Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Matthew 11: 2-11
December  14, 2025 | Sunday

Today’s Gospel

When John the Baptist heard in prison about the deeds of Christ, he sent a message by his disciples, asking him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

Jesus answered them, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are brought back to life, and the poor hear the good news; and how fortunate is the one who does not take offense at me!” As the messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “When you went out to the desert, what did you expect to see? A reed swept by the wind? What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? People who wear fine clothes live in palaces. What did you really go out to see? A  prophet? Yes, indeed, and even more than a prophet. He is the man of whom Scripture says: I send my messenger ahead of you, to prepare the way before you.

I tell you this: no one greater than John the Baptist has arisen from among the sons of women; and yet, the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Today’s Reflection

The entrance antiphon on Gaudete Sunday encourages us to rejoice in the Lord always because the Lord is near. Rejoicing in the Lord does not denote ignoring life’s painful moments. It means we should become more and more receptive to the Lord’s nearness. We must decipher how the Lord works during the desolating moments in life. Once we recognize the Lord in the face of suffering, we shall find ourselves inwardly joyful, hopeful, and uplifted despite our desolating moments.

The trouble comes when we fail to decipher the Lord in the low moments in life. One of the hindrances to recognizing the Lord in our midst is our limited image or expectation of him. A case in point is the Gospel passage. John the Baptist—who gets imprisoned for openly criticizing King Herod’s unlawful marriage with his brother’s wife (cf. Mt 14:3)—doubts whether Jesus was indeed the Messiah. He had expected a David-like leader who would liberate the Jewish people from the Romans, but Jesus turned out to be an advocate for peace and a promoter of a Kingdom of God—a Kingdom whose concerns go beyond this world.

Jesus’ response to John’s doubt is a call to free us from rigid and limited images of the Messiah. His ministry, as prophesied by Isaiah in the First Reading, fulfills the comforting words and liberates us from our own metaphorical prisons of limited understanding. Similarly, the Lord’s response intends to free us from our tendency to get fixated on our image or understanding of the Lord, inspiring us to open our minds to the limitless possibilities of His presence. This open-mindedness can lead to new insights and a deeper connection with the Lord. We must remember that disappointments resulting from our failure to recognize God in our sufferings and low moments in life can make us lose hope and lead to depression. Realizing that God cannot be confined to our limited imaginations and reasoning can be very helpful in this regard.

/Vulnerasti, 2025