FRIDAY ?Isa 48:17-19; Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6 (R. John 8:12); Matt 11:16-19 ?MY PEACE SHALL BE LIKE A RIVER AND MY NAME SHALL NEVER BE CUT OFF FROM BEFORE THE LORD (see Isa 48:18-19) Amen! That is my prayer today and also wish that you join me in saying on this day of great joy for me.? It is my birthday, a day I always want to celebrate my mother in a special way and thank God for saving her life some years ago as she was giving birth to me. Kindly join me in praying for her...

THURSDAY ?Isa 41:13-20; Ps 145:1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13ab (R.v.8); Matt 11:11-15 ?”FEAR NOT, I WILL HELP YOU” (Isa 41:13) Think of the shame and trauma the Israelites had while they were being led to exile. They suffered humiliation and were helpless in the face of opposition. To worsen the case, they were helplessly turned to slaves in exile.? This was the same nation that had been empowered by God to conquer all the nations that stood on their way on their way to the Promised Land. But by now, their self confidence and esteem have been punctured.? So Isaiah...

SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT MONDAY ?Isa 35:1-10; Ps 85:9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14, (R. Isa 35:4ff); Luke 5:17-26 ?”BE STRONG, FEAR NOT!” (Isa 35:4) My dear, God wants you to begin this new working week with smiles and strong faith in him; do not allow anything to rob you of that. Learn from the determination of the friends of this paralytic in Luke 5:18-26. The crowd proved to be an obstacle to them but they still found a way to reach Jesus through the roof.? There can be a lot of crowds trying to prevent us from seeing Jesus: ?That...

SATURDAY ?Isa 30:19-21, 23-26; Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, (R.Isa 30:18); Matt 9:35 – 10:1, 5a, 6-8 ?”YOU SHALL WEEP NO MORE!” (Isa 30:19) My dear, listen to Isaiah talking to all of us, “Blessed are all those who wait for the Lord” (Isa 30:18).? The people of Israel had neglected Gods earlier warnings against forming alliance with foreign nations (see Isa 7). Here, in Isa 30:18-26, the prophet tries to assure the people that God has not given up on them, and that if they come back to God and remain with him, he will wipe their tears and make...

FRIDAY ?Isa 29:17-24; Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14, (R.v.1a); Matt 9:27-31 ?”THE LORD IS MY LIGHT AND MY SALVATION” (Ps 27:1) The transition from darkness to light is one of the phenomena that is often used to describe the messianic era in the scriptures. The prophet Isaiah used it to describe the events surrounding the birth of the Child, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. A light has dawned upon those who lived in the land as dark as death” (Isa 9:2). The evangelist Matthew also borrowed that passage to describe the entrance of Jesus into...

THURSDAY ?Isa 26:1-6; Ps 118:1 and 8-9, 19-21, 25-27a, (R.v.26a); Matt 7:21, 24-27 ?FAITH WITHOUT WORK IS TOTALLY DEAD (cf. Jas 2:17) Without prejudice to the context in which St James used the above quote, we shall apply it to our message of today. So instead of using work merely in the context of charity and generosity, we shall extend it here to also mean our active response to our faith in God.?? The prophet Isaiah reminds us that in God, our security is ensured. For them who trust in the Lord, the Lord God will be their everlasting rock...

TUESDAY “WITH GOD NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE” (Luke 1:37) My dear, remember what we said on Sunday about the character of Advent season; it is a period of hope resuscitation. Today, the prophecy of Isaiah in Isa 11:1-10 reminds us of the promise of God to establish a kingdom of justice and peace for his people.?➕? To be just to the text, it was a reaction against the moral bankruptcy of the leaders in Israel, hence God’s promise of an ideal leader who would uphold justice and righteousness.? But there is something very spectacular about how the prophet achieves that purpose...

FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT MONDAY “EVERYONE WHO HAS LEFT [EVERYTHING]… WILL INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE” (Matt 19:29) My dear, it is yet another beginning – a new working week, the first in the season of Advent, and one which ushers us into the last month of the secular calendar year. Providentially, on this first day of the week, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Andrew, one of the very first apostles of Jesus.? The account of the call of the first four apostles, in the Gospel of Matthew, tells us something very important about their response, “Immediately, they left their...