MARK
January 24, 2021
Jan 25 Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul Acts 22:3-16 Mark 16:15-18 A. Text/Context • Who is this Paul? Why did he persecute the Christians? • Prior to the conversion of Paul his name was Saul and he is a lawyer by profession, very intelligent and very brilliant; an expert of the Jewish law known as the Torah • So he doesn’t believe in the teachings of Jesus because he finds the teachings of Jesus questionable • And so he is not only a non-believer, he is also a persecutor to all those who believe in Jesus • So […]
January 23, 2021
3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Jonah 3:1-5 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 Mark 1:14-20 A. Text/Context • We have just heard from the gospel of Mark that Jesus has already began his ministry • During this period of time John the Baptist was already in prison waiting for his death • As John is about to finish and fulfill his ministry of preparing the people for the Messiah, Jesus started to emerge in the picture • When John the Baptist has made an exit Jesus came into the scene to begin his entrance into his ministry of salvation and so there is […]
January 16, 2021
Feast of the Sto. Niño Isaiah 9:1-6 Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18 Mark 10:13-16 A. Text/Context • Where did the devotion to the Sto. Niño all begin? • When I made a little research on the history of the devotion of the Sto. Niño a few years before what I found out is that there is a Franciscan religious behind • It was during the period in the 15th century that a small image of the Santo Niño was carved out from the wood of an olive tree taken from Jerusalem • And from there, it was brought to Rome by a […]
January 9, 2021
Baptism of Our Lord Isaiah 55:1-11 1 John 5:1-9 Mark 1:7-11 A. Text/Context • The question is why in the world that Jesus who has not committed any sin at all has to be baptized by John the Baptist? • In the gospel that we heard JB is proclaiming to the people: One mightier than I is coming after me • I am not worthy to stoop and loosen his sandals • John is aware that Jesus is the Messiah that they are all waiting for • With those words of JB, definitely, there is no need for Jesus to […]
December 5, 2020
2nd Sunday of Advent Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11 2 Peter 3:8-14 Mark 1:1-8 A. Text and Context • The gospel today speaks of a fulfillment of a prophecy by the prophet Isaiah saying “Prepare the way of the Lord make straight his paths” • John seems to suddenly just appear in the scene from out of nowhere and wearing some kind of a weird clothing made out of the hair of a camel even eating locusts and honey for food. So we need to go back a little of his background why is this so • In the religion of the […]
November 28, 2020
A. Text/Context In order to understand the celebration of the Advent season we need to present a little background of the meaning of Advent Advent – Latin word adventus meaning arrival or coming And the advent season is divided into 2: the 1st part of advent is from today the 1st Sunday of Advent until December 16 It is the celebration of the waiting for the arrival of the 2nd coming of our Lord The prophet Isaiah in the 1st reading prays in ardent supplication to “return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage” We wait […]
August 27, 2020
August 29 – Beheading of John the Baptist
Jeremiah 1:17-19
Mark 6:17-29