On the very first day of the year, the Church celebrated the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. Apart from reflecting on her virtues, we were encouraged to humbly seek her unfailing maternal intercession for our world and for our individual selves. Two Sundays later, the Gospel presents to us how effective her maternal intercession can be, even when it is unsolicited.

How is your New Year going so far? Did you know that this mid-weekend in January is commonly known as “Quitters Weekend? Studies found that today, January 14 and Monday January 17 are considered as Quitters Days. The theory behind this is that most people generally give up their motivation to keep their new year resolutions by the second Friday of January. Research also found that only 10% of people generally keep their new year resolutions to the end. I found this very interesting! Do you think you could be one of the 10% this year? Whether you made your new year resolutions privately or as a family, this weekend is a wake-up call to all of us revisit our new year plans as we move farther on our journey through the year.

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord effectively brings to a close the liturgical season of Christmas and gives way to the very rich period of “Ordinary Time” within the Liturgical calendar for Christ Himself, His baptism marked the beginning of His public ministry. He would continue from where His precursor was and effect the establishment of the reign of God on earth.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a peaceful Christmas and New Year celebration. We have one of the shortest Christmastide this year as the Christmas season ends this weekend with the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. We can now put away all of our Christmas decorations. We will begin the 1st week of Ordinary Time, Year “C” from Monday next week. The Ordinary Time will last from next week until Ash Wednesday on March 2, 2022.

The Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ is the self manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi. The Gospel of Matthew tells us that when Christ was born, wise men from the East, led by a guiding star, decided to journey to Israel bearing gifts for the newborn King. When they arrived at Jerusalem, capital of the southern kingdom, they decided to inquire with Herod, King of Judea, where precisely Christ was expected to be born.