21 December 2025

21 December 2025 - 4th Sunday of Advent - More on Our Lady, Undoer of Knots

Transcript

Reading:  

Isaiah 7:11

Write:  

Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God;
 let it be deep as the netherworld, or high as the sky!

Reflect:   

Well now… doesn’t Ahaz sound absolutely pious: “I will not ask!  I will not tempt the LORD!” The reality is he is betraying how much he does NOT trust God!

Isaiah calls him out on this: “Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God?”

Look, God is ready to do absolutely anything “as… high as the sky”.

Apply:   

Last week I spoke to you about my experiences with Our Lady, Undoer of Knots. I am glad we still have the images here right in front of us. Isaiah’s prophecy of the virgin conceiving and bearing a son reminds us of who Our Lady is, and who Jesus is as Emmanuel – I’m going to talk about those two names on Christmas.

But this weekend, I want to focus on the foolishness of Ahaz. We do not need to let ourselves fall into the fake piety of Ahaz. If I were to walk through the church right now and ask anyone of you: what is it you want God to solve for you, maybe through the intercession of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots? How many of you would shy away like Ahaz? How many of you would dare to be bold enough to expect – to EXPECT – God to answer your prayer… maybe even by Christmas?

Do not worry! I am not going to come down in front of any one of you and single you out and ask you what your greatest need is from God! However, consider this: do we not receive what God has planned because we do not ask? But I do not want to “tempt the Lord, ” you may be ready to respond. But that is a form of Ahaz’s piety, which is anything but?

We receive not – because we ask not.

This week I ordered one hundred copies of the Novena to Our Lady Undoer of Knots. When they come in I will make sure they are available. It is true that I seldom pray Novenas myself – mainly because I can’t keep up with them for nine days in a row. But – wait – why do we have to be such a stickler about doing a Novena nine days in a row? So what if we miss a day or two in between? As long as we get to the whole thing, right?

I am going to be short this weekend because I want to repeat the prayer from last week to Our Lady, and to give you a little more time to think about what knot you would like to have Our Lady solve. We do not need more people like Ahaz in the church. We need people with a boldness to ask and receive what God has planned.

What would it be like if Midtown Catholic was to become known as a place where prayers were answered and knots were released? Where people were set free to live in the love of the Lord and to receive all of His blessings? It can begin with you – and me! What are you willing to put before the Lord and Our Lady to untie and heal?

Pray/Praise:   

Let us pray.

Virgin Mary, Mother of fair love, Mother who never refuses to come to the aid of a child in need, Mother whose hands never cease to serve your beloved children because they are moved by the divine love and immense mercy that exist in your heart, cast your compassionate eyes upon me and see the snarl of knots that exists in my life. You know very well how desperate I am, my pain, and how I am bound by these knots. 

Mary, Mother to whom God entrusted the undoing of the knots in the lives of his children, I entrust into your hands the ribbon of my life. No one, not even the Evil One himself, can take it away from your precious care. In your hands there is no knot that cannot be undone. 

Powerful Mother, by your grace and intercessory power with Your Son and My Liberator, Jesus, take into your hands today this knot:

[Mention your petitions now]          

I beg you to undo it for the glory of God, once and for all. You are my hope. 

O my Lady, you are the only consolation God gives me, the fortification of my feeble strength, the enrichment of my destitution, and, with Christ, the freedom from my chains. Hear my plea. Keep me, guide me, protect me, o safe  refuge!

Mary, Undoer of Knots, pray for me. Amen.

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