In many ways, the prophet Jeremiah is a prototype of the person and mission of Jesus Christ. Like Jesus, Jeremiah was divinely designated prophet even before he was born: he confronted the evil and vice of the religious and political leaders of his time, plus his message was rejected and he was persecuted for seeking the right relationship with God. Jeremiah’s travails and Jewish antagonism against the person and mission of Christ reminds us that the quest to be perfect will inevitably lead to conflict with others who are not comfortable with that quest. Thus, every Christian should expect persecution from agents of unrighteousness.

In verse 63 of the sixth chapter of St. John’s Gospel, Jesus told His disciples “the words I have spoken to you are Spirit and Life.” This assertion forms the basis of the response to the Psalm at the Liturgy today and provides the theme that runs across the Readings. This response: “Your words, Lord, are Spirit and Life” strongly suggests the primacy of place the Word of God ought to occupy in the life of every Christian. The Word of God is Spirit and Life because it empowers, animates, influences and radically transforms any person who sincerely immerses themselves in it.

On the very first day of the year, the Church celebrated the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. Apart from reflecting on her virtues, we were encouraged to humbly seek her unfailing maternal intercession for our world and for our individual selves. Two Sundays later, the Gospel presents to us how effective her maternal intercession can be, even when it is unsolicited.

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord effectively brings to a close the liturgical season of Christmas and gives way to the very rich period of “Ordinary Time” within the Liturgical calendar for Christ Himself, His baptism marked the beginning of His public ministry. He would continue from where His precursor was and effect the establishment of the reign of God on earth.

The Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ is the self manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi. The Gospel of Matthew tells us that when Christ was born, wise men from the East, led by a guiding star, decided to journey to Israel bearing gifts for the newborn King. When they arrived at Jerusalem, capital of the southern kingdom, they decided to inquire with Herod, King of Judea, where precisely Christ was expected to be born.

The Gospel of St. Luke presents for our reflection the story of the finding of the child Jesus (at that time, 12-years old) among Jewish teachers in the Temple after missing for three days. We are offered the example of the foster fatherhood of Joseph, the silent protector and responsible provider of the family and faithful husband of Mary. We see the loving, generous and caring motherhood of Mary, the trusting wife of Joseph. The young are in a special way presented with the exemplary obedience of Jesus who returned with His parents to their home in Nazareth where He (although Divine) lived under their human authority.

We have arrived at the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the last Sunday before we celebrate the Solemnity of the Lord’s Nativity. The Church invites us to bring to a climax our spiritual preparation for the celebration of Christmas. What better way is there to prepare than learning from Mary’s example of selflessness and practical charity.

We celebrate this weekend, the third Sunday of Advent, which is designated Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday. The Church invites all her children to rejoice and be glad because our salvation is near. The first and second readings reflect this theme of joy and gladness in anticipatory celebration of Christ’s arrival. In the first reading, the prophet Zephaniah invites Jerusalem and her inhabitants to rejoice because God, the King of Israel, is in her midst to remove judgement against her and instead renew her in His love. St. Paul repeatedly exhorts the Philippians to rejoice and have no anxiety because the Lord is near. We are privileged to be invited to experience today a foretaste of the joy and gladness that Christ brings at Christmas and ultimately at His second coming.

At a time when Israel was in exile and Jerusalem was a desolate wasteland as a consequence of the Babylonian siege and conquest, God sent the Prophet Baruch to prophesy a message of hope to the people of Israel on the brink of national despair. They sadly watched Jerusalem under siege, conquered and destroyed with its inhabitants taken as captives into exile and the remnants left in a city that had lost all its former glory. Baruch spoke words of comfort and hope, as well as a promise of restoration to personified Jerusalem and its inhabitants. The prophet urged Jerusalem to discard her garments of grief, replacing them with the splendor of glory from God, for its exiled children shall return at the Word of the Holy One. They were led away from Jerusalem on foot. God shall return them borne aloft in glory as on royal thrones.

Welcome to the First Sunday of Advent and the beginning of “Year C,” the new Liturgical Year. The season of Advent begins the Liturgical Year and has its origins in the early Church as a short period of intense preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of the Lord, also known as Christmas. Advent slowly came to be structured into four Sundays with proper readings and prayers. It is now a season of devout and joyful expectation as we recall the first humble coming of the Lord at Bethlehem about two millennia ago. We are invited to prepare our spiritual selves in joyful expectation of Christ’s promised second coming in glory at the termination of time. This is well-expressed in the Scripture readings, in the prayers, and in the two parts into which Advent is divided.

The Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe was instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI for the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church as the Church’s response to growing nationalism and secularism that plagued society at that time. In his encyclical, “Quas Primas,” the Vicar of Christ recognized that these related societal ills would breed erroneous practices, inspire despair and cause increased hostility against the Church. The universal Church celebrates this Feast on the last Sunday of each liturgical year to remind the faithful that Christ’s reign is universal and enjoys permanent duration; nations, governments and philosophies however, are ultimately transient.

The calendar year is coming to an end as we are in November, its penultimate month. The current liturgical year is also about to be completed. Next weekend, we shall celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe, the Solemnity that marks the end of a liturgical year giving way to a new one. The readings of today reflect the mood of the liturgical “subseason”, they speak of the anticipated end of time and the judgement of humanity that would follow.

Experience has shown that the most generous people are not usually the wealthiest. King Ahab had married Jezebel, a foreigner who brought with her a foreign god Baal that corrupted Israel with idolatry. In response, Yahweh commissioned the prophet Elijah to predict extreme drought in Israel until God would command rain to fall. Israel was scourged with drought which naturally brought famine, and soon the prophet himself needed nourishment. So God directed him to Zarephath where he met a widow at the city gate. The prophet requested water. As the widow left to fetch this now scarce yet essential commodity, he added that he would appreciate some bread as well. The widow reviewed her already precarious situation: she had only a handful of flour left in her jar and a little oil, she had in fact been collecting sticks for firewood to make the last meal for her and her son, beyond that she saw only death. The prophet encouraged her to make the sacrifice prophesying, “the jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.” She did as Elijah requested, and if we read beyond the text of our first reading, we find she never lacked nourishment until rain finally came.