“Here is your God! Here comes with power the Lord GOD, who rules by his strong arm; here is his reward with him, his recompense before him. 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”. (Is 40: 10-11)

God who “comes with power” and who “rules by his strong arm” appears finally as a shepherd, who gathers in his arms the lambs, “carrying them in his bosom.” All God’s power and strong arms are for carrying, are for protecting and are for showing His love. The all powerful God is the merciful One. He comes to us as a child; defenseless but at the same moment Redeemer, helpless but at the same moment Victorious, dependent but at the same moment Protector.

“O people of Sion, behold, the Lord will come to save the nations, and the Lord will make the glory of his voice heard in the joy of your heart.” (Entrance Antiphon)

“No longer will your Teacher hide himself, but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher, While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears: ‘This is the way; walk in it,’ when you would turn to the right or to the left.” (Is 30: 20-21)

Our Lord becomes much more for us. He is not only the One who gives directions behind us, but also He is for us The Way and He is “no longer is hidden.” We can see Him in the Church in the Blessed Sacrament; He comes to us with absolution, healing and strength; He supports married couples and priests—His servants with the Sacraments. He is with us in every situation. We are His temples and His holy people.

“The Lord is our Judge, our Lawgiver, our King; he it is who will save us.” (Gospel Acclamation)

“On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book.” (Is 29: 18)

“The deaf shall hear the words of a book” because every person created by God has the right to hear about unconditional love we are loved by Him. With every word He brings us love: understanding, healing, compassion and forgiveness. No one is excluded: “on that day” the deaf, the blind, the poor and the lowly will “rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.”

“We await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our mortal bodies, to conform with his glorified body.” (Communion Antiphon)

It’s been one year since you started receiving my short homilies.

I strongly believe that Our Lord’s Word answers all our questions and needs. It’s been a beautiful experience for me to share with you my reflections based on the Daily Readings. I usually wrote them very early in the morning, but sometimes, in a very busy schedule, I needed to stay up very late (once I spent almost 5 hours trying to finish a homily, fighting with sleep). Sometimes I had to come up with a piece two or three days in advance, but generally it was always the best time I had. What I did was meditating and asking for the words for you, my dear Brothers and Sisters, my spiritual children.

I also wanted the homilies to be part of assistance after Program I+YOU=WE for the Love and Life Programs participants: a word of inspiration for your marriage–to help you follow your vocation of a spouse and make the best of it.

I would like to say a very special “thank you” to people who have been helping me and are invisible:

to Carol–a former teacher of academic writing–for sharing her outstanding proofreading talents with us, her availability and prayers,
to Margaret–our Editor-in-Chief–for her dedication, edition, publication and beautiful pictures on Facebook, which make the homilies more understandable (one picture is worth 1000 words),

to Majo – our translator in Spanish, and to Beatriz – our great supporter in Latinamerica (and from time to time – also translator),

to Agnieszka Buczkowska, who used to translate the blog post together with Margaret before my wiritng in English here began one year ago

It was one year ago when Fr. Jay started writing his short homilies, and said after a couple of days: “Maybe I could continue like that for a year”. As this coincided with his one-year trip away from Poland, his homeland where he is missed much while away, I thought to myself: “Well, what an an excellent idea! No matter what place the Providence throws him in, there will be a message to lean on.” It was also a good challenge for a marathon runner, who had proved so many times that he was capable of making a long-term commitment.

Ever since then the homilies have continued to appear each day. If there were any breaks in the process, they were due only to technical website problems.

We have all sorts of meditations on the Word of God published in lots of places, but what is so wonderful about Fr. Jay’s homilies is that they always rely on the positives. On the faith of God in humanity, on His love, on His infinite proximity and support for us. They never present a crude examination of the Reader’s conscience–as this type of writing sometimes does–but always offer a gentle, loving, father-like assistance instead of “preaching”.

Bearing in mind the Father’s missionary life of a traveller among families on more than one continent, the stories behind those homilies could probably make a separate book of places visited, including most bizarre hot spots where internet was available. All the more, we’re grateful that those short texts continue to flow in and shed light on our daily concerns, offering encouragement and calming down restless hearts.

Happy Anniversary, Fr. Jay! And keep on writing 🙂

Margaret,

The Familty Support Foundation’s Blog Editor in Chief

You can subscribe the homilies to your mailbox using the subscription box on the right side of the blog page.

“A strong city have we; he sets up walls and ramparts to protect us. Open up the gates to let in a nation that is just, one that keeps faith.” (Is 26: 1-2)

Old Romans used to say: “good fences make good neighbors.” When we respect our borders (fences), we respect our differences and individualities and we can, on the basis of this respect, build a good neighborhood. Our Lord “sets up walls and ramparts” with sacraments and sacramentals, not only “to protect us,” but also to “open up the gates to let in a nation … that keeps faith.” We need to be protected, and at the same moment, we need to be open for relationships.

“You, o Lord, are close, and all your ways are truth. From of old I have known your decrees, for you are eternal.” (Entrance Antiphon)

“Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us! This is the LORD for whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!” (Is 25: 9)

Everyday, but especially during the Advent, our eyes are focused on Him: “the Lord for whom we look.” He is our Savior and Redeemer; He is our hope and the One, who takes care of all our needs. He cures all our weaknesses and knows when we have nothing to eat. His heart is always moved with pity.

“Behold, the Lord, comes to save his people; blessed are those prepared to meet him.” (Gospel Acclamation)

“…the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea.” (Is 11: 9)

Without the Bible, without God’s words and without Church we are not able to know our God. He revealed Himself to us. He even became a man to be known more. What we can do before “the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD” is to invite His word every day into my life, to listen to the Church’s teaching and to let Him fill me with the knowledge of Him and with love.

“Behold, our Lord shall come with power; he will enlighten the eyes of his servants.” (Gospel Acclamation)

“Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” (Is 2: 3)

To see God’s ways and to “walk in his paths,” we need to “climb the Lord’s mountain.” The right perspective is from His position not from ours. How often we are overwhelmed by daily concerns; we can easily forget where our destination is. He comes everyday with His word, “instructs us in his ways,” and empowers us by His presence and His wisdom.

“Hear the word of the Lord, O nations; declare it to the distant lands: Behold, our Savior will come; you need no longer fear.” (Entrance Antiphon)

“You, LORD, are our father, our redeemer you are named forever. Why do you let us wander, O LORD, from your ways, and harden our hearts so that we fear you not”? (Is 63: 16-17)

Today, with the First Sunday of Advent, we start a new Year—a Catholic liturgical year. We will go deeper and deeper during this year to understand who Our God is and who we are. His first message to us is that He is our Father and our Redeemer. And this is His name forever. How different our lives will be when we do not “harden our hearts” to believe in this?

“Show us Lord, your love; and grant us your salvation.” (Gospel Acclamation)