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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.

Paul tells us never to grumble, but to rejoice whatever comes our way, so that we can shine as a beacon of faith and hope for others. This is particularly important as the world get darker.

We long for a political system that will be just and perfect, but it will never happen in this life. Jesus came not to fix everything in this world, but to open for us a better one in heaven. The effects of original sin are still in this world, and it can never be perfect, but if we can be life Jesus, not grasping for power but humbling ourselves for the sake of others, we will join him in heaven.

Br. Joe Trout, OP breaks open the readings for the Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, expanding on the center of God's law—the shema: love the Lord your God with everything, and love your neighbor as yourself. In the Old Testament and the New, this does not change, and it requires us to actually live according to our love in God and neighbor.

Readings: Deuteronomy 6:2-6; Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 12:28-34

Jesus said, "whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it." Children are dependent on others for the basic needs of their lives, and they know it. We are dependent on God's mercy to to be able to live in the kingdom of God. Do we always remember that?

Today we have the end of the Book of Job, where Job realizes that he cannot understand the ways of God, but at least he knows that God loves him and will, in the end, make things right. That is enough for Job. Is it enough for us?

Br. Joe Trout, OP breaks open the readings for the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. First, the prophet Isaiah tells a people who were suffering in darkness that God will send a messiah to save them. In the Gospel, Jesus does the things that show that he is the promised messiah, though he does not want everyone to know yet. Then, the second reading is from the Letter of James, a "brother" of Jesus, who does not claim to be the new messiah to carry on Jesus' work. Rather, James claims that Jesus is still alive and is alone the messiah, and is working though him to keep bringing about the kingdom.

In Luke's Gospel we hear of Jesus expelling demons. Is demonic possession real, or was it just some form of mental illness? What we can certainly say is that if demons are real, we don't have to worry about them if we trust in Jesus, because Jesus has power over all.