As an orthodontist who deals with growth patterns in adolescents, I try to keep abreast with the latest research to better serve my patients. There is a condition that occurs when the pituitary gland does not produce enough growth hormone. When the growth hormone is deficient, it’s not just height that’s affected but also bone density, muscle mass, and even psychological health. This leads to overall decrease in quality of life. 

We are all called to grow up. To seek God and keep looking for Him. 

At the start of every year, when we take stock of lessons and realizations, it would be good to ask, “How did I grow in 2024? Did I love others more? Did I give more? Was I more patient? Did I sin less? Did I serve more? Is my prayer life richer? Is my relationship with God deeper? Am I kinder, better, or godlier than the me I was twelve months ago?

These differences matter, no matter how small. Look back and see how far you’ve come. Look ahead and find confidence in a God who says no matter how far you still have to go, you will always have Him by your side. Lallaine Gogna (lallygogna@yahoo.com)

reflect

May we desire more and more to grow in the things of God. 

“Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You.” (Padre Pio)

St. Adrian of Canterbury, priest, pray for us.

First Reading | Numbers 21:4-9 (or Philippians 2:6-11)

One needs to experience the phenomenal devotion to the Black Nazarene to believe it. The gathering of about four million men in procession as they bring the image through the streets of Manila and ending at Quiapo Church is awe inspiring. However, let us remember that it is not an image that saves us but Jesus Christ and His love for us, the Father, and His willingness to die for us so that we might live and have eternal life.

⁴ With their patience worn out by the journey, ⁵ the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!” ⁶ In punishment the Lord sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died. ⁷ Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the Lord and you. Pray the Lord to take the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people, ⁸ and the Lord said to Moses, “Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if any who have been bitten look at it, they will live.” ⁹ Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 78:1-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38

R: Do not forget the works of the Lord!

¹ Hearken, my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. ²¹ will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter mysteries from of old. (R) ³⁴ While he slew them they sought him and inquired after God again, ³⁵ remembering that God was their rock and the Most High God, their redeemer. (R) ³⁶ But they flattered him with their mouths and lied to him with their tongues, ³⁷ though their hearts were not steadfast toward him, nor were they faithful to his covenant. (R) ³⁸ But he, being merciful, forgave their sin and destroyed them not; Often he turned back his anger and let none of his wrath be roused. (R)

Gospel John 3:13-17

God always acts in love. Even when He is angry at our sinfulness, He forgives us and grants us the grace to overcome our sin. To measure our growth in holiness, ask yourself: is my response to sins against me one of love toward the one who has hurt me? Let us learn to make this choice to love until it becomes a habit. When the time comes when all we want to do is love people, then we can be certain that we are growing in holiness.

Gospel Acclamation

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your Cross you have redeemed the world.

¹³ Jesus said to Nicodemus: “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

Read the Bible year! Read JOHN 9 - 12 today.

The Myth of Prometheus

Greek mythology narrates the story of Prometheus. He discovered that the gods enjoyed fire in their kingdom. They capriciously withheld it from humans and kept it for their own enjoyment. One day, Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to men. The gods became angry and punished Prometheus for eternity by having a large bird eat up his entrails. This myth continues up to this day in many ways. 

For some people, God is a distant, uninvolved, and disinterested being who created the world and turned His back on it forever. For some, God is a tyrant whose pleasure comes from imposing unreasonable rules on His subjects. When we see Him from the Promethean point of view, God seems to be a tyrant and a rival. And when He is seen as a tyrant and a rival, His commandments appear to be capricious and burdensome.

We are barely a month past Christmas. The glory of Christianity lies precisely on the fact that the unknown God has made Himself known; the unseen God has made Himself visible; the eternal God was born into and became Man.

In Jesus, the Incarnate One, we see a God who lived out His own commandments even before He gave them out. St. Pope John Paul II put it so eloquently—in Jesus, “God introduced man to man Himself.” Jesus, in becoming Man, showed humanity how to live as a man and child of God. And now, on the Feast of Nuestro Padre Señor Nazareno, we see a God who is willing to go into the depths of human suffering, uniting Himself intimately in the human condition and culminating in His sacrifice on the cross.

Yes, God is not our rival but our companion. We can trust Him. His commandment is not a fence that constricts our freedom. It is a guardrail that assures our flourishing. Fr. Joel Jason

reflection question

God’s commandments become burdensome only when there is a desire in our hearts to break them and see Him as a rival. Have you appreciated the Christmas mystery of God becoming one with us? 

The law of the Lord is perfect; it revives the soul. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _____________________________________