January 1, 2022 Homily

The Octave Day of Christmas, Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God

Saturday, January 1, 2022

Readings: Click here to read full text
    Reading I: Nm 6:22-27
    Responsorial Psalm: Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
    Reading II: Gal 4:4-7
    Gospel: Lk 2:16-21

Becoming Agents and Proclaimers of the Good News of Salvation

Like the shepherds in our Gospel, we too can become agents and proclaimers of the good news of salvation if we ponder like Mary.

Before Christmas, our Advent Liturgy prepared us for the coming of the Christ, the birth of the Savior. During this Christmas season, our liturgy prepares and empowers us to be agents and proclaimers of this good news.

These shepherds proclaimed to Mary and Joseph what they heard from the angel regarding the child. They made known what they had found, as the angel told them. The Gospel tells us, "All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds." These shepherds had leveled up. They became agents and proclaimers of the good news.

Today, we are celebrating the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, to remind us of the fullness of the humanity and divinity of Jesus and of the extraordinary role of Mary in the plan of salvation. Rightfully, the Church, since the early 3rd century, venerated Mary as theotokos, meaning God-Bearer in Greek. This celebration invites us to reflect on the graciousness of God toward Mary and how she responded to such divine grace. In our Gospel, Mary, having heard what the shepherd said about Jesus, her Son, "kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart." All her life, she kept and treasured, reflected and prayed upon in her heart everything about her Son, Jesus, who was her life.

It is this attribute of Mary that we need to emulate. If we ponder and pray as Mary did, then, we too will be able to see and experience how gracious God is to us. This empowers us to become agents and proclaimers of the good news of salvation.

In this new year, I enjoin you to ponder upon God’s graciousness despite the darkness wrought by the pandemic and the typhoon Odette.  Let us also ponder for the coming 2022 national elections and not easily follow what others and the candidates are doing and saying. Let us be like Mary, the theotokos. Let us be "God-bearers" this year and onwards, especially in the coming elections.

Like the shepherds in our Gospel, we too can become agents and proclaimers of the good news of salvation if we ponder like Mary.

Fr. Joel R. Lasutaz, SSS

Image credit: pixabay.com

December 31 Homily

The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas

Friday, December 31, 2021

Readings: Click here to read full text.
    Reading I: 1 Jn 2:18-21
    Responsorial Psalm: Ps 96:1-2, 11-12, 13
    Gospel: Jn 1:1-18

Stay Connected with the Source 

As Christians, though we share in the mission of Christ, our mission resembles that of John the Baptist. As John is not the light, we too are not the light. As the Gospel relates, the Word is the light, and John was sent to testify to the light that shines in the darkness. Yet, we can only testify to the light if we are connected to the source, the Holy Eucharist.

Look at our Christmas trees and other decorations. They come to life when its lights are switched on. And they can only be switched on if they are connected to the source of electricity. If they are not or are busted, they won’t emit light. 

Connection to the source is therefore necessary if we are to radiate, reflect, and testify to the light. This source, the Word, is now made accessible and available to us. "And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us," Jesus Christ our Lord, who said of Himself, "I am Bread of Life" (John 6:35), "the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world" (v51). We believe that the Word, that created and gave life to the world, the True Light, is the Holy Eucharist. Our Source, then, is the Holy Eucharist. If we are always connected to the Holy Eucharist, then we can testify to the light.  If we are not, if we are disconnected from this only source, we are like bulbs that never radiate light.

Fr. Joel R. Lasutaz, SSS

Image credit: pixabay.com 

December 28 Homily

Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs

December 28, 2021

Readings: (CLick here to read full text)

    Reading I: 1 Jn 1:5—2:2
    Responsorial Psalm: 124:2-3, 4-5, 7cd-8

    Gospel: Mt 2:13-18

Right after Christmas, we celebrate the feasts of St. Stephen, St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, and now the Feast of the Holy Innocents. This tells us that whether in life and in death, Jesus is the reason. He is the reason of the death of Stephen, the first Christian martyr who washed his robe in the blood of the Lamb. He is the reason of the deaths of many innocent children in Jerusalem, whom Herod massacred for fear of the birth of the Messiah, the King of the Universe. He is the reason of the life and death of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist.

The Holy Innocents were considered the first martyrs of the Church. Herod, intending to kill the newborn King, Jesus Christ, who was a threat to his throne, massacred boys in Jerusalem two years old and under. They were not killed for Jesus, but rather they were killed instead of Jesus. They died so that Jesus might live. Thus, we can consider them as other Christs. In secular terms, we call them heroes, but in faith, we call them martyrs, though they did not know who Jesus was. Even in their innocence, they gave up their lives so that Jesus could complete His mission.

Now let us ask ourselves, is Jesus truly the reason of my life and my death? Am I ready to give up my life so that Jesus's mission may be fulfilled?

Fr. Joel Lasutaz, SSS

Image credit: catholicsun.org