The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
I am full time Catholic evangelist who travels the globe and preaches the Gospel, inviting people into relationship with Jesus. God is my boss and it’s honestly the best. However, with any job, there are moments of a lot of tiredness, weariness, “am I even making a difference?”, “are You SURE this is where You want me, God?”, “Is all of this just hopeless?”. I know I’m not alone in those feelings and maybe you feel the same way. The readings today talk about a people who are also steeped in tiredness, experiencing moments of darkness, WAITING for something to happen.
One of the most astonishing things about God is that He is true to His promises. That He has said over and over again through the prophets in the Old Testament that SOMEONE is coming: a Messiah. God has said and proved that He will not abandon His people. He has proved His love for us that He sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to save us, something we just celebrated a month ago. Just because Christmas is over doesn't mean that God is done saving us. We have the benefit of living in 2026 where we are now the people who have seen a great light! We have been brought abundant joy with great rejoicing! We know that Jesus defeated sin and death and now we can live not with yokes that burden us, nor poles on our shoulders, but as free children of the King! This is the promise of God for us, His children. This is why we can say with full confidence, “the Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living.” This land of the living is right now. God wants to shower us with His abundance, proving to us over and over that He is a God who takes care of His children.
And how do we do this? By laying down our nets, our “identities,” and following after Jesus every single day where He will make us fishers of men. God is true to His word that He will lead and guide us every single day so that one day, we will dwell in the house of the Lord, gazing on His loveliness with unveiled eyes, forever with Him in Heaven.
Ali Hoffman loves God and loves people. She travels the globe preaching the Gospel and making disciples of all nations. She also mails monthly letters of encouragement and hand drawn pieces of art (affectionately called LYLO Letters) to build up the local church. You can find more info here.
