The 1st Holy Mass Of 2017

​The 1st Holy Mass of 2017
happened on the 1st day, January 1,
at the Basilica Minore Del Santo Niño De Cebu.

View images of the 1st Holy Mass Of 2017 here.

​There maybe over a hundred 
or two Catholic devotees
but this number is far 
from the usual Sunday's 5:30 A.M. First Mass.
Others must have been tired
from the previous night's 
partying and revelry
to welcome the New Year 2017.
But we who attended 
the first ever Holy Mass of 2017
were fortunate and blessed
to have the will to go to church
even after sleeping past midnight already.
This is one of the best ways
to show our reverence to God
literally putting Him first in the morning
by going to church. 

Attending the Holy Mass
with just few hours of sleep
is a huge sacrifice already, 
 it's doing something extraordinary.
This is the kind of sacrifice
we Catholics should always have
no matter how busy 
or how tired we may be.
Especially at this point in time,
when the whole earth 
has been experiencing changes or upheavels - 
climate change that's making superstorms,
the wars in parts of the world
where innocent people suffer much,
the economic crises in some countries
that threatens businesses and jobs,
the diseases and sicknesses
that afflicts so many, etc. 
​
Going back to God
and giving time and importance to our religion
is the first step in resolving all of those.
While world leaders do their part
by relying on science and technology,
we Catholics should do our part too
by attending Holy Masses as much as possible
and filling up the churches 
all throughout the year
and not just on Christmas Season.
We can't get rid of those
if we don't go back to God
because only He can do it. 

Also, 
we Catholics have the tradition 
of completing the 9-day Novena Masses before Christmas 
beginning on the 16th of December at about 4:00 AM 
and ending on the 24th at about the same time. 
We believe that completing the 9 consecutive days 
will give us more blessings 
and answers to all our prayers 
whatever they may be. 
Fortunate and blessed were those who complete. 
But for me, 
more fortunate and more blessed are those 
who go to church everyday of the year, 
beginning on the 1st day of the 1st month 
all through the last day of the year 
on the 31st of December! 
This you should practice.