New Year - the Feast of Mary the Mother of God

Short Reflection for the Solemnity of Mary – the Mother of God (A)

Readings: Numbers 6: 22-27; Galatians 4: 4-7; Luke 2: 16-21

Selected Text: All who heard these about the child were amazed by what had been told by the shepherds  “Mary kept all these things in her heart”. (Luke 2: 17- 18)

Meditation: We, too, have become witnesses of the mysteries of the birth of our Lord.  The Word made Flesh through the Virgin Mary. She is, truly the Mother of god! The gospel passage invites us to be like Mary, our mother, to treasure all what we have heard and seen in our hearts thereby become faithful doers of the Word. Cf. www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD

1st step: Write the text or Dhikr (the Arabic word for REMEMBRANCE) in your heart.

2nd step: Let the text remain always in on your lips and mind - RECITING the text silently as often as possible...

3rd step:  Be attentive to the disclosure of the meaning/s of the text in your life.

Christmas Day

Short Reflection for the Feast of the Lord’s Nativity (Dawn Mass)

Readings: Isaiah 62: 11-12; Titus: 4-7; Luke 2: 15-20

Selected Passage:  “ Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us . So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph and the infant lying in the manger”. (Luke 2: 16-17)

Meditation:  The manifestation of God made man was in a powerless and poor infant lying in a manger. This simple and poor mark of the Lord’s nativity is akin to the powerless sign of the cross in Cavalry.  These two signs – the infant lying in a manger (Nativity) and the crucified Jesus (the Lord’s laying down his life as a ransom for our sin) - are both the signs of God’s love and solidarity with our humanity.

Let us then go to Bethlehem and behold the face of God in an infant lying in a manger!

A BLESSED CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL!

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD

1st step: Write the text or Dhikr (the Arabic word for REMEMBRANCE) in your heart.

2nd step: Let the text remain always in on your lips and mind - RECITING the text silently as often as possible...

3rd step:  Be attentive to the disclosure of the meaning/s of the text in your life.

4th Sunday of Advent (A)

Short Reflection for the 4^th Sunday of Advent (A)

Readings: Isaiah 7: 10-14; Romans 1: 1-7; Matthew 1: 18-24

Selected Passage: “The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.  She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins’."  (Matthew 1: 20-21)

Meditation:  In facing life’s challenges, we are, often, afraid.  The message to us is similar to Joseph: ‘DO NOT BE AFRAID’. Trust in God! Christmas is a celebration of God dwelling in us and in the world through Mary, our mother! www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD

1st step: Write the text or Dhikr (the Arabic word for REMEMBRANCE) in your heart.

2nd step: Let the text remain always in on your lips and mind - RECITING the text silently as often as possible...

3rd step:  Be attentive to the disclosure of the meaning/s of the text in your life.

3rd Sunday of Advent (A)

Short Reflection for the 3^rd Sunday of Advent (A)

Readings: Isaiah 35: 1-6a, 10; James 5: 7-10; Matthew 11: 2-11

Selected Text: 4 Jesus said to them in reply, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 * the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. 6 And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me." (Matthew 11: 4-6)

Meditation: We need new eye sight to heed the signs that point to the presence of the reign of God in our midst – “the blind regain their sight; the lame walk; lepers are cleansed; the deaf hear; the dead are raised; and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” These are the signs that God’s saving work is underway, in the here and now. And through our good works, especially our concrete sharing of our time, talents and treasure with those in need make the reign of God present in our midst. Cf. www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD

1st step: Write the text or Dhikr (the Arabic word for REMEMBRANCE) in your heart.

2nd step: Let the text remain always in on your lips and mind - RECITING the text silently as often as possible...

3rd step:  Be attentive to the disclosure of the meaning/s of the text in your life.