💖 HOMILY - DECEMBER 11 💖

First Reading - Isaiah 41:13-20 

Gospel - Matthew 11:11-15

In our spiritual journey, there are moments when we feel weak, overwhelmed, and uncertain about the future. Life can make us feel small, forgotten, or stuck in situations that seem impossible to change. Today’s readings speak directly into that experience. They bring a powerful message of hope: God does not abandon the weak, and God’s Kingdom belongs not to the self-sufficient, but to those who trust.

In the first reading, Isaiah speaks to a people who are afraid and discouraged. God calls them “a worm,” a striking image of vulnerability and powerlessness. Yet this same helpless people are told, “Do not fear, I will help you.” God does not scold them for being weak. Instead, He promises to take them by the hand. More than that, He promises transformation. The desert will become a place of rivers, dry land will burst into life, and what looked like total loss will become a living sign of God’s presence. This is the way God works: not by waiting for us to become strong first, but by entering our weakness and turning it into new life.

The Gospel continues this same message through the figure of John the Baptist. Jesus praises John as the greatest born of women. John was fearless, uncompromising, and faithful to his mission. Yet Jesus adds something unexpected: “The least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” This is not a criticism of John but a revelation of how different God’s Kingdom truly is. Greatness in God’s eyes is not measured by fame, public influence, or strength of personality. True greatness is found in belonging to the Kingdom—by trusting, by receiving, by allowing God to act within us.

This challenges the way we often think about success, both in the world and in our faith. We admire strength, visibility, and control. But God admires trust, humility, and openness. The people who change the world in God’s eyes are often the ones who feel least equipped. The desert becomes fruitful not because it tries harder, but because God sends the water.

Dear friends, these readings offer us a deep motivation for our daily lives. When you feel afraid, God says, Do not fear. When you feel weak, God says, I will help you. When you feel insignificant, Jesus says, The Kingdom belongs even to you. No failure, no dryness, no fear has the final word. God’s transforming power is at work precisely where you feel most empty.

Today, God invites us to stop relying only on our own strength and to place our trust in His hands. He invites us to believe that even now, in our own personal deserts, He is preparing rivers of grace. He invites us to enter His Kingdom not through achievement, but through faith.

Let us leave today with renewed courage. We are not alone in our struggles. We are not too small to be used by God. And we are never beyond the reach of His transforming love. If we trust Him, even our weakest places can become signs of His glory.