Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.

If you happen to be with an atheist who tells you that he does not believe in God, you can read him the whole library, where it says that God exists, and where it is proven that God exists, and he will not believe. [However] if in the presence of this same atheist you witness to a consistent, Christian life, something will begin to work in his heart…. It will be your witness that brings him the restlessness on which the Holy Spirit works.— Pope Francis: (Homily, Domus Sanctae Marthae, February 27, 2014)

Gospel Text: (MT 4:18-22)

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,

Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew,

casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.

He said to them,

“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

At once they left their nets and followed him.

He walked along from there and saw two other brothers,

James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.

They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets.

He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father

and followed him.

In today's Gospel reading, we see Jesus calling people into apostleship. Saint Andrew was the first Apostle (see John 1:40-42), and although he would later lead many others to Christ, the first person he evangelized was his brother, Simon (who later became Peter our first pope). Can you see the joy he shared with his brother?

Fulfilling our vocation of joy does not mean preaching conversion and debating the need to go to Mass. Consider every interaction with others as an opportunity for them to meet Jesus, even if they stubbornly refuse to recognize him in you.

They already know that you follow Christ and that you go to Mass because you believe that participation in church community makes an important difference, most especially receiving the Sacraments (Reconciliation & the Eucharist) regularly. You don't need to remind them of that with words. Simply concentrate on bringing more of Christ's joy into your day to day relationships. The Holy Spirit will take care of the rest!

What we do see depends mainly on what we look for....

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” – St Matthew: one of the twelve apostles of Jesus and one of the four Evangelists)

Gospel Text: (LK 10:21-24)

Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,

“I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

for although you have hidden these things

from the wise and the learned

you have revealed them to the childlike.

Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.

All things have been handed over to me by my Father.

No one knows who the Son is except the Father,

and who the Father is except the Son

and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Turning to the disciples in private he said,

“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.

For I say to you,

many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,

but did not see it,

and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

All genuine prayer in our own lives is an expression of the working of the Holy Spirit within us. Our prayer, in a sense, is only an entering into the ongoing prayer of the Holy Spirit deep within our hearts. In his prayer noted in today’s gospel Jesus gives thanks to God for all those who have welcomed Jesus’ revelation of his own intimate relationship with God. It is the children who have received this revelation, those considered weak and vulnerable, while those regarded as learned and clever have rejected this revelation. Jesus addresses his own disciples as among those who have received Jesus’ revelation of his own intimate relationship with God, “Happy the eyes that see what you see. Advent is a time when we try to open our eyes more fully to what the Lord is trying to reveal to us. It is a season when we become like children so as to receive with greater openness what the Lord is offering us, a share in his own intimate relationship with God.

“It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little; do something.”

“Love is not patronizing and charity isn't about pity, it is about love. Charity and love are the same -- with charity you give love, so don't just give money but reach out your hand instead.” ― Mother Teresa: (1910 – 1997: Founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata India)

Gospel Text: (MT 8:5-11)

When Jesus entered Capernaum,

a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying,

“Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.”

He said to him, “I will come and cure him.”

The centurion said in reply,

“Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;

only say the word and my servant will be healed.

For I too am a man subject to authority,

with soldiers subject to me.

And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes;

and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes;

and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,

“Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.

I say to you, many will come from the east and the west,

and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.”

The Roman centurion displays a particular kind of faith that even astonishes Jesus. As someone from a high position in that period, giving commands to a number of soldiers, he shows great compassion for his servant, a person who does not have a voice in society, someone who would be often overlooked by society. 

Just like the centurion, we should look to those in need with the same kind of sympathy regardless of our status. As Christians we should always look beyond our own situation and even defy society's expectations for the sheer well-being of those that suffer. 

As Christ stated in the gospel noted above "I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." He promises to those that take the extra step, by transcending what is presumed of their position, a grand reward which awaits them which is a place in His everlasting Kingdom.

“There is only one kind of shock worse than the totally unexpected: the expected for which one has refused to prepare.”

“The expected always happens” ― Benjamin Disraeli: (1804 –1881: was a British politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Gospel Text: (MT 24:37-44)

Jesus said to his disciples:

“As it was in the days of Noah,

so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

In those days before the flood,

they were eating and drinking,

marrying and giving in marriage,

up to the day that Noah entered the ark.

They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.

So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.

Two men will be out in the field;

one will be taken, and one will be left.

Two women will be grinding at the mill;

one will be taken, and one will be left.

Therefore, stay awake!

For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.

Be sure of this: if the master of the house

had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,

he would have stayed awake

and not let his house be broken into.

So too, you also must be prepared,

for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

“Stay awake!” Jesus shouts this to us in the Gospel on this First Sunday of Advent. These words sum up the whole season. These words sum up what the original Christmas was like for Joseph, Mary, Elizabeth and Zechariah, for King Herod and the three wise kings, and for the innkeepers whose homes were full when a poor expectant couple appeared on a cold night requesting shelter. Everything about the first Christmas was unexpected. That’s why on this First Sunday of Advent we hear the command: “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.”

Everywhere you look in salvation history—in every book of the Bible, in each of the 20+ centuries of the Church’s history, and in the life of every saint—you see this same dynamic. God works most powerfully through the unexpected. It’s not that He can’t or doesn’t work through what’s expected. Rather, God works His greatest works when and in ways that no one expects.

Mary was the holiest of God’s creatures, and is the perfect example of this dynamic at work. We see her holiness very clearly in the Annunciation, the beginning of her nine months of waiting for Jesus to appear at His birth. She didn’t expect to conceive Him. She didn’t expect an angel to appear to her. But in humility, she kept herself open to God’s will. And the whole human race gained a Savior because of her “Yes.”

Humility is the first step of the Christian life, and it’s the virtue that each one of us as Christians needs to start Advent with. Where is there pride in my life? What am I hesitant to confess before God? What area of my life do I want God to stay out of?

As we journey through this season of Advent, ask Jesus to help you grow in humility. Ask Him to make you more like His Mother. And ask Him to help you to stay awake to His presence in your life: to look for Him in ways and at times you don’t expect.

“There is only one kind of shock worse than the totally unexpected: the expected for which one has refused to prepare.”

“The expected always happens” ― Benjamin Disraeli: (1804 –1881: was a British politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Gospel Text: (MT 24:37-44)

Jesus said to his disciples:

“As it was in the days of Noah,

so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

In those days before the flood,

they were eating and drinking,

marrying and giving in marriage,

up to the day that Noah entered the ark.

They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.

So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.

Two men will be out in the field;

one will be taken, and one will be left.

Two women will be grinding at the mill;

one will be taken, and one will be left.

Therefore, stay awake!

For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.

Be sure of this: if the master of the house

had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,

he would have stayed awake

and not let his house be broken into.

So too, you also must be prepared,

for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

“Stay awake!” Jesus shouts this to us in the Gospel on this First Sunday of Advent. These words sum up the whole season. These words sum up what the original Christmas was like for Joseph, Mary, Elizabeth and Zechariah, for King Herod and the three wise kings, and for the innkeepers whose homes were full when a poor expectant couple appeared on a cold night requesting shelter. Everything about the first Christmas was unexpected. That’s why on this First Sunday of Advent we hear the command: “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.”

Everywhere you look in salvation history—in every book of the Bible, in each of the 20+ centuries of the Church’s history, and in the life of every saint—you see this same dynamic. God works most powerfully through the unexpected. It’s not that He can’t or doesn’t work through what’s expected. Rather, God works His greatest works when and in ways that no one expects.

Mary was the holiest of God’s creatures, and is the perfect example of this dynamic at work. We see her holiness very clearly in the Annunciation, the beginning of her nine months of waiting for Jesus to appear at His birth. She didn’t expect to conceive Him. She didn’t expect an angel to appear to her. But in humility, she kept herself open to God’s will. And the whole human race gained a Savior because of her “Yes.”

Humility is the first step of the Christian life, and it’s the virtue that each one of us as Christians needs to start Advent with. Where is there pride in my life? What am I hesitant to confess before God? What area of my life do I want God to stay out of?

As we journey through this season of Advent, ask Jesus to help you grow in humility. Ask Him to make you more like His Mother. And ask Him to help you to stay awake to His presence in your life: to look for Him in ways and at times you don’t expect.