Sunday 5 November

Sunday 5 November

Nov 4, 2023 | DAILY BREAD

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time First reading - Malachi 1:14-2:2,8-10 “Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why, then, do we break faith with one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors?” The words of the Prophet Malachi must be awaking in us the sense of being sons and daughters of God and treating each other as sons and daughters of the same God. Whenever we thing of excluding a person, the first thought that should come to our mind is this: This person is also a son or daughter of the same Father. Often we forget that and we make differences and exclude others because of various reasons. Whatever the differences are, he or she is the son or daughter of the same Father. We have no reason to exclude that person for a reason. The main truth remains. We are all sons and daughters of the same Father. We all have the same creator. Whether it’s a thought or it’s an act, against this truth, we must avoid. Let’s reflect: Am I excluding anyone for any reason ignoring the truth that we are all sons and daughters of the same Father?
Saturday 4 November

Saturday 4 November

Nov 4, 2023 | DAILY BREAD

Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop Saturday of week 30 in Ordinary Time First reading - Romans 12:3-13 “Our gifts differ according to the grace given us”. In the reading today St. Paul is giving some very important advises for the life in the Church. One of those is a fundamental teaching about grace and gifts. We have different gifts because of the grace given to us. And the grace is always gratuitous. So all the gifts we have is because of the grace given to us by the Lord out of His love. St. Paul is explaining that these gifts are to be used for the unity between us, “we belong to each other”. We cannot use our gifts forgetting the other. And St. Paul continues, “Love each other as much as brothers should, and have a profound respect for each other”. So, our gifts are loving each other. Again, it is for working for the Lord with untiring effort, it’s for being cheerful. Let’s reflect: Am I using my gifts received from grace for loving the other?
Friday 3 November

Friday 3 November

Nov 2, 2023 | DAILY BREAD

Friday of week 30 in Ordinary Time Saint Martin de Porres, Religious First reading - Romans 9:1-5 “I would willingly be condemned and be cut off from Christ if it could help my brothers of Israel, my own flesh and blood”. St. Paul is ready to do the maximum sacrifice to help his brothers. This is one of the moments which we can understand the principle of incarnation. Creator becoming a creature. Every difficult to understand. Like what St. Paul is saying, he is ready to be cut off from Christ. How can one think about something like that? But out of love for humanity, God became man. The love of God for us is the most important reality on earth. The logic of St. Paul is like this: God out of his love for the humanity decided to become a mortal man giving up His glory. If that is the criteria for love, I also must give up the most glorious thing in my life, my relationship to Christ, to show my love for my brothers. The faith in Jesus Christ is measured by the sacrifice made of love for the other. Let’s reflect: Am I just proud to be Christian or do I want to act like a Christian?
Thursday 2 November

Thursday 2 November

Nov 1, 2023 | DAILY BREAD

All Souls First reading - Wisdom 3:1-9 Today we are praying for all the departed souls. “The souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God, no torment shall ever touch them. In the eyes of the unwise, they did appear to die, their going looked like a disaster, their leaving us, like annihilation; but they are in peace”. The main message of this day is our belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and in Him, the resurrection of all the dead. Because in Jesus Christ, we find our resurrection. This is what the author of the book of Wisdom is speaking. The souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God, no torment shall ever touch them. Those who have no faith, the death looks like they are disappeared into nothing. But in reality, they are in peace. This truth is what we are celebrating. We extend our love to our dead beyond the death with our prayers and the Holy Mass and participate in the redemptive action of the Jesus Christ which is being continued in the Church. Let’s reflect: Do I believe in the capacity of my love to go beyond the reality of death?
Wednesday 1 November

Wednesday 1 November

Oct 31, 2023 | DAILY BREAD

All Saints - Solemnity First reading - Apocalypse 7:2-4,9-14 “After that I saw a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language; they were standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands”. There is place for people from every nation, every race, every tribe, and every language. Today is the feast of All Saints. Saints from every nation, every race, every tribe, and every language. The servants of God who are happy to be in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands. They are the people who have been through the great persecution, and they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb. They had temptations, they had challenges, they had defects, they had weaknesses. But they went through it. They did not give up. They overcame it. Then they washed their robes white again in the blood of Jesus Christ. They submitted themselves to the grace of the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Among them there are people whom we know also. That is joyful. They are standing before the Lord and interceding for us. Let’s reflect: Are we thankful for the multitude of saints interceding for us?