“HONEY FROM THE ROCK”
10th December 2017.
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SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Reading 1:Is 40:1-5, 9-11 God tells Isaiah to comfort his people, but again asks them to prepare the way of the Lord and make straight a highway for his coming, God is coming to save his people.
Res. Psalm: Ps 84:9-14 The Lord is merciful, His voice speaks of peace, and His help is near for those who fear Him. In Him mercy and faithfulness have met, justice and peace embraced.
Reading 2:2Pet 3:8-14 Like Paul, Peter believes that Christ will come again soon, when least expected, and therefore all should be prepared. If the Lord appears to be slow incoming, it is only so that people may have a chance to repent and so be ready to meet him when he comes.
Gospel: Mk 1:1-8 Mark opens his Gospel with the picture of John proclaiming the need for all to repent and be baptized so as to be ready for the imminent coming of their Saviour into their lives.
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ADVENT: PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD
A man once owned a large and expensive clock crafted in Switzerland. He kept the clock in a window, where it was seen by passersby who set their watches by it. But something was wrong with the clock. Its hands habitually showed the wrong time. So the man spent considerable energy every day in turning the clock’s hands to the right positions. This went on for several years, which kept the owner weary. One day someone suggested, “Instead of wasting your energy in correcting the hands, why don’t you fix the clock’s inner parts?” “What a tremendous idea!” the owner exclaimed in astonishment and delight. “I never thought of that!”
God did not intend to make a few cosmetic changes by sending Christ into the world. God intended nothing less than to change the whole dynamic of human character. That’s why each Advent we encounter John the Baptist, who announces to the people the good news that the long-awaited day of salvation is about to dawn upon them. He urges the people to “prepare a way for the Lord”. But why do we need to prepare for the way for the Lord?
Once a man was strongly drawn towards a beautiful vase he saw at the town market. He bought the vase and brought it home. The vase was so beautiful, that when he placed in in his house, he realized the front room looked dull and indeed ugly. So he began painting his house and transform the whole room. He got colorful curtains to match the paint, and even varnished the furniture. Because of the beauty of the vase, the whole room was totally transformed. When Jesus enters our heart, the areas in need of attention become, so obvious. The closer we come to God, we begin to see the more obvious the contrast! This is the reason why we need to prepare a way for the Lord.
Advent is a time of waiting for the return of the Lord, well the Lord too is waiting for our return. Our God loves us, his love makes him long for us, search for us. God went searching for Adam and Eve in the garden, when they were hiding from him, they hid after disobeying the will of God. So also we too hide from God when we live against the will of God. Sometimes we complain that God is hiding from us? That he is nowhere to be seen, when actually it is we who are hiding from Him? And then God asked a question: “Where are you?” It is He who begins the search, out of His love for us. All through the Old Testament, he has been searching a human heart that could respond to his love. Are we willing to welcome Him in our hearts?
In the first reading we hear, “Prepare in the wilderness a way for the Lord. Make a straight highway for our God across the desert.” It is in our hearts that we need to make a straight highway for God. It is the valleys of sin in our own hearts that are to be filled with God’s mercy and healing, and the mountains and hills of pride in our own hearts that are to become low. The second reading reminds us that, we are living in a time of mercy, when we have an opportunity to repent. Like Isaiah, John the Baptist in today's Gospel calls out "Hear ye! The king is coming soon!" "Prepare the way of the Lord." "Make straight" the life of sin and the dangerous curves of temptation. Bring low the mountains of self-sufficiency and fill the valleys of emptiness with virtue and prayer. The rough and rugged terrain of uncharitableness should be smoothed out with kindness, generosity and thoughtfulness.
Our preparation is essentially an opening of our inner being to God’s comforting and healing presence so that the Holy Spirit can transform and make a new creation of us. Repentance begins with recognizing our need for change and renewal, with dissatisfaction with who and what we are, and with the progress we have made in following Christ, Itis recognition of our unsatisfactory spiritual condition and to increase our longing for Christ our Saviour, that gives us the strength to grow in love. Christmas will lack its full meaning if we do not prepare in our own hearts a way for the Lord. During this season of Advent, let us ask ourselves: is sin of any kind, keeping us separated from God? Let us repent and renew our lives so that we are able to be found by our loving God.
Prayer: Thank You Lord, for like a shepherd you feed us, you gathers us like lambs and carrying us in your bosom with care. Come, Lord Jesus! I wish to remain in Your loving embrace for eternity. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen.