27-Nov-2008
Dear Friend,
Whenever we have an important occasion or important guest coming home we spend
a lot of time preparing. If we are to do well, if we are to be successful, if
we value people, we always prepare ourselves and are ready for the occasion.
Preparation implies that we care; that the event is important to us and the
person coming is respected and loved. Are we prepared for God’s coming? Have
an exciting weekend preparing for God’s coming! –Fr. Jude
Sunday Reflections: Second Sunday of Advent ‘Prepare a way for the Lord!
7-Dec-2008
Readings: Isaiah 40: 1-5. 9-11; 2 Peter 3: 8-14; Mark 1: 1-8;
Today’s first reading speaks of the promise of hope and salvation for the
people in exile. The destruction of the temple and the fall of Jerusalem spelt
the end of the kingdom of Judah and the end of the Davidic dynasty. To human
ways of thinking all was lost. The people of Israel had sinned many times, had
abandoned their God and gone after pagan ways and they were losing hope. This
was the tortured history of Israel. But to the eyes of faith things looked very
much different. For the believer the exile could only be temporary, a
punishment, a period of hard labour, with which to atone for their sins. The
prophet reminded the people that their exile was limited, only seventy years,
after which God would bring them rejoicing back to Zion. Their homecoming would
be a second exodus. The anonymous writer of the chapters forty to forty five of
Isaiah, also called the Book of Consolation, reminds the people that God will
intervene and bring his people back,
like a good shepherd caring for his stray sheep. This would be a pleasant
home-coming; a new path would be prepared for the coming back of Israel, a path
prepared primarily for the coming of the Lord. The people had to wait for many
years and the prophet encouraged them to hold on in hope for God’s coming. This
was the Gospel, the Good News, given to his people.
Facilitating God’s Coming
A monk was passing through a dangerous and deserted highway. He came across a
wounded man with high fever lying helplessly on the roadside. The monk took
compassion on him and began to take care of him. He cleaned his wounds and tied
them with medicinal leaves; he shared his food with him and spent the night
taking care of him. The following morning the man was a little better and he
was able to proceed on his own. When the monk was about to take leave, the
stranger turned towards the monk and said to him, “Sir, you do not know who I
am – neither my name, nor my race or caste or language, yet you bound my
wounds, shared your food and spent the night taking care of me. Tell me, what
made you do all these things for me?” Then the monk replied, “The Lord who
created me said, ‘What you do to the least of your brethren, you do it for me.’
You are my brother. What I had done to you, I had done it to my Lord.” Then the
man said, “Sir who is
your God? If your God makes you do all these things to a stranger, then I need
that God. Give your God to me.” The monk paved the way for God in that man’s
life. It is said that a saint is one who makes it easy for others to believe in
God. “Prepare the way for God….”
John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’
In today’s second reading St. Peter reminds his listeners that if the final
realization of the new world is delayed, this is because God offers us more
time for conversion. God is not slow to carry out his promises, but he is
patient with us and wishes to give us another chance. We ought then to live in
holiness today, in order to be found living lives without sin or fault on that
day of the Lord, which is unknown to us. The day of the Lord will come suddenly
like a thief in the night. Since everything will come to an end, we must always
be prepared to meet the Lord, ready for the new heaven and a new earth. We have
to prepare a way for the Lord to enter into our lives at any time. Therefore we
have to be prepared always!
Your Name
In Westminster Abbey in London, there’s a small chapel called St George’s
Chapel. It was built as a memorial to the Londoners who lost their lives during
the air raids of World War II. Inside the chapel are four large books. These
books contain the names of over 60,000 air raid victims. One book lies open and
on it shines a light illuminating the page of names. Each day the page is
turned, revealing a new set of names. As you stare at the long column of names
and read them, you have no way of knowing whether the person whose name you are
reading was rich or poor, black, white or brown, Christian, Jew, or atheist,
young or old, handsome or ugly. Nor does this really make any difference. All
that matters now is what each person became in the course of his or her life on
earth.
Mark Link, SJ in Sunday Homilies
Today’s gospel focuses on John the Baptist, the last and the greatest of
prophets who prepared the way for the coming of the Lord. He worked hard to
bring his own light to the people, but he was always conscious that a greater
light was coming, a light he himself was destined to walk in. He now urges the
people to prepare a way for the coming of the Lord. John’s message was not only
in his words but in his whole life. The man was the message. That a messenger
should make paths straight by filling in the valley and cutting into hills was
the custom of kings. A herald would precede a king on a journey to forewarn the
inhabitants of his arrival so that they might thus smooth out their ill-kept
roads. John’s essential message was repentance. Repentance is not only a regret
for the past or performance of penance, but in addition a change of mind and
heart, a new direction, a new beginning in keeping with God’s will. The symbol
of repentance was
John’s baptism, an external sign and no more. The Israelites had lived on the
promises of God. It is true that God has come into the world through his son
Jesus Christ. We are not waiting in make belief of his coming. Yes, he has
come, but truly he is coming again. As Christians we journey in faith towards
the promised land of eternal glory. But there are times when we forget the
promises of God. There are lots of voices calling us in other directions. Some
of their voices are inner voices. But God is calling us too. He comes to rid us
of fear in order to enable us to live in holiness and justice all the days of
our lives. Are we preparing a way for his coming into our lives and our world?
"Come Lord Jesus Come!"
The Desert
In the high desert of Crestone, Colorado in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
there is a hermitage called the Spiritual Life Institute. Founded in 1960 by
Fr. William McNamara, the Institute is a center for contemplation under the
direction of an ecumenical community of men and women. At the entrance to the
Spiritual Life Institute there is a wooden plaque which serves as the Magna
Carta of their desert experience. On this wooden plaque is a triangle with
three words inside – silence, solitude and simplicity – and three words outside
– contemplation, communion and celebration. One of the desert heroes of this
Institute is John the Baptist, who is introduced in today’s gospel as a “voice
in the desert, heralding the Lord’s coming.” The gospel then goes on to keynote
his desert experience as an ideal Advent preparation for Christmas. John the
Baptist stands tall in a long line of biblical desert figures, including men
like Moses and Elijah.
Later our Lord himself will go out into the desert for 40 days and be tested
by Satan. Several enormous events took place in the desert, events like the
revelation of Yahweh’s name and the giving of the law. So it is no wonder that
the desert experience is put before us in Advent to prepare for the event of
Christ’s birth. As Fr. McNamara’s plaque points out, the desert affords us
three ways to become prayerful people, the ways of Simplicity, silence and
solitude. These three ways can be part of our Advent practices even if we have
no actual physical desert nearby.
Albert Cylwicki, CSB in His Word Resounds
“After centuries of waiting the time has come of the beginning of the good
news. God announces the triumphant return through the desert. But how can we
today still speak of ‘the beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ?’ Too
often our reactions to the gospel are those of people for whom everything has
already been accomplished. It is as if the Church were a computer established
by the Son of God, and programmed once and for all, according to the
‘blueprints provided from time immemorial by the prophets of long ago. On the
contrary, the paradox of salvation history is that everything is given and yet
everything remains to be done. There is a gospel that has been written, and
another one that has been left to write. God has spoken to us, once and for
all, and his present silence is not a deliberate choice of dumbness but rather
a permanent delegation given to his word. Let us then, set to work to lead
towards salvation this great drifting
world. Look our God comes! We must continue to prepare the message. Christ
needs prophets in the world today as much as he needed them in the time of John
the Baptist and the times that went before him. In our century there are roads
to be made straight and valleys to be filled in, there are mountains to be laid
low. We must sound the clarion call to conversion, denounce sin and proclaim
the baptism of salvation. Finally, we must ourselves decrease, so that another,
more powerful than ourselves can increase –who is himself the good news of
salvation for ours and for every other time!” -Glenstal Bible Missal
Prepare The Way
In his book The Power within You, Pat Williams of the Philadelphia 76ers tells
a remarkable story. It was a hot Sunday afternoon in 1980. A young cerebral
palsy victim named Cordell Brown was walking through the clubhouse of the World
Champion Philadelphia Phillies. Cordell walks with great difficulty. He talks
with great difficulty. Feeding himself is a very difficult task. When people
see Cordell coming, they usually turn the other way or pretend not to see him.
That’s what some of the Phillies were doing as Cordell made his way through the
clubhouse. What was Cordell doing in the Phil’s clubhouse? He had been invited
there to speak to the players in a pregame chapel service. What could Cordell
possibly say to stars like Steve Carleton and Mike Schmit, who were far removed
from his world of pain and deformity? Some of the Phillies were asking the same
thing when they sat down to listen to him. Cordell began by putting the players
at ease. He said,
“I know I’m different.” Then, quoting 1 Corinthians 15:10, he added, “But, by
God’s grace I am what I am.” For the next 20 minutes Cordell Brown talked about
the goodness of God in his life. He concluded by answering the question, what
could he say to famous superstars like Steve Carleton and Mike Schmit, who were
so far removed from his world of pain and deformity? Cordell said in a loving
way: “You may hit three-fifty for a lifetime and be paid a million dollars a
year, but when the day comes that they close the lid on that box, you won’t be
any different than I am. That’s one time when we’ll be the same. “I don’t need
what you have in life, but one thing’s for sure: you need what I have, and
that’s Jesus Christ.”
Anonymous
John the Baptist
A man went out for a walk on a cold but bright winter’s morning. The sun had
just come up and was scattering light to the four corners of the sky. As he
walked along he noticed that the moon too was in the sky. But it was so pale
compared to the sun that it was barely visible. An hour or so ago, it was a
bright and beautiful creature, and dominated the sky. Now it looked like a
beggar, and had been pushed into the background. It was like a candle made
redundant by electric light. But as the man looked at it, it suddenly occurred
to him that it was this ragged creature whose faithful light had seen people
through the darkness of the night. The moon reminds us of the Old Testament
prophets, and perhaps especially of John the Baptist. The prophets had kept
alive the hopes of the people during the long night of expectation, when it
seemed that the dawn would never come. It was thanks to them that the flame
never went out.
Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday & Holy day Liturgies’
May we keep the light of faith burning so we are prepared for His coming!
Fr. Jude Botelho
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been
collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and
from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever
possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you
could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in
these reflections. These reflections are also available on my web site
www.netforlife. net Thank you.
Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Go to
http://messenger.yahoo.com/invite/
