Br. Joseph Trout, OP

Br. Joe Trout, OP breaks open the readings on this Sunday which celebrates the Word of God Sunday, in which the people of God realize how they had wandered far from the obeying the Word of God, and were struggling to come back. But in Good News, in the New Testament, Jesus offers us a new way to fulfill this calling together.

Readings: Nehemiah 8:2–4a, 5–6, 8–10; 1 Corinthians 12:12–30; Luke 1:1–4; 4:14–21

Jesus came to bring Good News to the poor. It is incumbent on Christians to help the poor and alleviate their suffering, but even more than that, the Better News is that Jesus brings forgiveness, which starts with the poor, and promises a better life in heaven than anything we could imagine in this world.

The First Letter of John assures us that if we believe in Jesus and strive to love as he did, we will be prepared for life everlasting with God in heaven.

Br. Joe Trout, OP breaks open the readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, which celebrate the coming messiah. The Prophet Micah promises that one day a ruler will come who will lead justly, not just for Jerusalem, but for the whole world, so that the poor might flourish. The letter to the Hebrews explains how the sacrifice of Jesus actually frees people from sin, unlike the sacrifices in the Temple. Then, in the Gospel of Luke, Mary believes that the time has finally come for these things to come true, helping to bring them about.

Readings: Micah 5:1–4a; Hebrews 10:5–10; Luke 1:39–45

On this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, we remember the miracle that God did with Mary, preserving her from original sin, and ponder what other great and impossible things God might do in our own lives.

The Apostle Paul assures us that God will bring the good work started in us to completion and so we will be fulfilled. In Advent, we remind ourselves that we cannot do this for ourselves and need God's saviour. Let us place that trust in God now so that we can find the completion of this hope in the future.