Msgr. Roger J. Landry
National Director, The Pontifical Mission Societies
Daily Reflection for December 13, 2025
Here is the video of today’s reflection.
The Youtube generated transcript for today’s reflection is:
I’m Monsignor Roger Landry, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies, coming to you from our chapel in New York City. It’s December 13th, the feast of St. Lucy. In today’s Gospel, we have some challenging words. Jesus was asked by the three apostles, Peter, James, and John, as he was coming down from the mount of transfiguration after having witnessed Jesus speaking to Moses and Elijah. Jesus, why is it that everybody says Elijah must come first before the Messiah appears? And so Jesus said, “Elijah’s already come, but they did to him whatever they pleased.” And they realized that he was speaking about John the Baptist, our great advent figure, the forerunner of the Lord. And then he said, “So will they do to the son of man, that just as they had mistreated the precursor of the Lord, Jesus’ cousin, St. John the Baptist. So they were going to treat him. And so what is our message in the Advent season as we run out to meet Christ who is coming to us in history in Bethlehem and mystery and the sacraments and prayer and majesty on the clouds of heaven. We have to be ready that we’re going to be embracing somebody who is coming to suffer for us. Somebody who loves us enough that he’s willing to pay that price. somebody who embracing us wants to transform us so that we’re no longer afraid like John the Baptist of suffering out of witness for him because sometimes just like St. John, when we try to give witness to Jesus, when we try to bring his love to others, people who prefer darkness over light will choose to remain in darkness and sometimes make us the victims. And so Jesus was preparing his first apostles Peter, James, and John for that reality that he himself was going to suffer, but that anyone who’s going to be his true disciple needs to pick up our cross every day and follow him. This is what it means to be a follower of Jesus. But this is likewise what it means to be an apostle of Jesus. And in the Advent season, we’re seeking to be so transformed by Jesus that we continue his mission and we try to make the whole world run out to meet him who has come into our world out of love for us. We’re seeing behind me a few figures who live this way. St. Francis Xavier, he absolutely lived this way and he suffered a great deal bringing the gospel to three whole countries. India, Malaysia, Japan, died at the shore of of the fourth St. TZA the child Jesus in the holy face, the great little flower. She suffered so much not just by physical injury, but by some of the envy even of religious sisters in the convent, but she was willing to endure all of that because she had a great love for Jesus, particularly in his holy face that had blood all over it and scar. She knew what she was signing up for. Blessed Pauline Jericho, the foundress of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, who herself suffered even basically becoming bankrupt toward the end of her life because of the way she was betrayed even by friends. But she was willing to endure all of that out of love for the Lord. And the great Venerable Fulton J. Sheen, my predecessor as national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies who suffered a great deal from the envy of people who just didn’t have his gifts including from major figures in the church who tried to make his life difficult. Elijah comes like, John the Baptist, giving witness to Jesus and what happened to John and what happened to Jesus is going to happen to Jesus’ disciples and apostles. But that isn’t something that’s supposed to scare us away. Just like the firefighters on 911, we’re supposed to run toward those buildings rather than away. We’re supposed to run toward the cross rather than flee it. We’re supposed to run toward those whom Jesus died for rather than mind our own business. This is the work of the great missionaries throughout time. It’s your and my work. Let’s get to it.
The Gospel reading on which the reflection was based on:
Gospel
As they were coming down from the mountain,
the disciples asked Jesus,
“Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
He said in reply, “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things;
but I tell you that Elijah has already come,
and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased.
So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.”
Then the disciples understood
that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.