December 13, 2013: Feast of St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr

Read It:
Jesus said to the crowds:
"To what shall I compare this generation?
It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another,
"We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,
we sang a dirge but you did not mourn."
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said,
"He is possessed by a demon."
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said,
"Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'
But wisdom is vindicated by her works."

Reflect on It:
Today, we see a gospel, where people keep changing their mind. First, the crowds are upset because there was no dancing or mourning, then John came neither eating or drinking and then the Son of Man came eating and drinking and they called him a glutton and a drunkard. People were always trying to catch up Jesus on his teachings, like he wouldn't know the truth, he is the truth! Often, we are people that ask for a sign, well that sign is coming on December 25th....Are you ready? Be a man or woman of your word and trust that the Lord's coming is the answer to the things we need and the questions we have.

Pray about It: Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Let your coming be enough for me.

Live It! Challenge: Today, make a list of all the things that Christ has done for you lately. Then thank him for it!

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Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe: December 12, 2013

Read It:
The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin's name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
"Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
"Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end."
But Mary said to the angel,
"How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?"
And the angel said to her in reply,
"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.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God."
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.

Reflect on It: Today, is the Feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Mary appeared to St. Juan Diego and asked him to build her a Church. After some resistance from the Church authority at the time, Mary instructed Juan Diego to go to the top of a mountain and pick some flowers for her. While this was improbable, because of the winter, Juan Diego still did so and when he took them as a sign to the bishop, he took the flowers out of his cloak and on it appeared the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Regardless of how she appears, Mary is always out to serve her son. As we can see from today's Gospel, Mary is always willing to do what is asked of her by the Lord and to do it with great love. Juan Diego did the same, followed with great love, what the Lord asks of us. Let both of them be our example today!

Pray about It: Mary, help me to always see what it is that the Lord is asking me to do. Let me do it with a joyful heart.

Live It! Challenge: Today, look up the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe and see why she is the Patronness of the Unborn.

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December 11, 2013

Read It:
Jesus said to the crowds:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Reflect on It: This is by far one of the Scriptures that sticks with me the most right now in my life. If Christ believes his burden to be easy and his burden light, then mine is a walk in the park. I love that with this Gospel, we're taking it on together...my burden becomes his and his burden is easy. I love, love love that. He is meek and humble of heart and is willing to carry our cross for us.

Pray about It: Lord, your burden is light and your yoke is easy. Help me to desire it daily. Amen.

Live It! Challenge: What's your biggest burden? Think about this and offer in prayer to our Lord.

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December 10, 2013

Read It:

Jesus said to his disciples:
"What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost."
 

Reflect on It:
Jesus wants us to be close to Him always. In today's Gospel, we see that he will leave the 99 sheep to find the one lost sheep. I know sometimes we aren't willing to look that hard or that long for something, thinking, oh, I have plenty of those, but not Jesus. He is never outdone! What I love about this passage is that Jesus is searching for us. I think often we align ourselves with the 99 and think, oh, I'm not important enough for the Lord of the Universe to search for me, but here's the truth. He is! He is searching for us and never leaving us. As we prepare the way of the Lord this week, know that he is searching for you and can be found in a manager in just a few weeks.

Pray about It: Lord, help me to never be separated from you or your love. Even when I stray, thank you for coming to find me.

Live It! Challenge: Come close to the Lord through the sacrament of Confession. Don't let your heart be distracted with sin.

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Feast of the Immaculate Conception 2013!!! Yay for Mama Mary!

Read It:
The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“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.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
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

Reflect on It:

The YOUCAT (the Youth Catechism of the  Catholic Church...check it out if you haven't already) #83 says: The Church believes that "the most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin". This means that in order to say yes to God, Mary had to be preserved from sin for all time. It's a bit difficult to carry perfection in your womb if you yourself are all about sin.

This Immaculate Conception is what is important in Mary being able to say yes. In the Gospel, we see that Mary, who's "full of Grace" would conceive and bear a son and her answer was not just a yes, but a RESOUNDING yes. Today, Mary is our model of saying yes. This yes if often called a fiat. What's the yes the Lord is asking you today? How does he want you to say yes this Advent?

Pray About It: Lord, help me to say yes to you today. Help me to be like Mary and to make my heart ready for what you have in store for me. Amen.

Live It! Challenge: While today is not a holy day of obligation, because the actual Feast of the Immaculate Conception fell on a Sunday, but it would be awesome to go to mass today anyways.

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Second Sunday of Advent: Dec 8, 2013: Prepare!

Read It:
John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea
and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:
A voice of one crying out in the desert,
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
John wore clothing made of camel’s hair
and had a leather belt around his waist.
His food was locusts and wild honey.
At that time Jerusalem, all Judea,
and the whole region around the Jordan
were going out to him
and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River
as they acknowledged their sins.

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees
coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.
And do not presume to say to yourselves,
‘We have Abraham as our father.’
For I tell you,
God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees.
Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit
will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
I am baptizing you with water, for repentance,
but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I.
I am not worthy to carry his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in his hand.
He will clear his threshing floor
and gather his wheat into his barn,
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”


Reflect on It:
Prepare the Way of the Lord! In the Annunciation, we hear the angel tell Mary that not only will she conceive a child in her womb, but that her cousin, Elizabeth, who is considered barren will give birth to a son. That son is John the Baptist. John the Baptist's whole role in life was to Prepare the way of the Lord. John was so holy and his life was so directed to the Lord, that people mistook him for the Messiah. John the Baptist wasn't worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals and neither are we, but God is good and numbers us amongst his flock. At this mid way point of Advent, we see we too can prepare the way of the Lord. The world is crying out right now for this redemption. In the midst of Christmas crazy, may we be men and women who prepare the way of the Lord through prayer and thanksgiving.

Pray about It: Sweet Jesus, as John the Baptist was decreased so that Christ could increase, I pray that you help me to do that as well. Help me to understand that you are coming and that we must prepare the world for your coming. Amen.

Live It! Challenge: How are you preparing the way of the Lord? Take some time today to figure out how you can better be Christ like for others.

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