Category: Daily Reflections
“From John the Baptizer’s time until now the kingdom of God has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.” –Matthew 11:12 How do the violent take God’s kingdom by force? During Jesus’ time on earth, a group called the Zealots believed they would take God’s kingdom by force by waging guerilla warfare against the Romans. Jesus rejected this approach, for His kingdom is not of this world (Jn 18:36). Throughout the history of the Church, some holy people interpreted and applied Matthew 11:12 by doing violence to themselves through harsh physical penances. While there is some value to...
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“To whom can you liken Me as an equal? says the Holy One.” –Isaiah 40:25 No one equals God in anything. Consider God’s strength; He is unequaled in strength. Almighty God is so strong that He made and sustains the millions of stars which span light-years in space (Is 40:26). Almighty God is willing to share His unlimited strength with us. “He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak He makes vigor abound” (Is 40:29). When God strengthens old or weak people, they can outrun, outwork, and outlast young folks. Those who let God renew their strength “will soar...
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“Comfort, give comfort to My people, says your God.” –Isaiah 40:1 The Lord commanded His heavenly court to give comfort to His people on earth. This “comfort” does not mean feeling good and indulging in “creature comforts,” but being freed from slavery to a pleasure-seeking lifestyle (see Is 40:2). God’s comfort is not an exterior gratification of the senses but an interior freedom from sin and guilt (Is 40:2). An angel obeyed God’s command to comfort His people by crying out: “Earthquake!” (That is probably what is meant by the reference to filling in the valleys and laying low the...
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“…to be holy and blameless in His sight…” –Ephesians 1:4 Picture a Thanksgiving supper. There are many leftovers and you are ready to store them in the refrigerator. Of course, you will put the leftovers in clean containers, so the food will not spoil. Who could imagine putting the leftovers in unwashed containers that the kids had used to make mudpies? The thought is repulsive; the image itself is unthinkable. We couldn’t imagine a scene at Eucharistic Adoration where the monstrance was filthy. No, the priest or sacristan would first clean and polish the monstrance before placing the Holy Eucharist...
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“Comfort, give comfort to My people, says your God. Speak tenderly.” –Isaiah 40:1-2 The Lord promises to comfort and speak tenderly to us. In the second reading, the Church proclaims in the name of the Lord that “the heavens will vanish with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire” (2 Pt 3:10). How comforting! In the Gospel reading, we meet St. John the Baptizer, one of the least comforting characters in the Bible and in history (see Mk 1:2ff). The Lord’s ways are not our ways, and His idea of comfort is not our idea of comfort (see...
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