“Paging Benny Pratama, please proceed to Gate 5 for your immediate boarding.”

Benny. I miss that name. Benny Caleda used to help our company expand our overseas business years ago. During our business trips, we talked about business, family, life, helping others, marriage, love, faith, diet, exercise, and more. But what impressed me the most was how he showed respect for his contacts who were his previous officemates. He respected them regardless of their status or position in the company. He didn’t require or expect any special treatment from them, whether they reported to him directly or indirectly in their previous workplace. He shared with me how any company he joined achieved sales growth, not because of himself but of the people he worked with. Benny was a great leader who exuded great humility. 

Sadly, he passed away over four years ago. I’m still in touch with the business contacts he referred to me. His mission on earth may be finished, but the goodness he has sown on this earth lives on. 

Alvin Fabella (alvinfabella@yahoo.com)

reflect

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” (Maya Angelou) 

Lord, help me live my life in a way that reflects Your loving kindness.

Saint Ephrem, deacon and Doctor of the Church, pray for us.

First Reading | Genesis 3:9-15, 20 (or Acts 1:12-14)

Sin has entered the world through the disobedience to God's Word. This is symbolized by Adam’s and Eve’s realization of their nakedness. This was not a problem when their original purity in relationship with God and each other was not harmed by sin. Once sin enters the world the consequences for our relationships are drastic. It ruptures our relationships with God, one another, and creation. This is not God's punishment but a natural consequence of sin.

⁹ After Adam had eaten of the tree, the Lord God called to him and asked him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” ¹¹ Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” ¹² The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.” ¹³ The Lord God then asked the woman, “Why did you do such a thing?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.” ¹⁴ Then the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; on your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. ¹⁵ I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.” ²⁰ The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living.  

Responsorial Psalm | Judith 13:18, 19 (or Psalm 87:1-2, 3, 5, 6-7)

R: You are the highest honor of our race.

¹⁸ “Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God, above all the women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, the creator of heaven and earth. (R) ¹⁹ Your deed of hope will never be forgotten by those who tell of the might of God. (R)

Gospel | John 19:25-27 (or John 19:25-34) 

Jesus sees Mary as having a future role as Mother of the Church. May we always see Mary as our Mother and guide to Jesus. She never claims any glory for herself but is content to be a channel of grace for us all to lead and guide us in the ways of her Son, Jesus.

Gospel Acclamation

Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary, deserving of all praise; from you rose the sun of justice, Christ the Lord.

²⁵ Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” ²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

Read the Bible in one year! Read 1 KINGS 15 - 16 today.

From Eva to Ave

The First Reading today tells us how the first woman received her name. She is Eva or Eve, meaning the “mother of all the living.” She was given the name because humanity would start from her, being the wife of Adam, the living man who received the breath of God. The Book of Genesis presents to us how, from this couple, the human race would increase and fill the Earth. As humanity continues to generate from Adam and Eve, the original sin, which started from their disobedience to God, is also transmitted. But God has a better plan. He reversed this unpleasant condition of man by sending His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. With this, Jesus becomes the new Adam, who brings life and not death, blessings and not curse, salvation and not sin.

Calvary is the reverse of Paradise. In the latter, the man and woman stood before the tree in disobedience to God. The serpent representing the devil was on top, showing domination above God’s creation. In Calvary, the new Adam hangs on the wood of the cross, offering Himself as a sign of our redemption. The new Eve stands before the wood of the cross and receives her new mission: to become the mother of her Son’s disciples.

The ave of Mary overturns the curse of Eva. The Blessed Virgin Mary, being the mother of Jesus’ community—the Church—is surrounded by all of Christ’s faithful. She encourages us to go near to Jesus. She intercedes for us. She cares for us. Thus, we are not orphans since we have Mary as our mother. 

Fr. Eugene Fadul

reflection question

Un cristiano senza la Madonna e’ orfano (A Christian without the Madonna is an orphan). – Pope Francis 

Mary, our Mother, thank you for not leaving us orphans. You are always there to hold our hand and bring us to God the Father.

Today, I pray for: ____________________________________