January 31, 2016
4th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C)

“The Manifestation of Divine Love”

HAPPY 5th YEAR ANNIVERSARY. PARANG KAILAN LANG... 5 YEARS NA PALA ANG BLOG KONG ITO... SANA'Y MAIPAGPATULOY KO PA ITO HANGGA'T KAYA KO..... :)

The book that I'm talking about last last week is now available in gumroad.com. I posted a link also in the side bar of this blog.

Entrance:
1.     Diha sa Halaran, swak sa Psalm “Dayga ang Ginoo”
2.     Daygon ta ang Ginoo, swak pa rin sa Psalm “Dagyga ang Ginoo”
3.     Awit ng Pasasalamat (Hontiveros)
4.     Pag-aalaala (Francisco) Prioritize Stanza 2.
5.     All I ask of you (Norbet)
6.     Blest be the Lord (Schutte)

First Reading                  Jer 1:4-5, 17-19
The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.

But do you gird your loins;
stand up and tell them
all that I command you.
Be not crushed on their account,
as though I would leave you crushed before them;
for it is I this day
who have made you a fortified city,
a pillar of iron, a wall of brass,
against the whole land:
against Judah’s kings and princes,
against its priests and people.
They will fight against you but not prevail over you,
for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.

Responsorial Psalm             Ps 71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15-17
R. (cf. 15ab) I will sing of your salvation.
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, and deliver me;
incline your ear to me, and save me.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
For you are my hope, O Lord;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
R. I will sing of your salvation.

Second Reading                1 Cor 12:31—13:13 Or 13:4-13
Brothers and sisters:
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
But I shall show you a still more excellent way.

If I speak in human and angelic tongues,
but do not have love,
I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy,
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;
if I have all faith so as to move mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own,
and if I hand my body over so that I may boast,
but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;
then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.

or

Brothers and sisters:
Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
it is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;
then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.

Gospel                         Lk 4:21-30
Jesus began speaking in the synagogue, saying:
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”
He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,
‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say,
‘Do here in your native place
the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”
And he said, “Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you,
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.

Homily/Reflection of the Readings (February 3, 2013)
Welcome my brothers and sisters in Christ to today's celebration of the Holy Mass in remembrance of the infinite goodness and love of the Lord Jesus who has revealed the Heavenly Father to us. Today, progressing through the early development of the Liturgical Calendar, we are celebrating the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. At this stage, our hearts are progressively opening to the manifestation of Divine Love.

During today's First Reading, in the dialogue between Yahweh and the prophet Jeremiah, we heard a perfect example of Divine Love. Some of the Words that the Heavenly Father spoke are very touching. Yahweh said, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you"

In His infinite knowledge, the Almighty Lord God knew Jeremiah before He formed him in the womb of his mother. There is no doubt that before each and everyone of us were formed in the womb of our mothers, the Lord God also knew us.

Then, the Lord God said, "Before you were born, I consecrated you." When studying the biblical history of the term to consecrate something or someone, we learn that it means to set it aside for a Divine service. Consequently, we can conclude that Yahweh had set Jeremiah aside for His prophetic mission to the nations.

While we are not all called to be prophets, by the grace of God, through our Baptism, we also have been set aside for a Divine service. Our Divine calling, as revealed to us through Jesus Christ, is to adore the Lord God, to obey His commandments, to share the good news in all four corners of the world, to serve one another and to shine in love towards others for the glory of God.

When the Lord God told Jeremiah "gird up your loins," He was emphasizing the necessity to be prompt to accomplish the order [1 Kings 18:46] of being a prophet to the nations. To gird up your loins means to be in an immediate state of preparation. [Job 38:3, 40:7]

In the same way, in our calling to serve the Lord Jesus, we must always be in a state of preparation. We must always be prompt to accomplish what God has commanded us to do through Jesus Christ. As Jesus said, "Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour." [Mt. 25:13] No one knows which will come first, if the Lord Jesus will return in His glory with His angels at the end of time or if we will be called to appear before the Lord God at the end of this earthly life.

The Apostle Peter said, "Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you." [1 Pet. 5:6-10]

During today's Second Reading, St. Paul was addressing the Corinthians. Based on the content of the First Letter to the Corinthians, it is believed that the faithful were debating as to which gift of God was the greatest. Was it speaking in tongues? Was it the gift of prophecy? Was it understanding the mysteries of God? Or was it faith? In answer to those questions, St. Paul stated that the best gift of God is the gift of love.

The type of love that St. Paul was speaking about is called "agape" in Greek. This is the kind of love that flows to us from God through Jesus Christ. It is creative and unmotivated. It seeks nothing. It is not attracted by goodness because God loves us as sinners in Jesus. As such, we must open ourselves to the Divine love of God to allow it to be active in us. Then and only then will our love towards others always be pure and unmotivated. 

One of the reasons that love is so important is because it is eternal. It will always be with us. The love that we show towards God and our brothers and sisters in Christ, it will be with us for eternity. The manner in which we love one another today in this world, in Heaven, we will be required to continue to manifest this love.

While all the gifts of the Holy Spirit will come to an end, love will not. While our limited knowledge and understanding of things will come to an end, love will persist forever. Why will love persist forever? It is because "God is love." [1 Jn. 4:8] It is because "Love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God." [1 Jn. 4:7] "All who obey His Commandments abide in Him, and He abides in them. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit that He has given us." [1 Jn. 3:24]

Some of you may have realized that some versions of the Holy Scripture uses the word "love" while other versions use the word "charity." The word "charity" echoes active love. No Christian actions can be performed without active love. If you are kind to someone, it is because you love the person in Christ. If you are feeding the hungry or clothing the sick, such charitable acts are acts of love. Love is perfected by our charitable acts towards others. What we do to others, we do to Christ.

During today's Gospel Reading, thinking spiritually, we were able to perceive how God manifested His Divine love in a very personal way. Through the incarnation in Jesus Christ, God came to dwell among us. What great love God has for us, that He set aside His divinity, took human form upon Himself, and dwelled in our midst so we may come to know Him as He truly is, holy, perfect, eternal, merciful, forgiving, etc... There are no other like Him.

When God came down from Heaven to dwell upon us, not all accepted the manifestation of His Divine love. As the prophets of the Old Testament were rejected in their hometown, the Lord Jesus also found rejection among His own. In the eyes of the people of His hometown, He did not meet their standards. Because they knew Him since His childhood, He was nothing special to them. How judgmental and blind the human nature can be at times.

In our daily Christian lives, we must always be aware of our thoughts, our words and our actions. Do we misjudge and condemn others as the villagers judged and condemned Jesus? Do we discriminate against others because of their colour, their race, their nationality, their education, their gender, their age or the way they dress? None of these judgments perceive the soul of others, all souls being equal in the eyes of God.

To manifest Divine love towards others, we must be prepared to make ourselves little so others may be raised. We must be prepared to serve so others may be served. We must be prepared to take the back seat so others may have the front seat. We must be prepared to honour others as we would like to be honoured. We must die in Christ so Christ may shine in others. That is what Divine love is all about.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, this week, let us take time to assess our personal status in the world. Are we gladly serving versus demanding service? Are we humble versus being proud? Are we giving love versus always expecting to receive it? Are we at the giving end of charity versus taking advantage of receiving it? These are holy reflections. May our hearts feed upon them so we may always glorify the Lord God in all things.

Offertory:
1.     O Dios Dawata (Koro Viannista)
2.     Diyutay lang Kini
3.     Ang Tanging Alay Ko
4.     Narito Ako (San Andres) Prioritize Stanza 2.
5.     Narito Ako, Panginoon (Que)
6.     Prayer for Generosity (Arboleda) 
7.     To Be Your Bread (Haas)

Communion:
1.     Ang Kinabuhing Mahinungdanon
2.     Ang Tawo niining Kalibutan
3.     Kini maong Akong Lawas
4.     Awit ng Paghilom (Aquino) 
5.     Kaibigan
6.     Halina, Lumapit sa Akin (Isidro, Que) Best choice.
7.     Hesus ng Aking Buhay (Aquino)
8.     Huwag Kang Mangamba (Pagsanghan, Francisco)
9.     Huwag Limutin (Aquino)
10.   H’wag Mangamba (Francisco)
11.   Far Greater Love (Go, Francisco)
12.   God of Silence (Francisco)
13.   Here I Am, Lord (Schutte)


Recessional:
1.     Ang Atong Tulubagon
2.     Kinsa?
3.     Ang Tawag
4.     Magpasalamat sa Kanya (Ramirez)
5.     O Bayan ng Dios (Aquino)
6.     My Heart’s Thanksgiving (Aquino)

Enjoy and have a nice weekend everyone J