Gospel Reflection

December 03, 2011

Saturday

St. Francis Xavier, Priest (Memorial)

Anticipated Sunday Mass (Second Sunday of Advent)

by Rev. Fr. Stephen Mifsud (MSSP – Quezon City)

MSSP House / Mass for the poor

First Reading:               Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11

Psalm:                         Psalm 85:9-14

Second Reading:           2 Peter 3:8-14

Gospel:                        Mark 1:1-8

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way; 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight -- " 4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair, and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit the Seraphic Order (M

HOMILY

Story In1980 a disabled man with cerebral palsy was talking to a group of professional footballers.

What could this man tell these footballers? He told them.

“You may kick the best shot, earn thousands of Pesos a year, but when the day comes that they close the lid on that box, you won’t be any different than I am.  That’s one time when we’ll be the same.  I don’t need what you have in life, but one thing’s for sure: you need what I have, and that’s Jesus Christ”

“What I need is Christ” 

Death has no age.  The important thing in life is whether I arrive at Jesus or not.  The question is how can I arrive at Jesus?

Today in the Gospel we have John Baptist who tells us how. Shows us the door to arrive at Jesus.  John said : “Prepare a way for the Lord”

Advent is time to prepare for Christ, so he can come to me.   Imagine the president wants to come here to give us 10 thousand pesos each but the road up there is a mountain of basura which prevents him from coming in.  What do you do?  Remove the basura.

That’s why John the baptist said today“Lower mountains” ibig sabihin remove the obstacles so that Jesus may come in your life. 

            what are my mountains? My obstacles?

My laziness... “I am tired to pray... next time na lang”

 my pride... “I don’t need God in my life!” I can do it myself

 shyness... what do my friends say if I go to church or I pray?

Selfishness...  I want everything for myself and do not share with others my things, my thoughts and my time.

John Baptist said also “straighten the paths” ibig sabihin, straight your attitudes

            Do I show honesty in my actions? Do I live right?

So let us ask God to help us clear those things in our life which makes us far from him.  Let us make at least the decision to start clearing the way.  Let us make way to Jesus to come near us... not to give us money but to give us the peace in our heart, to give us the hope that we need to continue our struggles in life, to give us the faith in Him that one day we will be enjoying the beauty and the riches of heaven.

Gospel Reflection

November 05, 2011
Saturday

Commemoration of All Deceased of the Seraphic Order (Memorial)

Anticipated Sunday Mass

by Rev. Fr. Stephen Mifsud (MSSP – Quezon City)

MSSP House / Mass for the poor

First Reading:               Wisdom 6:12-16

Psalm:                         Psalm 63:2-8

Second Reading:          1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 or 4:13-14

Gospel:                        Matthew 25:1-13

1 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, `Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' 7 Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, `Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' 9 But the wise replied, `Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.' 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, `Lord, lord, open to us.' 12 But he replied, `Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.' 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

HOMILY

Be Prepared.

What do you think happens if a fat priest like me goes to play basketball with the Atineo Eagles?   Fail!!

Why? Not because I am fat  but because I am not prepared!!  If in the last day before the match, I tell someone of the players, “pls give me some of your talent or energy!! Will he give me?  No!  he cannot.

This is what Jesus is teaching us today in the Parable.  We know that one day we have to die and hopefully we will be prepared to enter the kingdom of heaven.  The fact is that we do not know the day

We cannot say , I will do what I like now and leave it till later in life to repent and embrace the Gospel!  We have to be prepared, there is no age frame of death eg. Over 50 you will die.  All of us know someone who died in the “early years”   I am saying this not to make you afraid but to prepare well.  If you know the questions of the exam before the exam and prepare well, will you be afraid to go to that exam?  No.

Jesus compares the preparation with oil... need to have extra oil.  What is the oil?

It refers to inner qualities like honesty, fairness, integrity, charity.

We cannot borrow another person’s quality and preparation.   I cannot borrow the goodness of another.  I have to prepare for myself.

We must work up our way – I cannot say my parents are holy so I have a complementary ticket to heaven.

We have to give an account of how we lived

Be prepared 

When do you start preparing for Christmas? The day before?  No... many weeks b4.  Can u prepare wedding feast the day before? No... many months before!  Before Christmas we are going to do a party for you... what happens if we do not prepare... you will not eat, you will not have gift... is preparation important?  YES!!

If we prepare so many things for a celebration, how much have we to prepare for eternal life?

Let us make the best use of the time we have been given.  Let us learn how to live as God wants us through the reading of the Bible, let us live and love like Jesus, by praying, helping others, not harming others but forgiving them, bringing peace and joy.

Story:– to a group of young people who were playing football one asked: What would you do if I told you knew you are going to die in 2 hours. I’d go to the chapel, find a priest and confess, I go to pray. I’d run home and tell my sister I’m sorry, I go and visit my parents. Dominic Savio replied: I’d finish our soccer game.”

What would you do if you knew that in two hours you are going to die?

Are you prepared?