Archdiocesan Shrine and Parish of St. Jude Thaddeus, Naga City | v.4, n.2 | issn 2599-5030 | 13 to 19 January 2019
giya sa prayer meeting
JESUS SETS THE EXAMPLE
T
oday, we celebrate the baptism of Jesus. The purpose of His baptism is different from ours. According to St. Ambrose, His is not a baptism to be cleansed but to cleanse. He cleansed the waters of the Jordan river so that whoever will be baptised in water will be cleansed. The holy water we use for baptism is the same water where Jesus was baptized. It is holy because Jesus made it a cleansing water for us. Christ. Yet we become His children by By assuming the likeness of a sinful adoption. From the Latin ad-optio, it is not flesh, according to St. Chrysostom, Jesus because of our will but because of the will of needed baptism not for His own sake but the Father. We must be grateful for this. for the sake of humanity. Baptism bestows What is in it for us? First, by divine upon us graces that make us strong filiation, we come to share in the same to fight all inclinations to sin. nature of God. Filiation is Without grace, we fall to sin. SUNDAY Again, according to St. REFLECTION nobler and more intimate than creation. God made the dogs Ambrose, knowing that this is and the cats, but He did not adopt them as the only way by which heaven sons and daughters. According to St. Paul, shall be opened to any person, Jesus sets God chose to be human so that we can the example. become divine. Our human dignity resides We all suffer from the consequences of in the fact that all of us can become original sin. Thus, our baptism becomes necessary. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, children of God. Second, now that we have become His squandered the graces that God gave them. children by virtue of baptism, we enjoy the For that, they lost their power to pass on these graces to future generations. Had they right to inherit His heavenly treasures. Whatever He has in heaven, He shares with behaved as good stewards of God’s graces, us. We no longer serve Him as His slaves, but there could have been no need for baptism. we serve Him with love as our loving Father. Yet God’s graces are infinite and With all these graces available for us, inexhaustible. What our first parents lost the challenge now is how we can behave as did not mean loss for all humanity. We can children of God. First, we need to pray. access God’s graces again. When Jesus was Only Jesus can recognize the Father. But baptized, ‘heaven was opened.’ Baptism we can know the Father through our daily reconnects us to God. contemplation with Jesus. Second, after If Jesus was baptized, so must we be knowing the Father, we need to obey Him baptized. Our baptism makes us His by following the beatitudes. God will only brothers and sisters. We become sons and recognize us as His children when we act daughters of God. This is what we call and behave as His children. 4 fr. wilmer divine filiation, from the Latin filius, son. joseph s. tria God has only one begotten Son, Jesus
lukas 2:41-52 Sto. Niño, Taon C
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agpawalat an barubatang si Jesus sa Jerusalem.” Aki pa si Jesus alagad malinaw na saiya an saiyang misyon sa buhay. Dose anyos na sya kaidto, alagad dawa kan mga nakaaging taon, dinara LECTIO na sya kan saiyang DIVINA magurang sa Jerusalem. Dai pa sya obligado kan batas na magpa-Jerusalem huli ta sa edad sanang 13 anyos sinda inoobliga. Alagad, sa pagkakataon na ini, nagkaigwa syang kusog buot na magpawalat na sa Jerusalem tanganing pùnan an saiyang misyon sa kinàban. Kasuarin nagin malinaw an sakong misyon sa buhay?
“Dai nindo aram na kaipuhan yaon ako sa mga bagay kan sakong Ama?” Si Jesus aki kan Ama sa langit. Sinabi ini kan anghel ki Maria. Sinabi man ini kan Ama sa langit kan si Jesus binunyagan. Ngunyan, si Jesus mismo an nagsasabi kaini. An tataramon na ‘kaipuhan’ katakod kan saiyang misyon. Kaya, paulit-ulit na sinasabi ini ni Jesus: ‘kaipuhan kong magbalangibog kan marhay na bareta’; ‘kaipuhan kong magdusa.’ Huli kan sakong misyon, ano an mga ‘kaipuhan’ kong gibuhon?
“Si Jesus nagtalubo sa kadunungan, edad asin grasya sa atubang kan Dyos asin mga tawo.” Nagtalubo si Jesus sa manlainlain na aspeto kan buhay: sa kadunungan, na bako sanang dakul aram kundi may pagkasabot kan kalakawan kan kinàban; sa edad, na bako sana sa lawas kundi sa kabanalan; sa grasya, tanganing mapararom an saiyang relasyon sa Dyos asin sa kapwa-tawo. Arog kaini dapat an pagtalubo kan tawo—may balanse sa gabos na aspeto kan buhay. Arin sa mga aspeto kan buhay an kulang pa sako? 4