Dec 10, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
Monday of the 2nd week of Advent
Saint Damasus I, Pope
First reading – Isaiah 35:1-10
“Let the wilderness and the dry-lands exult, let the wasteland rejoice and bloom, let it bring forth flowers like the jonquil, let it rejoice and sing for joy”. Everything changes with the presence of God. The presence of God brings grace and redemption. We are redeemed and the grace of God will work inside our hearts. Our weary hands will be strengthened. Our trembling knees will become steady. Our fears will be gone. The blind will eye, the deaf will hear and the lame will leap like a deer. The tongues of the dumb will sing for joy. There will be water gushing in the desert and streams in the wasteland. All these transformations happen because of the Lord. Let’s reflect: Am I part of the transformation which the Lord brought into this world?
Dec 9, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
2nd Sunday of Advent
First reading – Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11
In this Sunday of Advent, we listen to the words of Prophet Isaiah which help us to prepare ourselves to receive the Lord. The first message is that our sins are atoned. Our sins are atoned by the Lord. He comes to redeem us. Then the second message is how to prepare the coming of the Lord to atone our sins. It is by filling the valleys of the lack of self-respect with self-respect, by changing every cliff of pride into plain of humility and by making straight our ways of life with honest. And the third message is what to do when the Lord is at hand. Then we have to go joyfully to the mountain to proclaim the presence of Lord in our midst. Let’s reflect: Do I recognize what the Lord did to me and to prepare for His coming?
Dec 8, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
Saturday of the 1st week of Advent
Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin
First reading – Isaiah 30:19-21,23-26
In this reading we can see how much the presence of the Lord in our midst will change our lives. When the Lord is present in our midst, the Word of God say, there will not be any more weeping. He will be our guide. When we don’t know where to turn, either to left or right, what decisions to make, where to go, our ears will hear these words behind us, “This is the way, follow it”. So, we will have no more doubts and fears when we recognize the presence of the Lord in our life. Then the Lord assists us in what we do. We sow the seeds, but the Lord brings the rain for the seeds. Moreover, He makes on every lofty mountain, on every hill, streams, and watercourses for us. Even more, the Lord dresses our wounds and heals the bruises. He does not look for the cause of our wounds, but He dresses the wounds. In other words, the presence of the Lord in our midst becomes a helping hand in everything we do. Let’s reflect: Do I recognize the helping hand of the Lord in my life?
Dec 8, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
First reading – Genesis 3:9-15,20
“I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring”. The first sin brought the enmity between each other. But this hatred is removed by the plan of salvation where the Blessed Virgin Mary replaced the first woman. The first woman listened to the word of the serpent. The Virgin Mary listened to the Word of God and accepted it fully. The first woman felt naked but the Virgin Mary is full of grace. The first woman hid from the voice of God, but the Virgin Mary welcomed the Word of God. The first woman became the reason for hatred and punishment, but Mother Mary became the instrument of reconciliation and salvation. God prepared the first woman but she did not cooperate with the grace. God prepared Mother Mary with the Immaculate Conception and she cooperated fully to that Grace. Let’s reflect: Do I ask the intercession of Mother Mary so that I may cooperate fully to the graces I receive?
Dec 7, 2023 | DAILY BREAD
Saint Ambrose, Bishop, Doctor
Thursday of the 1st week of Advent
First reading – Ephesians 3:8-12
“…this special grace, not only of proclaiming to the pagans the infinite treasure of Christ but also of explaining how the mystery is to be dispensed.” The revelation is through the proclamation of the infinite treasure of Christ and the dispensation of this infinite treasure is through the Church. The comprehensive God’s wisdom according to the plan from all eternity decided that the Church becomes the instrument of distribution of the graces in Christ Jesus our Lord. That is why in the Church we can approach God in complete confidence through our faith in Jesus Christ. This plan of God, His incarnation through which the infinite treasure of Christ is revealed and the dispensation of these riches through the Church become the point of confidence in God through faith in Jesus. Let’s reflect: How much faith I have in approaching God in complete confidence?
