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Saturday, December 9, 2000

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Bl. Juan Diego


Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26
Psalm 147
Matthew 9:35—10:1, 6-8

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after the messiah comes

"The kingdom of God is near." —Matthew 10:7, our transl.

Isaiah prophesied that after the Messiah comes:

  • "No more will you weep" (Is 30:19).
  • "As soon as He (God) hears He will answer you" (Is 30:19).
  • "The Lord will give you the bread you need and the water for which you thirst" (Is 30:20).
  • "A voice shall sound in your ears: 'This is the way; walk in it' " (Is 30:21).
  • "He will give rain for the seed that you sow in the ground" (Is 30:23).
  • "The wheat that the soil produces will be rich and abundant" (Is 30:23).
  • "Upon every high mountain and lofty hill there will be streams of running water" (Is 30:25).
  • "The light of the moon will be like that of the sun and the light of the sun will be seven times greater" (Is 30:26).
  • The Lord will bind "up the wounds of His people" (Is 30:26).
  • He will give His Church the authority to "cure the sick, raise the dead, heal the leprous, expel demons (Mt 10:8).

The Messiah has come and is coming anew this Christmas season. This Christmas, Christ will do "more than we ask or imagine" (Eph 3:20). "Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has prepared" this Christmas "for those who love Him" (1 Cor 2:9). Raise your expectations. Christmas is not merely recalling Christ's past coming but meeting Christ personally here and now. "O come, divine Messiah!"

Prayer:  Father, give me the faith to let You do all that You want.

Promise:  "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." —Ps 147:3

Praise:  Blessed Juan Diego's persistent obedience to Our Lady of Guadalupe led to the conversion of eight million people in the next decade.

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Edward J. Gratsch, July 15, 2000


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, July 17, 2000