ADVENT MASS READINGS & SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Wednesday - November 30, 2022

 

Wednesday - November 30, 2022

Perfect love leads a man on to perfect fear. Such a man fears and keeps to God's will, not from fear of punishment, not to avoid condemnation, but because he has tasted the sweetness of being with God; he fears he may fall away from it.

-- St. Dorotheos of Gaza

November 30, 2021

Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle
Lectionary: 684

 

Reading 1                                                     Rom 10:9-18

Brothers and sisters:

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord

and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,

you will be saved.

For one believes with the heart and so is justified,

and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.

The Scripture says,

No one who believes in him will be put to shame.

There is no distinction between Jew and Greek;

the same Lord is Lord of all,

enriching all who call upon him.

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

 

But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed?

And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard?

And how can they hear without someone to preach?

And how can people preach unless they are sent?

As it is written,

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!

But not everyone has heeded the good news;

for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what was heard from us?

Thus faith comes from what is heard,

and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.

But I ask, did they not hear?

Certainly they did; for

 

    Their voice has gone forth to all the earth,

        and their words to the ends of the world.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                              19:8, 9, 10, 11

 

R.    (10)  The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.

or:

R.    (John 6:63)  Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

 

The law of the LORD is perfect,

    refreshing the soul;

The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,

    giving wisdom to the simple.

R.    The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.

or:

R.    Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The precepts of the LORD are right,

    rejoicing the heart;

The command of the LORD is clear,

    enlightening the eye.

R.    The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.

or:

R.    Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The fear of the LORD is pure,

    enduring forever;

The ordinances of the LORD are true,

    all of them just.

R.    The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.

or:

R.    Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

They are more precious than gold,

    than a heap of purest gold;

Sweeter also than syrup

    or honey from the comb.

R.    The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.

or:

R.    Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

 

Alleluia                                                                      Mt 4:19

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Come after me, says the Lord,

and I will make you fishers of men.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel                                                                       Mt 4:18-22

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,

Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew,

casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.

He said to them,

“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

At once they left their nets and followed him.

He walked along from there and saw two other brothers,

James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.

They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets.

He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father

and followed him.

 

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HOW TO EVANGELIZE OUR FAMILIES

We all have the vocation of revealing the Gospel of Joy so that others feel attracted to Christ. Through baptism, we have been joined to the ministry and purposes of Christ. We are called and empowered by his Spirit to give others the joy that heals. The world becomes a better place because we are apostles of joy.

 

In today's Gospel reading, we see Jesus calling people into apostleship. Saint Andrew was the first Apostle (see John 1:40-42), and although he would later lead many others to Christ, the first person he evangelized was his brother, Simon (who later became Peter our first pope). Can you see the joy he shared with his brother?

 

The most difficult people to evangelize are usually our own family members. We're too close. We care so much about them that we're too hard on them. And since no one likes to believe that they need to change, we don't have much credibility when we invite them to change.

 

Apostleship means being sent forth to do whatever God calls us to do. Remember that whatever he calls us to do he gifts us and empowers us to do. The first reading describes why God gives us apostolates: The message must go out! And it describes our importance: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!

 

Being good apostles and terrific evangelizers does not mean that we're going to be successful at changing the hearts and minds of family members. "Not everyone has heeded the good news." But it's at home where we learn to love others unconditionally. It's at home where we become good at forgiving. And it's at home where we're tested and strengthened in serving others with joy.

 

Fulfilling our vocation of joy in the home does not mean preaching conversion and debating the need to go to Mass. We can evangelize them by treating them the way Christ wants to treat them. Consider every interaction as an opportunity for them to meet Jesus, even if they stubbornly refuse to recognize him in you. And when they ask questions and show an openness to learning from us, then we can evangelize through words.

 

They already know that you follow Christ and that you go to Mass because you believe that participation in church community makes an important difference. You don't need to remind them. Simply concentrate on bringing more of Christ's joy into the relationships.

 

Today's Prayer 

Lord, give me a docile heart and alert ears to Your calling, to send me whenever and wherever You want. Amen.

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God Bless You.....

The Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”