Saint John Damascene has the double honor of being the last but one of the fathers of the Eastern Church, and the greatest of her poets. It is surprising, however, how little that is authentic is known of his life. The account of him by John of Jerusalem, written some two hundred years after his death, contains an admixture of legendary matter, and it is not easy to say where truth ends and fiction begins.
The ancestors of John, according to his biographer, when Damascus fell into the …
Blessed are You, loving Father,
For all your gifts to us.
Blessed are You for giving us family and friends
To be with us in times of joy and sorrow,
To help us in days of need,
And to rejoice with us in moments of celebration..
Father,
We praise You for Your Son Jesus,
Who knew the happiness of family and friends,
And in the love of Your Holy Spirit.
Blessed are you for ever and ever.
Amen.
Today’s readings are all about foundations. A simple matter, really. Foundations are often overlooked in the everyday world. But that does not make them any less important.
In the First Reading we hear about nations who have a strong foundation and those that do not. “A strong city have we; He sets up walls and ramparts to protect us. Open up the gates to let in a nation that is just, one that keeps faith. A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace; in peace, for its trust in you”.
This nation is strong, safe, and peaceful because of its trust in the Lord.
On the flip side, “He humbles those in high places, and the lofty city he brings down; he tumbles it to the ground, levels it with the dust. It is trampled underfoot by the needy, by the footsteps of the poor.”
This nation, however, was disintegrated because of the lack of trust. It rose higher and higher with the false belief that it was strong, that it did not need him. Only buildings with weak foundations fall. It’s no wonder that the Lord was able to crush it to dust! We are like the two nations, either with the strong foundation or without. We need a strong foundation, and that comes from trusting in the Lord.
Besides not wanting to crumble into dust, why should we trust in the Lord? The Lord will build us a strong foundation. “For the LORD is an eternal Rock.” We need a solid foundation, and we are given one! Rock! Solid, strong, lovely rock. Our Rock – the sturdy building material that we need – is the Lord.
In the Gospel Jesus brings up construction once more. He tells us the story of a wise man and a foolish man who built their houses differently. The wise man built his on rock, and the foolish man built his on sand. The storm came, and the wise man’s house was perfect, no damage, no nothing. The foolish man’s house however, came crashing down due to a weak foundation. I can only imagine that he was caught under it, trying to shelter from the storm when it did.
The difference between the two men’s houses was their foundation. The one with a sturdy foundation of Rock survived, and the one with a weak foundation did not. The same thing happens in our lives. We need to build up our houses, our spiritual foundations to be strong. We must root them in rock, the eternal rock, the Lord, if we want to weather the storm. If we build on false beliefs and false foundations, when the storm comes the house will collapse.
So, are you built upon rock, or in the sand? Are you ready for the winds that will buffet and blow your house? Are you ready for the unexpected tests and trials that life is going to throw your way? We need a strong sturdy foundation. That foundation can only be found in the eternal rock, the Lord. It’s time to get building.
Perpetua Phelps is a high school student residing in West Michigan and is the second of four children. Apart from homeschooling, Perpetua enjoys volunteering at her church, attending retreats, studying Latin and French, and reading classics such as Beowulf, The Lord of the Rings, C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy, and Mark Twain’s Joan of Arc. She also spends much time writing novels, essays, and poetry for fun and competition. A passionate Tolkien fan, Perpetua is a founding member of a Tolkien podcast.
Feature Image Credit: IA SB, https://unsplash.com/photos/_MMdxl-jUHo
St. Francis Xavier was a Navarrese-Basque Roman Catholic missionary born in the Kingdom of Navarre on April 7, 1506. His father was a privy counselor and finance minister to King John III of Navarre. He was the youngest in his family and resided in a castle which still partially stands today and is in the possession of the Jesuit order.
As the young Francis grew, he was surrounded by war. Navarre was the target of a campaign by King Ferdinand of Aragon and Castile, and the kingdom was …
Govern by all Thy Wisdom, O Lord,
so that my soul may always be serving Thee as Thou dost Will, and not as I may choose.
Do not punish me, I beseech Thee,
by granting that which I wish
or ask if it offended Thy Love,
which would always live in me.
Let me die to myself,
so that I may love Thee.
Let me live to Thee,
Who art in Thyself,
the True Life.
Dear St. Therese,
guide me in your Little Way,
so that I may ascend to the heights and happiness of Heaven.
In my lifetime, there’s never been a year like this year, a year where nearly every single person on the entire planet can say it has been a rough year. Between the pandemic, natural disasters, social unrest, economic hardship, and on and on, everyone has faced some kind of struggle this year. Our readings today are just the kind of hopeful reminder we need in such times.
As the Psalm says, the Lord is our shepherd. Like sheep, we may not understand where he is leading us, but we know we are in his care.
Like those listening to Jesus in today’s gospel, God will provide us what we need if we stay with Him. Sometimes, though, His aid may not come at the time we would like, or in the manner we expect. We may have to wrestle with literal or figurative hunger for a time.
As our first reading reminds us, this life is not our permanent state. We must remember the eternal banquet to come. On that heavenly mountain, God will save us from our physical afflictions, like hunger and thirst. He will resolve our interpersonal conflicts, taking away what divides us. He will heal our emotional wounds, wiping away our tears. Our sins and mistakes, He will wash away.
So, my prayer for all of us today is this: Lord, help us to trust in You, to remember You are guiding us even when we cannot see or understand how. Help us to remember this life is only our temporary home, and to keep our eyes fixed on You and our eternal home. Amen.
J.M. Pallas has had a lifelong love of Scriptures. When she is not busy with her vocation as a wife and mother to her “1 Samuel 1” son, or her vocation as a public health educator, you may find her at her parish women’s bible study, affectionately known as “The Bible Chicks.”
Feature Image Credit: Dimitri Conejo Sanz, https://www.cathopic.com/photo/174-pastor-sus-ovejas
St. Bibiana, Virgin and Martyr (Feast day – December 2nd) Other than the name, nothing is known for certain about this saint. However, we have the following account from a later tradition. In the year 363, Julian the Apostate made Apronianus Governor of Rome. St. Bibiana suffered in the persecution started by him. She was the daughter of Christians, Flavian, a Roman knight, and Dafrosa, his wife. Flavian was tortured and sent into exile, where he died of his wounds. Dafrosa was beheaded, …
V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,
R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, etc…
V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done unto me according to Your Word.
Hail Mary, etc…
V. And the Word was made flesh,
R. And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary, etc…
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray:
Pour forth, we beseech You, O …
On that day,
A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:
a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
A Spirit of counsel and of strength,
a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,
and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.
Not by appearance shall he judge,
nor by hearsay shall he decide,
But he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide aright for the land’s afflicted.
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.
Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,
together their young shall rest;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the cobra’s den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,
as water covers the sea.
On that day,
The root of Jesse,
set up as a signal for the nations,
The Gentiles shall seek out,
for his dwelling shall be glorious.
Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,
“I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and who the Father is except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”
Turning to the disciples in private he said,
“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”
– – –
Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
In what way is Jesus contrasting revealing truths to the childlike and hiding them from the wise and the learned? The truth of the Gospel, which we proclaim during Advent, is that Jesus Christ united Himself to mankind as our Redeemer. We may not fully understand the Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection of our Lord, but we believe the Gospel with a child’s faith that God would not deceive us. This does not mean that we will never question the beliefs of our faith, but our questioning is to understand not to undermine. The wise and the learned that Jesus is referring to, question out of skepticism and unbelief, the Cross to them is absurd (see I Cor. 1:18-25). They think in their worldly wisdom that the Cross and Resurrection are just unsupportable myths that the simple-minded believe in, because they are ignorant and do not know any better. Jesus is not disparaging being wise or learned, there are many wise men who do have faith in Jesus Christ – St. Thomas Aquinas to name one of many examples. Yet as St. Thomas once declared, he learned more from prayer and contemplation than he ever did from men and books. During Advent, let us renew our confidence and trust in God’s love for us, and with child-like faith believe that God is working for our good – even if the circumstances seem to indicate otherwise. As St. Paul tells us “We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purposes” (Rm. 8:28).
In the second part of this passage, Jesus states that the disciples have seen and heard what many Old Testament kings and prophets wished they had seen and heard but did not. The disciples had met the Messiah in person, the greatest gift in the history of mankind. Rather than debating which of them was the greatest, which they did on several occasions, they should be thankful for the great blessing God had bestowed on them. This is also true for us. Even though we have not seen Christ in person, Christ says we are blessed because we believe even though we have not seen (see Jn. 20:29). This blessing should remind us of how thankful we should be to God for revealing to us the truth about His Son, and to share this love and revelation with others. This Advent let us ask God to deepen our faith in His love, and in turn, to be a light to other people of God’s kingdom here on earth, in the person of Jesus Christ.
Emily Jaminet is a Catholic author, speaker, radio personality, wife, and mother of seven children. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mental health and human services from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. She is the co-founder of www.inspirethefaith.com and the Executive Director of The Sacred Heart Enthronement Network www.WelcomeHisHeart.com. She has co-authored several Catholic books and her next one, Secrets of the Sacred Heart: Claiming Jesus’ Twelve Promises in Your Life, comes out in Oct. 2020. Emily serves on the board of the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference, contributes to Relevant Radio and Catholic Mom.com.
Feature Image Credit: Vanesa Guerrero, rpm, https://www.cathopic.com/photo/2177-jesus-con-brazos-abiertos