1. Sinful as we sometimes are, Pope Francis says our main purpose as Church is to “live and bear witness to Jesus … [to] bring glad tidings to the poor... [to] set at liberty those who are oppressed.” If you can’t get out because of Covid, is there anything you can do for the poor, the millions of children who are hungry right now, the brokenhearted, the prisoners or captives? As the Pope says in Rorate Caeli,

The Church, believe me, despite all the delays, infidelities, mistakes and sins which it may have committed and can still commit in those who compose it, has no other meaning and purpose than to live and bear witness to Jesus: he who was sent from Abba “to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19).

Pope's letter to atheist Italian journalist Eugenio Scalfari
co-founder and former editor of Italy’s most popular newspaper,
La Republica, September 11, 2013

2. Isaiah is the first to tell us “to bring glad tidings. … ” Jesus quotes Isaiah next (Luke 4:18-19) and Pope Francis repeats it again. How important is that message to you? Should the fact that we have “mistakes and infidelities” hinder us? How could those mistakes help us to help others? 

Second Reading
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

1. How can you ensure that the Spirit has opportunities to work in you? How can anyone “rejoice always” when they are suffering? Do you know people who seem to do that? Do you find that all things work together for you if you love God? Could that be “praying without ceasing”?

2. What is the relationship between the Holy Spirit working in the depths of your spirit and God’s peace, applied to your body, soul, and spirit?

Gospel
John 1:6-8, 19-28

1. In the First Reading the Lord sends Isaiah with a message. In the Gospel God sends John to testify to the light of Christ. Does God send you? If you decided to “testify to the light” could that be “praying without ceasing”—by helping others or looking for Christ in the poor all the time?
                                                                     
2. The Gospel has John the Baptist saying to the questioners, “There is one among you whom you do not recognize. … ” How about you? Do you recognize Christ in all the different faces and manners he comes to you each day?