THE Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) on its 41st Anniversary last November 13 presented “Serviam,” a special citation to the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) Central Province for various accomplishments in the field of print media, radio, and TV.
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“7 LAST WORDS 2019” – a Good Friday presentation and entry of the SVD Mission Communications Foundation, yours truly as executive producer, won the “Best TV Special” prestigious CMMA Award.
CONGRATULATIONS!
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SUNDAY REFLECTION: End of the World
There was a young lady-lector at Mass who was reading the Scriptures for the first time before a large congregation in church. Visibly nervous, she blurted out as she concluded: “This…this is the end of the world” (She meant Word). And the congregation chorused: “Thanks be to God”!
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We have reached the end of the Church calendar. As we do so, we reflect on the end of the world.
Not a few have been asking me, “Father, is the world about to end?” “And why should the end be near?” I replied. “Because the Bible says, ‘There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, plagues from place to place.’ Aren’t these happening now in our country and in the world?”
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During Christ’s time, people were gravely perturbed and asked the same question. But Christ tells us not to be frightened “for this is something that must happen but the end is not so soon” (cf. Lk 21, 9).
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Similarly, a number of the early Christians were keenly anxious about the end of the world and Christ’s second coming, so they concluded that it was useless to work. That’s why St. Paul reprimanded them, saying: “Anyone who does not work should not eat” (2 Thes 3, 10).
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St. Paul is saying that until Jesus does come to perfect the world, we must not sit around in idleness.
Moreover, let us not waste precious time speculating when the world will end. Jesus douses cold water on all predictions of the end, saying, “As for that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mk 13,32).
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What matters is NOW. The questions we should ask ourselves are: Are we holding on to our faith or living as a Christian should? Are we faithful in our vocation as parents, religious men or women, as honest workers and professionals?
Instead of doing evil, oppressing people, stealing, killing, unjustly treating them, wallowing in worldly comfort, are we rather doing good works to improve their indigent condition?
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SOW GOOD DEEDS. If you read carefully the parable of the LAST JUDGMENT, you will notice that God’s reckoning will not depend on our intelligence, our good looks, our fame or fortune nor even our kilometric prayers. Of course, all of these are important but they are only insofar as they serve the needs of people, especially the less fortunate (Read Mt. 25, 31-46).
Let’s sow more good deeds then. What we sow now, we will reap later.
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Finally, although the gospel message this Sunday sounds terrifying with its apocalyptic images, it ends with a note of hope. “Your patient endurance will save you your lives,” the Lord assures us.
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THE LIGHTER SIDE. Once an overzealous preacher was out in the street, hollering: “Katapusan na, katapusan na!” (Now is the end!). Whereupon, a guy approached him, saying, “Reverend, hindi pa katapusan…Aquinse pa lang ngayon!” (Reverend, it’s not yet the end. It’s only the 15th of the month).
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There are five stages of life: as kids, “Kindergarten”; in youth, “Meteor Garden”; in middle age, “Beer Garden”; in death, “Memorial Garden”; life after death, “Eternal Garden”!
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FAMILY TV MASS – aired on 5PLUS Channel 59 at 6-7 a.m. every Sunday and at U-Tube on “The Filipino Catholic” at 8am; also on international GMA Pinoy TV. Sponsor: CENTRO ESCOLAR (CEU), Makati Campus. Priest presider: Fr. Sherwin Tristan Aromin, SVD.
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The FAMILY that prays together stays together.
