Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. In the Gospel (Mt. 2:1315, 1923), St. Joseph is the main protagonist, making the all important decision for the safety and survival of the Holy Family. Joseph listened to God, obeyed God in total trust and humility.

Joseph the head of the Family was a man of prayer He constantly consulted God, listened and quietly carried out God's plan for the Baby Jesus and the Blessed Virgin. Joseph knew the great task that laid ahead of Jesus, his Son. He knew this the moment he accepted to be the foster father of Jesus. He also knew that everything should be executed perfectly or accordingly as planned.

This is the greatness of St. Joseph : His willingness to obey and faithfully carry out God’s plan in the most humble, simple, and loving way. Being at the forefront of God's plan that was unraveling before him, he was able to step back, and both follow and obey His holy Will. St. Joseph walked the talk of the saying; they who say little, are those who love much."

Blessed Christmas to each of you!

We are the shepherds! We have a responsibility.

We are a few days removed from the actual birth of Jesus. The angels have appeared to the outsiders of that time, the shepherds, and have told them about a wondrous birth of an infant and who he was and what he was destined to do. Therefore, they all decide to go see this miracle themselves. They go in haste.

Because of the experience of what they see, they become the first evangelists: "they made known the message that had been told them about this child." That is why I call them the first evangelists.

In Mt. 1:18-24, we hear of the unconditional obedience of two important characters in the Christmas story, the parents of Jesus, Joseph and Mary. The advent of the baby Jesus started from their simple “Yes” to God’s plan, and yes to His divine will for the salvation of humanity.

The Christmas story revealed one important character of God, His faith with His creatures. The divine plan, the coming of the Son, was conditioned by the obedience of Mary and Joseph. This affirmed God’s belief of human goodness, that human beings are His confident partners in the History of Salvation.

The genealogy of Jesus (Mt. 1, 1-17) which revealed the fallen nature of man, Jesus’ ancestry is lined with people who are sinners and saints. But out of this ancestry came the “Savior” of the world. Despite humanity’s fallen state, God had faith in His people, in that something good can come out of seemingly hopeless situation.

3rd Advent: The Coming of Jesus In Mt. 11: 2-11, John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus with this question: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” John the Baptist accepting his fate, was ready to relinquish his mission… to prepare the way of the Lord.

Today is Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of joy and hope. The liturgical color for today is rose and not violent, to signify lightness and brightness.

1. Tell John what you hear and see - Advent is the time for penance, accompanied with rejoicing and hope, for God has fulfilled His promise of the Messiah. Hearing from Jesus' mouth about the fulfillment of the prophesy attached to the Messiah, was the 1st Christmas for the disciples of John.

In the Gospel (Mt. 3:1-12), John the Baptist suggests two things we can live by this Advent Season. The first, Repentance - “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” The second, Good fruit - “Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.” Real conversion starts with true repentance, that is, the change of heart and mind. The fruit of real conversion is faithfulness to God that produces good fruits, and other faithful followers of God.

When one experiences the mercy and love of God, he/she makes a fundamental option to follow God and live a life that honors God. Meaning, living a life worthy of the mercy and love shown by His Son, Jesus Christ. A life of gratitude, reverence to God's holy will, and practicing the faith, values, and virtues of a disciple of Jesus Christ. A man exposed early to street crimes, after a series of bad decisions and actions was convicted and spent years in jail. When finally released, he needed just a humble and contrite heart, a true repentance. In confession, the guy broke down, filled with sorrow and remorse, "Today you will be with me in paradise." Humbly begging forgiveness from the Lord, through his Pastor, assured of God’s unconditional love, he was given the absolution for all his sins, finally he cried with tears of joy. Often, the most beautiful and genuine smiles are those to whom much is forgiven. Now, they love much to compensate for the many years that they have loved less.

"Be Prepared," this is the Boy Scout motto. This first Sunday of Advent, Mt. 24: 37- 44 tells us the two options Jesus says that we can take in life: to live in comfort and sin, or to be prepared and be righteous. In Christian life, complacency can be our biggest weakness, the Gospel tells us, "be prepared," for you do not know on which day your Lord will come.

Today is the First Sunday of Advent. It is the first day of preparation for the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is the acceptable time of salvation, and the time to prepare to welcome the Baby Jesus into our hearts and our lives. It is the time for peace and reconciliation. It is also the time for giving and sharing the greatest gift of God, the Baby Jesus.

Zacchaeus was a Jew, thus also considered the Son of Abraham. But because he was a tax collector collaborating with the Roman Empire, he is considered a traitor and a violator of the covenant. He abused his position, for this he was despised by his people. But Zacchaeus heard about a man named Jesus, who was proclaiming the mercy and love of God. In Jesus, He found a chance to come back to the Lord. When he heard He was coming, he ran ahead to have a glimpse of Jesus. It took a glimpse to discover God’s mercy, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” The conversion of Zacchaeus is a miracle of God’s mercy. God the Father works joyfully to accept the sinner who meets and welcomes Jesus.

Realizing his misdeeds, he resolved to amend and promised restitution for those he cheated. St. Ambrose said, “Evil does not consist of having wealth, but in not putting it to good use; for just as riches are obstacle for rich people, they are also means for virtues for good people.”

“He who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Lk. 18:14)

How does one approach God justified? Jesus tells us that in order to be justified before God, one must approach with humility and mindful of one’s sinfulness. God’s heart is with those who acknowledge their sinfulness and ask for His forgiveness and compassion. That is why, in the parable, between the two, the tax collector went home justified. Spiritual writers say that prayer justifies; “for repentant prayer or supplicant repentance, raising up the soul to God and re-uniting it to His goodness, without doubt obtains pardon in virtue of the Holy Love which gives it this sacred movement.” (St. Francis de Sales, Treatise on the Love of God, 2, 20).

“Pray always without becoming weary.” (Lk. 18:5)

Jesus tells us to pray without ceasing. Praying unceasingly is not a practice in futility but a witness of a trusting and living faith. God is infinitely much better than the wicked judge who succumbed to the persistency of the widow only because he fears being bothered constantly by the widow. God is not bothered by our persistency, because He sees a living faith behind it, faith that believes that God listens to our prayer. “He prays without ceasing he who prays with good works and works with prayerful spirit. Only thus can we pray without ceasing as we have been commanded.” (CCC 2742-2745)

“He fell at Jesus feet and thank Him...” Lk. 17:16

Jesus asked them to show themselves to the priest who will declare them clean, they put their trust in Jesus and were going to see the priest when one of them went back to give thanks to God before going to the priest. Of the ten, only one was truly healed through faith, that is, saved, v. 19 “Your faith has saved you.”

It's actually an invitation to pray and to show gratitude to God: “What better prayer can we think in our mind, or utter with our tongue, or express with our pen than, “Thanks be to God.”? Nothing can be said more briefly than this, or heard more joyfully, or used more faithfully.” (St. Augustine, Epistolae, 41, 1)

“Increase our faith.” (Lk. 17:5)

The disciples asked Jesus to “increase our faith.” Although they have been with Jesus for some time now, they realize still their tendency to doubt, fear, not to forgive, and to sin. How many times have we succumbed to have more faith in our own efforts and resources rather than having FAITH in God. In truth, we are still men and women of little faith. Faith in God involves more than just professing and proclaiming it.

Faith in God involves a conscious and intentional relationship, with something and someone greater than us, who loves us no matter what. Faith, more than creed and beliefs is a personal relationship with God whom we trust.

“'My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime...” (Lk. 16: 25)

The parable disproves two wrong ideas: 1.) That the soul does not exist after death, thus, there is no life after death (no judgement after death), and 2.) The idea that worldly riches are reward to moral goodness, and on the other hand, material poverty in this world is a sign of punishment for our sins. There are many Lazarus in our neighborhood. Vat. II, Gaudium et Spes 27, “The Council lays stress on the respect of the human person: everyone should look at his neighbor (without any exception) as another selfE” God in His goodness has given us many gifts, thus, we have the responsibility to share with our less fortunate neighbors.

“The master commended the dishonest servant for acting prudently.” Lk. 16:8 Jesus knows that the steward acted dishonestly but uses his behavior to teach them that like the steward, they must be astute and clever if they are to proclaim the Kingdom of God. Jesus wants us to be both smart and wise in the pursuit of the Kingdom of God.

If only, we as disciples can be as wise and astute in the affair of the soul, and put the same passion as the shrewd steward, in the proclamation of the kingdom, then we could be a living example of faith. And there will be no obstacle that we can not overcome in the ministry. Indeed, shrewdness can be transformed into wisdom, the Lord praises the steward’s prudence and not his dishonestly. Prudence dictates not only the proper use of the world’s goods, but also in proclamation and the use of the resources of the Kingdom.

In the Gospel, Jesus tells us about the joy and happiness when a lost sheep and coin is found. There is great joy in heaven when somebody who is lost, is found and finds his/her way back home.

Please endure and persevere in looking – The Gospel tells us that a sheep and a coin is found because somebody did not give up. Lesson: keep looking, don’t quit on anything and on anyone. In life, it’s not just about wisdom and hard work, it also requires endurance and perseverance.

Don’t give up also on goodness, you can find it at anytime. Sometimes you can find it in the most unexpected time, place, and people. The Gospel tells us that the Lord does not give up on our goodness, so please don’t give up on our own and on other’s goodness. No one has the monopoly on goodness. Even when it seems uncommon, we must not stop believing in other’s and our own innate goodness.

In Lk. 14, 25-33, the Lord tells us about the importance of detachment in discipleship. “Anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” Are we to attach to God and detach ourselves and the world?

I remember when I left the confines of the seminary formation house and lived for 2 months with a Mangyan (Indigenous Community) family, in the southern mountains of Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. Crossing through rivers and hiking through mountains to reach the mission station, I realized, that my journey begins. The 2 months exposure with my host family was the most real lesson on worldly detachment, and attachment to God. In the far mountains, my only attachment was God, and the great nature He created.