The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord Luke, 3:15-16.21-22

We celebrate the birth of Christ on Christmas Day.  The birth of Christ was then announced to the world on the Feast of the Apparitions of the Lord, when the Wise Men came to worship the infant Jesus and offered Him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to symbolize Jesus' identity.

 The mystery of the Incarnation at Christmas reaches its climax with the Baptism of the Lord.  And with the Baptism of the Lord, the mystery of salvation moves from the Incarnation to the Mission.

 Christ came into the world to save us.  At His Baptism, Christ was revealed to the world as the Beloved Son of the Father.  By this, we are also reminded of our own baptism, that we too, in Christ are lovers of the Father.

 Love is the soul of the mission.  Without love there is no meaning or purpose and direction in life.  Without love there can be no mission.  Jesus came to save us by showing God's love for us.  Through baptism, we are united with Christ in His mission.  May we also be able to show God's love to others.

The origin of pride and envy is like the chicken and egg question.

 We are not sure which came first but what we do know is that one leads to the other and we are plagued by these two great sins, and not only us but also the disciples of Jesus.  They envy each other and bicker about who comes first.

 But John did not feel threatened or envious of Jesus.  John made it clear that his own mission was meaningless unless it had a divine purpose.  He said that he was not He, not the Messiah that was awaited.  John confessed that he was only a forerunner, a forerunner, a herald. 

 John was blunt, he knew and realized his true relationship with Jesus.  John liked that, accepted his assignment with pleasure and humbly said, I am not the Messiah but I was sent to go before Him.  It has to get bigger but I have to get smaller.

 

 John reminds us to know Jesus.  He is our Lord and Savior.  Jesus must become increasingly important in our lives.  He must be Lord of our lives.  We have to get smaller.  We must give Jesus all the glory.  Like John we must know our place in relationship with God.  We must bear witness as John did and draw people's attention to Jesus, not to ourselves.

 John reminds us that the mission on our shoulders is to make Christ known and loved, not ourselves.

I want you to be clean Luke, 5:12-16

 life is our health.  So people say health is wealth but wealth cannot buy health.  If the purpose of our life is to accumulate wealth at the expense of health then the time has come for us to use that wealth to restore our health.

 In the Bible, leprosy is seen as a chronic, contagious disease.  Progressively and slowly the sufferer will die of the disease and also die of isolation.  The leper who approached Jesus because he was desperate and shouted, "Sir, if you want, you can cleanse me.  Jesus is his last hope.

 I want you to be clean.  Jesus' answer was astonishing and the leper immediately left the sufferer.

 With great compassion and love, Jesus came into the world to offer His healing touch.  Jesus will change us from unclean to clean (clean), from sick to healthy again, from death to life, from the darkness of sin into a shining presence of God.  Jesus came to heal us.  The blood that poured out of His side has the power to heal us if we cry out like this leper.

 We need not suffer from the wounds of hatred, anger and jealousy in life.  We will be healed of such contagious sins as envy and slander.  Fear and guilt need not control us.  Jesus forgave us, offering peace and new life in Himself.

 By putting on the garments of righteousness, we too can walk in the light of Christ.  This is a true message of hope for all of us whom Jesus chose as His disciples.

Loving Allah and Others Luke, 4:14-22a

 every day because we long for spiritual staple food.  We come to Mass to hear the Word of God and receive it in Holy Communion.  We too experience the power to live in faith and find peace from this noisy and noisy world.

 Mass is a celebration of love.  God's love for us, we respond with love and live that love life.  If we diligently come to attend Mass every day, then we will love more and grow in love for God and others.  But if not, we need serious reflection on our spiritual life.

 Have I grown to be more loving and forgiving, patient and kind, true to truth and persistent in faith and hope?

 As the apostle John said, I love God but hate his brother, he is a liar because he who does not love his brother whom he sees cannot possibly love God whom he does not see.

 Let us pray that in attending each Mass we are filled with God's love and by His Spirit we are able to proclaim His love in our daily lives.

Gereja merayakan Pesta Keluarga Kudus Nazaret : Yesus – Maria - Yosef.

Kekudusan keluarga Nasaret ini bukan karena keluarga ini bebas dari segala kesulitan hidup. Juga bukan karena keluarga ini selalu mulus dalam hidupnya. Namun kekudusannya terletak dalam cara mereka menghadapi beragam kesulitan dan cobaan. Tetap sabar dan setia menghayati tugas dan panggilannya.

Peristiwa tertinggalnya Yesus di Yerusalem menyisakan cerita indah akan ketaatan dan kesetiaan Maria. Ketika dalam perjalanan pulang  Maria tidak melihat Yesus bersamanya, ia dan Yusuf kembali ke Yerusalem mencari-Nya. 

Setelah tiga hari mereka menemukan Yesus sedang bersoal jawab dengan tua-tua agama di Bait Suci. Terjadilah dialog ibu dan anak yang berujung pada kata-kata Yesus yang menusuk hati, “Mengapa kamu mencari Aku? Tidakkah kamu tahu, bahwa Aku harus berada di dalam rumah Bapa-Ku?”

 

Bunda Maria dan St. Yosep tidak memahami kata-kata Yesus, tapi mereka membiarkanNya memberikan penjelasan mengapa semua itu terjadi. Mereka memberi peluang untuk terjadi dialog yang memungkinkan kedua belah pihak bisa saling mengerti.

Disinilah letak keteladanan Maria yang dengan bijak membawa setiap peristiwa hidup ke dalam permenungan diri. Maria dengan segala ketaatan dan kebijaksanaanya “menyimpan” perkara itu dalam  hatinya,  merenungkan dan membatinkannya. Inilah sikap bijak seorang Maria. Inilah letak kekudusan keluarga Nazaret, tetap setia walau beragam tantangan menerpa. 

Pada perayaan Keluarga Kudus ini, saatnya kita mengarahkan hati kepada keluarga masing-masing. Pastinya ada suka-duka namun  harus diakui ada sederet berkat dan  karunia yang diterima. 

Hal yang terpenting bahwa kita harus berkaca dan belajar dari keluarga kudus yang  tidak cepat putus asa apalagi menyerah terhadap segala macam tantangan dan kesulitan.  

Kekudusan keluarga Nazareth ditentukan oleh ketaatan dan kesetiaan mereka dalam menghayati panggilan dan perutusannya menjadi orang tua Yesus. 

Semoga semangat yang sama selalu tumbuh dalam keluarga kita, tak boleh putus asa apalagi menyerah jika  bersanding dengan ragam masalah. Yang dibutuhkan adalah keteguhan dan kesetiaan hati untuk memegang janji, setia hingga pada akhirnya. 

Sesama saudaraku yang terkasih, memaknai Pesta Keluarga Kudus ini marilah kita memperhatikan dan merenungkan nasehat Bapa Suci Paus Fransiskus berikut ini:

Tidak ada keluarga yang sempurna. Kita tidak punya orang tua yang sempurna, Kita tidak menikah dengan orang yang sempurna, Kita juga tidak memilik anak yang sempurna, Diri kita sendiri pun tidak sempurna,

TETAPI.

Pengampunan membawa sukacita, sedangkan kesedihan membuat hati terluka.Dan pengampunan membawa penyembuhan, sedangkan rasa sakit menyebabkan penyakit yang mematikan.

Marilah kita mengembangkan semangat saling mengasihi dan mengampuni secara tulus di dalam keluarga kita. Niscaya berkah-Nya selalu beserta kita. 

"YEARS HAVE PASSED, CROSS TO TODAY, ENTERS THE NEW YEAR!"

Welcome  To 2022.

The purpose of the new year is not that we should have a new year.  It is that we must have a new soul life.  Life is not about finding yourself.  Life is shaping how to build our relationship with God.  Our current circumstances do not determine where we can go;  they just determine where we start.  As long as I'm still breathing, in my eyes, I'm just getting started.  Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.

 An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year roll in.  A pessimist stays awake to make sure the old year passes.  You can't go back and make a new beginning, but you can start with Christ now and make a brand new ending.

 The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written.  The book is called Opportunity, we can help write that story by setting goals, on those blank pages.  We'll write it down ourselves.  and the first chapter is New Year's Day.

 Cheers to the new year and another opportunity for you to do it right, fight your evil, make peace with God.  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  Acknowledge Him in all you do, and He will straighten your paths.  Welcome to 2022 - Happy New Year!

Feast of the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary And Joseph. Luke, 2:41-52

Holy Family Feast of Jesus

Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family, Jesus our Lord with the Blessed Mother Mary and His father Saint Joseph.  This celebration reminds us of the special relationship that our Savior had with those closest to Him in His life on earth, namely the mother who gave birth to Him and the father who cared for Him as his own Son.

 The first thing we have to understand is that Almighty and Infinite God actually does not need a family because He existed before all ages and times, was not created and has always existed, not bound by natural laws and regulations.  Having a family is part of the laws of nature and has a parent-child relationship, every family consists of a mother-father nucleus and has children as a result of a blessed union.

 But God made Himself part of the Law given to us, was born into a human family, a family consisting of Mary and Joseph, made Himself an integral part of the loving family structure.  He who is God, the Son of God not only symbolically became Man but took Himself fully human nature and was thus conceived and born in the flesh from His mother's womb.

 From the Holy Family, we see how God made Himself small and insignificant, needing love and affection as a Baby.  He is the King of kings and Lord of the entire universe, yet He chose to be a small and weak Baby in a manger, needing the protection and love of His mother and father.  So He took all of human nature, our own nature to show us how we should be.

 He was raised with great affection from His parents, He listened and obeyed them.  Through His parents He learned much about life skills and wisdom.  Therefore, His humanity grew like we all have and He became an example for us. The perfect Man, the New Adam through His obedience and love for the Father became the source of our salvation.

 In relation to the members of the Holy Family, Mary shows us the role of a loving mother, full of love, care and compassion, who of her own flesh and blood stayed in her womb for nine months.  Mary is devoted to her Son, caring from birth, throughout life and even to the very last moments before the death of her Son on the cross.

 Mary shows her love as a mother very generously to everyone especially her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  As a mother, she stands beside her Son, caring for Him with love and also loving her husband Yusuf.  The same love Mary shows to all of us and by virtue we become brothers and sisters in Christ when He entrusted His mother to His disciples and vice versa at His crucifixion.

 Through this action, Mary for the Apostles became a motherly figure, our mother and a loving woman who always cares for the welfare of her children.  With that Mary is recognized for her role as Mother of the Church and how she has also appeared many times throughout history, in Guadalupe, in Lourdes, at Fatima and elsewhere with a message and intending to call us, her children through Christ, to repentance of sin.  -sin and return to the grace of God.

 Nor should we forget the important role that Saint Joseph played in the Holy Family.  As a father figure to Jesus, he took and made his legitimate son.  Joseph took care of Jesus and Mary, as indicated by his important presence when census time came, he and Mary had to travel all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem in Judea.

 Mary could not have traveled alone because of that Joseph played a role in protecting and caring for the needs of Mary and the baby in her womb throughout the long and arduous journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.  Even when they got to Bethlehem, their problems were not over because all the inns were full, Joseph must have been going through a very difficult time and was trying to secure a place for his wife to give birth, because the time for his wife to give birth was near.

 His strong decision and commitment to God made Joseph known as the Protector of the Church, as the one who stood beside the Church and protected it just as he watched over and protected the Holy Family, Jesus and Mary during times of hardship and persecution, especially when they had to flee.  to Egypt to escape from the hands of King Herod who wanted to kill the Baby Jesus.

 We see a great love present in the Holy Family because every member of the Holy Family really has that love in them for one another.  This is the pure, selfless love and commitment that Jesus had for His mother and His father, Mary's love for her Son and for her husband and Joseph's protection and affection for Jesus and Mary.

 It is important for us to take the Holy Family as an example and inspiration.  Each of us is a child, son, daughter and can also be a father or mother, or even a grandfather, grandmother, or grandson to our family members.  When we neglect love and love one another in the family, that's when problems arise in our family.

 Remember, the devil knows this very well and he will intensify his efforts to try to destroy the structure and foundation of our family.  We must realize that the Christian family is a very important basic unit of faith and an important part of the Church.  Every Christian family is a small part of the great Church and through a loving functioning Church, faith is well nourished among us and we become God's faithful people.

 That is why the devil is busy working hard to undermine the institution of the family and its marriage by taking advantage of many temptations, pressuring us to yield to the temptations of worldly pleasures, fornication, adultery and unfaithfulness in the family.  The devil tempts us to be disobedient, disloyal and creates problems in the family which can eventually lead to the breakdown of family integrity and structure.  The family is so vulnerable, the devil and his army will continue to attack.

 We should appreciate what we have in the family and reflect on our actions and deeds as family members, either as fathers or as mothers and as children.  Have we made our family like the Holy Family?  If we haven't already, maybe this is why there are so many problems in our families.

 Let's imitate the Holy Family in our families and put God at the center of family life by spending time together in prayer, if possible every day.  Families who pray and work together, God is in their midst and is the anchor of the family.  That's where true love blooms in the family.  When true, selfless and unconditional love of family members develops, this world feels beautiful not the selfishness that is often found in our world today.

 We pray that Christian families remain strong and faithful in the midst of challenges and difficulties.  May we continue to imitate the Holy Family and imitate the great love that is present in the Holy Family.