Your Soul Needs You
1st Sunday of Advent
“Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.”Ps. 80
We don’t need motivation to take care of our bodies or to beautify them; we all do it naturally because we value them, see and feel them. We want to be healthy and presentable. We groom ourselves, dress well, take vitamins, and minerals to stay healthy, etc. That’s why Jesus didn’t come to talk to us about what we naturally see. Jesus came to reveal what we don’t see or naturally value: the health of the soul.
Consider this: if we take such good care of our bodies, we should do even more for our souls because they are for eternity. How much do we worry about the health and beauty of our souls? Many don’t lift a finger for their souls, and as a result, some are truly ill, to the point of being unbearable for those around them and sometimes even for themselves. They mistreat others, impose, complain, use bad language, have addictions, or worse, engage in doing evil.
If we could see the ugliness of neglected souls through the eyes of God and those in heaven, we wouldn’t remain so tranquil in this state. ‘BE READY!’ the Gospel asks of us because without holiness, we cannot enter the Kingdom, as Jesus warns us repeatedly.
We should nourish our souls daily with the word of God, sacraments, to have health and charity, and thus be a blessing to all instead of a heavy burden in their lives. Only then will we be ready for the great encounter with Him, whenever it may come.
God wants us to be a gift to one another. We should enjoy each other, the gifts, and charisms that we should all be offering to others. Instead, sometimes we have to endure and bear with others because we haven’t worked on taming the wild horse within and haven’t educated with divine wisdom our heads, the ‘madwoman of the house.’
TO BE READY, in addition to retreats, spiritual exercises, prayer, sacraments, and groups, it’s very beneficial to pray every night with an examination of the day, reviewing how we lived in the light of faith or where we failed as children of God. We can meditate in God’s presence on what place we gave to Jesus in our day, if we let Him be the King and Lord, if we saddened the Holy Spirit with any of our attitudes or words, if we reflected Jesus well or disfigured Him with egocentric and prideful attitudes, etc.
If we want to have the beauty of children of God, we must daily seek the health of the soul that will benefit us and others so much. It’s the key to living here and now in the Kingdom of God, living a truly Christian life, and thus being ready to enter Life when our time comes.
“He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ’s coming. God is faithful; by him, you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”1 Corinthians 1:9
Readings for the Week
Sunday: Is 63:16b-17, 196; 64:2-7/Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 (4)/1 Cor 1:3-9/Mk 13:33-37
Monday: Is 2:1-5/Ps 122:1-2, 3-4b, 4cd-5, 6-7, 8-9/Mt 8:5-11
Tuesday: Is 11:1-10/Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17/Lk 10:21-24
Wednesday: Is 25:6-10a/Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6/Mt 15:29-37
Thursday: Is 26:1-6/Ps 118:1 and 8-9, 19-21, 25-27a/Mt 7:21, 24-27
Friday: Gn 3:9-15, 20/Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4/Eph 1:3-6, 11-12/Lk 1:26-38
Saturday: Is 30:19-21, 23-26/Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6/Mt 9:35—10:1, 5a, 6-8
Next Sunday: Is 40:1-5, 9-11/Ps 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14 (8)/2 Pt 3:8-14/Mk 1:1-8
Observances for the Week
Sunday: 1st Sunday of Advent
Monday: St. John Damascene, Priest and Doctor of the Church
Wednesday: St. Nicholas, Bishop
Thursday: St. Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Friday: The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Saturday: St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin
Next Sunday: 2nd Sunday of Advent