Friday of the Second Week of Advent

Jesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’”

Today’s Gospel passage from Matthew shows Jesus responding to those who were critical of John and those who were critical of him. John came neither eating nor drinking, and the Son of Man came eating and drinking. In either case, their ministry is criticized. John is seen as possessed; Jesus, as a glutton and a drunkard. Either criticism obfuscates the main thing, the goal, which the first reading from Isaiah brings to light: “I, the LORD, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go.” Those who follow the Lord, says the psalmist, have the light of life and meditate on his law day and night. In my own mind, how can I switch off the critical response that debilitates my response to God? What do I need to do to bring the Lord more present into my life day and night, today and tomorrow?

God, help me understand your Son’s words. I want to be childlike in hanging on your every word; keep my spirit from playing children’s games, imposing childish expectations on how you should work in my life and in the world. Jesus, you say, “But wisdom is vindicated by her works.” I want to be like the man in the Psalms who follows you and has your light: “He is like a tree planted near running water, That yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers.”

Lord, I know you are near. You are not confined by human perception and categories; you are above all. Give me the grace today to put away my critical mind and trust in what you have to teach me. You say to me: “I, the LORD, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go.” I ask you to lead me.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

https://youtu.be/2W-KSOPWWBY

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The angel Gabriel said to Mary: “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”

On today’s Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Gospel according to Luke describes a profound moment in human history, where Mary says yes to God. It is the quietest of meetings, Gabriel and Mary face to face. Is it possible that Gabriel knew of Mary’s immaculate conception, observing her life from the time she was born? Born without original sin, at the Annunciation, Mary was able to say yes wholeheartedly and without the same brokenness of spirit that we all confront because of sin. Mary’s yes undid that other conversation between an angel and a woman, the serpent and Eve, that took place in the Garden of Eden. Mary’s question—“How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”—shows that for her it was not a question of whether God could make the incarnation happen but how it would happen. What would it take for me to give the same wholehearted response to God as Mary does?

Lord, as Gabriel tells Mary that Jesus will rule over the house of Jacob forever and that of his Kingdom there will be no end and that nothing is impossible for you, wouldn’t it have been understandable for Mary to question this? Wouldn’t any one of us say, “Wait; stop right there. I will bear a son whose kingdom will never end? I need a minute.” Instead, Mary simply says, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Almighty God, grant me the grace of complete confidence in your power and glory.

Thank you, God, for the Blessed Virgin Mary’s yes. Her fiat—“May it be done to me according to your word.”— is the royal road to the Incarnate Word, Jesus your Son. Lord, let me know and do your will for the praise of your glory. Blessed Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Jesus said to the crowds: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus invites those who hear him to come to him for rest, to take his yoke upon them and learn from him. Jesus doesn’t say he will remove the burden. What, then, does he mean by asking us to take his yoke upon him? Traditionally, a yoke is a heavy beam placed between animals such as oxen to allow them to pull a load together. Jesus offers rest by sharing his yoke with us, to lighten the load, to learn from him to be meek and humble of heart. The yoke Jesus offers is easy; in it, there is no escape from daily burdens but room to come to know who it is that walks beside us. On the feast of Saint Ambrose, a Doctor of the Church, let me remember to be attentive to the word of God in the work I do today and bring Christ into the most burdensome moments. Saint Ambrose, pray for us!

My instinct is to try to escape the yoke of daily routines bring and to lay my burdens down and rest. God, help guide me with the wisdom to know that these inescapable burdens are an opportunity to learn that you are beside me and to rest in the peace of your presence. Give me the grace today to strive in that hope with the yoke you offer me.

Lord, thank you for the gift of the burdens of this day that you give me to draw me closer to you, to have me work beside you. Stay with me! In the words of Saint Ambrose, “Let us take refuge from this world. You can do this in spirit, even if you are kept here in the body. You can at the same time be here and present to the Lord.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent

Jesus said to his disciples, “In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells his disciples the parable of the lost sheep. He asks their opinion of whether a shepherd would leave his ninety-nine sheep to go in search of the one gone astray. And if he finds it, Jesus says, “he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.” He says this to teach the disciples about the extraordinary love of the Father for his beloved children. Rather than pity the ones who are lost, I have to think about the times that I have gone astray and waited for God to come in power to save me. As the Gospel acclamation says: “The day of the Lord is near; Behold, he comes to save us.” As we celebrate the feast of Saint Nicholas today, I’m reminded of his generosity through his life of service to the needy, the sick, and the suffering. Is Santa real, I have to ask myself? As long as we celebrate the life of Saint Nicholas among the communion of saints, yes, Santa is real.

Help me understand, Lord, the words of the Our Father in daily life: “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” Life passes quickly, and the strength and resolve of youth is transitory. Isaiah’s beautiful words in the first reading calls this to mind: “All flesh is grass, and all their glory like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower wilts, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it. So then, the people is the grass. Though the grass withers and the flower wilts, the word of our God stands forever.” Keep me in your care, God, and close to your word—to the word made flesh.

Jesus, Good Shepherd, help me stay close to you today. I know I will go astray. As Saint Paul says, “For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want.” Through your grace, keep me from the temptation that leads to sin and let me instead see and do your will. And when I fail, come find me and bring me back to you.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Monday of the Second Week of Advent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”–he said to the one who was paralyzed, “I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” He stood up immediately before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God. Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God, and, struck with awe, they said, “We have seen incredible things today.”

In today’s reading, as Jesus is teaching the Pharisees and scribes, the friends of a man who was paralyzed lowered him through the roof because they couldn’t make their way through the crowd. As soon as Jesus sees the man, he says to him: “As for you, your sins are forgiven.” The scribes and Pharisees see this as blasphemy because only God can forgive sins. But Jesus says to them: “What are you thinking in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?” And immediately the man stood up and walked. As the Son of God, Jesus speaks reality into existence. He said to the man “Rise and walk,” and he rose and walked. The same goes for sins. As he speaks, so it is done. Sins are forgiven.

God, help me understand the power and authority you gave to your Son to release me from sin. As the Gospel Acclamation says, “Behold the king will come, the Lord of the earth, and he himself will lift the yoke of our captivity.” Sin and death bind and enslave, but through your Son they no longer have the last word because he destroyed death and canceled sin, restoring us to communion with you. And just as the crowd recognizes in the last words of today’s Gospel, I can also take in and respond to with joy: “We have seen incredible things today.”

Lord, give me the grace to carry that joy with me throughout the day. As Jesus the Divine Physician spoke healing and forgiveness into reality out of great love and mercy, I can choose to recognize that as the events of today unfold. As Padre Pio prayed in his prayer after Holy Communion: “Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Sunday of the Second Week of Advent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “””You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, “‘We have Abraham as our father.’”

In today’s Gospel reading, John the Baptist was preaching the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven, the coming of Christ. Matthew says that people from the whole region around the Jordan were coming to John to be baptized. John, known as the forerunner of Christ, chastises the Pharisees and Sadducees to repentance, to make a complete turnaround: “For I tell you,” John says to them, “God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees.” Some commentaries on this passage suggest that the stones and dust of the earth are the dust from which God created man and woman. Their reliance on Abraham as their father, then, is not to replace the coming of the Son of God. What are the tenuous beliefs I hold onto that keep me from an authentic relationship with God?

Help me see clearly, Lord, my own overreliance in what is not you—adherence to beliefs that fail to lead to you. I want to understand that the Pharisees and Sadducees are not so remote in world history that they are irrelevant. Help me learn from them that pride in my own particular path to holiness is a dead end, is sin, the chaff that you separate from the wheat. As John says of you, Lord: “Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Guide me in keeping with Christ so that with one voice with one another I may glorify you.

Jesus, as I receive you in the Eucharist today, let me give glory to your name. Be with me so that I can keep today holy. As the first reading beautifully describes the Kingdom of Heaven, fill me with the gift of your presence: “There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Saturday of the First Week of Advent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, “Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”

In the Gospel for today, we celebrate the memorial of Saint Francis Xavier. On this last day of the first week of Advent, Matthew describes Jesus’ entry into towns and villages as he proclaimed the Kingdom of heaven and cured every disease and illness. “At the sight of the crowds,” Matthew tells us, “his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” Who is this whose heart is moved with pity? It is the same God in the Responsorial Psalm who tells the number of the stars and calls each of us by name. It is the same God in the first reading who guides us from behind and whose voice we hear say: “‘This is the way; walk in it,’ when you would turn to the right or to the left.” Then, Jesus asks of me what he asks of the Twelve: cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and drive out demons.

God, help me understand you are not some ideology or philosophy to comprehend and apply to daily life. You are the creator of the universe; you are Christ the Son; you are the Holy Spirit. And you are asking me, whose name you know, to proclaim that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. How is it possible that I am able to do all you ask of me, especially the impossible? When I think of curing the sick and driving out demons, I bring it down to size. Be loving, help give healing to brokenness, welcome the ones who feel alienated, and go to Confession and invite others. But there is more to that. You really did give Peter and the Twelve the authority to raise the dead and cure the sick. Let me not underestimate the power you entrust me with that comes through faith in you. As that other great Francis, Saint Francis of Assisi, said: “First do what is necessary. Then do what is possible. And before you know it you are doing the impossible.”

Lord, let me quietly take in the love you have for me. The authority you first gave to the Twelve by your authority as Lord of all you also give to me. It’s humbling to hold in my being that you love me as a laborer sent out to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of heaven. Stay with me today, stay behind me, guiding which way to go to accomplish your will.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Friday of the First Week of Advent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

When he entered the house, the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they said to him. Then he touched their eyes and said, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.”

The two blind men who approached Jesus first cried out to him and then followed him. The passage doesn’t say that the blind men asked Jesus anything. Jesus simply knows their needs: “Do you believe that I can do this?” Just as God spoke creation into existence, Jesus says “let it be done” and it is done. He tells the blind men that it is done according to their faith. Countless times every day, I make plans in my head as if I could speak them into fulfillment, as if by my own interior light I see ahead in the dark. How far am I willing to say of each plan “let it be done” according to God’s will?

God, let me stop and consider the power behind the words of your Son: “Let it be done.” In coming to Jesus, the blind men poured out their hearts to him, saying, “Son of David, have pity on us!” The extent of what I might accomplish today, Lord, can be summed up in two words: God willing. What can I hope to accomplish today without believing that you work with me and through me to do your will? Lord, touch my eyes today with your presence and give me the grace to remember to come to you in trust, and let me hear you say: “Let it be done for you according to your faith.”

Jesus, open my eyes of faith today to your presence in the Blessed Sacrament and in the Masses said throughout the world at every minute of the day. I know you delight in me and love me. Help me realize that when I fall short. Take pity on me when I fail to love you and all those I encounter today as I should. Advent is here, and you are coming. Open my eyes to that joyful expectation. I know you are near!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Thursday of the First Week of Advent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus said to his disciples: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”

The words of Jesus from today’s Gospel strike the ear with his repetition of “Lord” and the warning of utter ruin that follows from building on a foundation of anything other than doing the will of the Father. When I hear Jesus saying, “Lord, Lord,” I feel accused. Lord, shouldn’t I call out to you at all times? The Gospel acclamation says, “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call him while he is near.” Jesus issues a kind of challenge in his words by directing us to the will of the Father.

God, help me understand the will of the Father, as I hear Jesus inviting me to remain authentic in my relationship with him: “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.” Lord, you are, as Isaiah says, the eternal Rock. Thank you for the life, death, and resurrection of your Son, for his words that encourage me to lay down my own will and know and do yours instead.

Father in heaven, when I am restless and distracted today, quiet my soul. Teach me your will, and let me not be discouraged by failure to accomplish it but resolved all the more to trust in your mercy and grace. Let me have childlike hope in you, in your guidance. When I call out to you, let it be from a longing that only your love for me can fulfill. Prepare me through your gift of this day to enter your kingdom.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Wednesday of the First Week of Advent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus invites two pairs of brothers to follow him. He first finds Peter and Andrew, in the midst of their daily work, casting their net into the sea. Next he sees James and John and calls them as they are mending their nets. Only God knows why Jesus chose these first apostles over others. What is clear is that he chose them from their very livelihood—at work in the world—inviting them to work anew with their nets to draw people from the world into the kingdom of God. It’s hard for me to imagine what God sees in me that makes me suited to witness to his truth. What does he see in me as he looks at me as he did Peter, Andrew, James, and John? Why is it that Jesus calls two at a time, brothers at that? The way of faith—is it meant to be done in solitude or in fellowship?

God, help me comprehend what it means to say yes when Jesus says to me in the unfolding of the day: “Come after me.” It raises fears that I am not all you believe me to be. You know how the day and its responsibilities overtake me to the point that I sometimes forget you. The lyrics from the song “Lord, When You Came to the Seashore” remind me that God is not looking for the smartest or most powerful; he’s looking for me, whom he loved first: “Lord, when you came to the seashore / You weren’t seeking the wise or the wealthy, / But only asking that I might follow.” Let me have the grace, God, to hear your Son throughout the day and respond to his call.

Lord, I want to hear your voice today. This is your day. As in the Our Father, we pray that your will be done, I pray that you take my desire and longing to see you and make it suitable to accomplish your Divine Will. As the Morning Offering calls us to do, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day. Give me the grace to hear your voice and follow.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings