Category: Daily Reflections

“For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain.” —Isaiah 25:10 The Church begins the Advent season by taking us up a mountain. On Sunday, we were told to “climb the Lord’s mountain” (Is 2:3). There we will receive God’s Word and God’s peace. Yesterday the Lord promised: “There shall be no harm or ruin on all My holy mountain” (Is 11:9). This will be done by the Holy Spirit resting on and working through the Messiah and His followers. Today the Lord promises: “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast...

“Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb.” —Isaiah 11:6 In our world, when the wolf visits the lamb for supper, the lamb becomes the main course. The viper bites and poisons any baby venturing within range, and the lion eats the ox instead of the hay (cf Is 11:6-8). In our world, the strong survive. It’s survival of the fittest. Our world glamorizes the predators, not the prey. For example, we call our sports teams Lions, not Lambs or Kids. On God’s holy mountain, there’s a new order. The lion passes up red meat in favor of...

“Many will come from the east and the west and will find a place at the banquet in the kingdom of God.” —Matthew 8:11 Happy Advent and new Church year! God is doing big things. We can grow accustomed to thinking of the Christian life in terms of small gains seemingly no larger than mustard seeds; we likewise think of large difficulties, many crosses and failures, and rejections of the Lord by our loved ones. In the readings from the first Monday of Advent, we hear that “many will come” from all directions (Mt 8:11) to the Lord. They will...

Jesus “watched two brothers, Simon now known as 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.’ ” —Matthew 4:18-19 In the Greek Church, St. Andrew is revered as the “Protoclete,” that is, the “first called” (see Jn 1:40). Andrew should also be revered as the “first who called,” for, after being called by Jesus, “the first thing he did was seek out his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah!’ ” (Jn 1:41) We need to...