Oct 16, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop, Martyr
Tuesday of week 28 in Ordinary Time
First reading – Philippians 3:17-4:1
“For us, our homeland is in heaven, and from heaven comes the saviour we are waiting for, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will transfigure these wretched bodies of ours into copies of his glorious body”. This is the foundation of life. Our homeland is in heaven, and we wait for Jesus Christ. Whatever we do here, and we have here, we are going to leave what we have. That means it’s temporary. What we have is temporary and we are waiting for Jesus Christ. We await Him because He is going to transform us in the way He resurrected. In His resurrection we are going to be transformed or changed. We become like Him in resurrection. So, Jesus Christ becomes our foundation. Let’s reflect: Is Jesus Christ foundation of my life?
Oct 15, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
Monday of week 28 in Ordinary Time
Saint Hedwig, Religious
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, Virgin
First reading – Romans 1:1-7
“Through him we received grace and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faith to all pagan nations in honour of his name”. This Word of God shows how much our personal relationship with Jesus is important in our life. It’s through Jesus Christ we have received grace. All what we have received is through His grace. And we have received the grace for what? It is for the mission. But also, the mission we received from Him. The mission is to preach the obedience of faith to everyone in honour of His name. The obedience of faith is that obedience which the faith requests. The faith requests the obedience to completely trust in the God who loves you. And this obedience of faith must be preached to each one without distinction. This is challenging because we cannot see everyone in the same way. So, we must start seeing everyone in the same dignity to preach the obedience of faith to everyone in honour of His name. Let’s reflect: Am I able to see everyone with the same dignity to preach the obedience of faith to everyone in honour of the name of Jesus Christ?
Oct 14, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
St Teresa of Ávila (1515 – 1582)
First reading – Isaiah 25:6-10
In the reading of today, we listen to the messianic joy as prophesied by Prophet Isaiah. The joy is expressed in the form of a banquet. The banquet is prepared by the Lord. The Lord prepares the banquet for all peoples. No one is excluded. The Lord prepares the banquet for all everyone. The food is of the finest quality including the wines. But more than the food there is something to be happy about. The Lord removes the sorrows of all peoples and destroy Death for ever. This points to the eternal life. But this messianic joy is something which starts here. How is that joy possible here? The Lord destroyed the Death by giving us the capacity to love. Death is the absence of love. Whenever we can love, there is this messianic joy. When we can love, the mourning veil is removed. When we can love, we can wipe away the tears from the cheeks. When we can love, we can take away the shame. We can love because the Lord has saved us. We can love because Lord is our hope. We can love because Lord is with us. Let’s reflect: Am I trying to give the messianic joy to those around me by loving them?
Oct 13, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
Saturday of week 27 in Ordinary Time
Saint Callistus, Pope, Martyr
Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary
First reading – Joel 4:12-21
The whole message is that when we are with God, we have stability and progress. When we are moving away from God, we lose everything. When we are with God, new possibilities will rise, and the existing possibilities will flourish. “When that day comes, the mountains will run with new wine and the hills flow with milk, and all the riverbeds of Judah will run with water. A fountain will spring from the house of the Lord to water the wadi of Acacias”. This truth is again and again repeated in the words of the prophets. Our closeness to God activates the whole energy of God around us. The more we built our life around the Lord, the more flourishing our life becomes. This is the truth of the presence of God in our life. When we put the Lord as the centre of our life, our life becomes different. “But the Lord will be a shelter for his people, a stronghold for the sons of Israel”. The Lord becomes our shelter all the time and a stronghold against all our enemies. Let’s reflect: Am I organizing my life around the Lord?
Oct 12, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
Friday of week 27 in Ordinary Time
First reading – Joel 1:13-15,2:1-2
The Prophet is proposing a day of repentance. The day to welcome the Lord. The day of purification to receive the Lord well. The most underlining factor in this appeal is that the whole community is called together for repentance. The priests, ministers, elders, and the whole community prepare to receive the Lord. Our preparation to be with the Lord must be together with the whole community. I cannot prepare alone to be close to God. I can prepare with all those around me to the presence of the Lord. We cannot prepare ourselves to receive the Lord, without including others. We must take our community together in our preparation to be close to God. We must take those around us in our being with the Lord. We must walk together toward the Lord. We cannot walk alone to God. Let’s reflect: Am I taking all those around me to the Lord together with me?
