Sunday Gospel Reflection, December 14, 2025: Be patient, brothers and sisters...

Be patient, brothers and sisters...
What are you expecting? 

    In this Gaudate Sunday’s reading from Isaiah, the prophet offers those who have remained faithful in exile a portrait of God in his creative wonder, creating things anew, bringing what was lifeless back to life: The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom when your God comes to the earth to save you, bringing everlasting joy. Our limited human vision has a hard time imagining this miraculous renewal; we are afraid to hope, too scared to see our own limitations as possibilities – we can’t see with God’s eyes. We can’t really expect, only hope: hope in the fulfillment of the promise, hope that our own eyes will be opened, hope that our ears will be cleared… 

    Like John the Baptist in this Sunday’s Gospel from Matthew, we have built up so many expectations around the coming of Jesus. Like the Israelites before him, John thinks he knows what to expect: a Messiah who comes in a blaze of wrath, a powerhouse ready to take on the world! But Jesus is quick to point out that John and his followers just need to open their eyes: the prophecies are being filled right in front of them: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. Jesus doesn’t come to meet human expectations: he comes to fulfill God’s promise of salvation, bringing redemption to all who accept God’s invitation to relationship. 

    And what are we to do, as we wait? Trust, as the psalmist does, that God will keep his faith (Psalm 146), sustaining us, protecting us, raising us up, setting us free. Even if we really understood what that meant, it’s not easy to wait; waiting requires patience, as James tells his readers, repeating that word four times in this week’s short passage. Patience, patience, patience… It's not easy. 

    Alas, there is no “What to Expect” book for hearts waiting pregnantly for Jesus to come, and we can’t know what Jesus’s coming will bring to our lives. But we can be patient, trusting that the depth of our love will deepen our ability to wait, hearts firm, as we embody God's love for all, expectantly, with patience.

This “vintage” post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture Class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, December 15, 2024: Shout with exultation, O city of Zion!

Shout with exultation, O city of Zion!
What makes you jump for joy? 

    Prophets don’t always bring gloom and doom! Although Zephaniah does speak at length to the people of Israel about the day of judgment looming over them, the prophet ends his exhortation with a messianic promise that should cause them to be glad and exult with all their heart! To exult is, etymologically, to jump for joy; Zephaniah encourages the people to exult because soon, the King of Israel, the Lord will be in their midst, and so they have no further misfortune to fear. Not only that, but God himself will also rejoice over the people once they turn back to him! Imagine the Lord jumping for joy! The prophet Isaiah sounds a similar refrain: Shout with exultation, O city of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel! God’s presence among us is a reason to rejoice, to jump for joy! 

    In Luke’s Gospel, John the Baptist – also a prophet – announces what Zephaniah and Isaiah also promised, news that should again make the people jump for joy: one mightier than I is coming; John says. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Everyone – crowds, soldiers, even tax collectors – wants to know, Teacher, what should we do? John’s answer to each involves practicing love of neighbor and life-giving justice. Although he doesn’t exactly encourage his listeners to jump for joy, John knows what it means to jump for joy, as he himself leapt in his mother Elizabeth’s womb as Mary’s approached, carrying the Messiah. 

    Paul’s Letter to the Philippians sums up our reason for joy: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! The Lord is near. Christ died and rose for us, and we know that he is always near. We can access his presence, Paul says, through kindness, prayer and petition, and thanksgiving, so that the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. What better reason could there be to jump for joy?

This post is based on OLMC’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, December 17, 2023: My soul rejoices in my God...

My soul rejoices in my God…

If the Lord is active in your life,

how can you not be filled with joy? 

    As the Book of the Prophet Isaiah nears its end, the people who have been in exile in Babylon are at last returning home. Isaiah reassures the people, bringing glad tidings to the poor, proclaiming liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, and announcing a year of favor from the Lord. God is active and working in their midst, in other words; they have but to trust in the power of God to redeem them in the midst of destruction. Isaiah, clothed with encouragement and strength by the Lord, communicates a promise of spiritual redemption to the people, one in which they, with him, rejoice! 

    John the Baptist’s promise of one who is coming after me is similarly intended to uplift the people of his time. Jesus is, as the evangelist John writes, the light to which John the Baptist came to testify. Unfortunately, the priests, Levites, and Pharisees do not believe they are in the dark: they have a clear idea of who the Messiah will be, and they will not recognize Jesus. But some will hear John’s call to conversion and fidelity, and will put their faith in the one already among them whom they do not recognize, Jesus, the Word of God, the light, sent to redeem a fallen world. And then? They will, like Mary in Luke’s Gospel, rejoice in their God. Mary’s canticle is a direct response to the wonder of the Incarnation taking place within her, for she knows that God has mercy on those who fear him, in every generation, and she thus proclaims the greatness of the Lord, joy-filled at all that is to come. 

    Rejoice always, Paul writes to the Thessalonians. Do not quench the Spirit. For the Lord Jesus Christ has come to save us; he has died and risen for our sake, revealing the depth of God’s love for us – we must not be sad or feel our situation is hopeless. And the Lord’s activity is ongoing: may the God of peace make you perfectly holy, and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for Jesus’ second coming. We can rely upon God – he will accomplish all – through the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst. And if the Lord is active in your life, how can you help but be filled with joy? So, rejoice… rejoice always! 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, December 11, 2022: Say to those whose hearts are frightened, Be strong, fear not!

Say to those whose hearts are frightened, Be strong, fear not!

Is your heart ready for all that God promises?

    At a time when they are suffering in exile in Babylon, the people of Israel need to hear a message of hope. The prophet Isaiah offers just such a promise in which that which had been dead and barren is transformed, becoming full of life. The desert and the parched land will exult, Isaiah tells them; the steppe will rejoice and bloom. Likewise, the people themselves will be transformed: Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, Isaiah proclaims, Here is your God! Do we have enough emotional energy to accomplish all that is necessary? Is our heart ready, fully invested, prepared to be energized by the Lord? As Psalm 146 exhorts us, we must trust that the Lord will come and save us, that he will raise up those who are bowed down. Isaiah promises that those whom the Lord has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy. It is God who will strengthen hearts that are feeble, transforming those who are open and ready for his coming. 

   In Jesus’ time, not everyone was ready for the coming of the Messiah, at least not on his terms. Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another? John the Baptist asks in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus reminds them that he is fulfilling the promises Isaiah himself made: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised…. God is unfolding before them, but he’s not what they expect; he is not going to fit their definitions or their parameters. Jesus is a stumbling block only for those who have a pre-conceived idea of what the Messiah should look like: he eats with sinners and invites tax collectors into his fold, and some find this conduct objectionable. Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me, Jesus says; those who take offense have not yet made their hearts ready to accept God’s promise fulfilled. 

    God is unfolding God’s promise before us, too, but it’s not what we expect; it’s not going to fit our definitions or parameters. We don’t know all that God plans to accomplish in us, but we must remain ready, open, and willing to participate, letting God’s plan unfold in us and going with it as it does so. Does God meet our expectations? It’s not God’s job to do so. Jesus didn’t come to meet our expectations either; he came to save us, which is far more important, far more difficult, far more extraordinary. Ultimately, through his death and rising, we hope to be one with Christ – not better, not worse, but one with, perfect union. As the Letter of James reminds us, we must simply be patient, waiting for the precious fruit of the Lord to manifest in us, ready for all that he promises to unfold! 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class. 

Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, December 12, 2021: The Lord is near...

The Lord is near…

You have access to God – what else do you need?

    Like many prophets before him, Zephaniah is charged by God to call out the people of Israel for having denied their own beliefs and taken on the faith practices of the communities among whom they have been exiled. Having failed to be true to covenant, they feel a penalty has been imposed on them by God. But Zephaniah also offers hope for the future: The Lord has removed the judgment against you, he tells the remnant of Israel. Zephaniah wants to bring the people back to proper worship of the Lord. The Lord, your God, is in your midst, Zephaniah says, a mighty savior – you just weren’t paying attention. But God will rejoice over you with gladness and renew you in his love, singing joyfully because of you! The prophet Isaiah builds on this statement by inciting the people to joyful song: Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel! God’s great works are to be proclaimed to all the nations, and most significant among those works is God’s very presence among them, the fountain of their salvation. All have access to God – what more do they need to be joyful?

   In Luke’s Gospel, John the Baptist will underscore the need for the people to open themselves to the God who will soon be revealed to them: one mightier than I is coming who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire, John tells the crowds. To do so, they must not only repent, but also do justice by one another, eschewing extortion from the poor, for example, and every false accusation, and instead sharing their cloaks with the person who has none. They are to act upon the love of God that will be revealed among them, and open themselves to the radical transformation Jesus calls them to. If their kindness is known to all, Paul instructs the Philippians, then they can rejoice in the Lord always. For the Lord is near whenever we serve others with justice rather than dwelling upon any cause for anxiety. Thanks to the death and rising of Jesus Christ, we all have access to God – what more do we need to be joyful?

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, December 13, 2020: The Almighty has done great things for me...

The Almighty has done great things for me…

Are you aware that God is at work in you right now?

 

  We tend to take it for granted that God is always at work in us… even if we aren’t even thinking about God or God’s work.  But in fact, God’s work in us is central to our existence and to our progress through life.  When Isaiah tells the people that God has clothed me with a robe of salvation and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, the prophet is reminding them that his growth and his call are not his own doing:  God is at work in him, and the people must likewise put their faith in God, opening to his work in them, that they might bring glad tidings to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, and more. 

 

  John the Baptist knows that the priests and Levites do not recognize what God is doing in their midst, though he himself does.  John's Gospel tells us that John came to testify to the light, to tell all that God is already at work bringing the Messiah they long for.  John may not understand fully who he himself is or what God is doing in him, but he trusts that God is at work and can give witness as the voice of one crying out in the desert because he believes in what God has sent him to do.  The intangible work of God is happening in us, always, and we must give thanks because we have faith that this is true; we must find joy in him, as John did in the womb, in the fact that the Lord is present and active in our lives, rejoicing that we can rely on his power, not our own, so long as we open to that power of his love, and to the mercy that is the best expression of that love.

 

   Similarly, Paul will instruct the Thessalonians to rejoice always, so that the God of peace may make you perfectly holy.  We are to be aware of God’s work in us in all circumstances, Paul says, never letting anything – and especially not suffering – put a damper on the Spirit, the light of Christ, at work in us.  Attention to God’s will will lead us to deeper mercy, deeper love.  Mary is aware of this when she sings, in Luke’s Canticle, the Almighty has done great things for me!  Mary’s soul rejoices because of all that God has done for her, and for the world, reaching out to all in need of his mercy.  By conceiving the child Jesus in her through the action of the Spirit, God has blessed her with his grace and mercy, not just for her sake but for the sake of the world – what better reason to rejoice?  May we too be ever aware of the working of God in us, that we may rejoice always before the wonders of God’s loving care and mercy!

 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.

Image source:  www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, December 15, 2019: Be patient until the coming of the Lord...

Be patient until the coming of the Lord…

Are you willing to wait for God’s plan to unfold?

  When the prophet Isaiah foretells of Israel’s deliverance from bondage in Babylon, his vision is magnificent, surpassing all that humans could reasonably expect:  The desert and the parched land will exult, Isaiah says, the steppe will rejoice and bloom.  Everything that Isaiah proclaims is out of season, out of sequence, and thus impossible… and yet!  In essence, Isaiah is describing God’s activity, not human activity; the impossible is possible only for God, and Isaiah promises that God will indeed achieve the impossible out of love for us:  extraordinary healing, rebirth, new life, the lame leaping and the mute singing.  Only God can make all of this happen.  Psalm 146 confirms this vision of God’s extraordinary activity:  The Lord gives sight to the blind; the Lord raises up those who were bowed down.  God is the only source of strength, of the good; the psalm is a statement of our faith in God’s ability to do what seems to us to be impossible.

  It’s hard to wait for God’s plan to unfold, though.  In Matthew's Gospel, John the Baptist wants to know if Jesus is the one who is to come – he has a certain idea of the Messiah, but his expectations risk blinding him to what God is doing.  Jesus instructs John to pay attention to how Jesus himself is fulfilling the promises transmitted by Isaiah:  the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised.  It’s time for John to surrender to God’s vision, and to remain patient with God’s plan for salvation to unfold.  Even after Jesus’ death and resurrection, it’s important to remain patient, James reminds his audience:  See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it… The Christian community is suffering, but they must be patient and trust that, even though they can’t necessarily see God at work in their lives, God’s mercy will be revealed in the mercy they show one another.  God has accomplished the impossible already, and will again.  We have but to be willing to wait for God’s plan to unfold, patient and trusting in the Lord God who keeps faith forever.

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.

Image source:  www.wordart.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, December 16, 2018: The Lord is near...

The Lord is near…

How do we respond when God is in our midst?

   When, in Luke’s Gospel, John the Baptist begins to speak publicly, preaching the good news, the people are filled with expectation, but John makes it clear:  one mightier than I is coming.  John prescribes behaviors concordant with repentance:  share your cloak and your food, and let all you do be just rather than profitable.  Properly done, repentance should turn us towards God’s intangible love, allowing God precisely to dwell in our midst so that God’s love flows from us.  To allow the Lord into our midst is to allow the chaff of our lives – all that is useless and ultimately tangible – to be removed, that we might move forward with confidence and trust, open to the love of God.  We too must be filled with expectation for one mightier in love than anything we have know before.

   The people of Israel have experienced God in their midst before.  During the reign of Josiah, Zechariah tells the people that the Lord is in their midst.  Their sins are washed away; God has removed the judgment against them.  Hence both God and the people may rejoice, crying out with gladness, as the canticle from Isaiah exhorts, for God dwells among them. They have but to open to the water of the fountain of salvation, salvation flowing with God’s grace, mercy and love.

   The Lord is near, Paul reminds the Philippians, and so they must step out of the darkness they have plunged themselves into, trusting that God will lead them out of obscurity and into God’s love.  Like the Philippians, we must open to God always, make God present, always, in all moments, good, bad, or embarrassing, that kindness, flowing from the Lord’s presence in us, may flow to all.  Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of our expectation; he now dwells within us, guarding our hearts and minds.  If we know that, truly believe that, then we too can rejoice always, with thanksgiving, knowing we are always in the presence of God and revealing that presence, that love, to the world.

This post was based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class. 

Image source:  www.wordle.net