During the pandemic, my comfort movie was The Lord of the Rings (LOTR). Till now, I can’t get enough of it. I love how the characters’ mistakes became blessings in disguise. Like if Pippin didn’t accidentally alert the orcs of their presence in Moria, Gandalf wouldn’t have fallen into the abyss with the Balrog and wouldn’t have become a white wizard.

My life’s plot is akin to LOTR in that sense. All my past mistakes gave me a different perspective on people and life. Although looking back at them makes me regret some things, I know nothing was wasted. Indeed, God writes straight on crooked lines. But does that mean God causes us to fall? Does He intentionally put challenges in our life for our sake?

I don’t think so. God is all good and He cannot cause evil. He should never be blamed for our troubles. He is powerful, but He will never control or possess us. He loves us so much that He gives us free will even though we might not choose Him. When we go astray, He looks for us and helps us make things better. 

Elaine Marie Factor (elainemariefactor@gmail.com)

Reflect

Review your life. Notice how your hardships in the past became blessings in disguise.

My Good Shepherd, thank You for always leading me back to You. Give me the grace to not sin and hurt You. I love You, Lord. Amen.

St. Juan Diego, pray for us.

In today’s reading, Isaiah seeks to uplift the spirits of the suffering Israelites who are in exile from their homeland. Such a task is impossible without faith and trust in God. The same is true for our earthly pilgrimage. We are all exiles from our heavenly homeland. It is faith that will lead us back to God. Let us persevere through the difficulties and embrace the reward of eternal life that awaits us at the end of the road.

¹ Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. ² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; Indeed, she has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins. ³ A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! ⁴ Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; The rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. ⁵ Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. ⁶ A voice says, “Cry out!” I answer, “What shall I cry out?” “All flesh is grass, and all their glory like the flower of the field. ⁷ The grass withers, the flower wilts, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it. So then, the people is the grass. ⁸ Though the grass withers and the flower wilts, the word of our God stands forever.” ⁹ Go up onto a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; Cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news! Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God! ¹⁰ Here comes with power the Lord God, who rules by his strong arm; Here is his reward with him, his recompense before him. ¹¹ Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, Carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 96:1-2, 3, 10, 11-12, 13

R: The Lord our God comes with power.

¹ Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all you lands. ² Sing to the Lord; bless his name; announce his salvation, day after day. (R) ³ Tell his glory among the nations;  among all the peoples, his wondrous deeds. ¹⁰ Say among the nations: The Lord is king; he governs the peoples with equity. (R) ¹¹ Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and what fills it resound; ¹² let the plains be joyful and all that is in them! Then shall all the trees of the forest rejoice. (R) ¹³ They shall exult before the Lord, for he comes; for he comes to rule the earth. He shall rule the world with justice and the peoples with his constancy. (R)

Gospel | Matthew 18:12-14

This is the heart of the Good Shepherd: He is always thinking of how He can help those who need it the most. All leaders ought to learn from this short parable and pray to be faithful to its message. A good leader will not allow anyone to be left behind or left out. Let us pray for our leaders that they may inspire us all.

Gospel Acclamation

The day of the Lord is near: Behold, he comes to save us.

¹² Jesus said to his disciples: “What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? ¹³ And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. ¹⁴ In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”

Read the Bible in one year! Read PROVERBS 17 - 20 today.

In one recollection session facilitated by Archbishop Socrates Villegas to our seminary community, he said, “My dear seminarians, the priests you have in this seminary are here to make your life miserable.” The seminarians began to laugh, with some teasingly looking at us, priest formators. But even before the laughter subsided, Bishop Soc raised his voice and seriously added, “That was not meant to be a joke.” Silence enveloped the auditorium. And in the midst of the deafening silence, Bishop Soc concluded, “Because a comfortable seminary is a bad seminary.”

In today’s First Reading, Isaiah prophesied that the advent of the Messiah will usher in a time of comfort: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” Isaiah is not saying that the birth of Jesus will augur a stress-free and untroubled life. The Hebrew word used for comfort is “nacham.” It is the same verb used in Psalm 23. It means relief from distress, not immunity from distress. It means the peace that comes after you have weathered distress. And so, the comfort Isaiah is prophesying is not the comfort that comes from deliverance from struggle. Rather, it is the comfort that comes from perseverance through life’s struggles.

Now we can understand why Pope Benedict XVI wrote that Christ calls us not for comfort but for greatness. God sometimes allows trials and sufferings—not to demolish us but to establish us. A comfortable life does not produce heroes and saints because greatness is summoned not by comfort but by challenges. Heroes and saints do not emerge from comfort zones. Heroes and saints emerge from courage and challenge zones.

Now, I understand, too, why a comfortable seminary is a bad seminary. A seminary that provides only comfort will produce priests who feel entitled and act like princes. A seminary that offers virtuous discomfort will produce servants and shepherds.

Fr. Joel Jason

Reflection question

Do not ask God for a life without burdens. Ask God for shoulders strong enough to carry life’s burdens.

Lord Jesus, help me know that only he who bears the cross can hope to wear the glorious crown. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _____________________________________