5th Sunday in the Ordinary Time: Salt and Light

02-02-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Bing Colasito

Mt 5:13-16

Coming from the Season of Christmas, we celebrated the coming of the glorious LIGHT in the world of darkness, Jesus CHRIST. Jesus came to enlighten us, enliven us with His Spirit, to lead us by His light to the fullness of life in the Father.

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4th Sunday in Ordinary Time: The Beatitudes

01-29-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Bing Colasito

Mt 5:12a

In the days of the prophet Zephaniah around 700 BC, the Lord promised to take care of the “remnants of Israel,” the humble and the lowly who seek refuge in Him. It’s not surprising that Matthew premises the Beatitudes with this opening: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven because this theme is deeply rooted in the Scriptures. God has repeatedly shown special favor to the anawim - the poor, the lowly, and the humble, the little ones. The preferential option for the poor is how the contemporary landscape calls this service.

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3rd Sunday in the Ordinary Time: Light Out of Darkness

01-22-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Bing Colasito

The reading from Isaiah is paired with the Gospel because Matthew sees the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled in Jesus’ revelation of Himself in the region of Galilee. During this time, the kingdom of Israel was divided into two (2), Northern Israel and Southern Judah. Both, unfortunately, were in a state of decadence and destruction. So, when the Assyrians, the dominant empire of the time, expanded to their southern borders, they invaded the northern tribes of Israel, the land of Zebulun and Naphtali was the first to be destroyed; and experienced darkness. These two tribes of Galilee were once - allotted to the two Sons of Jacob and part of the twelve tribes of Israel.

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Jesus the Lamb of God

01-15-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Bing Colasito

John the Evangelist uses the theme of the Lamb of God in his Gospel and the book of Revelation. - Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away our sins. - The symbolism of the LAMB as an innocent sacrifice originated in the Old Testament. In the Temple liturgy, the priest sacrifices an innocent lamb as a holocaust or burnt offering. The burnt lamb offering stresses the victim character of the offering - innocent, harmless, and endearing sacrifice to depict the Savior, the Lamb of God. The prophets use these unique characteristics of the lamb to refer to the Messiah, the Christ.

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Set Our Eyes on the Lord

01-08-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Bing Colasito

Mt 2:1-12

The Feast of the Nativity of our Lord re-enforces the truth of His real identity; that He is the true God and true man, the incarnate Son of God. The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. He is the light of the world, who gives light to all nations. His light invites us into the radiance of the saving promise of God. The Second Vatican Council calls this radiance: Lumen Gentium, Jesus Christ as the “Light of All Nation.”

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Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God

01-01-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Bing Colasito

Happy New Year! Jesus. Like all other years, this year I offer to You, Jesus – at all times and all people, everything belongs to you, Lord. You are the Alpha and the Omega who defies chronology. You are the beginning and the end - YOU are, period! Yesterday, today, and forever. Let us face the New Year 2023 with confidence and trust in God and with a firm resolve to listen more about what God wants and expects of us. In the midst of all the noise and haste, let us take time to listen and be obedient to His Divine Will and Plan.

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