HE?S THE ONE!

?And if so be that he find it: Amen I say to you, he rejoiceth more for that, than the ninety-nine that went not astray.? ? Matthew 18:13

I have always loved the picture of the laughing Christ. He seems so carefree, handsome, human. A friend once told me, ?Imagine if you had Him for your boyfriend.? Since then, I have always considered Jesus as my boyfriend. That?s how personal my relationship with Him is.
      Once I fell in love with someone who was a far cry from the Laughing Christ. I told the Lord, ?Cool off muna tayo.? And like the perfect Boyfriend that He is, He let me be. He allowed me to live my life without taking His eyes off me. And I strayed. I strayed so far that I felt miserable and I called on Him again. And, like a Knight in shining armor, He came to me in my lowest of lows and deepest of despairs. How could I have failed to see that love? How could I have turned my back on my peace? And why did He come back for me even if I had brushed Him off? There were many more He could save yet He also chose me. And though I know that there will be times I would want to go astray, just holding His hand reminds me that I could never, ever find anyone like my Jesus. He?s the One that will lead me to my eternal happiness. Tes L.

REFLECTION:
Christ?s love is the kind that gives life. No matter how often we turn our backs on that love, it envelopes us because even before we were born, it was there for the taking.

?Jesus, I love you. Thank you for finding me and healing the wounds I have inflicted on myself. You are my strength and the source of my joy. I will always love you.?
 

1st READING

Isaiah 40:1-11

The greatest source of hope and consolation for the Jews in exile was the promise of return to the land that God had given their ancestors. There is something about having a place that we can call home that gives us a sense of security and peace. When in exile, there is no such peace and security. It is virtually non-existent! In a sense we are all in exile in our journey of faith here on earth. As Augustine puts it so well, ?Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, Lord.? As we continue our journey towards our heavenly homeland, let us try to avoid getting too attached to the things of this world as they may hinder us in our travel and make it more difficult for us to go home.

1 Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; ndeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins. 3 A voice cries out in the desert: Prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! 4 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. 5 Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all mankind shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken. 6 A voice says, ?Cry out!? I answer, ?What shall I cry out?? ?All mankind is grass, and all their glory like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower wilts, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it. [So then, the people is the grass.] 8 Though the grass withers and the flower wilts, the word of our God stands forever.? 9 Go up onto a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news! Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God! 10 Here comes with power the Lord GOD, who rules by his strong arm; here is his reward with him, his recompense before him. 11 Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.

P S A L M

Psalm 96:1-2, 3, 10, 11-12, 13

R: The Lord our God comes with power.

1 Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all you lands. 2 Sing to the LORD; bless his name; announce his salvation, day after day. (R) 3 Tell his glory among the nations; among all peoples, his wondrous deeds. 10 say among the nations the LORD is king. He has made the world firm, not to be moved; he governs the peoples with equity. (R) 11 Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and what fills it resound; 12 let the plains be joyful and all that is in them! Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice. (R) 13 They shall exult before the LORD, for he comes; for he comes to rule the earth. He shall rule the world with justice and the peoples with his constancy. (R)
  
G O S P E L

Matthew 18:12-14

The sheep who are not lost do not need attention at that moment so the shepherd is happy to leave them and go in search of the stray. When he finds the lost sheep, he rejoices in his find. He is not less joyful towards the other sheep; it is just that he has a particular joy at this time because one who was lost has been returned to the flock. In the same way, the Lord searches for us when we stray from Him through sin. He comes looking for us. Let us pray that we will be willing to return to Him and through Him to the rest of the community of believers. Let us try to care for one another and help each other to avoid becoming lost in the first place.

12 What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? 13 And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. 14 In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.
  
my reflections
think: Let us try to care for one another and help each other to avoid becoming lost in the first place.

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God?s special verse/thought for me today________________

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T O D A Y ? S BLESSING LIST

Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________

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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Colossians 1-4

When the Blessed Mother appeared to St. Juan Diego in the hills of Tepeyac in Guadalupe, Mexico on December 12, 1531, she spoke thus to him:

  ?I am your merciful mother, the mother of all who live united in this  land, and of all mankind, of all those who love me, of those who cry to me,  of those who have confidence in me. Here I will hear their weeping and their  sorrows, and will remedy and alleviate their sufferings, necessities and misfortunes?Do not be troubled or weighed down with grief. Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here who am your mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of  my mantle? In the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need??

  Our Lady of Guadalupe is not only the Mother of Mercy. She is our Merciful Mother. As the readings today, Tuesday in the Second Week of Advent, invite us to return to the mercy of Lord, may the maternal love of Our Lady of Guadalupe convince us even more that the Lord cares for us. He waits for our coming even as we wait for His. As it was the Blessed Mother who brought Jesus to us on the first Christmas day, she is also the same mother who can bring us to Jesus every day.Moreover, any devotion should make the devotee become more and more like the subject of his devotion. Thus, because Our Lady of Guadalupe is our Merciful Mother, our devotion to her must make us even more merciful to one another. Otherwise, ours is not a true devotion.
      We are in the folds of Our Lady of Guadalupe?s mantle. We are ever in the crossing of her arms. There is nothing else we need. In the loving embrace of our Merciful Mother, we shall find the consolation that the prophet Isaiah says and the joy that Matthew describes in the Gospel today. By imitating the same embrace, let us give consolation and joy to others. Fr. Bobby T.

REFLECTION QUESTION:
What does my devotion to Mama Mary make of me?

O Blessed Mother of God, your beautiful image miraculously appeared on the cloak of the humble Indian, Juan Diego, in Guadalupe. Just as you promised him, let nothing discourage us; let nothing depress us; let nothing alter our hearts or our countenances. Let us turn to you, the fountain of our life. Mother of love, of sorrow, and of mercy, pray for us. Amen.

St. Jane Frances de Chantal, religious, pray for us.