Neli ML

  First Sunday after Christmas 2024 John 1:1-18 Rev. Neli Miranda   On this First Sunday After Christmas, the Gospel passage does not depict a traditional Christmas scene of baby Jesus lying in a manger with his parents. Instead, John the evangelist offers a profound statement which captures the essence of Christmas: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth ” (John 1:14). Christmas is rightly called the Feast of the Incarnation as it reveals to us how God incarnates among us, taking on a human form through Jesus. Using first-century language that may seem complex to us twenty-first-century Christians, John tells us about Jesus, the Word of God: “In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God" (1 : 1).   In referring to Jesus, John continues proclaiming him as the light that comes to illuminate...

  Fourth Sunday of Advent 2024 Luke 1:39-55     Rev. Neli Miranda   The Good news of the Fourth Sunday of Advent come to us from a humble home in Judea, Elizabeth & Zechariah’s home. Here, perhaps at the entrance of the house or within the inviting warmth of the kitchen two pregnant women, Mary and Elizabeth talk about “women things”, about life, about God among them. They are not in a public space, nor in the temple or the synagogue; they are in an intimate, domestic sphere, that space where God’s visitation continually occurs. Mary and Elizabeth are faithful believers who have awaited God’s manifestation to the people. Now, both have been graced with the visit of Life and God is coming to the people through their very wombs. Elizabeth is about six months pregnant with John the Baptist, and Mary has recently received the annunciation that she bears a son, the Son of God. The womb, traditionally considered only a reproductive organ, is now a sacred spac...

  Third Sunday of Advent 2024 Zephaniah 3:14-20 , Isaiah 12:2-6, Philippians 4:4-7 , Luke 3:7-18 Rev. Neli Miranda   Rejoice in the Lord. Gaudete in Domino! Today, we celebrate the third Sunday of Advent known as “Gaudete Sunday” or the Sunday of Joy. Gaudete , derived from the Latin word for “rejoice,” appropriately names this Sunday, where the readings resonate with the joy of God’s visitation. “Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!” proclaims the prophet Zephaniah, heralding God’s visitation (3:14). A century before, the prophet Isaiah had proclaimed the glorious presence of God among the people of Israel, “Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy, for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel” (12:6). These passages invite us to look back to the past and encounter the joy and hope of those who experienced the divine presence. They also invite us to remember the glor...

  Second Sunday of Advent Luke 3:1-6 Rev. Neli Miranda   Prepare the way of the Lord…! In the 6 th century BC, the prophet Isaiah announced liberation to the captive people of Judah who lived exiled in Babylon without hope. He announced their forthcoming liberation and proclaimed, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”   In 538 B.C., with great joy, the Jews initiated their return to the land of Judah, bringing gifts and offerings, including the original temple vessels that had been looted by Nebuchadnezzar. In the 1st century BC, John the Baptist embodied the spirit of Isaiah's prophetic voice crying out in the wilderness, bringing hope to his people who were oppressed under the rule of human kingdoms. Luke meticulously delineates these dominions in a hierarchical structure: Tiberius, the Roman Emperor; Pilate, the governor of Judea; Herod, the ruler of Galilee; his brother Philip, the governor of Ituraea; and Lysanias, the ruler of Abilene....