December 14, 2024 Saturday of the Second Week of Advent
Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church
Daily Readings: Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11; Matthew 17:9a, 10-13
Many years ago, in my early 30s, one of my priest friends asked me to facilitate a Lenten recollection he had been requested to lead. He later informed the group that he would be sending someone else in his place. When I arrived at the venue, there were no participants yet, so I decided to set up the place. As people began to arrive, they saw me setting up the overhead projector and asked, “Where’s our speaker? Is he not here yet?” Maybe I didn’t look like a speaker to them. I was younger than most of them and was only wearing jeans.
Many times, we do not recognize Jesus in the daily encounters of our lives. Many times, we fail to recognize Him in the blessings we receive each day. Why is that? It’s because we have a fixed mindset, just like the people of Jesus’ time. We have our own definition of a Messiah. We have our own expectations of who Jesus should be and what a blessing should look like.
When we confine Jesus to our limited, self-serving definitions, we fail to truly recognize Him and the many blessings that come our way each moment. May we be able to unlearn and set aside our expectations so that we can truly recognize the Lord, who manifests Himself to us in more ways than we expect?
A Call to Action for Catholic Living: Let go of fixed expectations and open your heart to recognize Jesus in the everyday blessings around you. Let Him surprise you with His presence.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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