St. Expeditus: Patron Saint of Speedy Causes

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St. Expeditus:  Patron Saint of Speedy Causes The venerated image of St. Expeditus in  the Lipa Cathedral In the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Sebastian in Lipa City is a venerated image of a young Roman Centurion saint named Expeditus. Every month of April, a nine day novena in his honor is held in the cathedral that culminates in the celebration of his feast day on the 19th of the month. Who is this saint whose intercession was also invoked in the Oratio Imperata  to avert a catastrophic eruption of Taal Volcano prepared by the Archdiocese of Lipa when the volcano exhibited extra-ordinary activity early  in January, 2020?  St. Expeditus could have found affinity with the Lipenos since the martyr shares a lot of commonality with St. Sebastian, the city’s patron. St. Expeditus, like St. Sebastian was also a young Roman soldier who converted to Christianity and was also martyred as a consequence, during the period of Diocletian persecution.  Hence, a devotion to him has developed amo
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Homilies and Reflections: February 16, 2020. 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A) - English

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February 16, 2020, Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reflection on the Gospel according to St. Matthew 5: 17-37

Our gospel this Sunday challenges us to go beyond ourselves and to do more. "I tell you, if your sense of right and wrong is not keener than that of the lawyers and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven..."  We need to have the proper disposition in approaching and interpreting the law.  In the first place, why were laws made? They were there to guide the Jewish people in the practice of their faith, in how they are supposed to relate with God and neighbor.  Therefore, the laws should be able to facilitate an encounter with God and in encountering God in the laws, the Jews also come to encounter God in their neighbors.  

As what Jesus has spoken - the two most supreme among the laws are two:  To love God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your being and, to love others as you love yourself.  And all observances, interpretations and understanding of the law should lead towards that reality of loving God and neighbor.  

In saying so, Jesus raises the bar for us, which means going out of our comfort zones to go beyond the external and superficial. To search for the underlying spirit of the law than just mere observance.  It also pushes us to re-examine our understanding and living out of the law to see if they conform with the gospel values and what Jesus teaches us to do.  Jesus came to fulfill the law and not to abolishes it.  And the fulfillment of the law is love. 

Furthermore, we are invited to examine the deepest recesses of our hearts; our motives and interests; for it is what is in the heart that really matters, not what is seen by the eyes.

We have to anchor our lives on Jesus through a deepening spirituality and prayer life and guard our hearts against all forms of malice - anger, apathy, prejudice, lust, pride, and selfish interest because observing the law and following God's will and violating the law and disobeying God have the same starting point - our heart.


What is in your heart?

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