Ross Dizon

Contemplate the Baby Lying in the Manger

Jesus is the Savior, Messiah and Lord.  To know and accept him, we first have to contemplate the baby lying in the manger. One can take it, for sure, that the shepherds cannot bear contemplate the very bright light that shine around them.  For great fear strikes them....

Justify Those Who Are Not Wholly Just

Jesus is “God-with-us.”  This name makes known that the one who alone is holy is with us who are not holy; he wants to justify us. The angel of Joseph’s dream seems to justify Mary, to show her not guilty, to say that she has been true to him.  But there are those who...

Announce the Good News to the Poor

Jesus is God’s Anointed and Sent One to announce the Good News to the poor.  To belong to God and to Jesus is to belong to the poor. John the Baptist seems to go into crisis, and his whole group with him.  For what he hears in prison about Jesus does not sound...

Prepare the Way of the Lord Jesus

Jesus is the King who comes to rule the earth with justice.  We all have to repent and prepare for his coming. To prepare the way of the Lord, this is what all of John the Baptist’s being and doing is about.  To prepare means, first of all, to preach repentance, to...
Abode of Prayer and Hope for All

Abode of Prayer and Hope for All

Jesus makes his abode among us.  He is the house of prayer and hope for all peoples.  And he fulfills God’s promise to David. David plans to build a house that will be the Lord’s abode.  The Lord answers and reminds him of the great things that he has done for him....

Abode of Prayer and Hope for All

Disappointment Due to Our Biases

Jesus is the Christ.  To know him so makes us acknowledge that we are not worthy of him and spares us, too, of all disappointment. Those who come from Jerusalem do not receive John’s baptism; they are there to grill him and judge him.  The priests and the Levites...

Abode of Prayer and Hope for All

Beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ

Jesus is the beginning and the end, and the source and the summit of the Good News.  That is why we point to him by our words and deeds. Mark presents the beginning of the Good News.  But right away he speaks of Isaiah and John.  The last fulfills the prophecy about a...

Abode of Prayer and Hope for All

Watch, Stay Awake, for Jesus Is Coming

Jesus is coming, but we do not know when.  So, we have to watch. It seems odd that we are to look to the end at the beginning of the liturgical year.  For we are urged to watch and wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.  He will come, yes, but we do not know...

Abode of Prayer and Hope for All

Judge the Blessed and the Accursed

Christ the King is not one to judge by the way we look.  And on the last day, his teachings, by words and deeds, will be our judge. The Church has been urging us, for two Sundays now, to watch and be ready for the coming of Jesus in glory.  And today the teaching is...

Abode of Prayer and Hope for All

Ability to Hasten the Coming of the Lord

Jesus shares with us his anointing and mission to bring the Good News to the poor.  He gives tasks to each one according to one’s ability. By the grace of God, we have the ability to believe in Jesus.  But when he comes after a long time, will he find faith on earth?...

Abode of Prayer and Hope for All

Bright and Dull in the Eyes of God

Jesus Christ will come at an hour that we do not expect.  That is why we must be ready and be among the bright, not among the dull. Four Sundays ago, we heard that among God’s guests were bad and good folks.  Today we hear that the bright and the dull make up those...

Abode of Prayer and Hope for All

Happy and Glad Followers of Jesus

Jesus shows us by words and deeds what true happiness is.  That is because he wants us to be happy and glad to the fullest. Jesus proclaims happy the wretched in the eyes of the world.  That is to say, he breaks the mold:  he announces a counterculture; he fosters...

Abode of Prayer and Hope for All

Deeds, Indeed, and Not Just Words

Jesus embodies the truth that good deeds are love and not good words and reasons.  Do we really live up to this truth? We are often encouraged to love God (SV.EN XI:32).  “But let it be with the strength of our arms and the sweat of our brows.”  That is to say, love...

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