The readings of today present us with a picture of the temptations of Adam and Eve and the temptations of Jesus. The first reading narrates the fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve and how their fall brought sin and death to the world. St. Paul says in the second reading, sin, death entered into the world through the sin and fall of one man. We need to know what makes sin possible and how to overcome the temptation of falling into sin. Sin consists of a free act by which one cuts herself/himself from God. Adam and Eve were free to make their choices and they did it against the will of God. One of the things that leads us into sin is the choices we make.

Beloved Parishioners,

It has been an amazing experience walking along this faith journey with you these eight months as your pastor. The great spirit I see in you gives me a lot of encouragement and I am so excited to be your pastor and priest.

In the first reading from the book of Sirach, Ben Sirach tells us to choose between life and death. What it means is that it is in the capacity of human beings to choose what they want in life. God does not interfere with our human freedom.

In the ancient period and time of Jesus, salt was of a great value. It serves multiple purposes. It was used to purify things. When things like fruits and vegetables were sensed to be contaminated, salt was used to wash and purify it. The Romans said that salt was the purest of all things because it came from the purest of things, the sun and the sea. It was used for preservatives, thus, to keep meat from decaying salt was used to keep it fresh. However, the greatest and most obvious quality of salt is that salt lends flavor to things. We all know how insipid a food without salt tastes. Thus Jesus, very much aware of the great value of salt in His time, uses it to point to His followers what they are expected to be.

Today’s gospel reading on the beatitudes comes from the Gospel of Matthew 5:1-12. The beatitudes appeared also in the Gospel of Luke 6:20-26. There is a slight difference between Matthew’s account and that of Luke’s. Matthew presents the sermon on the Mountain while in Luke’s it is on the plain. Another thing we may notice is that while Matthew gives us eight (8), Luke gives us four and included woes to match the corresponding beatitudes.

In the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah, says “The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light, upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light is shone”. What this prophecy means is that the light of God will always overcome darkness. No matter how dark it may seem, the light of God will always shine forth.

Isaiah, in the first reading, tells of the servant whom the Lord will show his glory. This servant is destined to raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the survivors of Israel. There is no other person than Jesus who was born for us during Christmas. He is that servant whom John the Baptist points out to us in the Gospel.

Today, being the feast of the Epiphany, we celebrate Jesus the incarnate word being revealed to all the nations of the world. The Church calls it, the feast of appearance or manifestation of the Lord. Epiphany comes from the Greek word and means “Manifestation”.

The first reading of today is a prayer of blessing given to Moses by God as the format of blessing over the people. It is very profound that such prayer comes in as our first reading today as the year begins.

Christmas is one of the most important events in human history as we celebrate the mystery of God coming down to be with us. He took our human nature to be one of us, to liberate us from the of death caused by the disobedience of Adam and Eve. This event happened about 2000 years ago when Jesus was born in Bethlehem and until date the celebration reminds us that Jesus still wants to be born in our lives.

“Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” This statement finds fulfilment in the birth of Jesus whose birth we await this season. One important fact to keep in mind is that this prophecy was made in a period of crisis in the Davidic kingdom, as enemy armies threatened to invade Jerusalem and remove King Ahaz from the throne. Ahaz out of fear of the invading Syrian army wanted to seek help from the Assyrians but the Prophet Isaiah dissuades him from doing so, encouraging him rather to seek divine help and assistance.

Today is the third Sunday of Advent traditionally called Gaudete Sunday, which means Rejoice because the coming of the Lord is very close at hand. That is why the color of the vestment is Rose instead of purple. This theme of rejoice comes out clearly in the first reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah where he says, “the desert and the parched land will exult, the steppe will rejoice and bloom, they will bloom with abundant flowers and rejoice with joyful song”. He goes further to prophecy, “say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not, here is your God, He comes with vindication, with divine recompense He comes to save you”.

Isaiah in the first read speaks of a shoot that shall sprout from the stock of Jesse and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. He goes on to enunciate the various kinds of Spirit that would be bestowed upon this stock of Jesse like, the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel strength, knowledge, and fear of the Lord.