December 11, 2025 // Optional Memorial of Saint Damasus I, Pope

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Isaiah 41:13-20

Reflect on the Word // 

Going to the Sacrament of Confession at lunchtime is my reset button at work, and this week was no different. The conflicts with and harsh words from my colleagues were constantly weighing me down, and my lack of kindness in return led me to the confessional.

I was hoping to head back to the office quickly with an easy penance. But instead, the priest instructed me, “Please pray one decade of the Rosary for your colleagues’ well-being.”

Huh?! 

Today’s First Reading left me with the same awestruck confusion as that day in the confessional. In Isaiah, we hear the Lord speaking to His people, and His exact words were not ones that sat well with me at first. 

“Fear not, O worm Jacob, O maggot Israel; I will help you” (Isaiah 41:14). What? Just like in Confession, I did not like these words and what they meant. I was shocked to hear I was supposed to pray for my challenging coworkers and their well-being; it was as baffling as God calling His chosen people those humbling terms in explanation of how much they need Him. In both situations, I felt an immediate sense of discomfort, wanting to turn and run away. Why? 

God has a way of pointing out what we need to hear, and for me, that was my need for true compassion at work and humble reliance on Him, things I was repetitively grappling with of late. God reminded me in His Word and through my penance that He gets to tell me where I need to grow in holiness and that I shouldn’t run from His uncomfortable answer, either.

The Lord will find a way to gently call out the exact things we struggle with, the ways we fail to be the best versions of ourselves, asking us to work on them as our paths to holiness. Be open to it, and the fruits it will bear. For the Book of Isaiah confirms even after those hard-to-hear words, “You shall rejoice in the LORD, and glory in the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 41:16).  

Relate to the Lord // Whose wellbeing do you feel called to pray for today?