31 December 2025 - the light shines in the darkness

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.

In a particular way, the human race was designed with a capacity for God. We were creatures who spoke words, created by the Word himself. Our minds were enlightened by reason from the source of reason and light. Our lives were unique among the life created by God in that we had the ability to know the truth and to love the good. Only because we were created to share in the light that originated from a source higher than ourselves could we truly trust that light. Creatures that appeared through the product of chance and circumstance could never assume that what they believed to be true was actually anything more than a useful fiction. Even that it was useful was not something that could be strictly proved. 

What came to be through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.

The darkness certainly tried to overcome the light. But it could not overcome it because it could not comprehend it. The light meant more than mere reason, but not less. Darkness always meant some failure of reason, some unwillingness to see the truth, and a failure to order choices on the basis of one's origin and destiny. Succumbing to such temptations always meant embracing darkness in the sense of an unwillingness to look to the light. When Adam and Eve first bought into the lies of the serpent they caused their minds and those of their offspring to be darkened. They became easier for the enemy to fool and even began to desire to be fooled. They developed a tendency that drew them further downward toward darkness and sin. The more people embraced the darkness the harder it became to extricate themselves.

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened (see Romans 1:21).

Fortunately, however, the darkness never overcame the light entirely. It could not erase the fact that humanity had been made by God and could not find fulfillment apart from him. Yet, clearly, we were not in a good place with darkness warping our very identities. We needed the one of was the source of our light to come and enlighten us once more. We could not fully escape it on our own. We needed one who was never subject to darkness, one who could himself see clearly, to come and set us free.

But to those who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God, 

The Word did not force anyone to receive the light he came to bring. Even his own people to whom he came were free to not accept him. They had the power to refuse to look at him closely, lest in looking, they recognize that he was all he claimed to be. The Scriptures had prepared them to receive him. But they were free to twist the interpretation of the Scriptures to bolster their own position and to undermine that of Jesus. Relationship could not be forced. There could not be true conversation or communion with the Word, in the sense that he desired, if that was imposed externally. Yet for those who did accept him we see that the plan of the Word was not for a merely distant relationship or a disinterested conversation. He desired to share the life of his own divine family with us, giving us "power to become children of God". Only in this relationship could we experience the fulfillment of the desire with which he himself created us. Only in this light could our lives or anything else make sense.

And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,

Previously God's presence had been restricted and inaccessible to most. But when the Word pitched his tent among us, as the tabernacle of the presence of God on earth, he closed the gap of the distance between himself and us in an instant. The darkness made us doubt the nearness of our God. But it was no longer possible for those who believed in Jesus to doubt that God was with us, for us, and not against us.

Jesus is the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, our origin and, God willing, our destiny. So it is fitting that on the last day of the year we continue to remember and draw strength from our redemption's beginning.

Vineyard Worship - Shine Jesus Shine

 

30 December 2025 - you have conquered

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

I am writing to you, children,
I am writing to you, fathers,
I am writing to you, young men,

We might take from the first letter of John the fact that everyone needs and can benefit from encouragement. In the Scriptures we are often meant to receive truths that are new to us or to more deeply understand ones we have known in part. We often receive moral exhortations and commands that help us to guide our lives. But we see that John also found it important to offer encouragement. It was not the naive sort of encouragement based on promises about one's future life in this world. He did not promise that things would necessarily get better, at least not in the short-term. Rather, what he did was to remind his readers of who they were. 

your sins have been forgiven for his name's sake.
you know him who is from the beginning.
you have conquered the Evil One.
you know the Father.

His readers, like all of us, were probably tempted to define themselves in different ways, often likely in terms of their own successes and failures. Many of them had not fully internalized the gift of Christianity into their own identity. We can easily sympathize with the ways in which their old identities caused them to think in terms of all of the ways in which they were limited, and all of the things that they could not do or be expected to achieve because of who they were. They probably often affirmed these identities with negative self talk that had the effect of becoming self-fulfilling prophecy. John was attempting to provide them with a new script for self talk that could replace that of their old pre-Christian selves. Once they heard from him that they had conquered the Evil One that might be more likely to repeat it to themselves when it seemed that the Evil One was pressing in against them. When they were in doubt about the future or the goodness of their being they could remind themselves that they knew the Father. When they weren't sure about the meaning of their lives they could remind themselves that they knew the Word who was from the beginning. When they felt condemned for their failures they could remind themselves that they had been forgiven.

Do not love the world or the things of the world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

It is not possible to believe in a Christian self-definition or to profess Christian self-talk in a full way if we are at the same time proving we don't fully believe it by the way we love the world. If we act with undue attachment to things that are passing away our subconscious will reject the story that we are rooted in the eternal. That is why it is important to remember the truth about the things of this world and the truth about the things of God. The former are all passing away, but "whoever does the will of God remains forever".

She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.

Anna was someone who was fully convinced that her identity was rooted in God and his plan for her. She had already experienced how the things of this world are temporary when she became a widow. But she did not allow that loss to define her. Rather she more deeply embraced her place in God's story as a result. She focused on the fact that she was a daughter of the Father and learned all she could about the one who was from the beginning, such that she was able to recognize him and tell others about him when he came at last to the temple for his presentation. She spoke of him "to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem", because she was able to see in him that that redemption had finally begun.

The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him.

Jesus shares with us all that is his own, including his strength, wisdom, and favor. We are meant to be Christians, little Christs, those who have thrown off the old self and put on the new self redeemed in his image. This is why Saint John Paul the Great reminds us that, "We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of His Son Jesus". No one can encourage others quite so persuasively as one who is himself rooted in Christ. That was the reason John Paul the Great was so convincing when he said simple things like "Do not be afraid". May we too be rooted in Christ and share that blessing within any who might need to hear it, including the many who know on some level but are often tempted to forget.

Graham Kendrick - For This Purpose

 

29 December 2025 - now you let your servant go in peace

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord

The parents of Jesus held nothing back in their fidelity to God and his commands. They presented the gift they themselves had first been given back to God. Jesus was finally an offering who was, at last, entirely acceptable to God. It was as though the whole law had been waiting for him to come along. At every stage of his life he did perfectly what his ancestors had done poorly or not at all. In this case it was his very identity, not only as undamaged goods, but as one of infinite value, that made his presentation to the Lord so great. When he was presented the words of the prophet Malachi were at last fulfilled, that, "the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts" (see Malachi 3:1). Mary, for her part, was purified. This was not because of ritual impurity so much as because she was a liturgical vessel, and it was appropriate to cleanse suchlike after use.

It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit
that he should not see death
before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.

There is so much we can learn from Simeon. Many of us see the value of our lives in terms of the contributions we can make to the world. Because of this most of us never achieve anything so great that we are able to "go" and meet death with peace of heart. We generally have an aching sense of something to do that we have left undone, some way we might finally prove our value. We don't know what Simeon had managed to accomplish in his life until that point. It sounded from his song that he did not expect to do much else. But he was not crushed or even sad because of his apparent lack of usefulness. Rather, the value of his life was predicated for him on something other than his contributions. Thus, it was enough for him to see God's promises fulfilled, and to touch the one who fulfilled them gave his life its full measure of value. 

Why was Simeon able to find his entire fulfillment in Jesus when we ourselves can't seem to do so? We have the vague sense that we should, but we still seem to need so much else besides. We receive Jesus, far more than did Simeon, in his gift of himself to us in the Eucharist. Yet most of us don't feel such an overwhelming sense of fulfillment that we sense that our whole existence has somehow been justified in the event. The difference, perhaps, between Simeon in ourselves, was that Simeon lived a life of waiting for the Lord, led by the Holy Spirit. He hadn't decided the purpose of his own life. He had learned it by listening to the Spirit. And the Spirit guided him through a long process of waiting to see that purpose accomplished. We too can live like that, making ourselves ever more ready to find our fulfillment in the Lord. But we too often choose to accept alternatives and substitutes when the joy of the presence of the Lord is not available on demand. We dull our spiritual senses with these substitutes such that when we do receive him we don't full recognize the magnitude of the gift.

Jesus is the light of the world, meant to reveal God to the nations. And, as John reminds us, "the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining". Yet the light of Christ is often obscured, and this in large measure because those who call themselves Christians don't fully radiate that light, since whoever "hates his brother, is still in the darkness", even if he claims to be in the light. We have said it before, but it is worth repeating: we can't claim to love God if we refuse to love the creatures he has made in his image. But the more we allow God to empower us to love beyond our normal human limitations the more his own divine power will be revealed. This can't come about without opposition or contradiction. But fortunately, for us as for Simeon, it isn't about what we bring to the table nearly so much as what we ourselves receive from the Lord. That is what we need to learn to value, and to treasure. Then we too may one day experience peace of heart like Simeon when God at last calls us home.

Taize - Nunc Dimittis

 

28 December 2025 - there and back again

Today's Readings
(Audio)

We might think that the dramatic nature of the birth of the savior into the Holy Family does not provide us with much in the way of a model for we regular families. We probably don't often experience deliverance from immediate danger by the directions of angelic beings. The supernatural aspect of the events that surrounded the birth of Jesus may cause us to set the Holy Family on a pedestal for admiration, but not so much for imitation. But maybe we can learn from Joseph and his family after all.

the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”

What would happen if this event did occur within the context of our own families? We can imagine that a wife might not easily believe that her husband had heard from an angel, in particular in that angel suggested some massive life-altering change of plans. Perhaps a very spiritual woman might readily believe that an angel had suggested increased prayer or alms-giving because of angelic influence. But how quickly would she agree to relocate the family on the basis of revelation? Thus, we can see that, in this instance as well as others, the functioning of the Holy Family was predicated on trust. Joseph decided to trust Mary about what she was told by an angel about the birth of her Son. Mary knew Joseph well enough to trust him when he told her about this appearance of an angel. No doubt it helped establish this trust that it was an angel who caused him to stick with her until this point. In our own families we are usually more suspicious of one another, and more doubtful of God's ability to intervene in our lives. We ourselves would probably second guess the angel and then allow ourselves to be entirely talked out of belief by the questioning of our spouse. 'Are you sure that's what you heard?' 'Am I?' But Joseph was different. He recognized the divine messenger and believed him. Mary trusted Joseph enough to endure hardship for the sake of something that was only revealed to Joseph. She did not begrudge the fact that she was not separately told. She was happy to see Joseph receive unique gifts for his unique role. But this was possible because he always used his role at the service of the family as a whole. He never exploited his authority for his own sake. A normal person might have been tempted to avoid all of the hardship which Joseph had to endure for the sake of his wife and child. But Joseph not only didn't avoid difficulties, but didn't hesitate to embrace them to see the divine destiny of his family fulfilled.

Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.

We may think that the virtues that define family life, and the implications of the fourth commandment are boring and basic. But the Holy Family demonstrates that when these things encounter real life circumstances we can't discount them so easily. They are precisely the basis and the glue that keep individual groups and society as a whole from coming apart at the seems. Of course, the only way to ensure that we are faithful in extraordinary circumstances is if we are first faith in ordinary ones. If we want to be ready to follow the guidance of an angel we ought at least try to be open for more subtle direction from the Lord in our daily lives. Indeed, our lives may be mundane, but they need not by dull. If we heed the advice of Paul we will be both fulfilled by what we now have and ready to move the moment the Lord calls us.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, 
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, 
singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs 
with gratitude in your hearts to God.

Third Day - Angels We Have Heard On High

 

27 December 2025 - faith and facts

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands

John was an eyewitness to the life and ministry of Jesus. He wanted to be clear that he was not promoting myths or fairy-tales, but rather something he had actually experienced empirically. Yet, John saw one thing, but through faith realized something greater. It was one thing to see the body, even the transfigured and glorious body, of Jesus. It was another to recognize that what was made visible in him was eternal life that was with the Father before time began. It was one thing to recline his head upon the breast of Jesus at the last supper. It was another to recognize Jesus as the bread of life.

The historicity of the testimony of John was important. Without it we would merely by discussing a myth with no particular value beyond whatever inspiration or instruction we could derive from fiction. If Jesus is truly Savior he cannot be a mere idea. He must come to us from outside of ourselves in an objectively real way. He must have real power, that is, power over reality itself, in order to set us free from our all too real prisons and chains.

But history itself could not express all or even most of the truth about Jesus. The true testimony to the life of the Son could be received even by those who were not eyewitnesses. We do not share the specific experiences of John the Evangelist, but we do share his faith when we believe his testimony. He saw certain empirical phenomena and could have interpreted them through a lens of doubt or a lens of faith. And the Spirit led him to choose faith. We are in a similar position when we hear the proposed Gospel accounts of Jesus. We too can respond to them with either doubt or with faith. Our culture of scientific materialism tends to push us toward doubt. But the same Spirit that drew John to faith can draw us believe as well. This is part of what it means to share "fellowship" or "communion" with John. It means being animated by the Spirit to believe, to hope, and to love the same God, revealed in the historical life of Jesus Christ.

Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.

Even in the finding of the empty tomb it was necessary for John to exercise faith. It was one thing to discover a missing body. It was another to understand that it implied that the resurrection promised by Jesus had been accomplished. Jesus had, of course, made such promises before his death. But they could not truly become real objects of belief except when in the face of the stark reality of that death. Would the crushing weight of sorrow from the death of Jesus dictate a response of despair? Or would his disciples find ways to hope in him and trust in his promises once more? At the tomb, John again chose faith. No doubt it was not at that point fully mature. That most likely took further encounters with the risen Lord and ultimately the gift of his Spirit at Pentecost. But eventually he did believe with so much sincerity that he was changed entirely and forever by it. Only belief like that could explain the urgency and desire that made him desire to share what he knew with others, including with us.

We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.

Many of our experiences can be interpreted very differently depending on whether we doubt or believe that the Lord is at work in our lives. We often see tombs. Even when they are empty and there is an invitation to believe we sometimes still assume that death is a reality that is absolute and unconquerable. But it is not. Seen with the eyes of faith we too can recognize the Lord revealing himself and making his salvation known and available, even in the circumstances of our own lives.

Graham Kendrick - We Believe

 

26 December 2025 - you will be given words

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
You will be given at that moment what you are to say.

We need to be open to what the Father wants to say to others, rather than being so focused on our own plans that we don't hear his guidance. We tend to calculate that probability that certain statements will have a certain desired effect. But our insight is limited. Only God knows what people truly need to hear. This was evident in the speech of Stephen to those with whom he debated. Who could have predicted that a lengthy discourse on salvation history followed by some harsh words that placed his opponents within the context of that story of salvation were what they might need to hear?

You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors. 

Most of us are probably more likely to err on the side of excessive kindness, only telling others what we think they want to hear. When we choose to speak harshly we often do it just for the sake of provoking others, with no sense that such words could be helpful, or cause people to open their hearts. Even in the case of Stephen it was not clear that his words immediately had a beneficial effect. After all, hearing all of this "infuriated" them. But it eventually became obvious that Stephen wasn't speaking for the sake of self-satisfaction. He wasn't responding to aggression with aggression. He was brave and bold enough to say the words that God gave him to say. These words seemed at first to be a condemnation. But they might ultimately have led to a realization. For the contrast between the unruffled and angelic Stephen and the riotous crowd that stoned him could not have been stronger. In his openness to the Father, Stephen became a Christlike figure. Not only his words and actions, but even his death resembled that of Jesus himself. He offered his life, innocent though he was, for the sake of his testimony to those who were guilty. 

As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”; and when he said this, he fell asleep.

But we may ask, did Stephen's apparent openness to the Father actually bear fruit? We only have hints of how this might have been so. But the strongest of these is the witness to his execution by the name of a Saul of Tarsus. Clearly this event in itself didn't somehow magically trigger his conversion. But it must also have been part of the larger context that allowed his world altering response to Jesus on the road to Damascus. When Jesus told Saul that it was he himself he was persecuting Saul might well have thought back to the moment described in today's Gospel, in which Stephen himself very much embodied the presence of Jesus in the face of persecution. It would have been a real life example that helped the revelation of Jesus make sense.

We are not suggesting that we should give ourselves license to say whatever hotheaded and aggressive things we think might be the most likely to provoke others. We are not suggesting that poking the bear is ultimately an effective strategy. What we are suggesting is that God has a broader perspective than we do about what others  need to hear. It is not so much a matter of permission to say whatever we feel as a matter of being on the watch for things we should say that we might others be afraid to say, since they don't actually come naturally. That's the point. They only come supernaturally. And it is then that the cracks in even the hardest hearts might shift just a little, letting the light shine through at last.

Matt Maher - He Shall Reign Forever

 

25 December 2025 - through his Son

 

Today's Readings - Mass During the Day
(Audio) 

In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways 
to our ancestors through the prophets; 

In times past we would have wondered if we could really hear from God. Sure, there were philosophers who could tell us true things about God. But they were mostly able to explain what they did not know, rather than anything positive. This was still helpful in purging the idolatry of assuming that God was one creature among many, or limited in the way that any created thing is inherently limited. But it was not relationship or true communication, and did not claim to be. There were prophets who professed to speak God's words. But even the greatest of these prophets were themselves merely human. The things they spoke were true, but inherently partial. It wasn't quite as compromised as a game of telephone. But neither was it direct communication. The prophets, after all, had a limited capacity to embody their words in their lives. They were often holy. But even the greatest of the prophets, Moses and Elijah, had moments marked by all too human failings. The ability to communicate in words that did not always correspond to one's life was limited. We know this feeling well when we try to tell others about the Gospel in spite of our flaws and shortcomings.

in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son

Philosophers might have wondered if true communication with God was something that was even possible, or whether God was the kind of thing with whom we should want to communicate. After all, an all-powerful and beneficent source of everything really should have no need of any input from us. And his transcendence might well mean that we have no hope of truly understanding him, but only the messages that he specifically adapts to us. We are far more distant from his capacity than are young children from highly educated adults. We might have wondered this if God had not in fact revealed himself through his Son. 

And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.

The Word became flesh, and the Son was born into our world, in an act that definitively proved that God not only could communicate with mankind, but that he desired nothing so much as to be in communion with us. He did not want us to remain as slaves who did not understand him. Rather, he desired friendship, and made known everything he himself heard from the Father to us (see John 15:15). The incarnation proved that the sort of thing that God was was sufficiently compatible with humanity to take a human nature to himself. Through that nature he spoke to us, he taught us, and ultimately he redeemed us. Was the message he brought adapted to our limited capacity? Obviously. And yet, because Jesus was truly God, we need not fear that it was fundamentally compromised in the process. God was able to make himself, at last, clearly understood. And in turn we gained the freedom to not only express ourselves, but to recognize ourselves as known by him. Prayer need no longer feel like tossing darts at a dark sky. Jesus definitively revealed the merciful heart of God, which is always moved with compassion for the wounded hearts of humanity. 

The fact of the possibility of communion between God and man is at the heart of the Gospel. We may not always realize it. But when we lack it we lack everything. It is the deep desire underlying all of our superficial wants. Only in this communion can our hearts find true rest. And it is for that reason that the revelation of its possibility is such joyful news. The desires of our hearts can truly be realized. What was lost by Adam and Even in the Garden can finally be restored, and in fact has been restored, for those who open themselves to it.

Hark!  Your sentinels raise a cry,
together they shout for joy,
for they see directly, before their eyes,
the LORD restoring Zion.

Let us be among those shouting these glad tidings from the mountains. In an age when many have lost hope it is here that hope is found. Here, it can be reawakened even in the most jaded among us. 

Maverick City Music - Go Tell It On The Mountains

 

24 December 2025 - promised of old

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Through his prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.

In his prophetic song, Zechariah sang of the fact God had raised up a mighty Savior, and that, in doing so, he himself had come to his people to set them free. This was the fulfillment of the promise made by Nathan to David, about the heir, sprung from his loins, who was the true Son of God the Father, and who received from him an everlasting kingdom that would never be destroyed. Those who read that prophecy in previous generations could not have guessed the degree of truth in the words describing the relationship between God and this descendant of David. They were expecting something that was more of a pious metaphor. But what they actually received was God himself, in the person of the Son, coming to the world the bring salvation. This salvation was also predicted by Nathan:

Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old,
since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel.
I will give you rest from all your enemies.

As with Nathan's prophecy, Zechariah's song also focused on the fact that the savior sent by God would deliver us from the hands of our enemies. But who were these enemies? They were not Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, or any other persecutors of the people, at least, not primarily. The enemies from whom Jesus came to save us were the true principalities and powers of darkness (see Ephesians 6:12). The reason the savior came was not to temporarily address a symptom of the problem but rather to treat the root cause. Our human enemies were no comparison. These spiritual foes really were the ones who truly hated us, since they sought not only our ruin in this world, but also our eternal damnation, and this is an expression of their hatred of God himself, the source of all goodness.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hand of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.

In setting us free from our enemies God was setting us free from slavery to sin, from compulsion and addiction, from our inability to consistently shun evil and choose the good. He did not save us in order to set us in some value neutral state from which we could safely amuse and entertain ourselves. He saved us for worship. But this worship was meant to be without fear. That meant not only without the fear of our enemies, but also without the fear of futility. In other words, we would be able to worship with a firm hope of actually becoming "holy and righteous in his sight", and an unshakable belief that there was nothing better, nothing that could possibly fulfill us more than that.

In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Today is our last chance before Christmas to ready our hearts to meet the light who came into our world, the light who will do so once more during our liturgical celebration. We have some few hours before we will be attending those celebrations. Let us spend some of that time consciously agreeing with the prophetic assessment of Zechariah, expressing our desire to worship the coming king without fear. When we have Jesus, there is nothing else that can truly hurt us, nothing else truly worthy of fear. So may we attend to this feast with all of our hearts, knowing that nothing matters more, that there is no greater peace or fulfillment anywhere to be found.

 

The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns

Clamavi De Profundis - O Come Divine Messiah

 

23 December 2025 - a new name

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father

The name of the child was important. Yet, if she had succumbed to pressure from her neighbors and relatives, Elizabeth would not have chosen in obedience to the words of the angel. Sometimes we have to push back against even well meaning social pressure in order to be faithful to God.

The friends and neighbors do doubt wanted to honor Zechariah by choosing his name for the child. But what was needed here was not the repetition of something old, but rather, the recognition of something new. The grace God showed in causing Elizabeth to conceive was recognized in the name John, meaning 'God is gracious'. 

Zechariah had responded to Gabriel in accord with his doubts, with his understanding of how he thought the world was and would always be. But what was needed now was speech open to and in accord with the new thing that God was doing. 

Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert (see Isaiah 43:19).

Zechariah had been silenced because he was speaking in a merely human way, in accord with how he understood reality to be. Thus it was that when he resolved instead to agree with God's understanding of the situation the his tongue was freed to speak. Instead of doubts about what God could or would do for he and Elizabeth, he spoke blessings, not only for what he had already done in the gift of John, but also for what he would do through him in the future. He moved from speaking his doubts and ending of with nothing more to say to speaking his belief in the promises of God in a beautiful song of hope and praise.

Lo, I will send you
Elijah, the prophet,
Before the day of the LORD comes,
the great and terrible day

The Lord promised to send Elijah. But if people expected the Lord to cause that great historical figure to literally return himself, in order to play the role prophesied by Malachi, they would have had their expectations frustrated. Even in the way God fulfilled this promise there was an unpredictable newness. In other words, one could not take control of circumstances on the basis of history, or even on the basis of prophecy. Being properly aligned with the action of God required openness. It might seem easier if we simply had the Scriptures like an exact route from the past to the future, one that didn't require any further attention once the gist was learned. But it is actually much more exciting that, even now, God is full of surprises. And these surprises are ultimately better than anything we can ask or even imagine. Our understanding is too constrained and even our imagination is too tame to fully grasp what God has prepared for those who love him.

Matt Maher - Canticle Of Zechariah

 

22 December 2025 - great things

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.

Mary had no doubt already been singing this song to God already within her soul. It must have reached an apex during her encounter with Gabriel. But it was here, it was caught up in the Holy Spirit, together with Elizabeth, and the yet unborn John, that it bubbled to surface. Here was a reciprocity of mutually reinforcing joy. No doubt it was a blessing for Mary to find an environment where she could thus express herself. We can imagine that most passersby and acquaintances would have been less thrilled to hear her Magnificat. To them her joy would have seemed unsubstantiated and the claims she made in her song baseless. Blasting morose people with profound spiritual joy seldom produces good results. But Elizabeth absolutely resonated with the Spirit in which Mary sang, and understood the truth of her words. 

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones
and has lifted up the lowly.

Mary and Elizabeth were already among the lowly who were lifted up by God, both blessed in real and tangible ways through the power of the Spirit at the appearances of Gabriel. Yet, although Mary sang as if everything in her song had already come about it was not the case that it had come about completely. After all, the mighty were still on their thrones, something that was not only true then, but even now on our day. Yet Mary proclaimed what she understood the end result would be as though it was already accomplished. This was, in other words, faith, and hope in the promises of God. It was not flimsy hope in the sense that we commonly use that term. It was supernatural hope with God as its object, hope that would not, could not disappoint (see Romans 5:5). 

He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.

How could Mary possess such hope in spite of a world that was, to all appearances, still ruled by the proud, the mighty, and the rich? Was it not because in Jesus God had in fact already completely upended the hierarchies of power in this world? Just by the fact of his incarnation Jesus had already initiated the great reversal promised by the prophets. He was the bread of life, already filling the souls of the hungry by his presence. And his eventual victory over the systemic powers of darkness in this world was assured. Thus, anyone who was united to him already shared in a victory that, while still distant, was definite.

Mary's song helped root Elizabeth's own experience and understanding of God's mercy in his larger plan of salvation. Being rooted in that story was going to be important, since her son John wasn't exactly going to live a long and carefree life, or provide any continuation of her lineage. He was going to succeed in a way that required faith to perceive. Yet he was truly among the lowly exulted by God, in spite of appearances to the contrary. The promise of mercy was not forgotten, even when all seemed lost.

Mary's song can help us as well. She can help teach us to magnify the Lord ourselves, and to find joy in our savior, just as she did. She can help teach us to believe in God's ultimate victory even when times seem dark. From her we can learn that, having Jesus, there is nothing we truly lack.

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (see Romans 8:32).

Matt Maher - Great Things

 

21 December 2025 - not suspicious minds

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.

Our culture tends toward suspicion in most matters so we often assume that Joseph suspected Mary of infidelity. We are aware of so many TV and radio programs about such topics that it seems fairly normal to us. But we must believe that suspicion was not the natural or first response for Joseph as it might be for any of us. It would not have been the first option in regard to any faithful child of Israel, let alone one as committed to the Lord as was Mary. Neither would it have been exemplary righteousness to immediately assume the worst, or, in fact, to assume anything without hearing her explanation. The fact was that "she was found with child through the Holy Spirit", or that, in other words, a miracle had been discovered. It is likely that the profound holiness of Mary, of which Joseph must have been aware, made what was humanly impossible seem not altogether unlikely. Yet, Joseph did not want to expose her to shame. Wasn't this meant to imply that he would divorce her while trying to minimize the public scandal? Or was it rather a different sort of shame he sought to avoid, one which he might introduce into the situation himself by his very involvement?

Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.

If Joseph was suspicious of Mary it follows that the problem with taking her into his home was not one of fear, as though he was worried about his own reputation being on the line, or, still worse, future lapses in virtue on the part of Mary. No, if Gabriel was counseling Joseph against fear it was because Joseph's holy fear made him reluctant to be so involved in something so miraculous. He had in fact discovered the true burning bush in the Blessed Virgin, and was afraid to walk on the holy ground of her presence.

For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.

We tend to assume that Gabriel was explaining here that the child was not born of adultery or rape. This seems superficially self-evident to us if we assume that Joseph did not share in the discovery of the fact that the child's birth came about "through the Holy Spirit". What else might it mean? One possibility is that it was a reminder of who was actually in charge in this situation, in order to give Joseph confidence. He need not fear to be involved in something holy and miraculous beyond his understanding because he wasn't the one in charge. The Holy Spirit was in fact the one running the show, and his plans included Joseph in an important way.

She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.

Gabriel referred to Joseph as "son of David" intentionally, since it was based on this fact Jesus would himself be born into the lineage of David, eligible to receive the royal throne and covenant promises accorded to David (see Second Samuel 7:8-16). It was for this reason that it had to be Joseph who gave the child of Mary his name, in order that all of the many promises of God could be fulfilled through him. It was precisely fitting that the name of Jesus meant 'God saves', since this was just what the messiah would accomplish as the ultimate result of all of those promises.

The birth of Jesus without the role that Joseph ultimately did decide to fulfill is nearly incomprehensible. Once his role was known to him he played his part without question or even hesitation. Through him Jesus was "descended from David according to the flesh". And through his faithfulness and protection he flourished and grew. He was "established as Son of God in power" by the same Spirit that brought about his birth and that guided the holy family's life together. Joseph, probably, did not live to see this happen, "through the resurrection from the dead". But nevertheless the hallmarks of this great craftsman were all over the final product, life and character of him whom we now worship as our God.

Matt Maher - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

 

Damascus Worship Featuring Aaron Richards - Hail Joseph

 

20 December 2025 - do we want to know?

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

But Ahaz answered,
“I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!”

Sometimes we ask, because, like Zechariah, we are giving voice to our doubts. But at other times we don't ask because, like Ahaz, we already have our own plans. We're afraid of the way the Lord wants to involve himself in our lives and so we shield ourselves under a false pretense of piety. The prohibition against tempting the Lord, or putting him to the test, was against trying to force his hand or make him prove himself. It certainly didn't mean that one couldn't ask for a sign when specifically instructed to do so by a prophet. 

But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”

Mary might have expressed doubt, as Zechariah had done. Although she was not too old to bear a child she apparently did not plan to conceive in the normal way. This was likely due to a vow of virginity, or else, why the question? She might have responded to Gabriel that there was no way that what he was suggesting was possible in her specific circumstances. Or she might have refused to ask, like Ahaz, because she didn't want to know, and was unwilling to have her preexisting plans interrupted. But she was a faithful daughter of Israel who knew the Scriptures of her people. Rather than the selfish fear of Ahaz, or the servile fear of Zechariah, she demonstrated the holy fear that is the beginning of wisdom. This made her set her own plans and preconceptions aside enough to open herself to learn what God wanted to do in her life. She didn't require of him that he only do things that she was already able to understand. She opened herself to receive new understanding such as would be necessary for her to cooperate with God on his plans for her life.

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.

We know that God does not typically explain everything about what his plans for us will mean. The future remains largely unknown and unknowable for us. But he does nevertheless want to make known enough for us to willing cooperate with his plans. He does this chiefly through the Scriptures. But he also acts on an individual level, since he has unique plans for each of us (see Jeremiah 29:11). Let us not be like Zechariah who doubted. Or, if do give in to that temptation, let us learn what he learned in the school of silence about the power of God's word. Let us not be like Ahaz, reluctant to listen when God wants to speak. Let us instead be like Mary who trusted God enough to let him speak into her life, and who fully embraced what she heard.

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.

Michael Card - Immanuel

 

19 December 2025 - asking the wrong questions

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren
and both were advanced in years.

We know that there are several precedents in the Old Testament of women who were too old to conceive nevertheless miraculously bearing children by the power of God. The children that were born in such instances were often to play in important role in the history of their people, from Isaac, to Samson, to Samuel. We note that repeated emphasis of this theme as indicative of the fact that these miracles mean some special to God. We might even go so far as to say that in each one he looks forward to the way he would bring the Jesus our savior into the world by causing Mary to conceive even though she was a virgin. The conception of John the Baptist in the womb of Elizabeth was one more divine intervention that fit this pattern. What they all had in common was that, by accomplishing something humanly impossible, he gave the couples what their hearts desired. Every conception is indeed a gift of God. But in these cases he delighted to give them in such a way that his love and mercy were especially evident. Mary's case was of course somewhat unique. But in each, God delighted to work within the structure of the family to accomplish his purpose. This was always both for the sake of the individuals involved and also for society as a whole. 

Then Zechariah said to the angel,
“How shall I know this?
For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”

God had sufficiently prepared for this moment that Zechariah should have been able to believe what he was being told, since he would have been familiar with the Scriptures in which previous instances of the pattern were recorded, and since, in any case, he ought to have believed the supernatural being who revealed it to him. But he succumbed to the human tendency to believe the familiar over than the fantastical, even when the fantastical appeared before his eyes. He could not be roused from the hypnosis by which the world caused him to place limits on what he believed was possible for God. He was ultimately able to receive the gift God gave him. But he was not able to do so all at once and without reservations. Only Mary was ever able to do that perfectly, and she because she had been prepared by God with special grace to do so. Hence the superficially similar questions Zechariah and Mary asked Gabriel were in fact quite different. Zechariah demanded proof. Mary only asked for clarification of what was meant. Thus we see a significant difference on the threshold of salvation. God desired to be fully manifest only where he would be fully welcomed so as to not have to force his way into our world. The birth of John the Baptist unleashed much grace to prepare for his coming. But only the complete yes of Mary's fiat led to his birth in our world.

But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them,
and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary.
He was gesturing to them but remained mute.

We tend to have more Zechariah in us than Mary. We tend to ask for proof rather than we respond with humble ascent and request for clarification. A good strategy when we find ourselves doubting is the manage our speech more carefully. Rather than speaking our doubts, we can choose silence, and eventually learn to affirm what God's word tells us. Making a habit of voicing our doubts tends to give them power and influence over us that makes it difficult for us to see beyond them. Making a habit of speaking the word of God helps us to believe that for him all things really are possible, even when they are beyond anything we have previously experienced.

I will treat of the mighty works of the LORD;
O God, I will tell of your singular justice.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.

 

Marty Haugen - My Soul In Stillness Waits

 

18 December 2025 - not a suspicious mind

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.

Joseph presumably knew Mary well enough at this point that there could be no serious doubts about her moral integrity, her unassailable virtue. If she was indeed "found with child through the Holy Spirit" there could be no question of infidelity. What, then, was the shame Joseph sought to help her to avoid? It was actually by remaining with her that he could most easily help her to avoid public scrutiny that she would face as an unmarried woman with a child. At least if she was married there was a plausible explanation available for those who did not know the full story. So it seems if he was not suspicious of her he might have chosen to continue with the betrothal with the additional righteous motivation of protecting her reputation. But the text tells us that he was worried about exposing her to some kind of shame. Perhaps the shame he feared was that which he, as an imperfect individual, would introduce into the situation. If he already had a reverence for Mary's virtue and now a holy fear about the conception of a child he might have realized (correctly) that the whole thing was, as they say, above his pay grade. He didn't want to tarnish whatever God was doing as humility made him fear that he inevitably would.

Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.

We see from the angel that Joseph was not upset but rather afraid, afraid of how his involvement would be problematic. The angel told him that this fear was misplaced, and this for two reasons. The first is that Joseph himself was a son of David. His own involvement was not accidental but rather part of God's plan to "raise up a righteous shoot to David", as Jeremiah said. The second reason was that the situation was being directed by the Holy Spirit. It was part of a bigger plan than Joseph could see. The best thing to do in such a circumstance was not to try to solve everything oneself, as though responsibility ultimately rested within oneself alone, but to let oneself be led, even without completely understanding where it was all heading. 

She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.

Joseph had the important role of conveying the name given by the angel as the name of the child. Within that name was the announcement that the promise of God to save his people was finally being fulfilled. So too was the fact that God had now come closer to his people than ever before. Thus the child through whom the world would be saved would also be truly called Emmanuel, God with us.

When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.

Let's learn from the model of Saint Joseph. From him we can learn how to allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit to play a part in the plan of salvation even in spite of our flaws and liabilities. We too do in fact have a part to play in helping the world come to know how close our God has come to us. May we carry it out with the same prompt faithful Joseph himself demonstrated. Delayed obedience is often the same is disobedience. But this was never an issue for Joseph. May we learn from his example.

Damascus Worship Featuring Aaron Richards - Hail Joseph

17 December 2025 - a new beginning

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.

This book begins with a genealogy that is really a new genesis, the forward to the story of a new creation being brought about in Christ. But what can we really learn from a list of names, other than, perhaps, interesting historical anecdotes? For one thing we can see that the Jewish people were looking for a messiah who was a real person, rooted in history. He would demonstrate that the kingly line of David had not failed, which would in turn prove that God had not abandoned his covenant promises. Not just anyone could fill the role of the messiah. It wasn't something one could just claim without substantiating that claim. That is why so many people took issue with even the implicit idea that Jesus might be the messiah and sought to poke holes in the possibility. They did so by criticizing his place of origin, his way of appearing on the scene, his association with Gentiles, and probably even the circumstances of his birth. But the geneology Matthew preempts all of these criticisms. He shows how the birth even more scandalous births than that of Jesus did not prevent God accomplishing his plans for David. He also demonstrates that the Gentile's inclusion in the lineage of David was not problematic, and thus that the Gentiles always had a part to play in God's plan. The inclusion of many unsavory individuals, even outright sinners and corrupt kings, demonstrates that God was and is able to work through even the worst of human circumstances to bring about his ends. This is good news for the followers of Jesus, who often fail to live up to the standard he set. Even in spite of our mistakes God is still capable of bringing his messiah to the world.

Thus the total number of generations
from Abraham to David
is fourteen generations;
from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations;
from the Babylonian exile to the Christ,
fourteen generations.

Fourteen was apparently significant as the numeric value of David's name in Hebrew, which is also given as fourteenth of the list. David and Jesus were the only two people on the list whose respective titles ("the king" and "the Christ") are given. Thus the emphasis is on the fact that Jesus would be the one to fulfill the promises to David, the true son of David, the messiah¹.

We can take comfort from the genealogy that God has always been involved in history, working to bring about his plan to bless all the nations through his covenants to Abraham and David. The idea of Jesus as a character of ahistorical myth makes no sense in the Jewish context. Such a misrepresentation was only able to arise later within other cultural milieus. Yet during much of the time during which the geneology of Jesus played out it was not immediately obvious that God was at work. Thus, even if his work is sometimes hidden in our own day we still have reason for confidence, and far more reason than merely the ancestry of Jesus, since his own life speaks for itself. It is the concrete point at which the history of our world changed forever. This is still reflected by the dating system we use, no matter what designations we use to express it. It is an inescapable fact that, as Saint John Paul the great wrote, "THE REDEEMER OF MAN, Jesus Christ, is the centre of the universe and of history" (see Redemptor Hominis, 1). 

Many of us are often tempted to think that the story of Jesus is too good to be true. His contemporaries were more likely to think it was too human to be part of God's plan. But it is both better than we guess and more human than we typically give it credit for being. After all, we are talking here about the God man himself. But it is most definitely true that the lion of tribe of Judah has come and received a kingship that will never end. Let's remember the full density of the historicity of the Christmas story as we prepare to welcome Jesus again this year. When we do so we will more easily believe in its continued power to change the world.

1) Hahn, Scott; Mitch, Curtis. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament (p. 138). (Function). Kindle Edition.  

Robin Mark - You're The Lion Of Judah

 

16 December 2025 -

 

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

The man came to the other son and gave the same order. 
He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir,’ but did not go. 

The chief priests and the elders gave an affirmative answer to the question of whether or not they would serve the Father. But in spite of this, they did not go out to serve in his vineyard. Did they ever plan to go? At the beginning they probably felt pressured to say yes because they didn't want to disappoint God. So they claimed to agree with him, but either not considering or ignoring the implications of doing so. But when they no longer felt like they were being put on the spot they chose to focus on their own priorities instead. Perhaps initially they envisioned the requested work to be something quite different, something that they easily could and would have done. But in fact the work in the vineyard was being accomplished best by Jesus and his disciples. His outreach to the lowest and the least, to those on the margins of society, was not what the chief priests and elders had planned to do when they gave God their yes. They seemed to prefer the stratified hierarchy where they themselves were at the top and people like tax collectors and prostitutes were entirely excluded.

He came to the first and said,
‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ 
The son said in reply, ‘I will not,’
but afterwards he changed his mind and went. 

The first son who was asked at least gave a sincere answer that coincided with the actions he took after. He said no and did not go, at least, not at first. He was representative of the tax collectors and prostitutes who initially said no to God, choosing their own will over his law. They expressed their no to God by the way they lived. But neither their answer nor their actions were ultimate. They were given the opportunity to reevaluate, answer again, this time in the affirmative, and to change their lives. They had come to understand all too well what the choice of not serving in the vineyard meant. It meant squandered freedom, sorrow, and despair. Since they knew they said no previously they were able to change their minds and repent. The trouble for the other son and those whom he represented was that they said yes, and somehow still believed in their answer. The trouble for the chief priests and the elders was that they were so convinced that they were in God's will that they were unable to evaluate themselves objectively and see that they were living primarily from their own will.

When John came to you in the way of righteousness,
you did not believe him;
but tax collectors and prostitutes did. 
Yet even when you saw that,
you did not later change your minds and believe him.

The miraculous transformation that happened in the lives of sinners who encountered John the Baptist ought to have been a sign for others about the mercy of God, and of the fact that it was available to everyone. But not everyone wanted that mercy to be shared so broadly or so easily accessible. They preferred a world in which, as they thought, they did not need mercy, and in which no mercy for egregious sinners was available or possible. But the way they desired the world to be did not match reality. For in reality, mercy was available to all who could acknowledge their need for it. And there was no living soul, save the Blessed Virgin, who did not need it, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (see Romans 3:23).

Most of us are among those who have said 'Yes, sir' to God. But do we always go? Or has some distant yes in our past replaced the need for our continued obedience in the present? How do our own lives track with God's desire to make his mercy available to all people? Do we share his heart for those on the fringes of society? Or does his mercy seem like an invasive hassle from our point of view? Do we rather want to enjoy our lives without such interruptions, without such potentially uncomfortable relationships? If we have promised to be about God's work in his vineyard then we actually need to be about it. We can't just imagine we are, or say we are. It's not enough to merely attend mass on Sunday and put money in the offering plate if our hearts are not open to God. If we are not committed to seeing his Kingdom built among us we may exclude ourselves from seeing it come in fullness.

More than our own impressive abilities to deceive ourselves, this parable tells us that God is a God of second chances, and that it is never too late to turn to him. We must do so, not only in words, but in lives lived for him. Typically we must progress through such conversion in stages. We realize that in one area or another we have not yet given ourselves fully to God. Then, once we give that area over to him, we discover another. But the more we discover, the more we progress, and the closer to God we come.

For then I will change and purify
the lips of the peoples,
That they all may call upon the name of the LORD,
to serve him with one accord;

John Michael Talbot - Here I Am Lord

 

15 December 2025 - questioning authority

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

"By what authority are you doing these things?
And who gave you this authority?"

We can hardly blame them for being scandalized by Jesus cleansing the temple. He told them to stop making his Father's house a marketplace, which was obviously an implicit claim about his authority to act on his Father's behalf to set things right. But they wanted Jesus to make this implicit claim more explicit. Clearly no ordinary teacher would have claimed to have authority over the temple. Even prophets might make prophetic gestures or statements in regard to the temple, might even prophesy its eventual downfall, but they did not feel free to take renovations into their own hands. Jesus had said that he was one greater than the temple (see Matthew 12:6), which could, in the final analysis, mean only one thing. That one thing is what they were hoping to provoke him to say.

I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me,
then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things.

Jesus wasn't being evasive about answering the question about authority so much as not interested in answering a question that was not motivated by a search for truth. The chief priests and elders asked the question for political purposes. They wanted to force Jesus to say something so extreme it would negate his growing popularity.

Where was John's baptism from?
Was it of heavenly or of human origin?"

Jesus, as he so often did, turned the tables on those who sought to entrap him. He responded with a legitimate question, since a proper understanding of the origin of John's baptism was inextricably linked with understanding Jesus, who received that baptism. The forerunner was part of the context without which the bridegroom's coming would be unintelligible. If they wanted a real answer about the authority of Jesus they would need to demonstrate the capability to give a real answer about the ministry of John the Baptist. But in the case of John the Baptist too they could only give a political answer, unable to take the popular stance, since they did not agree, and unable to say what they truly thought, since the alternative opinion was so popular. But if they couldn't be sincere about what they thought on that point, what right did they have to demand straightforward sincerity from Jesus? If they were only looking for pretext to solidify their preexisting opinions for political purposes, what good would it do to tell them that the authority of Jesus came from his heavenly Father?

So they said to Jesus in reply, "We do not know."
He himself said to them,
"Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things."

The big problem with the chief priests and the elders in this instance was that they had prior commitments and preconceptions into which Jesus did not fit. They hadn't believed in John, and were unwilling to reevaluate him in the light of Jesus. They were too tied to their ideas to change, and too afraid of the crowd to allow their opinions to be subjected to public scrutiny. In a way, people sincerely opposed to Jesus, and who could at least say so directly were in a much better position to potentially discover the truth about him. If those who questioned Jesus could just admit that they didn't believe in John that could have been the beginning of a conversation. But in their unwillingness to say anything at all they all but ruled out learning the truth.

The first reading this morning reminds us that God can work even through very stubborn people committed to false beliefs, as he did through Balaam. Our aversion to the truth and our innate stubbornness are not insurmountable obstacles to God. He can find people to whom we listen and put in their mouths words we can grasp. We may still reject those words. But they may spark with in us a desire to at least hope that they are true. Such is a blessing of this holiday season. Many people do not believe the message of Christmas. But some of them at least find it to be a desirable message. A God who cares enough to become one of us, to make himself known, and to save us, does seem preferable to a disinterested universe in which we are just blips of chance, heading from nothing and returning there. We can use this to our advantage as evangelists. It isn't always easy for us to own our Christianity publicly. Their isn't always a good opportunity to do so without being awkward. But Christmas makes it a little easier. So let us follow the example of John the Baptist and help to prepare for the coming of Christ this year.

Sword Of The Spirit Worship - Our Blessed Hope

 

14 December 2025 - at the gates

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ,
he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question,
"Are you the one who is to come,
or should we look for another?"

John knew that Jesus was the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. We have already seen disciples of his internalize this message and leave John to follow Jesus (see John 1:35-39). But the disciples John instructed to go to Jesus with the question about which we read in today's Gospel were apparently uncertain about whether or not Jesus was the messiah. We could easily imagine John had been telling recent disciples of his about Jesus, them getting excited, and then his imprisonment by Herod causing them to doubt. So John told them to bring their own doubts and questions directly to Jesus himself, knowing that Jesus would somehow have the answer. This is, of course, great news for evangelists. We may not know exactly what to say. We may not have the freedom to do all we would otherwise do to convince others. But the constraints we face are not constraints for Jesus. If we can even persuade others that Jesus is worth asking directly, which is yet a long way from convincing anyone, he has demonstrated he can take it for from. This seems similar to something Saint Paul would later express:

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! (see Second Timothy 2:8-10).

Jesus responded to the inquiry of John's disciples, not merely by proclaiming his own miraculous power, though he did that. Rather, in doing so he proclaimed that the prophecy of Isaiah was in the process of being fulfilled. God himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, was coming with vindications and divine recompense to save his people. The Lord had come to ransom his people who would then be free to enter the true spiritual Zion, full of song, crowned with joy that would never end. All of the sorrow and mourning the marked their world and still mark our own would then be forced to flee. This is the same promise described in the book of Revelation:

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (see Revelation 21:4).

Yet there was still a risk that people would take offense at Jesus, since he did not fulfill the prophecies exactly in the way anyone expected. John's own disciples were perhaps willing to take offense even at the fact of his imprisonment, though he was their own teacher. His lack of success seemed to be, at least, a cause for concern. And if this was true, how would they ever reconcile themselves to the fact of a crucified messiah? Because of this Jesus helped them to understand that the greatness that they had found in John was different from that usually recognized by the world, and was undiminished by Herod's power. People within the world said things in order to please others, like reeds swaying in the wind. But John always and only said what he believed to be true. People in the world demonstrated their success by their wealth, often exemplified in their wine clothing. But John had never needed this to win the approval of others. It was precisely his lack of regard for such things that made him seem, if also possibly dangerous, highly compelling. It was clear that his role wasn't designed to lead to a royal palace. If John's disciples learned to recognize what had drawn them to John in the first place they would be less likely to take offense at Jesus. And this was important, because, great as John was, he was only the forerunner, the messenger sent before the face of the Lord to prepare his way.

Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

The purpose of the greatness of John the Baptist was to help others find their way to Jesus and his kingdom. It would be a mistake to stop with him and not go the full way to becoming a disciple of the one whose sandals he was not worthy to untie. John was also great in the kingdom, and in some way died as a witness to Jesus. But that greatness was not meant to be unique to him. It was not specifically a result of his role as forerunner. All disciples together were meant to share in the great privilege of bearing witness to Jesus. This means us as well, especially as Christmas draws near and we prepare once more to welcome him.

You too must be patient.
Make your hearts firm,
because the coming of the Lord is at hand.

 

Clamavi De Profundis - O Come Divine Messiah