Neli ML

Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany February 23, 2025 Lucas 6:27-38 Rev. Neli Miranda  Today’s Gospel continues Jesus’ teachings addressed to a large crowd of disciples gathered on a plain, as we heard last Sunday. He speaks to a multitude of impoverished, needy people whom he calls “blessed”—a term traditionally reserved for those who possessed material wealth and high social status. However, Jesus subverts this conventional understanding by declaring his disciples blessed, stating, “. . .yours is the Kingdom of God”. This radical statement affirms the dignity of his followers and establishes the foundation for a new community, the community of the Kingdom of God. Jesus and his first followers faced enemies, those in positions of power who dominated and oppressed the people, persecuting and murdering all those who cried out for justice, beginning with Jesus himself.   Amidst this reality, marked by violence and hostility, Jesus urges the new community to live in a transfo...

  Sixth Sunday after Epiphany.  February 16, 2025 Luke 6:17-26 Rev. Neli Miranda During the past weeks we have witnessed the arrival of the Epiphany in the different villages in Galilee and so have we in our own lives. Today, on the sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, the Epiphany comes down from a mountain to a level place where a needy multitude awaits Jesus. In the preceding verses Luke tells us that Jesus appointed twelve of his disciples as apostles on a mountain. Now, as he descends with them and stands on a level place, he finds a large crowd gathered, comprised not only of his disciples but also of a multitude of people seeking good news, comfort, healing, and liberation. The call on the mountain was not a privatized experience for the twelve; rather, it was a preparation to bring the Epiphany down to those in need, to the level ground where the marginalized awaited the good news. Who are these people eagerly awaiting Jesus? They are the destitute, the despised no...

  The presentation of Jesus in the temple                                                                           Luke 2:22 - 40 Rev. Neli Miranda   During the past Sundays we witnessed Jesus’ epiphanies, particularly in Galilee where he began his ministry in the synagogue of Nazareth. Today, as we we celebrate the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, we pause in the narrative to celebrate a special feast, the presentation of Jesus in the temple.   Today’s gospel brings us an endearing image of Jesus and his parents in the temple, forty days after Jesus’ birth.   As was customary and being a devout family, Mary and Joseph bring Jes...

  Third Sunday after the Epiphany 2025 St. Luke 4:14-21 Rev. Neli Miranda   On the third Sunday after the Epiphany, we travel to Nazareth in Galilee, Jesus’ hometown. According to Luke, after the temptations ended, Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee. His fame had spread among the Galileans and he began teaching in their synagogues. In Nazareth, as was his custom, Jesus attended the synagogue on the Sabbath Day and participated in the liturgy by reading a passage from the book of the prophet Isaiah.   There he found a powerful message: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4,18-19). This powerful message had been proclaimed by the prophet Isaiah in the sixth century B.C., amidst the earliest returnees from the Ba...

  Second Sunday after the Epiphany 2025 John 2:1-11 Rev. Neli Miranda   On the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, we travel from Judea to Cana of Galilee, to participate in a special wedding celebration and witness Jesus’ Epiphany. Here, according to John the evangelist, Jesus performed the first of his signs… “and revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him” (2,11). In contrast to the other evangelists, John uses the term “sign” to refer to Jesus’ miracles, underscoring that these acts are not merely displays of supernatural power but visible manifestations of Jesus’ divinity—Epiphanies. In using this term, John emphasizes that the importance of Jesus’ extraordinary deeds lies not only in the acts themselves but on what they signify: the manifestation of God among the people. In Cana, a small, remote village in Galilee, a wedding is taking place today.   Mary, Jesus’ mother, is there. Jesus along with his disciples have also been invited to the weddi...

  First Sunday after the Epiphany 2025 Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 Rev. Neli Miranda   Last Sunday we celebrated the Epiphany, when like the wise men from the East, we were blessed with the Divine manifestation of the birth of baby Jesus. Today, on the first Sunday after Epiphany, we discover that the infant has now grown into a 30-year-old young man devoted to God. He, together with the people, has heeded the call of John the Baptist, who calls the people to turn to God. Luke tells us today that, upon John’s proclamation, the people were filled with expectation, questioning whether John might be the expected Messiah. However, John, referring to Jesus, proclaims: “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is coming…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (3,16). As John announces the Messiah’s arrival, Jesus is there among the people, anticipating the sacred moment to dedicate himself to God and begin his proclamation. So, as all the people ar...

  Second Sunday after Christmas 2025 Matthew 2:1-12 Rev. Neli Miranda   Today, we celebrate the second Sunday after Christmas as we stand on the threshold of Epiphany, to be celebrated on January 6.   During the Christmas season we rejoice in the birth of the Son of God while the Epiphany celebration heralds the revelation of the Son of God to all peoples of the earth. It proclaims that God’s manifestation is not a privatized event but a grace extended to all.   Epiphany, derived from the Greek epiphaneia , means “manifestation” or “appearance” and was used in ancient Greece to refer to the visions or appearances of gods. This term was resignified by Christians in the 3rd century when the Feast of Epiphany was adopted to celebrate God’s manifestation in the person of Jesus to the gentiles, represented by the wise men or Magi from the East. According to ancient tradition, the Magi did not visit the stable on Christmas Day but twelve days later, on Epiphany Day...