Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs

The Lord remembers his covenant forever. For he remembered his holy word to his servant Abraham. And he led forth his people with joy; with shouts of joy, his chosen ones.

God doesn’t go back on His promises. When He says He’ll do something, He does it. When He says He won’t do something, He doesn’t. His “Yes,” means, “Yes.” His “No,” means, “No.” Thankfully for us, God has promised to love us like His children and to be merciful to us. He wants what is best for us and will do all He can, short of forcing us, to lead us to everlasting life with Him. He helps us to be good and faithful and holy people. He lifts us up when we are down. He lights our way when we are in darkness. He leads us forth with shouts of joy. He has picked us as His chosen ones. To accept this great gift, all we need to say is, “Yes,” to Him and mean it with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths.

Do we go back on our promises? If so, then how can we make our “Yes,” mean, “Yes,” and our “No” mean, “No”? What can we learn from the authentic life of Jesus, who showed us most perfectly how to be true to our words?

O Lord, help us to remember that you always keep your word.

Amen.

Third Tuesday of Advent

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: “What is your opinion? 
A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but afterwards he changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did his father’s will?” They answered, “The first.”

It is better for us to do good without hesitation, but sometimes we hesitate, complain, or put off doing the right thing. However, if in the end, we do the right thing in spite of our hesitation, complaints, or procrastination, then at least we have done God’s Will… albeit belatedly. Worse than being slow to do good is promising to do good and then not following through on our word. This can happen when we become distracted, choose sin purposefully, or otherwise avoid doing the right thing in favor of some lesser good. In these cases, we fail to do God’s Will and compound the problem by not following through on our stated intentions. Our words have meaning, but our actions hold more weight. We can pay lip service to God through our prayers, but without works to back those words up, our prayers are like clanging cymbals with no real meaning.

Do our words and prayers mean something? What can we do to give our words true meaning? What actions can we take to make our faith manifest?

O Lord, let us go out into the vineyard and work without delay and without distraction.

Amen.