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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Reflections: May 12, 2016. Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter

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May 12, 2016. Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Reflection on the Holy Gospel according to John 17: 20-26 

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:
“I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you,
but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them and I in them.” 

Reflection (Sem. Eldrick S. Pena) 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus prayed “that we may all be one.” 

One of the greatest and concrete signs of unity among Christians is seen in the celebration of the liturgy, most specifically the Holy Eucharist. Every time a Mass is celebrated, the whole people of God celebrate with one another, the same feast, the same mystery and the same Christ. It is saddening to hear that there exists some disunity in certain circles in the Church and in the parishes in particular. 

In our personal life, we also become one with Jesus through our prayer which gives us an opportunity to be in intimacy with the Lord. Through constant prayer, we become attuned to the Lord’s voice that we recognize Him speaking in the daily events of our life. And from this internal movement of God’s grace, we then try to draw out that inspiration radiating it outwards through good relationships of love with those who are around us. That sense of oneness with Christ creates a communion of individuals under His mystical body. 

The one Jesus that we receive every Eucharist is the same Jesus that binds us into unity with Him and in communion with other Christians; a bond founded on the love of Christ and our response to that love that we first received. In our various circles of relationships, it is good to ask ourselves, have we become agents of unity or division? What are our divisive attitudes that we have to be conscious of and eventually let go? These are just some points of reflection that we may use in order to assess our role in the relationships that we have. Amen.

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