Saturday 18th December 2021, of the 3rd Week of Advent.

Here comes Joseph! The three members of the Holy Family are named in our Gospel of today: Mary, Joseph and Jesus-Emmanuel.
Who is Joseph?

St Joseph is the man chosen by God to be the foster father and guardian of Jesus.

God communicates with us through a variety of ways, viz:
#1. Inspiration
#2. Locution
#3. Sacred Scripture
#4.  Prophetic person /message
#5.  Dream

St Joseph is a man of dreams.  Matthew recorded 4 Dreams of Joseph in the Infancy Narrative:
1. Matthew 1: 24
2. Matthew 2: 13
3. Matthew 2: 19
4. Matthew 2:  22

"When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home."  (Matthew 1: 24).
Joseph is a very docile and obedient man.

Joseph is a just and considerate man.  Consider what he did faced with the evidence that Mary was carrying a child not his own:
"Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly."  (Matthew 1:  19).

Joseph is a man of high purity and chastity. God chose him to be the husband of Mary because God had fitted him with the appropriate graces to protect the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Joseph the humble carpenter is the patron saint of workers.  He understands that genuine labor is collaborating with God where, what and when you are assigned.

The Church considers St Joseph the greatest Saint after the Blessed Virgin Mary. Joseph is so fittingly named the Patron of the Universal Church.  Remember that he was the Guardian of Jesus and in his intercessory role, you can believe that Jesus will deny nothing to Joseph.

One week today is the end of Waiting. The Glorious Christmas!

"O Leader of the House of Israel, giver of the Law to Moses on Sinai: come to rescue us with your mighty power!"

"Such a man was Saint Joseph. He was the living image of My Father, and he was chosen by My Father to be a father to Me in My sacred humanity. Let My priests go to Saint Joseph. He will obtain for them this priceless gift of spiritual fatherhood, and he will guide them in the delicate and difficult work of being true fathers to souls." (IN SINU JESU, Friday, November 15, 2013).

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirstcommunity.com

Thursday 16th December 2021, of the 3rd Week of Advent.

Jesus has more to say about John the Baptist. When the ancient Romans consider a man exceptional, they proclaim him a god. Hence the Divine Augustus, Divine Julius, Divine Tiberius, etc.
When Christians consider one of their brethren exceptional, they proclaim him a Saint after his death, hence St Teresa of Kolkata.

But Jesus canonized John the Baptist while he was still in the flesh. "This is the one about whom Scripture says:
"Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, he will prepare your way before you."

St John the Baptist is an exceptional prophet in more than a couple of ways.
"I tell you, among those born of women, no one is greater than John; yet the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.”

John was sanctified in the womb of his mother. His path in life was ordained before his birth. Hence he did not succeed his father, Zachary as a Temple priest but rather was carried to the desert by the Holy Spirit as a young man to be prepared and trained as a prophet. John the Baptist's ministry was radical even by the standard of Elijah. He knew martyrdom was facing him. Just as Jesus did not come down from the Cross, John the Baptist did not run for cover.

"This is the hiddenness into which I drew My most holy Mother, beginning with her Presentation in the temple and perfected in her glorious Assumption. This is the hiddenness into which I drew the friend of the Bridegroom, Saint John the Baptist, and Saint John, the disciple beloved of My Heart. This is the hiddenness into which I still draw souls who consent to renounce appearances and enter into a state of apparent death, of silence, of uselessness, of nothingness in the eyes of the world." (IN SINU JESU, Thursday, December 10, 2015).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Friday 17th December 2021, 3rd Week of Advent. From 17th December, we are one week to the Eve of Christmas Day. Pay attention to the readings at Mass.

Do you consider the Genealogy of Jesus Christ boring? Not when you understand the purpose for its inclusion in Sacred Scriptures. The Holy Spirit, the Author of the Sacred Text does not waste words as human authors do. Here are a few reasons for the Genealogy or Family History of Jesus Christ:

#1 Jesus Christ is truly God and truly Man. He descended from the lines of Abraham and David.
#2 His human family is not perfect (like His Church is not perfect). It contains saints and sinners. Jesus was not ashamed of His family nor was He ever tempted to deny them.
#3 His family lineage was planned by God from the foundation of the ages. So do not be scandalized by what you see.
#4 By the time Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, gone were the days of the great patriarchs like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and great kings like David and Solomon. What we have are common folks like Joseph and Mary. God has a plan that will lead us to the humble stable in Bethlehem where Jesus will be born, the King of the Jews. He will be born the poor son of the Virgin of Nazareth.

The Genealogy teaches us that God is merciful and faithful. God did not choose the best and unfiltered humanity. He chose whom He pleases, a mixed bag.
"God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure." (Ephesians I: 5 NLT)

"Such a man was Saint Joseph. He was the living image of My Father, and he was chosen by My Father to be a father to Me in My sacred humanity. Let My priests go to Saint Joseph. He will obtain for them this priceless gift of spiritual fatherhood, and he will guide them in the delicate and difficult work of being true fathers to souls." (IN SINU JESU, Friday, November 15, 2013).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

And Jesus said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” (Luke 7: 18.... 23).

Wednesday 15th December 2021, of the 3rd Week of Advent.

In today's Gospel, the disciples of the Baptist asked Jesus:
Are you Jesus the Messiah or who are you in fact?
The way Jesus answers the question gives us an insight on how to think about our destiny as disciples of Jesus.
Jesus queried the disciples of John the Baptist:
What have you noticed about Me?
What do I do from day to day?
What do you hear me say?
What type of people hang around Me?

Let us put the answer of Jesus in a little lullaby:
If you bark, you are a dog.
If you sing, you are a mockingbird.
If you fly, you are an eagle.

Jesus told His adversaries: If you do not believe that I am the Messiah, check out what I do and say and be honest and believe that I am the Genuine Article. By your fruits, you shall be known.

Friends, what do you do to show that you are a follower of Jesus? How would your non-Christian neighbor suspect that you are a Christian? By the fruits you manifest, you will show who you are. The fruits are the fruits the Holy Spirit produces in us:
Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Generosity, Gentleness, Faithfulness, Modesty, Self-control and Chastity.

Before you think this is impossible, note well that it is the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit to produce these fruits in us. Jesus said: Without Me, you can do absolutely nothing.

Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard.

"This is the hiddenness into which I drew My most holy Mother, beginning with her Presentation in the temple and perfected in her glorious Assumption. This is the hiddenness into which I drew the friend of the Bridegroom, Saint John the Baptist, and Saint John, the disciple beloved of My Heart. This is the hiddenness into which I still draw souls who consent to renounce appearances and enter into a state of apparent death, of silence, of uselessness, of nothingness in the eyes of the world." (IN SINU JESU, Thursday, December 10, 2015).

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirstcommunity.com