Reflection from Friar Nicholas

  SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY Rev 11:19,12:1-6,10; Ps 45:10-12,16; 1 Cor 15:20-26; Lk 1:39-56 The Appearance of a Great Sign We celebrate the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven today. It is one of the great celebrations of the Church, for we observe it as a day of obligation; we observe it with observances equivalent to those of a Sunday, the day of the Lord. Such a celebration is the greatest honour the Church can accord to a mere mortal. But the importance attached to the celebration centres on the salvation of man, for the great honour accorded to the Blessed Virgin Mary stems from her unique role in human salvation. The unique importance and honour are what the Church learnt from God himself, through the Scripture. According to Scripture, God had us in mind and planned our salvation even before the foundation of the world. The Blessed Virgin Mary and her Son had a prominent and central place in the divine plan of ...

SAINT MAXIMILIAN KOLBE, PRIEST, MARTYR Ezek 16:59-63; Isa 12; Mt 19:3-12 Freedom to Accept or Reject In our Christian vocation, some things are commanded, and others are given as counsel for those who can take on an extra burden for the love of God and their neighbours. Those things that are commanded are given in the Law of Moses and reinforced by the Prophets. About the things that God has commanded us, there is no negotiation, for they come directly from the nature of God. They constitute the foundation for our communion with him. To go against the Commandments of God is to reject the life he invites us to enjoy through the Law and the Prophets. Our Lord and Saviour made it clear that he did not come to abolish or mitigate the demands of the Law and the Prophets, but to reinforce and fulfil them. Obedience to the Law of God forms the structure of divine life in us. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ gives us a spiritual life and structure to live the Commandments with ease. In...

THURSDAY, NINTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY Ezek 12:1-12; Ps 78:56-59,61-62; Mt 18:21-19:1 The Debt of Forgiveness Saint Paul helps us understand that everything we have is a gift from God in 1 Cor 4:7: For every good thing comes from God our Father in heaven, and there is nothing that comes from him that is bad or evil for us. We are certain of this, because God is Good, and only goodness flows from Him to us. Among his gifts to us, pardon or forgiveness of our sins is among the essential gifts, for it is the foundation of our new life in Jesus Christ. Without the forgiveness of our sins, we cannot receive the life of the Son. Furthermore, the forgiveness of our sins, on which our redemption from evil and death was founded, is not a cheap gift; It cost the blood of the Lamb of God, the Son of God, who became man for our salvation. It is with the precious blood of his Son that the Father purchased us back from our captivity to sin, evil, and the devil. As Christians, we are the redeemed...

WEDNESDAY, NINTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY Ezek 9:1-7:10:18-22; Ps 113:1-6; Mt 18:15-20 The Duty of Reconciliation If our growth in spiritual or Christian life is a journey into Jesus Christ, a gradual transformation into him, then the growing transformation also imbues us with the spirit and duty of reconciliation. The main duty of the Son of Man is to reconcile his brothers and sisters to the Father. Our vocation to follow him also involves our participation in the important mission of reconciling others to God. Any advance in spiritual life that is not marked or characterised by increased longing to speak of the goodness of God the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, to others is not a genuine and sincere spiritual growth. The urge or longing to speak of God and bring others to know God arises from the sense of gratitude to God for the forgiveness we have received. A deep sense of gratitude prompts us to praise and consecrate ourselves to God; it also inspires us to readily forgive t...

SAINT CLARE, VIRGIN Ezek 2:8-3:4; Ps 119:14,24,72,103,111,131; Mt 18:12-14 Receiving from God the Father We reflected on the virtue of giving ourselves to the Father without fear or worries as a sign of maturity in Christian faith. The same virtue has its other side, which is receiving all that the Father sends to us daily joyfully. This virtue corresponds to the virtue of giving as the other side of the same coin. We must understand that we are not the first act in this regard when it comes to the exercise of these virtues. We are rather cooperators with God. God acts on us first, thereby enabling us to cooperate with his grace, which he gives us in Jesus Christ. God acts on us, both in prayer and in our meditations on his words, to fill us with his grace, which is his presence in us to accomplish his divine will. Jesus Christ is the source of all the graces we need to accomplish the Father’s will. He also reveals the divine will to us. By his Incarnation, he revealed the Father...

FEAST OF SAINT LAURENCE, DEACON, MARTYR 2 Cor 9:6-10; Ps 112:1-2,5-9; Jo 12:24-26 Giving All to God the Father We understand our Christian life as a journey into the knowledge of Jesus Christ. If the knowledge of Jesus Christ is the knowledge of God the Father, it also follows that our Christian journey is a journey into the knowledge of God as our Father. Every knowledge is transformational, even knowledge of physical or natural things. The more we know about creatures, the better we relate to our environment every day. Our belief in God conditions our life on earth, for God created all things by his word. Our scientific knowledge also enlightens our faith and lends more credence to our faith in Jesus Christ. If scientific knowledge transforms us and makes us more enlightened on our Christian faith, our spiritual experience and knowledge do even more. Spiritual enlightenments from the word of God are like food and drink we take to enhance our spiritual growth and development. Th...