Friday Gospel Recharge: A Reflection on the Gospel of John 16: 20-23

Friday Gospel Recharge Series

Friday Gospel Recharge

A reflection on John 16: 20-23 

(6th Friday of Eastertide, Year B of the Liturgical Calendar, 2024)

Hope in Suffering

The question of why do good people suffer is an ancient one and has puzzled humanity for centuries. Various attempts to answer this complex question have been made, but none has satisfied everyone. From a Catholic point of view, suffering is seen as meaningful, as it allows us to participate in the saving work of Christ. Conversely, modern atheistic views reject this perspective, arguing that if God exists and is good, suffering would not exist. Thus, secular thinkers tend to view the phenomenon of suffering purely a natural and social factor, addressed solely by human effort alone.

Suffering in itself is inherently linked to evil. However, evil is found within us rather than outside us as an existing force. The definition of evil isn’t the devil, or some other being; it’s more accurate to think of it as a deprivation of a good within us. An apt analogy is the hole in a sock; just as a hole deprives a sock of its function, evil deprives us of goodness. This evil has persisted since  the fall of our first parents and is an inevitable part of our temporal existence, ceasing when we die.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus forewarns his followers about the suffering they will endure, likening it to the pain of childbirth followed by the joy of new life. Here Jesus speaks to them about the sorrow they will experience of his crucifixion, but also the joy they will experience afterwards. Similarly, as modern day believes, we are called to endure suffering for our faith in Christ, knowing that it is temporary and will ultimately lead to joy.

Dealing with suffering demands an outward-thinking perspective on life. We should refrain from harbouring desires for vengeance or bitterness towards the hurt we have endured or may yet endure in or devotion to God in Christ. Instead, we must bear it like the woman in childbirth, maintaining an inner serenity while fixing our gaze on the promise of the resurrection, where joy awaits us despite the inevitability of our suffering, Jesus accompanied us through it and awaits us at its conclusion.

In recent events, the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, an Iraqi-born bishop head of the Assyrian Church in Australia, served as a stark reminder of the reality of suffering by believers. Despite controversy surrounding him, Bishop Mar exemplifies unwavering faith in the face of adversity, refusing to respond to violence with hatred but instead clinging to the hope of the resurrection.

As Catholics, we are reminded that suffering, though inevitable, is without hope.  By embracing our crosses for the sake of Christ, we can find peace amidst the struggles of life. As an exercise this week, let’s ponder on areas in our lives where we have abandoned hope and shunned our crosses, and look towards Christ’s example of enduring suffering with faith and hope.

Friday Gospel Recharge: A Reflection on the Gospel of John 14: 6-14

 

Friday Gospel Recharge Series

Friday Gospel Recharge

A Reflection on John 14: 6 - 14 

(5th Friday of Eastertide, Year B of the Liturgical Calendar, 2024)

In Jesus name we pray

In the last two verses of this passage, Jesus makes a promise: anything we ask for in his name he will do it. To add the strength of this promise, Jesus says not once but twice: “I will do it.” So, if we ask for it, he will indeed fulfill our requests. Anything he does in response to prayer, however, is not for his own glorification - although we glorify him because our faith teaches us he is God- but for the majesty and glory of the Father in heaven. Jesus, in his ministry, did all things in the Father’s name, and so, to demonstrate this, he acts when we beseech him.

When we pray in Jesus's name, we can ask for anything that speaks to our hearts. If we desire winning the lottery, ask that in prayer; if we have a broken bone and want it to heal well with no complications, we can ask for healing in Jesus name; if we yearn for High Distinctions when facing academic challenges - again, ask in Jesus's name. However, many times our prayers don’t materialise right away, making us think Jesus isn’t listening. This assumption is wrong because Jesus always listens to us, as his Spirit resides in the sanctuary of our hearts. When Jesus doesn’t seem to respond, we must persist in prayer. Our perseverance signifies our reliance on divine providence rather than solely on our own strength. Sometimes, we might make that common mistake of not having praying earnestly enough. Perseverance and genuine prayer are two pivotal habits in the Christian prayer life.

When we fulfil the requisites and pray accordingly in Jesus name, it’s true that Jesus doesn’t grant all our prayers. Jesus has good reasons for this. The succinct answer is that Jesus knows what’s best for us, and sometimes, what we request may not align with our ultimate wellbeing, despite our innate pursuit to be happy. Indeed, if we are emotionally or physically broken, God desires healing in those areas, and it’s important that we petition God’s grace for healing. To neglect this would erroneously assume that God is indifferent, which is far from the truth. However, healing in these domains often involves a gradual process. In instances where things are not promptly improving, Jesus, in his infinite compassion, provide us with grace to endure the pain, transforming our sufferings into a source of beauty and a testament to his boundless love for us.

In the context of today’s Gospel, Jesus promises the disciples that he will sustain their vocations as disciples when they pray in his name. Jesus wants the world to know the Father’s love for them, and he chooses to only achieve this with our cooperation, now that he has risen and ascended to heaven. We cannot effectuate the conversion of the world through our own efforts alone; it necessitates the grace of God to transmute the heart of men through our testimony to Jesus. Therefore, St Paul urges that when we pray, we should do so in a manner that beseeches God to open doors for the Word to touch the hearts of many (Colossians 4:2-6).

Being a witness of Jesus is not solely arduous work; it also requires a rigorous way of life. It demands relinquishing worldly attachments and enduring significant trials and tribulations because of the world’s opposition to God’s message. When challenges cross our paths as witnesses, only the solace of God’s providence can alleviate the burdens inherent in the work of discipleship. Undoubtedly, the charity of God’s people, be it material or emotional support, eases some of the hardship, but the transient goods of this world pale in comparison to the enduring grace of God. When we implore God’s support, he lightens our load by sustaining us with the hope of the resurrection, the fortitude to persevere and all the other gifts of the Holy Spirit, empowering us to be effective agents in the world.

Heaven holds treasures for us- whether it be the reunion with lost loved ones, a perfect and glorified body, or eternal relief from trials and tribulations. Yet, the most sublime gift awaiting us is God himself. Nothing surpasses the gift of God over all other blessings he could bestow upon us. Let us pray in such a manner that we may be reunited with God once again. This is the one request that Jesus will never deny to those who sincerely seek this communion. In prayer, let us petition for the giver rather than solely for the gifts bestowed.

Friday Gospel Recharge: A Reflection on the Gospel of John 6: 52-59

 

Friday Gospel Recharge Series

Friday Gospel Recharge

A Reflection on John 6: 52 - 59 

(3rd Friday of Eastertide, Year B of the Liturgical Calander, 2024)

Navigating doubt: Exploring the real presence of the Eucharist

The dynamics of doubt in human experience are multifaceted and can be influenced by various factors. Doubts may arise due to the uncertainty of an idea or situation, such as the idea found in the discourse in today’s Gospel: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” We can also doubt due to fear of the future: “If I take this job opportunity, would it really establish a new base salary for a promising and better future? If it doesn’t, what a waste of time and effort.” Cultural influence, another important factor, shapes one’s belief and attitudes in a particular way, making us sceptical and critical of other ideas, leading to moments of doubt too.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus sparks doubt with his doctrine on the Eucharist, which we profess to be Jesus’s true body and blood. The Jews, with the customs and rituals, are troubled by this saying, since Jesus presents them a new commandment which looks akin to cannibalism, a practice forbidden by the law of Moses. Like our Catholic tradition, the Jews believed in the sanctity of human life due to our created image and likeness to God, and so eating a human person is forbidden. However, the Jews, while zealous for Godly things, were preoccupied with purity. They were forbidden to touch a diseased person, eat an animal found dead, nor drink the blood of animals, for all these things made them impure. Purity was important as it made a person more like God; purer your actions closer you related to God. Eating Jesus flesh and blood therefore would make them not only cannibals but impure.

Cannibalism, however, is not what is practiced in the Church. The Eucharist, while it is Christ’s body and blood, is not a physical and literal presence of Christ. Although it is the actual deified body of the Lord presented under the accidents of bread and wine, at the same time not a symbolic representation, even though the external appearance remains. To believe the miracle of the Eucharist is Christ requires, therefore, the eyes of faith to see.

In our modern world, doubters of the Eucharist exist, many being baptised and confirmed Catholics. This is unfortunate news because Catholics are required to believe in the real presence; there are no two ways about it. Before receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, we prepare for our first reception of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, and in the preparatory stages, candidates are informed in what we believe as Catholics in the Eucharist and that they are required to believe it in order to receive this gift given to us from heaven.

Pope Benedict XVI, and like many before him, have emphasised the doctrine of the transubstantiation of the Eucharist is confirmed in the scriptures. For example, in today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that his body is “real” food, and his blood is “real” drink. This is the first of the two references of the Eucharist. What Jesus means to say is that the Eucharist is indeed not a symbol but truly his body.  If he meant anything else, he would have said this is “like” my body, or a “metaphor” for my body. For this reason, the Church has always believed that the Eucharist is truly Jesus Christ. Since many Catholics today lack grounding in scripture and tradition, this doctrine has become difficult to accept and misunderstood.

Doubt surrounding the real presence of the Eucharist can be overcome by turning to what the church has taught and defended over the centuries. Controversy over the real presence is not recent; it’s been defended since the 1st century. The Didache, a 1st-century document, offers glimpses of what the early Church taught. Many people have died for this teaching. St Justin Martyr, an apologist and philosopher in the early to mid-2nd century, died, among many other Christians, for believing and defending in the real presence. His defense can be found in the 1st Apology, chapter 66. Today, people mock and threaten us for our belief. In more recent times, Richard Dawkins, a world-renowned English biologist, said once in an interview and also to a public crowd that atheists should mock and ridicule Catholics for professing in the real presence. 

If Jesus did not mean what he meant about our participating in his body and blood in the Eucharist, he would have said so. God is neither a liar nor a deceiver, and so he has been very clear with his words, referring to the Eucharist as his own body and blood. He wants what is best for us, and that is our reunification with him in heaven. When we consume Jesus in the Eucharist, it signifies that reality of what is to come: life with God or communion with him.

We cannot return to God using our own strength; we need God’s strength to help us along the way. God, in a sacramental way, paves that way by giving us himself as Eucharistic food for the journey. What better nourishment is there to have then God himself in the Eucharist?

There is this saying: You are what you eat. Since we are made in the image and likeness of God we become exactly that through partaking in the Eucharist. God wants us, therefore, to be like him.

Let us ponder then where we are at in our spiritual journey in relation to Eucharist.  What is my current belief and what do I need to do to increase my faith in Jesus in the Eucharist?

Friday Gospel Recharge: A Reflection on the Gospel of Matthew 5: 20-26

 

Friday Gospel Recharge Series

Friday Gospel Recharge

A Reflection on Matthew 5: 20 - 26 

(1st Friday of Lent, Year B of the Liturgical Calander, 2024)

Beyond the embodiment of Dogma: mercy

If you're not familiar with the Gospels, Jesus' main opponents are the Scribes and Pharisees. Aware of the Roman occupant and the burdens they impose, Jesus notes their hefty tax on his people, though it's not a significant issue in his earthly ministry. The insignificance of the Roman occupants may relate to Jesus' vision of a new Jerusalem, restructuring the Davidic Kingdom to include all nations and ethnic groups in the divine family.

 

Jesus' concern with the Scribes and Pharisees lies in their strict adherence to the written law, suggesting a legalistic approach to religious practices. Jesus is deeply troubled by their strict interpretation of the law, recognizing the burden it imposes on people's physical and spiritual well-being. They have either forsaken the Mosaic Law in favor of pagan practices or grown accustomed to a rigid observance, lacking mercy in their social and pastoral approach to the Judaic community. To address this, Jesus confronts not the foreign occupants, but those hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees whose understanding and practice of the Law deviate from a traditional interpretation centered on God’s letter of the text—love and mercy.

 

In today’s Gospel, the Scribes and the Pharisees feature once again in another of Jesus’ messages: “‘If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus presents this message to his audience so to challenge them to go beyond the superficial adherence to rules and regulations. Indeed, it’s just “not to kill,” and to present those who do murder “before the court,” which we read here. However, God’s measure of justice goes beyond the strict line that could only see it to mean giving unto one what one only deserves. In fact justice should be an act of mercy and mercy an act of justice. In numerous occasions Jesus presents this notion in his teachings. For example, the parable of the workers in the vineyard, Jesus teaches us that mercy is at the heart of justice. In this parable, the vineyard owner pays those who do a days work a days wage, and those who work only half or one tenth of a days work also a days wage. 

 

In today’s Gospel account, Jesus brings home the message emphasising that mercy is a virtue that proceeds from God. He says, if anyone is angry with his brother, be reconciled with him first, before making your offering of sacrifice. For the measure of love one shows to another will be the measure God will show unto him. Jesus wants us to empathise with those who disappoint or break relationship with us. People are complex beings and often their distorted thinking, their broken ways will determine how they act. They don’t necessarily mean to harm us, it’s just that their judgment in executing the good is an erroneous one, and this can be forgiven. God understands we can fail him a lot of the time too; he is aware that our fallen nature informs our decisions which is unpleasant and frustrating to him; however he wants us to hold off the cane and see how those who have hurt us or others in the community as God would, empathising with his plight.

 

Showing mercy is tough. This is because we have a very bad opponent, the devil, who entices us to remain unreconciled people. Yes, we may have opponents in this world: former friends, colleagues, enemy nation states, although our greatest opponent is the devil: for he influences humans to become our opponents. The best approach to warding off this vile creature is by staying close to the principalities of heaven such as our guardian angel and all the angelic and saintly hosts of heaven. We must pray to them for their protection; indeed we can pray directly to God too for his intercession however God’s community in heaven do not exist in a passive state. They are active in our redemption longing that we might be saved along with them. So, pray to your guardian angel or any other heavenly host with whom you have or want a close relationship. If we fail in this area, we might indeed fester human opponents for a lifetime. As this gospel message suggests, lifelong opponents amounts to an unfavourable judgment. if this case might be, we will then have the devil and his colleagues of hell accuse and torment us for an eternity, asking the question: why did you not reconcile with your brother when you had the chance. A scary yet just and merciful outcome for those who die in their sins.

 

As we continue to journey this Lent, towards Calvary where Jesus died for the forgiveness of sins, let’s pray for the grace to ward off the evil spirits that prey we might become rigid and unforgiving people. Let us also ask for the insight in people’s plight and the grace to be forgiving people. Let us pray that our broken relationships might be mended, representing the divine essence of the tri-persons of God which is love. 

Friday Gospel Recharge: A Reflection on the Gospel of Matthew 9: 14-15

 

Friday Gospel Recharge Series

Friday Gospel Recharge

A Reflection on Matthew 9: 14 - 15

(Friday after Ash Wednesday, Year B of the Liturgical Calander, 2024)

Desiring God again through our Lenten observance

As humans, we can be very ambitious creatures. This is very evident in the world we live in today; it’s observed in people’s pursuit for money, power, fame, riches, honour, innovation - a phenomenon that stretches as far back since time began: “Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens’” (Exodus 11:14).

We don’t want a small portion of these pleasurable goods either, it’s always in abundance and more than we could possess. People’s pursuit for pleasurable things come from an innate desire for them. When we desire something, be that money, maybe even just a single scoop of banana flavoured ice cream, the chase is on until we behold the desire stirred within. Until the desirable object is secured, our wanting will still remain strong.

The idea of desire can also be found in today’s Gospel. We hear of Jesus’ disciples criticised for not fasting while the disciples of John the Baptist do. Jesus addresses his critics by saying that when the bridegroom is absent, his followers will fast. After all, what is the point of fasting in times of a feast? When we attend a wedding banquet, often we find an abundance of food, drink, sex. Very rarely - if ever - are we invited to put on sackcloth and mourn for the newly wedded.

The discussion on fasting in this Gospel seems contradictory in comparison with the idea of desire, for desire often draws one towards what they want strongly instead of stepping back from the goods and pleasures that give quality and proper satisfaction. If we desire pleasure of all sorts and to experience them must come through consumption instead of fasting and abstinence of them, then this Gospel indicates something more than what we already know about the phenomenon of human desire.

Other than seeking pleasure in the usual natural goods, people everywhere have a desire for a higher good, something which is not exactly composed of form and matter. “They seek me day after day” says Isaiah in our first reading, “they long to know my ways,” continues the prophet. From all ages, every culture and ethnic race from Solomon Islands to Sweden have wanted to intimately know a higher being known as God. Some cultures have reduced God to an animal or some vegetable matter, while other cultures have reduced him as a man. Perhaps the reduction of God as a form of some material object is so that through our senses, humans of times past might possess that most desirable object which has spoken to the heart since our first parents took their first breath.

According to our faith, God is neither here nor there. He is above and beyond this timely existence; he, as that brilliant theologian has taught, is the act of existence whose essence cannot be distinguished from his existence. Our faith also teaches that God is one of love who knows no limit; this is best represented by Jesus on the cross. However, our faith goes on to teach that irrespective of our personal longing to know God, God is also jealous of our love and attention, delighting in our pursuit after him: “You shall not bow down to them (idols) or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God” (Exodus 20: 5-6).

If our God is one of love and yet is also jealous for our attention, it informs that our means to being with God is through the pathway of love. Love always entails sacrifice, and since God’s love is unconditional, our sacrifices should follow similarly. It means that when we give, we do so from the point where we expect nothing in return, desiring only that the other we have shown service towards may receive the best and all that our labour is worth. When our sacrifices are not geared towards our unfocused-selves, entailing something in return, even just the slightest recognition for the activity done, then our sacrifice cannot be described a true sacrifice. For Jesus our example did not take the honour for his death on the cross but for the glory of God, and it’s because of the glory he gave to his Father we remember him and can truly love him.

Lent is a period in the Church’s liturgical calendar that summons the faithful to fasting and abstinence. It’s a period where we take on more sacrifices. The purpose of our Lenten penances isn’t for the sole purpose of developing a habit to endure self-inflicting pain, or to focus ourselves on glum penances. Instead, Lent is a time to learn to desire God again, through the sacrifices we make for him. It’s in sacrifice of money, wealth, and the other pleasures of life that something greater outside ourselves and the world exists, whose love for us and can give us more than anything the world can give.

This is what Jesus meant by today’s Gospel. When he has gone to the Father, his disciples will desire to be with him again. Until then, they will fast. For now, they remain in the good company of God whose presence satisfies their hearts desires; they need not to fast. So remember, when you have decided your Lenten penance, it’s done to draw us closer to God, to trust in his support for our existence, to support that innate desire to be with him again. Do not fear of giving something up this Lent, for God is with us during this time of fasting and abstinence.

Friday Gospel Recharge: A Reflection on the Gospel of Luke 2: 22-35

 

Friday Gospel Recharge Series

Friday Gospel Recharge

A Reflection on Luke 2: 22-35 

(5th Day within the Octave of Christmas, Year B of the Liturgical Calander, 2023)

Christ is Messiah and People Dedicated to God Proclaim this Truth

Dedicating oneself to living in the world as either married or single person can be a hard slog for those people. Often, we approach many societal pressures to compromise the truth of the Gospel in our workspace. Most of the time people are pressured to be silent on the doctrinal moral truths of the Church but today it can be equally pressured to renounce the universality of the Godhead in Jesus Christ. All religions lead to the truth many would want us to think, so why can’t we accept every religion equally since each claim something about God?

In today’s Gospel we learn about Mary and her spouse Joseph dedicating the Christ child to the Lord in the temple. For us Catholics this might seem hard to grasp why Mary and Joesph would do that, since our faith informs us that Jesus is God in the flesh, so why then is he required to be offered to God as prescribed by the Mosaic Law? Two things come to mind in this instance. First, Mary and Joseph were devout Jews; they did what the Law required them. Secondly, Jesus was doing the will of the Father via the agency of Mary and Joseph. In fact, in the life of Jesus all his actions were orientated towards giving activity to the Father’s will, so irrespective of his infancy he, no doubt, would have dedicated himself as the first born to the Lord as per prescription of the Law: ““How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2: 49).

Interestingly in this Gospel we learn of the presence of Simeon the temple priest. Not much is known about him. A very small account of him is provided here. However, his famous words acknowledge a revelation given to him, namely that after he sets his eyes on the Christ child, God would let him see his natural death. 

Now, Simeon was of the Levitical priesthood. Without going much into detail, the Levitical priest dedicates his life to sanctifying the lives of the people by providing doctrinal instructions, offering sacrifices and providing pastoral care. These three aspects are also found in the working dimensions of Catholic priests today. However, Catholic ministerial priests receive their priesthood from Christ and not from the tribe of Levite. Setting this aside, Simeon, an elderly priest of the temple, made a proclamation when he saw the Christ child. He proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah and dedicated the rest of his days proclaiming this truth. 

As Catholics we also belong the priesthood of Christ. By virtue of our baptism we enter into that common priesthood. It is through baptism that we are received into this priesthood. The laity don’t function as ministerial priests since the ministerial priest is at the service of the common priesthood sanctifying, teaching and governing it.  We share in the very work of Christ by being priests, prophets and kings in the world. In other words, we dedicate our lives to be holy, teach and serve those in need.

What are we required to teach as Catholics of the common priesthood of Christ? Indeed we proclaim and embody the moral truths of the Church. However, as Catholics we should be undeniably dedicated to proclaiming Christ as Messiah. He was not just another moral person in times past who embodied decent values. To only proclaim that would be an insult to God and those who gave themselves for the message of the Gospel. Catholics and Christians everywhere are to teach what Jesus taught, and to proclaim what the Church teaches about Christ. He is not only the Messiah. He is also God the Son and God in human form. We’re called to proclaim this truth. We have an obligation to proclaim this since by virtue of our baptism we became priests of the common priesthood and as part of our membership we are required to be wholly dedicated to the things of holiness and truth. 

Although all religions claim to offer some truths about God, Jesus coming to redeem us and to be God with us as Emmanuel makes his coming not only present at Christmas but Jesus as Emmanuel is with us every moment of every day. He wants to be with us in every part of our life. He came to redeem us. He came to be human so that we can learn to be divine. We need to not only know the truths about Him but to have a personal relationship with Him.

Society thinks that Christmas is just one day whereas as Catholics we celebrate the season of Christmas, including having an octave of Christmas where the Christmas texts are used. This Christmastide let’s be more faithful to proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah who came to redeem and restore us to the Father’s love. Let’s not be afraid to tell others that Jesus who was given to us as a gift from God the Father at Christmas is indeed God and through him we are saved. 

Friday Gospel Recharge: A Reflection on the Gospel of Luke 1: 26-38

Friday Gospel Recharge Series

Friday Gospel Recharge

A Reflection on Luke 1: 26-38 

(1st Friday in Advent, Year B of the Liturgical Calander, 2023)

Trusting in God's Plan for Our Lives

As a second-year university student majoring in Environmental Science, I used to contemplate the idea of graduating and what that future might hold: a fulfilling job, a loving and beautiful spouse, all the material luxuries life could offer. However, none of these dreams ever materialized. Even if I had pursued them, I might have only ended up with an ordinary job at best.

During these moments of daydreaming about post-graduate life, I vividly remember feeling a gentle yet persistent call from God, urging me to consider a religious vocation. Whenever I allowed my thoughts to wander toward worldly pleasures, the word "PRIESTHOOD" would suddenly disrupt my fantasies. It was as if God were trying to redirect my path. Instead of embracing this calling, I panicked and concocted a plan to silence it, determined to pursue my own ambitions.

In today's Gospel, we encounter the story of the Virgin Mary and her divine vocation as the Mother of God. What sets her vocation apart from mine is that not only did she have the incredible honour of being Jesus's mother, but she also conceived Him while remaining a virgin, a seemingly impossible feat from a natural perspective. However, as the Gospel emphasizes, nothing is impossible with God, as all creation finds its origin in Him. Mary, with her unwavering devotion to the one true God, willingly surrendered her will to Him, trusting that He could help her achieve the impossible.

As members of the human race, God calls each one of us to respond to His divine plan. In answering this call, He desires that we place our trust in what He has in store for us. Trusting God can be challenging. Some may struggle with the abstract nature of God's presence, doubting His existence or questioning their faith in His inspired Word and the teachings of the Church. Others may find it difficult to believe that what God is calling them to do is not only possible but that He won’t fulfil His part in realising those plans.

One way we can learn to develop a trusting relationship with God is by reflecting on the countless times we have failed ourselves through our own shortcomings or how those we've loved and trusted the most have let us down repeatedly. If we've experienced disappointment from ourselves or others, it begs the question: can we be so sure that God would follow suit if we don't allow some space for God to guide us where He intends us to be? In my own journey, I eventually answered God's call. While I didn’t, at least not yet, achieve ordination, I found God closing certain doors and opening new ones, making the impossible pursuit of a religious vocation possible. All my initial concerns and worries were gradually addressed by God as I progressed in formation and earnestly lived out the evangelical counsels.

If doubt in God's providence remains a stumbling block, this Gospel featuring Mary serves as a reminder that God's assurance is unwavering. Throughout the conception, birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God was steadfastly by her side. Let us turn to her example whenever we feel God calling us to undertake an incredible task. By seeking inspiration from her, we may discover the courage and faith needed to respond with the same resounding YES that she offered. Saying yes to God always opens the door to more possibilities. At Christmas, we are reminded that God's ultimate gift to us is a share in His life—a promise we receive as a precious gift.

During this Advent season, as we prepare to welcome the Christ child at Christmas, let us strive for greater faithfulness in living our lives according to God's plan. Our fidelity to God's ways can only be achieved when we first place our trust in Him.