THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me.
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor. IS 61:1 

ISAIAH 61:1-2,10-11 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Every prophecy concerning the Messiah has been fulfilled in You and among all the prophets in the Old Testament none are clearer in their description of the Savior of the world who was to come and ransom His people. Yet, as You rightly pointed out, many deliberately choose not to see and to hear because if they did then they would have to believe. What keeps so many, who after hearing the Good News of salvation, refuse to be moved by its power? Is it pride, fear, timidity, or just attachment to sin? If they accepted the truth of the Good News then they would have to make a choice to embrace it perhaps at a great cost to themselves and they are not prepared to lose their life in order to save it.

Yet to deliberately deny the truth of the Gospel despite all the evidence that God did pierce the veil of time and history and entered into our world as one of us to redeem it. What the prophet foretold took place,  continues to take place, and will do so until You return in glory.  You are alive.

On that sabbath day in the synagogue in Nazareth You read this text from the prophet Isaiah:

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me,

for the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring good news to the poor,
to bind up hearts that are broken;
to proclaim liberty to captives,
freedom to those in prison;
to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord.

You then closed the scroll, looked at everyone around You, and said: ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’

The greater tragedy, my Lord, is that we who believe have been unable to pass on our faith to our children. We thought we did so but now as we grow old and our children have grown into adults we see from their lifestyle and their choices that the good seed of Your Word fell on the path, or on barren, rocky, or thorny ground and perished for lack of nourishment. Is there anything more heartbreaking for parents, my Lord? But I know that the Father's heart is even more heartbroken and I also take comfort from the knowledge that the power of Your sacrifice will ultimately save them.

I too, O Lord, took many wrong turns in my life but through it all, You never left me and I know that You are with them as well and all my prayers will be answered and You will wipe away all my tears. 

‘I exult for joy in the Lord,
my soul rejoices in my God,
for he has clothed me in the garments of salvation,
he has wrapped me in the cloak of integrity,
like a bridegroom wearing his wreath,
like a bride adorned in her jewels.
‘For as the earth makes fresh things grow,
as a garden makes seeds spring up,
so will the Lord make both integrity and praise
spring up in the sight of the nations.’