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.

Living Together as Friends...

A New Way of Living Together...

“It is my ardent hope that Muslim and Christian religious leaders and teachers will present our two great religious communities as COMMUNITIES IN RESPECTFUL DIALOGUE, NEVER MORE AS COMMUNITIES IN CONFLICT”.

It is crucial for the young to be taught the ways of respect and understanding, so that they will not be led to misuse religion itself to promote or justify hatred and violence. Violence destroys the image of the Creator in his creatures, and should never be considered as the fruit of religious conviction.”

“We urgently need a new way of presenting our two religions NOT IN OPPOSITION, as it happened too often in the past, BUT IN PARTNERSHIP FOR THE GOOD OF THE HUMAN FAMILY.”

(John Paul II the Great Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, 6 May 2001)

LET US NOT USE THE NAME OF GOD TO KILL, MURDER AND DESROY! AND we SAY "NO" TO ALL FORMS OF VIOLENT RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM!

Jun Mercado, OMI

#Badaliyya-Philippines

December 12, 2019

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Advent: Gestating Hope into Reality

ADVENT: GESTATING HOPE INTO REALITY

What is that promise? God has promised that history (our private histories, our communal history, and cosmic history) will one day come together in an ecstatic oneness, a heaven, a paradise, a community of life around Christ and in God within which there will be no tears and no death. This will not be a community of life focused on “food and drink” but one that takes it very breath from love, justice, peace, friendship, affection, and shared delight in a common spirit, the Holy Spirit.

And what power will bring this about? The power that God showed in the resurrection of Jesus, the power to bring a dead body back to life, to redeem what’s been lost, to write straight with crooked lines, and to bring people together, despite and beyond hatred, sin, selfishness, mistakes, tragedy, resistance, and death.

To live in hope is to live in the face of that promise, that power and in that light, to fundamentally shape both our memories and our future. As regards memory, to hope is to look back on our lives and see no need to count the losses, underline the hurts, play the victim, or stew in bitterness because all our wounds and losses can be redeemed as part of a greater promise. The same holds true for our future. All our plans and schemes must reflect the wider plan of God and we should be prepared to live in great patience as we wait for the finished symphony.

Jesus’ mother Mary is the pre-eminent figure of this. She shows us hope: Not only did she believe the promise, she became pregnant with it, gestated it, gave it her own flesh, went through the pains of childbirth to give it reality, and then nursed a fragile new life into a powerful adulthood that saved the world. In that, she needs imitation, not admiration.

Advent is the season for us to imitate Mary’s hope by, like her, gestating faith, God’s promise, into real flesh.

To read more click here or copy this address into your browser http://ronrolheiser.com/advent-gestating-hope-into-reality/#.Xd1GV5NKjs0

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2nd Sunday of Advent (A)

Short Reflection for the 2^nd Sunday of Advent (A)

Readings: Isaiah 11: 1-10; Romans 15: 4-9; Matthew 3: 1-12

Selected Passage: “In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea (and) saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" (Matthew 3: 1-2)

Meditation:  The reign of God is at hand. It finds home only in a repentant heart.  Change our old ways and bad habits!  Repentance is turning away from doing bad and begin doing good for others.  Advent is the season to come back to our senses and remember to go back home to the Father’s house.

After receiving the Baptism of Repentance, we make visible our commitment to new life by doing good for others, especially to people in needs. This way, we shall, truly, welcome the Lord as he comes into our lives.  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.