“HONEY FROM THE ROCK”
9th December 2017.
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SATURDAY, FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT
Reading 1: Is 30:19-21, 23-26 The Lord is gracious to you when you cry out, as soon as he hears he will answer you. The Lord will dress the wound of his people and heal the bruises his blows have left.
Res. Psalm: Ps 146:1-6 The Lord builds up Jerusalem and brings back Israel’s exiles. He heals the broken-hearted, he binds up all their wounds. Happy are all who hope in the Lord.
Gospel:Mt 9:35 – 10:1,5, 6-8 Moved with pity at the crowds of sick people, Jesus commissions his disciples to take up and carry on his own work of healing and comforting.
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LETTING GOD REWRITE OUR STORY
God's plan forges ahead with inevitability, it cannot be reversed. We can only speed it up or slow it down to some degree by virtue or vice. If we do not make it into the kingdom of God, then our existence was pointless. Our life was irrelevant. In the Bible, God enters human history to bring it to its destined close. He expects us to lift up stakes, turn ourselves around, take a less-traveled road and follow a path we cannot even see, simply at his word. This is the purification-time, the desert experience.
In today’s Advent liturgy, we plead for the coming of the Son of God when in actual fact he has already come, we already have him. We hope for what he already possess. We never cease needing Jesus and his healing, compassionate touch. “At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity,” and today there is no reason to believe that his pity and compassion have ceased. He continues to heal the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He tells the number of the stars; he calls each by name. The Gospel tells us that he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority to expel unclean spirits and to cure sickness and disease of every kind: “Cure the sick, raise the dead, heal the leprous, expel demons. The gift you have received, give as a gift.” That commission has never been withdrawn from the Church, and her members.
In the first reading we also hear: “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, This is the way; walk in it.” Prophet Isaiah assures the people that if they seek God’s guidance, they would find it - “This is the Way, walk in it!” Until we hear and obey that voice, we will never be set free. It is simply a matter of making up our minds to accept God’s will for our lives, no matter what it is! We all make mistakes in life. Some of us lose our direction along the path. We need to retune ourselves and pay attention to God’s voice within us. As God desires to enter our lives, we need to make a path straight for him to enter in.
Prayer: God of mercy, May the Eucharist we receive and the liturgy we celebrate bring us your divine help, free us from our sins, and prepare us for the birthday of our Saviour. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen.