Tag: Sunday Reflection

The liturgy of the first Sunday of Lent leads us to the desert. Immediately after being baptized and receiving the anointing at the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit brings Jesus to the desert to be tempted by Satan. It is worth noting the role of the Holy Spirit, the “True and Original Love,” the inner force that impels Jesus (2 Cor 5:14ff). He enters the desert “full of the Holy Spirit”. The fruit of Love is obedience, and the fruit of obedience is self-transcendence or the gift of self. This reflects the dynamics of the mystery of Love within the Blessed Trinity. We were Created in God’s image and likeness; Jesus was sent to restore our true identity.

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus presents to his disciples three teachings on how to be true evangelizers. This counsel can also be seen as three essential steps in being leaders and educators after the model of the gospel.

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C  (Lk 6:17.20-26) – February 16, 2025 Fr Daniel Antonio de Carvalho Ribeiro, SCJ We can all agree that everyone wants to be happy. However, if we talk to different groups of people from…

Mary and Joseph were faithful Jews who obeyed the Law of Moses. Jewish Law prescribed that two ritual acts needed to take place for a firstborn son. First, the mother of a newborn son was ritually unclean for seven days, and then she was to “spend thirty-three more days in a state of blood purity” (Leviticus 12:2–8). During these forty days she was not to “touch anything sacred nor enter the sanctuary till the days of her purification are fulfilled.” For this reason, today’s feast has at times been called the “Purification of Mary.” Second, the father of the firstborn son was to “redeem” the child by making an offering to the priest of five shekels so that the priest would then present the child to the Lord (see Numbers 18:16). Recall that the firstborn male of all the Egyptians, animals and children, was killed during the tenth plague, but the firstborn males of the Israelites were spared. Thus, this offering made for the firstborn son in the Temple was a way of ritually redeeming him in commemoration of protection during that plague. Since Jesus was presented in the Temple for this redemption, today’s feast is now referred to as the “Presentation in the Temple.”

This prayer of the priest appears before my eyes in a hallucinative glow on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord: “May the mingling of this water and wine bring us to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share our humanity.” The celebrant of the Eucharist utters this prayer under breath while mixing a drop of water into wine in preparation for the offertory. When I said this prayer during my first mass, the baptism scene of Jesus came to my mind without any prior meditation, and it stayed on with me.