Sunday, November 27, 2016

Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122:1-9, Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 24:37-44

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Show us Lord, your love;and grant us your salvation. Ps 85:8

FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT




Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122:1-9, Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 24:37-44

Isaiah 2:1-5


My soul's beloved, the world longs for peace, people of every nation long for peace, peace among people from all walks of life, faith, cultures, races seems impossible. We hope for peace, we dream of peace, write about it, sing songs desiring peace but it seems as distant as the horizon and just as impossible to experience in the world we live in. People in the Old Testament long for peace in the midst of the wars they fought with neighbouring countries, as well as within their tribes. In the era before You came into the world the chosen people were living under oppression with Rome, a foreign power ruling them and grinding them under its heel. They longed for the day when they would shake off the yoke of the Romans and they could rule themselves. 

The messiah they prayed for, longed for and dreamed about was one who would usher in a new era of peace under his rule, after having defeated the Romans and establishing his rule under which they would know t time of peace as in the reign of king David. 

Yet, when we read this prophecy, it does not speak of the kind of peace that the people of Israel at the time of Isaiah were longing for, nor is it the peace that the Jews under Rome hoped for, nor is the peace that our world today desires. This peace that You came to give us is nothing like the peace our finite minds can grasp it is a peace that only our spirits can fathom, hunger and yearn for. It is a time when all will know God. All will come together as a community of believers and together they will rise up in prayer, praise, worship, adoration, and thanksgiving to the One true God, who holds all things together in Himself. who sustains all life, and generates it. It is only in living in His Presence, guided by the wisdom of His Holy Spirit, washed in the Blood of the Lamb, the Son of God whom the Father sent into the world to lay down His life in order that we may receive divine life, that we make the peace that You have already given to us, and left with us, becomes a reality. 

Peace is Your gift to us, already given, only we need to understand how to make that peace real and tangible among us. Only then will the prophecy be fulfilled and the world will beat their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks, and nations will live side by side in fraternal love. The Light of the World has already come in it is up  to us walk in Your Light.

Psalm 122:1-9

My soul's beloved, even the psalmist today is singing of peace. Today, the first Sunday in Advent we light the Candle of Hope. As the Church comes together during this season of Advent as we wait in joyful hope for Your Second Coming, we ask for the grace to pray more fervently to increase our yearning for You and as we wait to prepare ourselves by getting rid of all that is unworthy of us as children of God. As we wait let us rejoice, let us encourage one another as we pray, work, and fulfill our vocations with greater fervor and love. Let us work together to ensure that the peace You have given us is realized first within our own hearts, in our homes, in our neighborhood, in our church, and slowly in ever widening circles let our peace go out into the whole world. Peace begins with me.

Verse 9
Because of my brothers and friends
I will say, “Peace be within you!”
Because of the house of the LORD, our God,
I will pray for your good.
Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.


Romans 13:11-14

My soul's beloved, the world does not know peace because the world is wallowing in the flesh, in the senses, in self indulgence, in excess of every kind. We are hell bent on dabbling in the works of darkness, licentious behavior of every kind is not only tolerated it is celebrated, and those with ill formed conscience do not not right from wrong. People live on the level of their emotions and have no knowledge of a Higher Power under whose divine law we are governed. But for those of us who have experienced conversion, St. Paul reminds us to renew ourselves anew in You. To put on Your armor of Light. To witness to You and to conduct ourselves in public and private as children of Light. Change must begin with me. Love must emanate from me. I must hold myself accountable if I fail to love as I have been loved. Help me my Lord to be guided by Your Holy Spirit so the hope that I have in You may also be experienced by those whose live I touch each day.

Matthew 24:37-44

My soul's beloved, time and time again You warn us that the end will come at a day and time that we least expect it therefore we have to be prepared always. People laughed at Noah, they called him insane, but he kept on building the ark as commanded by God. He believed that what God said would happen would surely come to pass. Those around him also heard what God was about to do but they chose to laugh it off as implausible. They continued to live their lives making no preparation for the disaster that was about to come upon them and because they chose to do nothing, they perished.

We too have been warned to be prepared for no one know the day or the hour when we will die, nor do we know the hour of Your Second Coming. Come it will, that is guaranteed and this is why, if we are wise and prudent, we will remain awake and alert. My soul's beloved, You come to me each day in the Holy Eucharist grant that I live each day preparing for Your coming into my heart in order that it may be a fit dwelling place for You and should You call me home any time any day, I will be ready for I am prepared. Thank You Lord.

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