what we want then we complain for lack of service or a timely one at that!? Are we God and He our person? Who is the master and who is the servant?

Have we not learnt in our own relationships with others that the key to a meaningful, fruitful relationship is our about ability and resolve to listen to the heart of the other. What we are saying by our action of active listening is that the person or persons speaking to us are important, we honour them by patiently listening. We hear and see what their hearts are saying and in essence we listen with our hearts.

All the more our relationship with the Lord our God should be like this and more, such that our prayer life is one of listening to His Will and Word for us. There is nothing wrong with intercessory prayers or even sharing with Him how our day went but more time must be set aside for listening to Him. For His Word is life giving, it ministers to us, nourishing us and conferring the grace and strength we need to face and tackle the challenges we face in life. It also enables us to share His love, the good news of our salvation, so that all who will listen can share in the eternal glory with God our Heavenly Father.

Lord help me listen to Your sweet voice. Amen

First reading

1 Samuel 3:1-10,19-20 ·
‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening’

The boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli; it was rare for the Lord to speak in those days; visions were uncommon. One day, it happened that Eli was lying down in his room. His eyes were beginning to grow dim; he could no longer see. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying in the sanctuary of the Lord where the ark of God was, when the Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ He answered, ‘Here I am.’ Then he ran to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, since you called me.’ Eli said, ‘I did not call. Go back and lie down.’ So he went and lay down. Once again the Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, since you called me.’ He replied, ‘I did not call you, my son; go back and lie down.’ Samuel had as yet no knowledge of the Lord and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. Once again the Lord called, the third time. He got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, since you called me.’ Eli then understood that it was the Lord who was calling the boy, and he said to Samuel, ‘Go and lie down, and if someone calls say, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”’ So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
The Lord then came and stood by, calling as he had done before, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Samuel answered, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’
Samuel grew up and the Lord was with him and let no word of his fall to the ground. All Israel from Dan to Beersheba came to know that Samuel was accredited as a prophet of the Lord.

Gospel

Mark 1:29-39
He cast out devils and cured many who were suffering from disease

On leaving the synagogue, Jesus went with James and John straight to the house of Simon and Andrew. Now Simon’s mother-in-law had gone to bed with fever, and they told him about her straightaway. He went to her, took her by the hand and helped her up. And the fever left her and she began to wait on them.
That evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by devils. The whole town came crowding round the door, and he cured many who were suffering from diseases of one kind or another; he also cast out many devils, but he would not allow them to speak, because they knew who he was.
In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there. Simon and his companions set out in search of him, and when they found him they said, ‘Everybody is looking for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring country towns, so that I can preach there too, because that is why I came.’ And he went all through Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out devils.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 14, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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How many this day will offer up their children to God for priesthood or the religious life? And really encourage and nurture them such that they are able to respond to the call. Fully aware that it is a sacred call to be set apart for such service and a great blessing for all! Nay most are primarily concerned that their family name continues and who it is that will, or rather must care for them in their old age. And if not for these reasons they feel they know what is best for their own children and that there will always be someone else better suited for this calling. Really? What if everyone thought this way? The real question we should be asking is, whose authority is it that we all come under? Who is it that should decide what is best for us? Do we actually mean what we pray…. Thy kingdom come, thy Will be done!?

Indeed we all have different gifts and talents. Each and everyone of us has a vocation in life to be the best that they can be for the Lord their God and for one another. In order to this, we must carefully discern our Lord’s call for us and we can only do so when we willingly and wholeheartedly subject ourselves to His Holy Will for us.

Here I am Lord, I come to do Your Will. Amen

First reading

1 Samuel 1:9-20
The Lord is mindful of Hannah and she gives birth to Samuel

After they had eaten in the hall, Hannah rose and took her stand before the Lord, while Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. In the bitterness of her soul she prayed to the Lord with many tears and made a vow, saying, ‘O Lord of Hosts! If you will take notice of the distress of your servant, and bear me in mind and not forget your servant and give her a man-child, I will give him to the Lord for the whole of his life and no razor shall ever touch his head.’
While she prayed before the Lord which she did for some time, Eli was watching her mouth, for she was speaking under her breath; her lips were moving but her voice could not be heard. He therefore supposed that she was drunk and said to her, ‘How long are you going to be in this drunken state? Rid yourself of your wine.’ ‘No, my lord,’ Hannah replied ‘I am a woman in great trouble; I have taken neither wine nor strong drink – I was pouring out my soul before the Lord. Do not take your maidservant for a worthless woman; all this time I have been speaking from the depth of my grief and my resentment.’ Then Eli answered her: ‘Go in peace,’ he said ‘and may the God of Israel grant what you have asked of him.’ And she said, ‘May your maidservant find favour in your sight’; and with that the woman went away; she returned to the hall and ate and was dejected no longer.
They rose early in the morning and worshipped before the Lord and then set out and returned to their home in Ramah. Elkanah had intercourse with Hannah his wife and the Lord was mindful of her. She conceived and gave birth to a son, and called him Samuel ‘since’ she said ‘I asked the Lord for him.’

Gospel

Mark 1:21-28
Unlike the scribes, he taught them with authority

Jesus and his disciples went as far as Capernaum, and as soon as the sabbath came he went to the synagogue and began to teach. And his teaching made a deep impression on them because, unlike the scribes, he taught them with authority.
In their synagogue just then there was a man possessed by an unclean spirit and it shouted, ‘What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus said sharply, ‘Be quiet! Come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and with a loud cry went out of him. The people were so astonished that they started asking each other what it all meant. ‘Here is a teaching that is new’ they said ‘and with authority behind it: he gives orders even to unclean spirits and they obey him.’ And his reputation rapidly spread everywhere, through all the surrounding Galilean countryside.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 13, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Fidelity to the Lord our God and our willingness to put all else aside to respond to His Will for us. This is our call today to greater discipleship.

Let us reflect on how faithful are we to the Lord our God? How often do we worship Him and give Him thanks for all His blessings upon us? Daily? Weekly? Annually? Are we hopeful and eager to bear fruit for our Lord? Are we willing to suffer taunts for His namesake? Do we love and revere Him above all? How wonderful to hear the loving voice of our bridegroom remind us; “Am I not more to You then anything or anyone else?” ”For I love you with an everlasting love.”

And so are we able to leave our life in the world behind to follow Him? To let go of any insecurities, perceived shortcomings so as to become instruments of His grace. For we trust and know that all things are possible through and with Him. And so we carry our cross to follow Him. As we cast the net of His Love far and wide to draw as many we can to Him. Amen

First reading

1 Samuel 1:1-8 ·
Hannah’s rival taunts her for being barren

There was a man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the highlands of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives, one called Hannah, the other Peninnah; Peninnah had children but Hannah had none. Every year this man used to go up from his town to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts in Shiloh. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there as priests of
One day Elkanah offered sacrifice. He and used to give portions to Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters; to Hannah, however, he would give only one portion, although he loved her more, since the Lord had made her barren. Her rival would taunt her to annoy her, because the Lord had made her barren. And this went on year after year; every time they went up to the temple of the Lord she used to taunt her. And so Hannah wept and would not eat. Then Elkanah her husband said to her, ‘Hannah, why are you crying and why are you not eating? Why so sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?’

Gospel

Mark 1:14-20
I will make you into fishers of men

After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the Good News from God. ‘The time has come’ he said ‘and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.’
As he was walking along by the Sea of Galilee he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net in the lake – for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you into fishers of men.’ And at once they left their nets and followed him.
Going on a little further, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they too were in their boat, mending their nets. He called them at once and, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the men he employed, they went after him.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 11, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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God has no favourites as we are reminded in tomorrow’s second reading on the feast of the baptism of our Lord. And so we are so lavishly loved and gifted according to His Will for us. And if others have the same gift but are better at it, we must rejoice for it had been put to very good use for our Lord! If indeed we are lacking of anything to build His kingdom, to serve Him or brethen in love, we need only pray and He will provide for all that we need.

All sin is bad whether venial or mortal. Therefore we must avoid any and all sin. For even little ones will always lead to bigger and more terrible ones. If we fall into sin then we must quickly do all that we need to come back into full union with our Lord whether it be as simple as a contrite prayer or going for the Sacrament of reconciliation. There are two sins that I feel we need to guard ourselves against especially those of us who try our best to serve others through discipleship of our Lord Jesus Christ; that is spiritual pride and spiritual envy! For our service becomes a big zero as we end up serving no one but our own egos. What we say and do only drives others away instead of leading them closer to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us pray for one another to remain steadfast in our love and service of Him and one another. All for His glory now and forever. Amen

First reading

1 John 5:14-21 ·
If we ask for anything, he will hear us

We are quite confident that if we ask the Son of God for anything, and it is in accordance with his will,
he will hear us; and, knowing that whatever we may ask, he hears us, we know that we have already been granted what we asked of him.
If anybody sees his brother commit a sin that is not a deadly sin, he has only to pray, and God will give life to the sinner – not those who commit a deadly sin; for there is a sin that is death and I will not sa that you must pray about that. Every kind of wrong-doing is sin, but not all sin is deadly.

We know that anyone who has been begotten by God does not sin, because the begotten Son of God protects him, and the Evil One does not touch him.
We know that we belong to God, but the whole world lies in the power of the Evil One.
We know, too, that the Son of God has come, and has given us the power to know the true God. We are in the true God,
as we are in his Son, Jesus Christ.
This is the true God, this is eternal life. Children, be on your guard against false gods.

Gospel

John 3:22-30
‘He must grow greater and I must grow smaller: my joy is complete’

Jesus went with his disciples into the Judaean countryside and stayed with them there and baptised. At the same time John was baptising at Aenon near Salim, where there was plenty of water, and people were going there to be baptised. This was before John had been put in prison.
Now some of John’s disciples had opened a discussion with a Jew about purification, so they went to John and said, ‘Rabbi, the man who was with you on the far side of the Jordan, the man to whom you bore witness, is baptising now; and everyone is going to him.’
John replied:

‘A man can lay claim
only to what is given him from heaven.

‘You yourselves can bear me out: I said: I myself am not the Christ; I am the one who has been sent in front of him.

‘The bride is only for the bridegroom; and yet the bridegroom’s friend, who stands there and listens, is glad when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This same joy I feel, and now it is complete. He must grow greater, I must grow smaller.’

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 10, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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We often don’t dwell on our baptism enough. For most it was a one time thing of the past necessary but over and done with. How far from the truth it is. For it was the day we were born again into new life with Christ! An indelible seal was placed upon us and we became for all eternity God our Father’s children. We were made Holy, set apart. Likewise we do not dwell enough on the supreme gift of the Holy Eucharist, where through the Holy sacrifice of the lamb of God, by His precious body and blood we have life eternal with Him. We become partakers of His divinity which gives us the power to overcome all evil and sin. For some it has simply become a habit, a routine we go through, to check off our to-do-list. How far wrong can we be? Perhaps this is one of the reasons we fall easily into sin, we do not dwell and immerse ourselves in the love of our Lord through pray and recollection. We are not grateful enough for the multitude of blessings and graces given to us and so do not give rightful praise and thanksgiving to God daily.

Anyone who has fallen and living in sin knows how life draining it is. We simply have no life in us. We live day to day in a dreary existence always hoping for more, wanting more. Turn back to the Lord! For like the leper in today’s Gospel we too can cry out to Jesus, “Lord if you want to You can cure me.” And He will surely cure us because He loves us and wants us to live fully in His love. A contrite spirit He will not spurn.

Today let us choose to never take the love of our Lord Jesus Christ for granted. Let us dwell in His love, on the precious and Holy Sacraments we have been given which renews us and gives us life. Let us offer our praise and thanksgiving through an increased and greater prayer life, which only leads us closer to Him who loves us dearly. Glory and Praise be to God. Amen

First reading

1 John 5:5-13
There are three witnesses: the Spirit and the water and the blood

Who can overcome the world?
Only the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God:
Jesus Christ who came by water and blood,
not with water only, but with water and blood; with the Spirit as another witness –
since the Spirit is the truth – so that there are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water and the blood, and all three of them agree.
We accept the testimony of human witnesses, but God’s testimony is much greater,
and this is God’s testimony, given as evidence for his Son.
Everybody who believes in the Son of God
has this testimony inside him; and anyone who will not believe God is making God out to be a liar, because he has not trusted
the testimony God has given about his Son.
This is the testimony:
God has given us eternal life and this life is in his Son; anyone who has the Son has life,
anyone who does not have the Son does not have life.

I have written all this to you so that you who believe in the name of the Son of God may be sure that you have eternal life.

Gospel

Luke 5:12-16
‘If you want to, you can cure me’

Jesus was in one of the towns when a man appeared, covered with leprosy. Seeing Jesus he fell on his face and implored him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘if you want to, you can cure me.’ Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’ And the leprosy left him at once. He ordered him to tell no one, ‘But go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering for your healing as Moses prescribed it, as evidence for them.’
His reputation continued to grow, and large crowds would gather to hear him and to have their sickness cured, but he would always go off to some place where he could be alone and pray.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 9, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Both the vertical and horizontal dimension of the cross in which our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ hung for love of us serves as a great and loving reminder; that He died not just for you and me but for all of us! That by liberating us from sin we are not just united in Him individually but with one another in Him. Therefore all of God’s children are One Body through our Lord Jesus Christ. Can we then say we love God but not our sister and brother in Christ?

Unforgiveness is in a sense a habitual sin! Why? Because we regularly by our own volition, refuse to allow God’s love and mercy to overshadow us. To allow His grace to set both our heart and that of our brethren free from the hurt, guilt and pain. Unintentionally perhaps we are saying that our Unforgiveness is greater than God’s love and mercy! Why should we allow ourselves to remain captives of the injustice done against us? Let our Lord set us free from all bondages so that we can live free and live to the full in His love as His disciples.

And as disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will proclaim His love to all that we meet. We shall bring the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ to the poor, to proclaim His liberation to all captives of sin, His healing grace will come upon those who turn to Him and He will set the downtrodden free. That Jesus our Lord loves you and me, He loves us all! Amen

First reading

1 John 4:19-5:4
Anyone who loves God must also love his brother

We are to love, because God loved us first.
Anyone who says, ‘I love God’, and hates his brother, is a liar, since a man who does not love the brother that he can see cannot love God, whom he has never seen.
So this is the commandment that he has given us, that anyone who loves God must also love his brother.

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ
has been begotten by God; and whoever loves the Father that begot him loves the child whom he begets.
We can be sure that we love God’s children
if we love God himself and do what he has commanded us; this is what loving God is –
keeping his commandments; and his commandments are not difficult, because anyone who has been begotten by God
has already overcome the world; this is the victory over the world – our faith.

Gospel

Luke 4:14-22
‘This text is being fulfilled today, even as you listen’

Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him.
He came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me,
for he has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.

He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’ And he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 8, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Today I ask myself, how fearless am I living in God’s love?

Do I awake with a restlessness in my heart of facing yet another uncertain day? Have I any sins that I have not renounced that prevent me from living fully in His love? Have I neglected my loving Lord by not entering into His presence through prayer and dwelling on His word and will for me? Have I quickly forgotten the wonders of His love in my life? Have I allowed myself to be distracted by the lures of the world that I have let Jesus pass me by numerous times? Will this like many days end where I do not speak of God’s love for me and for all?

Or do I awake refreshed ready to dwell again in the love of my Lord. Knowing that whatever lies ahead, Jesus my Lord is by my side. And so I start the day in praise and thanksgiving for the many blessings in my life and the many blessings I will receive by my faithfulness. I enter into His presence ready to listen to Him as I fall into His loving embrace. As far as possible I seek to unite myself with Him fully through Holy Eucharist, I then go about my day with one mind and one heart in Him. The day does not end without me speaking about His love either by speech or in writing. Only then is this a day well lived in His love.

I am fearless because I am perfectly loved by my Lord Jesus Christ! Amen

First reading

1 John 4:11-18 ·
As long as we love one another God’s love will be complete in us

My dear people, since God has loved us so much, we too should love one another.
No one has ever seen God; but as long as we love one another God will live in us and his love will be complete in us.
We can know that we are living in him
and he is living in us because he lets us share his Spirit.
We ourselves saw and we testify that the Father sent his Son as saviour of the world.
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him, and he in God.
We ourselves have known and put our faith in God’s love towards ourselves.
God is love and anyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him.

Love will come to its perfection in us
when we can face the day of Judgement without fear; because even in this world
we have become as he is.
In love there can be no fear, but fear is driven out by perfect love: because to fear is to expect punishment, and anyone who is afraid is still imperfect in love.

Gospel

Mark 6:45-52
His disciples saw him walking on the lake

After the five thousand had eaten and were filled, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to Bethsaida, while he himself sent the crowd away. After saying goodbye to them he went off into the hills to pray. When evening came, the boat was far out on the lake, and he was alone on the land. He could see they were worn out with rowing, for the wind was against them; and about the fourth watch of the night he came towards them, walking on the lake. He was going to pass them by, but when they saw him walking on the lake they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they had all seen him and were terrified. But he at once spoke to them, and said, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.’ Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind dropped. They were utterly and completely dumbfounded, because they had not seen what the miracle of the loaves meant; their minds were closed.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 7, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Love of God, love from God, love for God, is love put into action. It is not dependent on how one feels nor anything remotely sentimental but rather a choice to act for the good of another. It is a ‘muscle’ that will grow big and strong over time when we exercise it regularly with even the smallest acts of service done in love. Be it at home, church, community or in the world. I will get up and prepare a meal for my children even though I am exhausted from working in the office. I will buy the expensive balm for my spouse who needs it even though I’m broke. I put away my games for love of my mom, to massage her aching shoulders. I will help serve at a second mass because they are short even though I have lots of housework to do. I will pray all the more fervently for you because you requested me to, even though I feel drained and spiritually dry. It all starts with simple, small acts of love.

Our Lord Jesus Christ did not simply say He loved us. He showed us how much He did by dying on the cross for us. He also showed us how much in the many little acts of mercy He performed. In today’s Gospel I hear Him tell me His disciple, don’t just have nice thoughts and concern for your brethren, give them something of yourself and tend to their needs. Start with what little you have and I will multiply it. I will act for love of you and your brethren!

Still there is much greater depth of God’s love for us in today’s Gospel. How He would one day give us our daily bread to nourish us body, mind and soul. And so this is fulfilled today, for He gives us of His humanity and elevates us through His divinity to full union with Him in Holy Eucharist. Glory and Praise to You, my Lord Jesus Christ! Amen

First reading

1 John 4:7-10 ·
Let us love one another, since love comes from God

My dear people, let us love one another
since love comes from God and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Anyone who fails to love can never have known God, because God is love.
God’s love for us was revealed when God sent into the world his only Son so that we could have life through him; this is the love I mean: not our love for God, but God’s love for us when he sent his Son to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.

Gospel

Mark 6:34-44
The feeding of the five thousand

As Jesus stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length. By now it was getting very late, and his disciples came up to him and said, ‘This is a lonely place and it is getting very late. So send them away, and they can go to the farms and villages round about, to buy themselves something to eat.’ He replied, ‘Give them something to eat yourselves.’ They answered, ‘Are we to go and spend two hundred denarii on bread for them to eat?’ ‘How many loaves have you?’ he asked. ‘Go and see.’ And when they had found out they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ Then he ordered them to get all the people together in groups on the green grass, and they sat down on the ground in squares of hundreds and fifties. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven and said the blessing; then he broke the loaves and handed them to his disciples to distribute among the people. He also shared out the two fish among them all. They all ate as much as they wanted. They collected twelve basketfuls of scraps of bread and pieces of fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 6, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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As much as we would like to, we don’t always live in the light all of the time. From time to time darkness overshadows us in many various forms and we find ourselves stumbling, hoping and praying for a way out.

How wonderful for us who have indeed seen the great light! Our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ is that very light and we know with certainty that He will surely come to drive all darkness away. His saving hand is upon us ever ready to heal and restore us. So that we can live fully in His light. It is our duty therefore to bring His light to those dwell in darkness. So that they might come to know Him and live in His light.

Let us offer our prayers today for the nations who are undergoing darkness today, may the light of Christ shine through bringing them comfort, healing and peace. We pray for Australia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and the rest of the world who face calamity, war and unrest. Amen

First reading

1 John 3:22-4:6
The Son of God has come and given us the power to know the true God

Whatever we ask God, we shall receive,
because we keep his commandments
and live the kind of life that he wants.
His commandments are these: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and that we love one another as he told us to.
Whoever keeps his commandments
lives in God and God lives in him. We know that he lives in us by the Spirit that he has given us.

It is not every spirit, my dear people, that you can trust; test them, to see if they come from God, there are many false prophets, now, in the world.
You can tell the spirits that come from God by this: every spirit which acknowledges that Jesus the Christ has come in the flesh
is from God; but any spirit which will not say this of Jesus is not from God, but is the spirit of Antichrist, whose coming you were warned about.
Well, now he is here, in the world.
Children, you have already overcome these false prophets, because you are from God and you have in you one who is greater than anyone in this world; as for them, they are of the world, and so they speak the language of the world dand the world listens to them.
But we are children of God, and those who know God listen to us; those who are not of God refuse to listen to us.
This is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood.

Gospel

Matthew 4:12-17,23-25
The people that lived in darkness have seen a great light

Hearing that John had been arrested, Jesus went back to Galilee, and leaving Nazareth he went and settled in Capernaum, a lakeside town on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali. In this way the prophecy of Isaiah was to be fulfilled:

‘Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali!
Way of the sea on the far side of Jordan,
Galilee of the nations!
The people that lived in darkness has seen a great light; on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death a light has dawned.’

From that moment Jesus began his preaching with the message, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’
He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness among the people. His fame spread throughout Syria, and those who were suffering from diseases and painful complaints of one kind or another, the possessed, epileptics, the paralysed, were all brought to him, and he cured them. Large crowds followed him, coming from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judaea and Transjordania.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 4, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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We are called to live out Holy lives worthily as children of God but actually doing so is very hard. Still we must strive to do so each and every day.

Let us not dwell on sin and in constant fear of sinning, but rather in the freedom purchased for us by Christ Jesus our Lord. We therefore endeavour to deepen our relationship with Him daily through prayer and through His living Word in Holy Scriptures. Living in His presence we will lead others to Him so that they too can live life fully in His love. Amen

Let us pray one Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be for our Holy Father Pope Francis’s intentions….

First reading

1 John 3:7-10 ·
No-one sins who has been begotten by God

My children, do not let anyone lead you astray: to live a holy life is to be holy just as he is holy; to lead a sinful life is to belong to the devil, since the devil was a sinner from the beginning.
It was to undo all that the devil has done
that the Son of God appeared.
No one who has been begotten by God sins; because God’s seed remains inside him, he cannot sin when he has been begotten by God.

In this way we distinguish the children of God from the children of the devil:
anybody not living a holy life jand not loving his brother is no child of God’s.

Gospel

John 1:35-42
‘We have found the Messiah’

As John stood with two of his disciples, Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God.’ Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. Jesus turned round, saw them following and said, ‘What do you want?’ They answered, ‘Rabbi,’ – which means Teacher – ‘where do you live?’ ‘Come and see’ he replied; so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day. It was about the tenth hour.
One of these two who became followers of Jesus after hearing what John had said was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. Early next morning, Andrew met his brother and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ – which means the Christ – and he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked hard at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John; you are to be called Cephas’ – meaning Rock.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 3, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Every morning as far as I can remember I have awoken praying first for my personal sanctification and holiness. Why? Because the temptation to sin is always before us! And sin with its super stickyness is ever waiting to pounce and prevent us from walking freely in the light of Christ. And so I pray for His grace to be upon me as I start out the day simply to live out my calling to be a child of God so loved by my Heavenly Father. To be Holy as He is Holy. Through and with His grace, I have a fighting chance to win the battle. I say chance even though it is a sure win with God on my side because I must cooperate and want to fight! Because there are times when I am in a state of inertia and often tempted to give in to the distractions.

Jesus the lamb of God my lord and saviour had died to free me from sin, and so the devil and all the evil that prowls about the earth has no hold over me! I can live free and fully in the light of my resurrected Lord and saviour Jesus Christ! Jesus saves; me, you and everyone who calls upon on His name.

By the Holy name of Jesus, I pray for you my dear sisters and brothers. That today and everyday you remain Holy and strive for greater Holiness. So that together we will live out our calling as children of God our Father, one Body In Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen

First reading

1 John 2:29-3:6
Everyone must try to be as pure as Christ

You know that God is righteous –
then you must recognise that everyone whose life is righteous has been begotten by him.

Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us, by letting us be called God’s children;
and that is what we are.
Because the world refused to acknowledge him, therefore it does not acknowledge us.
My dear people, we are already the children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him
because we shall see him as he really is.

Surely everyone who entertains this hope
must purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ.
Anyone who sins at all breaks the law,
because to sin is to break the law.
Now you know that he appeared in order to abolish sin, and that in him there is no sin;
anyone who lives in God does not sin, and anyone who sins has never seen him or known him.

Gospel

John 1:29-34
‘Look: there is the Lamb of God’

Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.’ John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.” Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 2, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Make a straight way for the Lord. Be steadfast in your faith in our Lord Jesus Christ who has anointed you with the truth by your very own baptism. And He will surely come to you, His faithful and fill you with His presence.

This is my takeaway from today’s readings and what a brother in Christ Sully (not his real name) shared with me recently encapsulates it all nicely.

A couple of years back Sully who is a catechist had asked me what was it like to be in a faith community and what goes on at the prayer meetings. I was excited to share my experience and at the end invited him to ‘come and see’. He came one evening and thereafter remained in our community even getting his wife to join us. Sully is a very good natured man and is a delight to be around with. However he shared one day that while he truly belives in Christ and all, he had not encountered Him the way many of us described. He was amazed at how alive our faith was for some of us and was not quite sure his own faith was as ‘alive’ so to speak. I would describe Sully as a rather learned man who loves to read when he can, and one of his favourites is reading up on the writings of Blessed Archbishop Fulton Sheen. I was rather puzzled at how this loving man who teaches and shares the faith had not had a deep personal encounter with our Lord?

Anyhow just two days ago he shared his profound experience and encounter of our Lord’s love outpoured on him. He was apparently ill for over a week with high fever. Then as he was recovering he made a decision to give up on coffee. By doing so he found he had more energy the rest of the day and he could actually pray more. Then at a recent Eucharistic Celebration he felt the Outpouring of God’s love and teared as he had never before. He finally understood firsthand what we had been sharing with him. I was so thrilled and overjoyed to hear his testimony, and to witness the glow on his face. This loving man is transformed into being even more loving! Praise and glory be to Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

First reading

1 John 2:22-28 ·
The anointing he gave you teaches you everything

The man who denies that Jesus is the Christ – he is the liar, he is Antichrist; and he is denying the Father as well as the Son, because no one who has the Father can deny the Son, and to acknowledge the Son is to have the Father as well.
Keep alive in yourselves what you were taught in the beginning as long as what you were taught in the beginning is alive in faith,
you will live in the Son and in the Father;
and what is promised to you by his own promise is eternal life.
This is all that I am writing to you about the people who are trying to lead you astray.
But you have not lost the anointing that he gave you, and you do not need anyone to teach you; the anointing he gave teaches you everything; you are anointed with truth, not with a lie, and as it has taught you, so you must stay in him.
Live in Christ, then, my children, so that if he appears, we may have full confidence, and not turn from him in shame at his coming.

Gospel

John 1:19-28
‘One is coming after me who existed before me’

This is how John appeared as a witness. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ he not only declared, but he declared quite openly, ‘I am not the Christ.’ ‘Well then,’ they asked ‘are you Elijah?’ ‘I am not’ he said. ‘Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?’ So John said, ‘I am, as Isaiah prophesied:

a voice that cries in the wilderness:
Make a straight way for the Lord.’

Now these men had been sent by the Pharisees, and they put this further question to him, ‘Why are you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the prophet?’ John replied, ‘I baptise with water; but there stands among you – unknown to you – the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo his sandal-strap.’ This happened at Bethany, on the far side of the Jordan, where John was baptising.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 1, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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What better way to start the new year then to ponder over the living Word through the heart of our Blessed Mother, the mother of God.

For God our Father has Blessed us abundantly and through Jesus His only Begotten son, brought forth by birth by His Virgin mother, we not only have life to the full, but we have full union with Him. We have become His sons and daughters!

So let then live out of Call to Holiness as we continue our pilgrim journey home to Him, at the start of 2020. Amen

Mary, mother of God, pray for us….

First reading

Numbers 6:22-27
They are to call down my name on the sons of Israel, and I will bless them

The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ‘Say this to Aaron and his sons: “This is how you are to bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace.”

This is how they are to call down my name on the sons of Israel, and I will bless them.’

Second reading

Galatians 4:4-7 ·
God sent his Son, born of a woman

When the appointed time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law and to enable us to be adopted as sons. The proof that you are sons is that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts: the Spirit that cries, ‘Abba, Father’, and it is this that makes you a son, you are not a slave any more; and if God has made you son, then he has made you heir.

Gospel

Luke 2:16-21
The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem and found the baby lying in the manger

The shepherds hurried away to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child they repeated what they had been told about him, and everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds had to say. As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; it was exactly as they had been told.
When the eighth day came and the child was to be circumcised, they gave him the name Jesus, the name the angel had given him before his conception.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: December 31, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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As we close off the year 2019 and cross over into 2020; let us give thanks to the Lord our God for the continued Blessings and graces He had showered upon us. We look ahead to the new year in which we will strive to deepen our relationship with Him.

Before we do so let us look back to 2019 to see if we have lived out our fully redeemed lives in the Lord our God? Have we been living in the light of Christ Jesus? Have we resisted all sin as best we could and have frequently received the sacraments of reconciliation and Holy Eucharist? Have we been beacons of His light for others? Have we shared the joy of the Gospel with others? Have we grown in Holiness as children of God our Father?

As we move ahead let us encourage one another to do more, to be more. To live more fully in the light of our resurrected Lord Jesus Christ and to be witnesses of His love for all. Amen

First reading

1 John 2:18-21 ·
You have been anointed by the Holy One

Children, these are the last days; you were told that an Antichrist must come, and now several antichrists have already appeared; we know from this that these are the last days.
Those rivals of Christ came out of our own number, but they had never really belonged; if they had belonged, they would have stayed with us; but they left us, to prove that not one of them ever belonged to us.
But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and have all received the knowledge.
It is not because you do not know the truth that I am writing to you but rather because you know it already
and know that no lie can come from the truth.

Gospel

John 1:1-18
The Word was made flesh, and lived among us

In the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things came to be, not one thing had its being but through him.
All that came to be had life in him and that life was the light of men, a light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overpower.

A man came, sent by God.
His name was John.
He came as a witness,
as a witness to speak for the light, so that everyone might believe through him. He was not the light, only a witness to speak for the light.

The Word was the true light
that enlightens all men; and he was coming into the world.
He was in the world that had its being through him, and the world did not know him.
He came to his own domain
and his own people did not accept him.
But to all who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God, to all who believe in the name of him
who was born not out of human stock or urge of the flesh or will of man
but of God himself.

The Word was made flesh,
he lived among us, and we saw his glory, the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father,
full of grace and truth.

John appears as his witness. He proclaims:
‘This is the one of whom I said: He who comes after me ranks before me because he existed before me.’

Indeed, from his fullness we have, all of us, received – yes, grace in return for grace,
since, though the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God; it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart,
who has made him known.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: December 30, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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How will we know the will of God for us let alone do it when most of us are so distracted by the cares and lures of the world? One of the biggest distractions since it is now so easily available on mobile phones as well is television and movies. Games too! There never seems a good time to pray or read and dwell on the Word but there is always time for the above distractions. Afterall we need to de-stress! Some how the most effective way to do so is not as appealing. Until such time we wake up to realise that we are not of this world and that we are all on a pilgrim journey back to home to the Lord our God, we will lead discontented, unfulfilled lives!

For Jesus alone offers the fullness of life! And there are many men and women who have dedicated and devoted their lives to the service of God and their brethren who can attesr to this. They indeed live life to the full! And just like Anna in today’s Gospel, they praise God and speak the wonders of His love through both their lips and their hands.

Let us offer a prayer for all the Annas in our churches who have dutifully served often quietly in the background day in and day out. Amen

First reading

1 John 2:12-17
Observance of the will of God

I am writing to you, my own children, whose sins have already been forgiven through his name;
I am writing to you, fathers,
who have come to know the one who has existed since the beginning;
I am writing to you, young men, who have already overcome the Evil One;
I have written to you, children, because you already know the Father;
I have written to you, fathers,
because you have come to know the one who has existed since the beginning;
I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and God’s word has made its home in you, and you have overcome the Evil One.
You must not love this passing world or anything that is in the world.
The love of the Father cannot be in any man who loves the world, because nothing the world has to offer – the sensual body, the lustful eye,
pride in possessions – could ever come from the Father
but only from the world;
and the world, with all it craves for, is coming to an end; but anyone who does the will of God remains for ever.

Gospel

Luke 2:36-40
Anna speaks of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem

There was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.

Leading others to what is sacred…

Posted: December 29, 2019 by CatholicJules in Life's Journeys, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Leading others to what is sacred…

This is indeed one of the toughest things to do. How do you do so when eyes have not seen, ears have not heard? How might one put it as charitably across so as not to offend but rather to help open the eyes of another to see what is sacred before them?

That we enter on to sacred ground when we enter the church. And so other than to read the readings and Gospel our mobile phones should be switched off. Silence should be observed to pray and prepare our hearts and minds to receive Jesus in the Word and Holy Eucharist. If one arrives late then one should stand or sit behind till an appropriate time to make way to seats available, rather than barge one’s way in and disrupting the Gospel proclamation or homily for others. That we should be united in the way we follow the postures as laid out for us during the liturgy.

All of us should be appropriately dressed in reverence for our Lord and God especially those serving the liturgy whether on a weekday or a weekend. Those who proclaim from the pulpit do you NOT realise you are standing in the sanctuary on hallowed ground? Should you then continue to dress as you please? If the celebrant puts on his vestments each time he celebrates mass whether it is on a weekend or a weekday because he celebrates at the Holy Altar, the Holy sacrifice of Christ why can’t we dress likewise in reverence. Since when is it ok to dress down or to wear what we would wear to sleep? Yes you’d be surprised how irreverent some are for they have fallen asleep!

What is the purpose of trying to lead others to the awareness of what is sacred? Well the reason is simply so that they too can experience the Lord our God in a deeper and more profound way. So that they can deepen their relationship with Him. The more effort they put into revering Him, the greater the graces they will receive for themselves as well as their families. For our Lord Jesus can turn what appears superficial into that which is supersubstantial! We see this most evidently in the transformation of ordinary bread and wine.

So sisters and brothers let us lead one another into greater Holiness and into the sacred by both our words and actions. Amen

As we gather in Jesus’s name….

Posted: December 28, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections, Photos
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On Today’s Gospel

Posted: December 28, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Today as we remember the tiny Martyrs who died in place of our Lord Jesus Christ, we reflect on our own call to live out of lives as children of God our Father.

We are all called to holiness, to live in the light of Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore we must make every effort to avoid sin and all temptations that leads to it. If we should fall then we should quickly turn to Jesus whose mercy ave have will heal and restore to its. For to live in sin is to die is to die in sin.

To truly live is to die and rise in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen

First reading

1 John 1:5-2:2 ·

The blood of Jesus Christ purifies us all from sin

This is what we have heard from Jesus Christ, and the message that we are announcing to you:

God is light; there is no darkness in him at all.

If we say that we are in union with God while we are living in darkness, we are lying because we are not living the truth. But if we live our lives in the light, as he is in the light, we are in union with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we say we have no sin in us, we are deceiving ourselves

and refusing to admit the truth; but if we acknowledge our sins, then God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and purify us

from everything that is wrong. To say that we have never sinned is to call God a liar and to show that his word is not in us.

I am writing this, my children, to stop you sinning; but if anyone should sin, we have our advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, who is just; he is the sacrifice that takes our sins away, and not only ours but the whole world’s.

Gospel

Matthew 2:13-18

The massacre of the innocents

After the wise men had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.’ So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet:

I called my son out of Egypt.

Herod was furious when he realised that he had been outwitted by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or under, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men. It was then that the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah were fulfilled:

A voice was heard in Ramah,

sobbing and loudly lamenting: it was Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted because they were no more.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: December 27, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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God our Father’s loving plan for our salvation began with the Incarnation of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, the light born into the world and was completed by His resurrection. And many whom our Lord walked with bore witness to this reality especially St John. This is the truth, this is our faith! Happy indeed are we who have not seen and yet believe.Yes, for even though we might not have seen Jesus our Lord with our very own eyes we can still testify to His great presence in our lives through the deep, precious, meaningful relationship we have with Him. We unite ourselves with Him most tangibly during Holy Eucharist and it is through Him alone that we are all united as one Body In Him.For this we rejoice and are glad! Amen Alleluia.At St John pray for us…

First reading

1 John 1:1-4 ·The Word, who is life – this is our subjectSomething which has existed since the beginning, that we have heard, and we have seen with our own eyes; that we have watched and touched with our hands:the Word, who is life – this is our subject.That life was made visible:we saw it and we are giving our testimony, telling you of the eternal life which was with the Father and has been made visible to us.What we have seen and heard we are telling you so that you too may be in union with us, as we are in union with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.We are writing this to you to make our own joy complete.

Gospel

John 20:2-8The other disciple saw, and he believedOn the first day of the week Mary of Magdala came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb’ she said ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.’ So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter who was following now came up, went right into the tomb, saw the linen cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: December 26, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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A day after we celebrated the birth of the light of the world, our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, we celebrate the feast day of St Stephen our first Martyr. For truly he was filled with the light of Christ.

Through the Holy Spirit he stood fast attempting to illuminate the minds of those who rejected Jesus, to see that the saviour, the Messiah had indeed come. And when their darkness surrounded him, St Stephen saw the light and glory of our Lord which he articulated with such zeal. For he knew that our Lord will never abandon His faithful and so with his dying breath he prayed for his persecutors as he cried out to Jesus to receive his spirit. Do we have such faith? For we are all called to bear witness to Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen

St Stephen pray for us….

First reading

Acts 6:8-10,7:54-59 ·

The martyrdom of Stephen

Stephen was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people. But then certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from Cyrene and Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen, and others from Cilicia and Asia. They found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said. They were infuriated when they heard this, and ground their teeth at him.

But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. ‘I can see heaven thrown open’ he said ‘and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ At this all the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they all rushed at him, sent him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’

Gospel

Matthew 10:17-22

The Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Beware of men: they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you.

‘Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved.’

Christmas joy

Posted: December 25, 2019 by CatholicJules in Life's Journeys, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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The joy of Christ was bursting within me this Morning after Holy Eucharist and so I sat quietly one corner in my mum’s home to pen this…

Christmas joy!

All the toys of man or boy,
All the toasting and the cheer,
None but Jesus brings me joy,
For Emmanuel God is here!

Carrols, incense, prayerful bliss,
The Word made flesh salvation framed,
Elated I received Jesus in Eucharist,
His grace abounds His love be proclaimed!

O Sweet anointing from above,
Shine Your light upon us,
My Lord, my God, my Love,
Happy blessed birthday Jesus!

CHRISTMAS

Posted: December 25, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Unfathomable that in His great love for us, God Himself would come down to save us from our sins so that we might have hope of eternal life with Him!

Yet this great mystery of the Incarnation foretold so long ago came to be on Christmas morn. The light of the world came to be born in a manger through His faithful Virgin mother with his faithful foster father at her side. The living word which had breathed life into a formless void, the source of all life brought us hope of new life with Him through His birth, life, death and His Resurrection. With our Blessed Mother Mary, we treasure all the wonderful mysteries revealed to us and ponder them in our hearts.

Today we rejoice with great fervour the birthday of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ! Our Salvation had come, God is with us! We rejoice and are glad for His love, peace and joy reign in our hearts. Happy birthday dear Jesus! Amen

First reading

Isaiah 52:7-10 ·

Rejoice, for the Lord is consoling his people

How beautiful on the mountains, are the feet of one who brings good news, who heralds peace, brings happiness, proclaims salvation, and tells Zion,

‘Your God is king!’

Listen! Your watchmen raise their voices, they shout for joy together, for they see the Lord face to face, as he returns to Zion.

Break into shouts of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the Lord is consoling his people,

redeeming Jerusalem.

The Lord bares his holy arm

in the sight of all the nations,

and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

Second reading

Hebrews 1:1-6 ·

God has spoken to us through his Son

At various times in the past and in various different ways, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our own time, the last days, he has spoken to us through his Son, the Son that he has appointed to inherit everything and through whom he made everything there is. He is the radiant light of God’s glory and the perfect copy of his nature, sustaining the universe by his powerful command; and now that he has destroyed the defilement of sin, he has gone to take his place in heaven at the right hand of divine Majesty. So he is now as far above the angels as the title which he has inherited is higher than their own name.

God has never said to any angel: You are my Son, today I have become your father; or: I will be a father to him and he a son to me. Again, when he brings the First-Born into the world, he says: Let all the angels of God worship him.

Gospel

John 1:1-18

The Word was made flesh, and lived among us

In the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things came to be, not one thing had its being but through him.

All that came to be had life in him and that life was the light of men, a light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overpower.

A man came, sent by God.

His name was John. He came as a witness, as a witness to speak for the light, so that everyone might believe through him.

He was not the light, only a witness to speak for the light.

The Word was the true light

that enlightens all men;

and he was coming into the world.

He was in the world that had its being through him, and the world did not know him.

He came to his own domain

and his own people did not accept him.

But to all who did accept him

he gave power to become children of God, to all who believe in the name of him who was born not out of human stock or urge of the flesh or will of man but of God himself.

The Word was made flesh,

he lived among us, and we saw his glory, the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father,

full of grace and truth.

John appears as his witness. He proclaims: ‘This is the one of whom I said: He who comes after me ranks before me because he existed before me.’

Indeed, from his fullness we have, all of us, received –

yes, grace in return for grace,

since, though the Law was given through Moses,

grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God;

it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart,

who has made him known.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: December 24, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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In today’s Gospel we hear the Canticle of Zechariah aka the Benedictus prayed towards the end of the Lauds. A beautiful prayer and reminder of how close God our Father is with His children and how through His powerful hand, we have salvation through our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ which He planned so long ago. We also hear of John the Baptist’s role but if we listen carefully it is our role as well to prepare the way of our Lord and to proclaim the good news of our salvation. The light of the world has come!

Soon we are about to celebrate Christmas, God who came to be with us. Are we ready to receive Him who is coming to dwell in our hearts?

Come Lord Jesus come….Amen

First reading
2 Samuel 7:1-5,8-12,14,16 ·
Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me

Once David had settled into his house and the Lord had given him rest from all the enemies surrounding him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘Look, I am living in a house of cedar while the ark of God dwells in a tent.’ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go and do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.’
But that very night the word of the Lord came to Nathan:
‘Go and tell my servant David, “Thus the Lord speaks: Are you the man to build me a house to dwell in? I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader of my people Israel; I have been with you on all your expeditions; I have cut off all your enemies before you. I will give you fame as great as the fame of the greatest on earth. I will provide a place for my people Israel; I will plant them there and they shall dwell in that place and never be disturbed again; nor shall the wicked continue to oppress them as they did, in the days when I appointed judges over my people Israel; I will give them rest from all their enemies. The Lord will make you great; the Lord will make you a House. And when your days are ended and you are laid to rest with your ancestors, I will preserve the offspring of your body after you and make his sovereignty secure. I will be a father to him and he a son to me; if he does evil, I will punish him with the rod such as men use, with strokes such as mankind gives. Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be established for ever.”’

Gospel
Luke 1:67-79
‘You, little child, shall be the prophet of the Most High’

John’s father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:

‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel
for he has visited his people, he has come to their rescue and he has raised up for us a power for salvation in the House of his servant David, even as he proclaimed,
by the mouth of his holy prophets from ancient times, that he would save us from our enemies and from the hands of all who hate us.
Thus he shows mercy to our ancestors,
thus he remembers his holy covenant
the oath he swore to our father Abraham
that he would grant us, free from fear,
to be delivered from the hands of our enemies, to serve him in holiness and virtue
in his presence, all our days.
And you, little child, you shall be called Prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins;
this by the tender mercy of our God
who from on high will bring the rising Sun to visit us, to give light to those who live
in darkness and the shadow of death
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.’

A pensive Christmas Reflection

Posted: December 23, 2019 by CatholicJules in Life's Journeys, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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How does one get into the mood then slowly advance into the nostalgia then into the frenzy of Christmas?

Well the formula is pretty straight forward. It always starts with decorations! The basic colours are red, green, white, gold, blue and silver. The rest are optional or as one sees fit. Then the tree and legendary carols. Lights and more lights of all colours! Food, drinks and parties. Nativity sets are welcomed in most places but not all. Wah lah! Magical! Never mind that it is all a production of sort. Then even with everything up, some would still say I’m not really in the Christmassy mood.

Well if I personally have no Christmas mood it’s because of two main reasons. One, I have not prepared my heart for Christmas through Advent! And two I am inward looking! Instead of looking outwards on how I can bring the joy of Christmas to some one who is perhaps lonely, widowed, poor, alone, downtrodden, orphaned, jobless, sick. Even if I cannot afford to give money as much as I would like to, I can still offer my time and the gifts I am bestowed with by my Lord. Then you can strip away all the lights, music, decorations and I will still have the peace, love and joy of Christmas in my heart. For truly the reason for the season is Jesus and the face of Jesus is in those whom we serve.

Soon when all is laid bare, I will still have Jesus! Amen

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: December 23, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Come Lord Jesus come….

We have prepared room in our hearts for you. We have shared the importance and encouraged the need for reconciliation with one another. We have stayed awake and stang ready for your return.

Come Lord Jesus come….

Through Your mighty grace upon us, we are your Elijah, we are your John the Baptist! As we have prepared the way for your coming…

Come Lord Jesus come…

O Lord purify and sanctify me that I may do all that is pleasing for your glory. Amen

First reading

Malachi 3:1-4,23-24 ·
Before my day comes, I will send you Elijah my prophet

The Lord God says this: Look, I am going to send my messenger to prepare a way before me. And the Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his Temple; and the angel of the covenant whom you are longing for, yes, he is coming, says the Lord of Hosts. Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who will remain standing when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire and the fullers’ alkali. He will take his seat as refiner and purifier; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and then they will make the offering to the Lord as it should be made. The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will then be welcomed by the Lord as in former days, as in the years of old.
Know that I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before my day comes, that great and terrible day. He shall turn the hearts of fathers towards their children and the hearts of children towards their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a curse.

Gospel

Luke 1:57-66
‘His name is John’

The time came for Elizabeth to have her child, and she gave birth to a son; and when her neighbours and relations heard that the Lord had shown her so great a kindness, they shared her joy.
Now on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother spoke up. ‘No,’ she said ‘he is to be called John.’ They said to her, ‘But no one in your family has that name’, and made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called. The father asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And they were all astonished. At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and praised God. All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea. All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: December 21, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Ah dearest Blessed mother! At many prayer meetings I have prayed these words, “O dearest mother, where Jesus is you are never far and yet you are closest with us in our hour of need. Purify our hearts, minds and thoughts that we might always be pleasing to your Son our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. And continue to intercede for us as we pray Hail Mary…”

You mother bring with you the full measure of your Grace each and every time we pray to you. No creature has ever be elevated to the highest state of grace as you have. Yet in your humble gentle heart, you only seek to bring Jesus into our very own hearts. Whether in the form of a wee babe or the full stature of our bridegroom, the joy within us cannot be contained! And so mother just as your cousin Elisabeth uttered these words so long ago Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? We too are so very honoured each and everytime you stand at our side when we call out to you. You are truly a devoted mother who tenderly loves us. And you bring with you the presence of your Son Jesus our Lord and God. Amen

First reading

Song of Songs 2:8-14 ·
See how my Beloved comes, leaping on the mountains

I hear my Beloved.
See how he comes
leaping on the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
My Beloved is like a gazelle,
like a young stag.

See where he stands
behind our wall.
He looks in at the window,
he peers through the lattice.

My Beloved lifts up his voice,
he says to me,
‘Come then, my love,
my lovely one, come.
For see, winter is past,
the rains are over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth.
The season of glad songs has come,
the cooing of the turtledove
is heard in our land.
The fig tree is forming its first figs
and the blossoming vines give out their fragrance.
Come then, my love,
my lovely one, come.
My dove, hiding in the clefts of the rock,
in the coverts of the cliff,
show me your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet
and your face is beautiful.’

Gospel

Luke 1:39-45
Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?

Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: December 20, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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O Blessed Mother thank you for your Yes, thank you for bringing forth Emmanuel.

As we prepare ourselves to celebrate the reason for the season this Wednesday the birthday of your beloved son, our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, we seek your intercession for a new infilling of the Holy Spirit so that our hearts will be filled with a renewed zeal for proclaiming the great love of God our Father for us by sending His only Begotten son to be the Light of the World. Our hearts are glowing dear mother in anticipation of His return…..

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death. Amen

First reading

Isaiah 7:10-14 ·
The maiden is with child

The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test.’
Then Isaiah said:

‘Listen now, House of David:
are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men without trying the patience of my God, too?
The Lord himself, therefore, will give you a sign.
It is this: the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel, a name which means “God-is-with-us.”’

Gospel

Luke 1:26-38
‘I am the handmaid of the Lord’

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

Reflection

Posted: December 19, 2019 by CatholicJules in Life's Journeys, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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The countdown has begun where we will celebrate the Incarnation of the Word made flesh. The birthday of the Savior of the World our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.

As we draw close to the 4th and final week of Advent, I am elated and my heart is filled with joy as I look back from the start of Advent 2018. I’ve aged indeed and my body never fails to remind me but I still possess a youthful heart and outlook. Though at times I feel I’m rather immature rather then childlike. Still my Lord has allowed me to grow through my mistakes. My prayer life is good, though I know it can be better and I am very much comfortable in sharing my faith and the reason behind it. In any case there is always more to learn and grow.

So while the year was not always easy, with great challenges both physically and spiritually I am very thankful and most grateful to the Lord for the following…

A very loving and generous family who has always been very supportive.

For the various communities I am a part of who inspire to be better, more importantly Holier by their very own desire and drive to grow in Holiness. Ephraim SCC and CG lol in particular have both taken their growth as a community to the next level. St Louise group is shaping up nicely. The fraternal bonds have grown so much that anyone joining in for the first time can feel the love between the members and want to be part of the loving community; but most importantly they feel most profoundly our Lord’s presence and know in their hearts that God is truly with us.

I am also very thankful to the Lord that Focolare and Servants of the Lord have some how or rather for lack of a better word ‘adopted’ our family, they not open their doors to us but their hearts as well. A sure sign of God’s love that prevails in their communities.

All Glory and Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: December 19, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Yesterday we reflected a little on how the faithfulness and obedience of both our Blessed Mother and St Joseph to God our Father, brought forth Emmanuel, ‘God-is-with-us’.

Today we learn that in spite of nature, through our faithfulness and obedience to His Will; God our Father’s can bring forth fruit. Fruit which we bring forth and consecrate to the Lord our God. And we know that both Samson and St John the Baptist were chosen to liberate the Israelites, the first from the philistines and the latter from their sins by pointing the way back to God and preparing the way of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ through whom all are saved.

Lord Jesus I come to do Your Will. Amen

First reading

Judges 13:2-7,24-25 ·
‘You will conceive and bear a son’

There was a man of Zorah of the tribe of Dan, called Manoah. His wife was barren, she had borne no children. The angel of the Lord appeared to this woman and said to her, ‘You are barren and have had no child. But from now on take great care. Take no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean. For you will conceive and bear a son. No razor is to touch his head, for the boy shall be God’s nazirite from his mother’s womb. It is he who will begin to rescue Israel from the power of the Philistines.’ Then the woman went and told her husband, ‘A man of God has just come to me; his presence was like the presence of the angel of God, he was so majestic. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not reveal his name to me. But he said to me, “You will conceive and bear a son. From now on, take no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean. For the boy shall be God’s nazirite from his mother’s womb to his dying day.”’
The woman gave birth to a son and called him Samson. The child grew, and the Lord blessed him; and the spirit of the Lord began to move him.

Gospel

Luke 1:5-25
‘Your wife Elizabeth will bear a son’

In the days of King Herod of Judaea there lived a priest called Zechariah who belonged to the Abijah section of the priesthood, and he had a wife, Elizabeth by name, who was a descendant of Aaron. Both were worthy in the sight of God, and scrupulously observed all the commandments and observances of the Lord. But they were childless: Elizabeth was barren and they were both getting on in years.
Now it was the turn of Zechariah’s section to serve, and he was exercising his priestly office before God when it fell to him by lot, as the ritual custom was, to enter the Lord’s sanctuary and burn incense there. And at the hour of incense the whole congregation was outside, praying.
Then there appeared to him the angel of the Lord, standing on the right of the altar of incense. The sight disturbed Zechariah and he was overcome with fear. But the angel said to him, ‘Zechariah, do not be afraid, your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth is to bear you a son and you must name him John. He will be your joy and delight and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord; he must drink no wine, no strong drink. Even from his mother’s womb he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will bring back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah, he will go before him to turn the hearts of fathers towards their children and the disobedient back to the wisdom that the virtuous have, preparing for the Lord a people fit for him.’
Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is getting on in years.’ The angel replied, ‘I am Gabriel who stand in God’s presence, and I have been sent to speak to you and bring you this good news. Listen! Since you have not believed my words, which will come true at their appointed time, you will be silenced and have no power of speech until this has happened.’ Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and were surprised that he stayed in the sanctuary so long. When he came out he could not speak to them, and they realised that he had received a vision in the sanctuary. But he could only make signs to them, and remained dumb.
When his time of service came to an end he returned home. Some time later his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept to herself. ‘The Lord has done this for me’ she said ‘now that it has pleased him to take away the humiliation I suffered among men.’

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: December 18, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Through the obedience and faithfulness of both our Blessed Mother and St Joseph, God came and dwelled among us.

Our Lord Jesus Christ came that we might fully be united with Him, to gather everyone on to Himself. And so great is His love for us He designed a way to be with us through all the centuries to come till His return. His real presence, body, blood, soul and divinity in Holy Eucharist. And so each and every time we receive Him at Holy Eucharist we can cry out, Emmanuel! Amen

First reading

Jeremiah 23:5-8 ·
I will raise a virtuous Branch for David

See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when I will raise a virtuous Branch for David, who will reign as true king and be wise, practising honesty and integrity in the land.
In his days Judah will be saved and Israel dwell in confidence. And this is the name he will be called: The-Lord-our-integrity.

So, then, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when people will no longer say, “As the Lord lives who brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt!” but, “As the Lord lives who led back and brought home the descendants of the House of Israel out of the land of the North and from all the countries to which he had dispersed them, to live on their own soil.”

Gospel

Matthew 1:18-24
How Jesus Christ came to be born

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.

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Posted: December 17, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections, Photos
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On Today’s Gospel

Posted: December 17, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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How wonderful it is to know that God our Father can make crooked lines straight, He can fill in the gaps and everything is seamless, made flawless by His hand.

Many of us can testify to this fact in many aspects of our lives be it at home, church, work or elsewhere. We see this more evidently in our salvation history and it is breath taking if we open the eyes of our heart to see. Instead of looking through the genealogy of Jesus simply as a list of hard to pronounce names, see how we are in a sense intertwined with His history. The lines were not always straight in that many were sinners and not in a mild sense. Then we see how through God our Father’s hand Jesus becomes the son of Joseph by adoption through His mother Mary. Then perhaps we can finally see that blood is not necessarily thicker than water! For through the water of our baptism we had become sons and daughters of God our Father through His Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end. Amen

First reading

Genesis 49:2,8-10 ·
Until he comes, the sceptre will not pass from Judah

Jacob called his sons and said:

‘Gather round, sons of Jacob, and listen;
listen to Israel your father.
Judah, your brothers shall praise you:
you grip your enemies by the neck,
your father’s sons shall do you homage,
Judah is a lion cub,
you climb back, my son, from your kill;
like a lion he crouches and lies down,
or a lioness: who dare rouse him?
The sceptre shall not pass from Judah,
nor the mace from between his feet,
until he come to whom it belongs,
to whom the peoples shall render obedience.’

Gospel

Matthew 1:1-17
The ancestry of Jesus Christ, the son of David

A genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham:

Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, Tamar being their mother,
Perez was the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram was the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon was the father of Boaz, Rahab being his mother,
Boaz was the father of Obed, Ruth being his mother,
Obed was the father of Jesse;
and Jesse was the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
Solomon was the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa,
Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,
Joram the father of Azariah,
Azariah was the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah;
and Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers.
Then the deportation to Babylon took place.
After the deportation to Babylon:
Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud,
Abiud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
Azor was the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Achim,
Achim the father of Eliud,
Eliud was the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob;
and Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary;
of her was born Jesus who is called Christ.

The sum of generations is therefore: fourteen from Abraham to David; fourteen from David to the Babylonian deportation; and fourteen from the Babylonian deportation to Christ.

Gaudete in Domino Semper

Posted: December 16, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Gaudete in domino semper!

I was sharing yesterday how difficult it was for me to rejoice in the Lord in the morning at 5am. I hadn’t been sleeping well because the c5 and c6 section of my neck was pinching on my nerves. There was also a tightness on the left hand side of my chest with slight pain and I was feverish. It didn’t help that it was raining, a wet and cold Sunday morning.

Still I had to press on as I was leading the 3rd Advent Reflection session for my fellow stewards and had committed to presenting the LISS participants of 2019 for their commissioning to be light of the world during the 1115am Eucharistic Celebration. Then later in the afternoon I was going to lead the advent reflection again for our LTW {living the word} community at 2pm.

Each time I was engaged in sharing the word and love of Jesus I felt joy in my heart and the pains I was having dissipated. I truly rejoiced in the Lord! I also shared with the folks that it is only when I’m engaged in some form of service of my Lord that I am truly alive.

I finally got home at about 4pm drained but joyful, and fell asleep till about 8pm. Had something light and went back to sleep.

This morning I woke up resigned to the fact that I would not be able to attend morning Eucharist. The bicycle I kept in Tampines had a flat tire and so there was no way to make it on foot in three minutes to Holy Trinity Church. Moreover the lady bus driver today had a record of delaying the journey and so I would end up the bus stop between 6:26 or 6:27am. I told myself that if somehow the bus would make it at 6:25 am I would jog even with my pains. Praise the Lord! It was exactly 6:25am when I reached Tampines and I made it on time for the Opening Prayer.

And so I remain in awe of my Lord, and will rejoice in Him always. Amen

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: December 16, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Does the Lord our God need to justify His action or inaction? We are so caught up in the dealings in the secular world that the Lord our God too must be subjected to an audit! Provide justification, timeliness and corrective actions. Really who is subject to the authority of whom?

Our Lord of Lords, King of Kings has indeed come but not to make His dominion felt. In fact He is closest to those who are powerless and not those in power! Those of us who feel powerless in this world know that we have a powerful ally whose power trancends all. We only need to subject ourselves to His authority. Having done so there will be no room for complaints lest we have not fully surrendered to Him. Peace reigns in our hearts as we wait patiently for our Lord to make all things new.

Lord Jesus come reign my heart, now and always. Amen

First Reading

Numbers 24:2-7,15-17 ·
The oracles of Balaam

Raising his eyes Balaam saw Israel, encamped by tribes; the spirit of God came on him and he declaimed his poem. He said:

‘The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man with far-seeing eyes, the oracle of one who hears the word of God.
He sees what Shaddai makes him see, receives the divine answer, and his eyes are opened.
How fair are your tents, O Jacob!
How fair your dwellings, Israel!
Like valleys that stretch afar,
like gardens by the banks of a river,
like aloes planted by the Lord,
like cedars beside the waters!
A hero arises from their stock,
he reigns over countless peoples.
His king is greater than Agag,
his majesty is exalted.’

Then Balaam declaimed his poem again. He said:

‘The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man with far-seeing eyes, the oracle of one who hears the word of God, of one who knows the knowledge of the Most High.
He sees what Shaddai makes him see, receives the divine answer, and his eyes are opened.
I see him – but not in the present,
I behold him – but not close at hand:
a star from Jacob takes the leadership,
a sceptre arises from Israel.’

Gospel

Matthew 21:23-27
‘I will not tell you my authority for acting like this’

Jesus had gone into the Temple and was teaching, when the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him and said, ‘What authority have you for acting like this? And who gave you this authority?’ ‘And I’ replied Jesus ‘will ask you a question, only one; if you tell me the answer to it, I will then tell you my authority for acting like this. John’s baptism: where did it come from: heaven or man?’ And they argued it out this way among themselves, ‘If we say from heaven, he will retort, “Then why did you refuse to believe him?”; but if we say from man, we have the people to fear, for they all hold that John was a prophet.’ So their reply to Jesus was, ‘We do not know.’ And he retorted, ‘Nor will I tell you my authority for acting like this.’

Personal Reflection

Posted: December 15, 2019 by CatholicJules in Life's Journeys, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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In last night’s LISS Session which happened to be the very last. Fr spoke on the topic ‘Be my witnesses’ which was a very impactful talk with many takeaways. Three and not in the order it was presented, neither is it verbatim but coupled with my own personal reflection and take are…

We cannot keep coming, coming, coming, coming, for formation talks, retreats, LISS, CER, and so on. We must also GO! Go make disciples of all nations, Go share the love of God, Go glorifying God by our lives. Go share that the kingdom of God is at hand! After all at the end of every mass we are sent but we do not GO! We just keep coming back.

We need to pray for boldness and zeal for God our Father’s house! So that we can stop living on the surface of our safe, comfortable faith lves. We need to grow deeper in our faith, by falling more deeply in love our Lord and saviour, Jesus Christ. Our love for Him must be seen and heard by putting into action the love and conviction in caring for His sheep, all His sheep even those from different folds. We must boldly proclaim Christ had come, Christ had died for our sins, He rose from the dead so that we might have life to the full in Him and that He will come again! We must be seen living in the light of our Lord’s resurrection.

We need to have faith in others, affirm and pray for them. Provide opportunities for them to spread their wings and fly! And if they fall be there to help them up and encourage them to fly again so that they might soar higher then before through the grace of God. I share this from personal experience!

A good and loving Shepherd after Jesus’s heart saw in me what I and no others saw at that time he saw a man of God, a disciple. Just as our Lord did, he beckoned me to come and see. Over the years he encouraged and provided many opportunities for me to learn and grow. Many a time he threw me into the deep end, having faith that if I did not swim, I would somehow float. Never in my wildest dreams did I see myself giving formation talks, sharing and giving testimony before the whole Church. Even being part of a team to form future leaders in our Parish. Truly it has been surreal indeed! And it all started with a spark of hope, trust and faith by our Lord’s shepherd. It enkindled in me a fire to love and serve my Lord and my brethren. The loving shepherd has moved on to shepherd his other flock still I will always remain grateful and thankful to him for leading me into the loving embrace of my Lord Jesus Christ.

Praise and glory be to our Lord Jesus. Amen

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: December 14, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Who will prepare my people for when I come again?

Here I am Lord send me!

Who will point the way to my kingdom through the repentance of sin and conversion of hearts?

Here I am Lord, send me!

Who will comfort, care and love them till I return?

Here I am Lord, send me!

Lord I stand ready to greet You when You come again and to herald Your arrival. Amen

St John of the cross pray for us….

First reading

Ecclesiasticus 48:1-4,9-12
The prophet Elijah will come again

The prophet Elijah arose like a fire, his word flaring like a torch.
It was he who brought famine on the people, and who decimated them in his zeal.
By the word of the Lord, he shut up the heavens, he also, three times, brought down fire.
How glorious you were in your miracles, Elijah!
Has anyone reason to boast as you have?
Taken up in the whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with fiery horses;
designated in the prophecies of doom to allay God’s wrath before the fury breaks, to turn the hearts of fathers towards their children, and to restore the tribes of Jacob,
Happy shall they be who see you, and those who have fallen asleep in love.

Gospel

Matthew 17:10-13
Elijah has come already and they did not recognise him

As they came down from the mountain the disciples put this question to Jesus, ‘Why do the scribes say that Elijah has to come first?’ ‘True;’ he replied ‘Elijah is to come to see that everything is once more as it should be; however, I tell you that Elijah has come already and they did not recognise him but treated him as they pleased; and the Son of Man will suffer similarly at their hands.’ The disciples understood then that he had been speaking of John the Baptist.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: December 13, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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In a blink of an eye we are fast approaching the third Sunday of Advent. It is time to pause and reflect on how well we have been responding to God’s call to deepen our relationship with Him during this season of Advent. Have we been steadfast in our observances? Are we more prayerful? Have we been more charitable with our time? More merciful and forgiving of others? Have we grown in holiness? Have we touched anyone with a simple act of kindness? Have we spoken to anyone of God’s love for us and for them? If we have Not done any of the above then is it not time to reconsider? To turn our hearts to our Lord Jesus Christ so that He transform us from within so as to live in the Holy Spirit in His love.

Sisters and brothers let us look ahead as we live in the light of our Risen Lord. Let the excitement build as we prepare our hearts in anticipation of His second coming, for soon Gaudete Sunday will be upon us and we rejoice a little as One family in Christ our Lord. Amen

First reading

Isaiah 48:17-19 ·
If you had been alert to my commandments, your happiness would have been like a river

Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is good for you, I lead you in the way that you must go.
If only you had been alert to my commandments, your happiness would have been like a river, your integrity like the waves of the sea.
Your children would have been numbered like the sand, your descendants as many as its grains.
Never would your name have been cut off or blotted out before me.

Gospel

Matthew 11:16-19
The Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you

Jesus spoke to the crowds: ‘What description can I find for this generation? It is like children shouting to each other as they sit in the market place:

“We played the pipes for you,
and you wouldn’t dance; we sang dirges,
and you wouldn’t be mourners.”

‘For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He is possessed.” The Son of Man came, eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Yet wisdom has been proved right by her actions.’

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