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The Kingdom Among Us: Ready in Suffering, Reconciled in Love In a world that scans the horizon for dramatic signs and distant saviors, Jesus quietly insists that the Kingdom of God is already here—among us and within us—inviting us to interior conversion, costly reconciliation, and readiness for His sudden return. Today we observe the Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr, on Thursday of the Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time. St. Josaphat Kuntsevych (c. 1580–1623), a Basilian monk and Ruthenian Catholic archbishop of Polotsk, gave his life working for the reunion of Eastern and Western Christians under the Union of Brest; he was martyred in Vitebsk while seeking to calm tensions, dying with words of peace and forgiveness. The readings form a coherent call to live the Kingdom now. In the First Reading (Philemon 7–20), the imprisoned Paul, moved by love, appeals to Philemon to receive the runaway slave Onesimus “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brot...

613 Mitzvot - Maimonides List with Biblical Sources Source: Sefer HaMitzvot, 248 Positive, 365 Negative Prepared:  Fr. Jessie Somosierra, San Pablo City 1. To know there is a God - Ex. 20:2 [Positive] 2. Not to entertain thoughts of other gods besides Him - Ex. 20:3 [Negative] 3. To know that He is one - Deut. 6:4 [Positive] 4. To love Him - Deut. 6:5 [Positive] 5. To fear Him - Deut. 10:20 [Positive] 6. To sanctify His Name - Lev. 22:32 [Positive] 7. Not to profane His Name - Lev. 22:32 [Negative] 8. Not to destroy objects associated with His Name - Deut. 12:4 [Negative] 9. To listen to the prophet speaking in His Name - Deut. 18:15 [Positive] 10. Not to test the prophet unduly - Deut. 6:16 [Negative] 11. To emulate His ways - Deut. 28:9 [Positive] 12. To cleave to those who know Him - Deut. 10:20 [Positive] 13. To love other Jews - Lev. 19:18 [Positive] 14. To love converts - Deut. 10:19 [Positive] 15. Not to hate fellow Jews - Lev. 19:17 [Negative] 16. To reprove a wrongdoer...

Tayo po ay hindi lang nasa wedding — nasa Mass tayo. Hindi lang ito kasal, ito ay Misyon. In Filipino weddings, we love the ayos — gown, barong, entourage, drone shot. Pero ang Diyos, ang tinitignan Niya ay hindi yung ayos sa labas, kundi yung ayos sa loob . You chose beautiful readings. Let me give you three words to bring to your marriage — words that will save your marriage when the flowers wilt and the lights are off. From your readings: 1. LOVE IS A DECISION, NOT JUST A FEELING St. Paul says in 1 Cor 13 — Love is patient, kind, not jealous. Note: he does not say love is a kilig . He says love is a character . Today you feel kilig — natural, you're in love. But next year, after bills, puyat sa baby, selos, tampo — kilig will fade. And that is when real love begins. Feeling says: "I love you because you make me happy." Decision says: "I love you even when you don't make me happy — because I made a vow before God." Sa Tagalog, ang pag-ibig hindi lang ...

Lucas 12, 1-7 — First day after the "Woes." Jesus now turns from Pharisees to His disciples. Private coaching after public confrontation. Gospel: Luke 12:1-7 Meanwhile a crowd of many thousands gathered... Jesus began to speak first to His disciples: "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you whispered in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body and after that can do no more. I will show you whom to fear: fear Him who after killing has power to cast into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear Him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, you are of more value than many sparrows." HOMILY: Three Fears, One Freedom Yesterday Jesus said ...