Letters From Home

The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Thursday of the Third Week of Advent by Ms. Joan Watson.

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for the Memorial of St. John of the Cross by Dr. John Bergsma.

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for the Memorial of St. Lucy by Dr. Shane Owens.

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe by Dr. Scott Hahn.

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Lecturas:
Isaías 35,1–6,10
Salmo 146,6–10
Santiago 5,7–10
Mateo 11,2–11

Juan cuestiona a Jesús desde la prisión, por el bien de sus discípulos y el nuestro.

Él sabe que Jesús está haciendo “las obras del Mesías” predichas en la primera lectura y el salmo de hoy. Pero quiere que sus discípulos—y nosotros—sepamos que el Juez está a la puerta; que en Jesús, nuestro Dios ha venido a salvarnos.

La liturgia del Adviento nos lleva al desierto para ver y oír las palabras y obras maravillosas de Dios: el cojo que salta como un ciervo, los muertos resucitados, las buenas nuevas predicadas a los pobres (cf. Is 29,18–20; 61,1–2).

La liturgia pretende con ello darnos valor, fortalecer nuestras manos débiles y dar firmeza a nuestras rodillas vacilantes. Es fácil que nuestros corazones se vuelvan temerosos y se vengan abajo durante los apuros que enfrentamos. Podemos perder la paciencia en nuestros sufrimientos, mientras esperamos la venida del Señor.

Como advierte Santiago en la epístola de hoy, debemos tomar como ejemplo a los profetas, quienes hablaron en el nombre de Dios.

También Jesús nos señala un profeta, presentando a Juan como modelo. Éste sabía que la vida era más que el alimento y el cuerpo más que el vestido. Buscó primero el Reino de Dios, confiando en que Dios proveería (cf. Mt 6,25–34). Juan no se quejó, no perdió la fe. Aún encadenado en su celda, enviaba a sus discípulos—y a nosotros—al Salvador.

Nuevamente venimos a Jesús en la Eucaristía. Él ya ha hecho florecer el desierto y ha transformado las arenas ardientes en fuentes de agua viva. Ha abierto nuestros oídos para escuchar las palabras del libro sagrado, ha liberado nuestra lengua para llenar el aire con cantos de gratitud (Is 30,18).

Nosotros, que alguna vez estuvimos doblegados, cautivos del pecado y de la muerte, hemos sido rescatados y regresados a su Reino, coronados con una interminable alegría. Levantados, estamos ahora frente a su altar para encontrarnos con Aquel que ha de venir: “Aquí está tu Dios”.

Readings:
Isaiah 35:1–6, 10
Psalm 146:6–10
James 5:7–10
Matthew 11:2–11

John questions Jesus from prison in today’s Gospel—for his disciples’ sake and for ours.

He knows that Jesus is doing “the works of the Messiah,” foretold in today’s First Reading and Psalm. But John wants his disciples—and us—to know that the Judge is at the gate, that in Jesus our God has come to save us.

The Liturgy of Advent takes us out into the desert to see and hear the marvelous works and words of God—the lame leaping like a stag, the dead raised, the good news preached to the poor (see Isaiah 29:18–20; 61:1–2).

The Liturgy does this to give us courage, to strengthen our feeble hands and make firm our weak knees. Our hearts can easily become frightened and weighed down by the hardships we face. We can lose patience in our sufferings as we await the coming of the Lord.

As James advises in today’s Epistle, we should take as our example the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Jesus also points us to a prophet—holding up John as a model. John knew that life was more than food, the body more than clothing. He sought the kingdom of God first, confident that God would provide (see Matthew 6:25–34). John did not complain. He did not lose faith. Even in chains in his prison cell, he was still sending his disciples—and us—to our Savior.

We come to Him again now in the Eucharist. Already He has caused the desert to bloom, the burning sands to become springs of living water. He has opened our ears to hear the words of the sacred book, freed our tongue to fill the air with songs of thanksgiving (see Isaiah 30:18).

Once bowed down, captives to sin and death, we have been ransomed and returned to His Kingdom, crowned with everlasting joy. Raised up, we now stand before His altar to meet the One who is to come: “Here is your God.”

The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Saturday of the Second Week of Advent by Mr. Clement Harrold.

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Friday of the Second Week of Advent by Dr. John Bergsma.

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Ms. Joan Watson.

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for the Memorial of St. Ambrose by Dr. John Bergsma.

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