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FORMATION OF THE LABOURERS

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SAINT NICHOLAS, BISHOP Isa 30:19-21,23-26; Ps 147:1-6; Mt 9:35-10:1,5,6-8 The Plentiful Harvest and Few Labourers The whole world is the vineyard or the farmland of the Lord our God. As we have recently reflected, God created us in his image, much like seeds he plants in the farmland that will grow into his likeness. The transformation from the image of God, which we bear as an initial gift from God to the likeness of God, which we will attain by cooperating with God, involves a long process with different stages. The entrance of sin at the fall of Adam and Eve added more stages to the process. The redemptive grace of the word of God has to precede the awareness of self and expression of faith in the word of God. In essence, there is the addition of weeds or tares in the farmland/vineyard of the Lord, which was initially filled with only good seeds created by God. The Lord’s parable of the wheat and the darnel or tare illustrates this understanding properly. The reluctance of the...
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GOD GIVES LIFE AND LIGHT

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FRIDAY, FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT Isa 29:17-24; Ps 27:1,4,13-14; Mt 9:27-31 The Eyes of the Blind will See After the fall, God did not abandon us, for he made us in his image and plans to bring us to be like him. Creation, as we noted yesterday, was a gate leading to communion with God. But sin diminished man’s ability to see the light of God and weakened his will to follow the little light he sees in creation. For one who has physical sight, it is difficult to understand the blindness that results from sin and a sinful lifestyle. The difficulty of a sinner comprehending the light of God is comparable to a man born blind understanding what sight is. Because we were conceived and brought to life in sin, we lack the facility to easily understand what spiritual light or sight entails. So, the scriptures present conversion as receiving a new birth. As we have previously explained, the consequence of our disobedience to the word is real and immediate on us when we commit sin. The consequen...
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THE GATE OF THE STRONG CITY OF GOD

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THURSDAY, FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT Isa 26:1-6; Ps 118:1,8-9,19-21,25-27; Mt 7:21,24-27 Entering God’s Life and Covenant The universe manifests the glory of God because, as his creature, it exists for his purpose and fulfils his divine will. As existing and fulfilling God’s will, it is a revelation of God. Since God’s revelation of his divine will to men is our admission into his life and blessings, we can consider creation as a whole a gate that admits us into communion with God. In this sense, we say that the wisdom of God is present in creation as the teacher and guide of man. Before the fall of Adam and Eve, man could easily know creatures and God’s will about each of them. But sin has cost us that privilege and made us lose the original blessings of Eden. The more we sin and move away from God’s will for us, the farther away we walk from God’s will and the more difficult it becomes for us to enter through the gate into God’s life and blessings. Therefore, the promise of salvation...
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RICH FOOD AND WINE

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SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER, PRIEST Isa 25:6-10; Ps 23; Lk 15:29-37 A Banquet for the Nations The prophet Isaiah uses the images of food and drink and the idea of a banquet to communicate the divine largesse that the coming of the Eternal Word in our human nature would provide for us. Though the images are taken from our activities in this mortal life, the meaning of what is communicated goes beyond our mortal life to our spiritual life. As we have often noted, the temporal life has no meaning without the spiritual, which is its end or purpose. The purpose God created us is for us to be with him in eternal life in heaven. Therefore, whatever does not contribute to the realization of God's will is useless for us. The mortal or temporal life and every good thing in it are means to our end with God. Based on this understanding, Augustine teaches that nothing in this temporal life should be enjoyed on its own merit, but used as a means to God, who alone we are to enjoy forever. The appe...
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REVELATION TO MERE CHILDREN

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TUESDAY, FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT Isa 11:1-10; Ps 72:1-2,7-8,12-13,17; Lk 10:21-24 A Shoot from the Stock of Jesse The prophecy of Isaiah about the stock of Jesse is a reference to the ancient faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The divine root of the said stock is the word of God. The promise God made to Abraham rested on faith and is passed on to all who believe in the word of God, just as Abraham did. Among Jacob’s children, Judah was singled out for the inheritance of the said blessing of Abraham, which took the form of kingship or ruler of the people of God. The reference to the stock of Jesse is therefore to the manifestation of Abraham’s blessing in terms of kingship in David, the son of Jesse. The stock is the ancient faith of the fathers in the word of God. As the word of God confirms, God is faithful to the faithful souls forever and fulfils his promises to them. The faith of the patriarchs forms a stock from which the blessings of God emerge for us. The greatest of these blessin...
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KNOWING OUR UNWORTHINESS

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MONDAY, FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT Isa 4:2-6; Ps 122:1-2,4-5,6-9; Mt 8:5-11 Our Unworthiness to have the Son of Man It is customary to begin the Advent season with repentance for our sins and misbehaviour. As we begin to listen to the wonderful prophecies of the Messiah that God promised to his people and how he fulfilled the promise, we are moved by God's faithfulness to repent of our unfaithfulness. Understanding that our sins have been due to our lack of faith in God’s word, we repent and confess these sins that have kept God away from entering our lives and homes. What is required for us to gain the grace of repentance and forgiveness that God grants through his Son Jesus our Lord, is that we first acknowledge our sinfulness and past unfaithfulness and own the sins we have committed against God and not shift the blames to anyone; second is to express real sorrow for the sins with a firm purpose of amendment of our lives; third is to confess the sins to God through the priest at...
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THE ADVENT OF THE LORD

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SUNDAY, FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT Isa 2:1-5; Ps 122:1-2,4-5,6-9; Rom 13:11-14; Mt 24:37-44 The Unexpected Time of the Son of Man The Church begins another cycle (A) of Sunday readings. The idea of the cycle fits perfectly well here, for we start the liturgical year of the Church on the same note of the coming of the Son of Man we ended with. This describes the concept of a cycle, wherein we end where we started and start where we ended. The end note of the Church’s year was that we should be eager, prayerful, vigilant for the coming of the Son of Man, so that his coming will not spring on us like a snare. We elevate our eagerness to see and be with the Lord by preparing in a special way, the celebration of his first coming in human flesh. This is what the season of Advent is all about. It is a time we prayerfully read, meditate, and contemplate the prophecies of the first coming of the Son of Man; we especially note the fact that God promised us redemption from sin and evil. He fulfil...
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