Advent 1st Week: Dec 1-6:
Dec 1 Monday: Mt 8: 5-11:
Context: Jesus’ healing of the centurion’s
slave, described in today’s Gospel, shows us how God listens to our
Faith-filled prayers and meets our needs. Centurions were reliable, commanding,
brave captains in charge of 100 soldiers. They were used to giving and
receiving commands. They were the backbone of the Roman army. According to
Luke’s account (Lk 7:1-10), this centurion loved the Jews and respected their
religious customs. He knew that Jews would incur ritual uncleanness on entering
the house of a pagan, and, wanting to save Jesus this inconvenience, said he
was unworthy to have Jesus come into his pagan house. The Centurion loved his
sick servant, trusted in Jesus’ power of healing, and was ready to face the
ridicule of his fellow centurions by pleading before a Jewish rabbi.
The remote healing: The centurion asked Jesus
just to shout a command as the Centurion did with his soldiers, so that the
illness might leave his servant by the power of that order. Jesus was moved by
his Faith and rewarded the trusting Faith of this Gentile officer by telling
him: “Go; be it done for you as you have believed.”
Life messages: 1) We need to grow to the level
of Faith of the centurion by knowing and personally experiencing Jesus in our
lives. We do so by our meditative daily reading of the Bible, by our daily
personal and family prayers, by frequenting the Sacraments, especially the
Eucharistic celebration, and by surrendering our lives to Jesus in rendering
loving service to others in all humility. 2) Like the centurion we are not
worthy to receive Jesus into our hearts in Holy Communion, and at the same
time, we invite Jesus to come and heal our souls. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Dec 2: Tuesday: Lk 10: 21-24: Lk 10:21-24:
The context: When the seventy-two disciples
returned after successfully completing their mission, Jesus rejoiced with them
and thanked his Father, shouting aloud a spontaneous prayer expressing three
great thoughts.
1) The first thought is that God hates intellectual pride
and loves childlike simplicity and humility. Jesus says that only humble people
with open minds can experience him as Lord and Savior.
2) The second thought is about the unique relationship
between Jesus and his Father. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are
equal in Being, possessing the same Divine Nature, Life, and Knowledge. Since
the Son is no less perfect than the Father, He is uniquely qualified to reveal
the inner life of the Trinity to the world. Jesus was sent to show the world
what God looks like and how God behaves.
3) The third thought is Jesus’ claim that He is the expected
Messiah Whom the prophets have foretold. Hence, Jesus
asserts that his disciples are blessed with the great privilege of seeing,
hearing, and experiencing God in human form.
Life Messages: 1) We need to make use of our
blessings. We are more blessed than many who lived in Jesus’ time because we
accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and have him with us in the Eucharist, in
the Bible, in the worshipping community, and in each one of us as Emmanuel.
2) Hence, let us participate in Jesus’ Divine life by Holy
Communion, hear His words by our meditative reading of the Bible, and worship
Him as a community of believers.
Fr. Kadavil (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Dec 3 Wednesday: St. Francis Xavier, priest,
Missionary
The context: The Decapolis was a loose
federation of ten cities with a mixed population of Jews and Gentiles. Jesus
took six months to travel to the Decapolis via Tyre and Sidon and to return to
Galilee. The healing and feeding described in today’s Gospel took place on a
hill near the Sea of Galilee after Jesus’ return from the Decapolis. Jesus
healed the lame, the maimed, the blind, and the dumb, then expressed His pity
for the hungry multitude to the apostles. When they asked Jesus where they were
supposed to get enough bread to feed this enormous crowd, He asked how many
loaves they had. They told Him, “Seven, and a few small fish.” Jesus
had the crowd sit, then took the loaves and fish, gave thanks to God for them,
broke them and gave them to the apostles to give to the people. After the crowd
had eaten their fill, the apostles, again at Jesus’ command, collected the
broken pieces; they filled seven baskets with the fragments.
Life Messages: 1) We need to help Jesus to heal
the blind, the lame, the deaf and the mute today. Jesus desires to open our
blind eyes and to loosen our tongues so that He may see and speak to the
spiritually hungry through us. Jesus asks us for our hearts in order to touch
the lives of people in our day through us, just as Jesus touched the lives of
millions through saintly souls like Francis of Assisi, Fr. Damien, Vincent de
Paul and Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa.).
5) We need to be fed by Jesus. Jesus continues to feed us in
his Church with His own Body and Blood in Holy Communion and with the word of
God through the Holy Bible.
Fr. Kadavil (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Dec 4 Thursday: St. John Damacene, Priest, Doctor of
the Church: Mt 7: 21, 24-27:
The context: In today’s Gospel, the concluding part
of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us two warnings: that we must match our
profession of Faith with actual obedience to the will of God, and that we must
build our life on the firm foundation of Jesus’ teachings. Worship of God
without commitment to the word of God is hypocrisy. Sincerity in a Christian
can be demonstrated not by what one says alone, but by what one does. Fine
words can never be a substitute for fine deeds. Thus, today’s Gospel gives us
Jesus’ call to authentic discipleship based on the strong foundation of Gospel
teaching. Acting on the words of Christ shows the authenticity of one’s
Christian commitment. Jesus contrasts a wise man who practices what he believes
with a fool who does not practice his religious beliefs, using the images of
one man who built his house on firm rock and another who built his house on
loose sand in summer. Only a house with solid and firm foundation can resist
the storm and flood, and only a person whose life has strong spiritual
foundations can stand the test. Building on loose sand is the way to
destruction. Thus, the two builders sum up two ways – the way of perfect
righteousness and the way of self-righteousness. On the Day of Judgment, the
first will stand; the second will fall.
Life Messages: 1) We need to match our practice
of the Faith with our profession of it: The test of our Sunday worship is the
effect it has during the week in our homes, workplaces, schools, parishes and
local communities, as well as on our relationships with friends and neighbors.
The litmus test for the genuineness of our practice of Faith is the care and
consideration we show to our neighbors, many of whom commonly experience the
absence of affection, of words of encouragement and of forgiveness.
2) We need to build our families on strong foundations : There
can be no great marriage and no great
family without a solid foundation. Such a foundation exists when the husband
and wife are the love of Christ for each other and for their children, in deeds
as well as in words. Our culture and nation also need strong foundations based
on the moral law of God and love of Jesus Christ, and this is possible only if
our families are built on these foundations. Fr. Kadavil (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Dec 5 Friday: Mt 9: 27-31:
The context: Today’s Gospel describes Jesus’
miraculous healing of two blind men who approached him with trusting Faith.
Blindness was common in Palestine because of the intense glare of the eastern
sun, clouds of unclean flies and people’s ignorance of cleanliness and hygiene.
The two blind men followed Jesus from the street all the way to the house Jesus
entered, loudly expressing their confidence in the “Son of David” and
requesting mercy. Jesus found in these men what was required for receiving a
miracle, namely a strong and expectant Faith, an earnest desire for vision and
a sincere prayer for mercy. Although they were instructed not to tell anyone of
their healing, as soon as they were healed, they immediately expressed their
gratitude by bearing witness to Jesus’ healing power throughout the town.
Life messages: 1) We, too, need light and
eyesight because we are often blind to the needs and expectations of those
around us and even living with us. We are also often blind to the presence of
Jesus living in us and in others, to the blessings God showers on us and to the
protection God gives us every day. Hence, let us pray for the spiritual
eyesight to realize and experience the presence of Jesus in ourselves and
others, and for the good will to do good to and for others. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Dec 6 Saturday: St. Nicholas, Bishop Mt
9: 35-10:
The context: Today’s Gospel describes the three
chief activities of Jesus’ mission — heralding, teaching, and healing — and
tells how Jesus selected the twelve apostles as disciples and helpers in his
Messianic mission. Jesus was primarily the Herald of God his Father, bringing
mankind the Good News that God is a loving, forgiving, merciful, and
compassionate Father Who wills that everyone to be saved. Secondly, Jesus was a
Teacher and preacher who taught the Gospel, or the Good News of the Kingdom of
God, by living an exemplary life, demonstrating God’s love, mercy, forgiveness,
and compassion. Thirdly, Jesus was a Healer, spending much time healing people
of their bodily, mental, and spiritual illnesses. The Gospel for today also
mentions that Jesus selected ordinary men of no social status as apostles to
continue this preaching and healing mission, and gave them both healing power
and preaching authority to do so.
Life messages: 1) As Christians, we share
Christ’s mission of preaching and healing. This means that we, too, have to
demonstrate by our exemplary, transparent Christian lives the mercy, the
forgiveness, and the unconditional love of Jesus. 2) We are also called to act
as the agents of healing by praying for the sick, by helping them to get the
necessary medical and nursing help, and by encouraging them, supporting them
and boosting their morale. Fr. Kadavil (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
