God’s Faithful Love

December 16, Thursday

THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT

 

The first reading speaks of the future glory of Jerusalem, God’s people. She had deserted God like an unfaithful bride, and God had apparently abandoned her for a while in the exile. Now he is ready to take her back and renew his covenant with her; she becomes again like a new bride. God’s new initiative of love has even room for the sinner, for it is a covenant of mercy and pity, and Jerusalem’s stability will come not from her justice but from God’s love. This will become a reality in the new people of God, the Church, which is God’s bride through Christ.

John, who prepared the road for Christ’s coming, is the greatest of prophets, yet he is the smallest in the new Kingdom of Christ, because he did not see the full reality of Christ, the God-Man, the God-with-people, and of the message of Jesus.

 

First Reading: Isaiah 54:1-10 

 “Sing, barren woman, who has never had a baby.
    Fill the air with song, you who’ve never experienced childbirth!
You’re ending up with far more children
    than all those childbearing women.” God says so!
“Clear lots of ground for your tents!
    Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big!
Use plenty of rope,
    drive the tent pegs deep.
You’re going to need lots of elbow room
    for your growing family.
You’re going to take over whole nations;
    you’re going to resettle abandoned cities.
Don’t be afraid—you’re not going to be embarrassed.
    Don’t hold back—you’re not going to come up short.
You’ll forget all about the humiliations of your youth,
    and the indignities of being a widow will fade from memory.
For your Maker is your bridegroom,
    his name, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
Your Redeemer is The Holy of Israel,
    known as God of the whole earth.
You were like an abandoned wife, devastated with grief,
    and God welcomed you back,
Like a woman married young
    and then left,” says your God.

Your Redeemer God says:

“I left you, but only for a moment.
    Now, with enormous compassion, I’m bringing you back.
In an outburst of anger I turned my back on you—
    but only for a moment.
It’s with lasting love
    that I’m tenderly caring for you.

 “This exile is just like the days of Noah for me:
    I promised then that the waters of Noah
    would never again flood the earth.
I’m promising now no more anger,
    no more dressing you down.
For even if the mountains walk away
    and the hills fall to pieces,
My love won’t walk away from you,
    my covenant commitment of peace won’t fall apart.”
    The God who has compassion on you says so.

 

Gospel: Luke 7:24-30

After John’s messengers left to make their report, Jesus said more about John to the crowd of people. “What did you expect when you went out to see him in the wild? A weekend camper? Hardly. What then? A sheik in silk pyjamas? Not in the wilderness, not by a long shot. What then? A messenger from God? That’s right, a messenger! Probably the greatest messenger you’ll ever hear. He is the messenger Malachi announced when he wrote,

I’m sending my messenger on ahead
To make the road smooth for you.

 “Let me lay it out for you as plainly as I can: No one in history surpasses John the Baptizer, but in the kingdom he prepared you for, the lowliest person is ahead of him. The ordinary and disreputable people who heard John, by being baptized by him into the kingdom, are the clearest evidence; the Pharisees and religious officials would have nothing to do with such a baptism, wouldn’t think of giving up their place in line to their inferiors.

 

Prayer

Lord, faithful God of the covenant,
you kept your promise
of a new and permanent union with people
through Jesus Christ, our God-with-us.
Give us grateful hearts
for accepting us with mercy and pity
as the sinners we are.
Renew us by your faithful love
and let your covenant of peace
never be shaken.
Stay always with us
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

A Privilege to walk with God
Disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus, whether he was the One who was expected, or should they wait for someone else. The answer was to look around and see how the prophesies are being fulfilled. The blind, the lame, the sick are being healed – the hand of God is at work.
After the messengers of John had left, Jesus begins to comment about John to the people around him. “I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John.”

Among the long line of prophets his was a unique privilege. His special role was to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way before you.” Jesus appreciates what John has accomplished in his unique mission.

The Lord explains the greatness of John the Baptist to explain to his disciples the magnitude of their own vocation to be the disciples of the Son of God. John came with a unique mission, so important in the eyes of God. But, imagine the opportunity of the disciples of Jesus, to be companions of the Son of God! John the Baptist, although came with such an important mission, did not have the opportunity to live with Christ. This is the greatness of those who receive the call to be disciples of Jesus. This was a privilege that John was never to know – God walks with us as our companion – and this is the message of advent and Christmas.

Today, half way through our preparations for Christmas, Jesus stops us on our way and poses these questions to us: “What do you go out to see? What are your true values? What impresses you? Our fellowship with Christ is something for which we must praise and thank God. It is humbling to think that we are in a way more privileged than John.

The life of John the Baptist can be compared to that of Moses of the Old Testament, who led the Israelites to the promised land, but does not enter it himself. John is not part of the community that the Messiah gathered about himself. He did not live to experience life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the sending of the Holy Spirit…In that sense, we are all more privileged than John the Baptist. We have come to see and hear what he did not see or hear.

In acknowledging with gratitude to God this privilege, this grace, we are also aware of the call that goes with it. The more we are given, the more will be asked of us. We have the mission to bring the joy of the Christmas – to those around us – especially to those in need.

Video available on Youtube: A privilege to walk with God