Isaiah 7:10-14
...“Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God... “I will not
ask! I will not tempt the LORD!”...the Lord himself will give you this sign the
virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel
We can't
claim to be this kind of person, a Christian but conduct ourselves in a very
unlikely way. Let us no longer be deceived by the false and misleading truths
and principles that this world presents to us every single day. We have to be
grounded at all times on this truth that today's psalm is telling us. There was
a time when Tita Neds complained that something is wrong with the television.
She said that somebody fixed it already but it didn't stay fixed for long. It
wasn't the manufacturer who repaired it that was why. If it was brought to its
manufacturer they would definitely know what to do with it. We've got to be
conscious of this reality and apply it to ourselves. When something goes wrong
we should know where to go, to whom we really belong, the Lord. This is the
covenant: we belong to the Lord and He belongs to us for we are His people and
He is our God. If we look at what's happening in the world today most
especially the economic crisis wherein even the leading nations are being
challenged by the present situation then we are really bound to anticipate the
worst. Not even those people who used to be very confident of their present
jobs in their respective stable companies can be too sure of what's going to
happen next. There have been so much speculations of what will be the outcome
of this worldwide problem of the economy and most of them are not good. With
all these rubble, there is just really one thing we need to focus on and that
is God. It is not easy to live life in this world but we can rejoice and be
glad, we have an army, a battalion, a full house of saints with all the angels
constantly and endlessly praying and singing in heaven, the so called
triumphant Church/army of God, who intercede in our behalf and is joyously
inviting us to be one of them. We are being reminded by the readings today to
always keep ourselves blameless before the Lord no matter how tough things are.
God wants to be with us, there is no doubt about that. But just like water and
oil which can not be put together and mixed so is God and man if we are in sin
or harbor anything that can not be attributed to the holiness of God. We can
not force two different things to go together. Water is a polar molecule and
oil is non polar. They do not mix because they are two different substances as
in the adage, "Like dissolves like." God can not change. He is
already who He is, Holy in all His ways. We can change. We can be like God in
His holiness and goodness if we want to be with Him forever. Let us not lose
sight of what a mighty God we serve who made the heavens and the earth. We pray
to God to open our eyes that we may see the wonders of His love. We should
think profoundly of our daily walk with the Lord which consists of not only a
leisure stroll in the plains and valleys of life but a steep climb up to the
top of the mountain. We must avail of the sacrament of reconciliation. It gives
us renewed strength and hope. Our life consists of steep and dangerous climbs
but we must not forget that God is always at our side. If we are to carefully
assess our life we would find that it feels good whenever we are able to
overcome most of our pitfalls though there are some that still needs
improvement. We must praise and thank God that every time we experience a fall
back and backslide we can immediately go back to Him through the sacrament of
confession which restores us to our original path and right track. It is God's
desire that we will someday come face to face with Him. There is a need for us
to prepare for that day. We are sometimes guilty of not focusing on God's
countenance alone, there are times when we get distracted by other things and
today's psalm reading serves as the reminder. I heard a story about God's
radiating and blinding light that when we stand before Him nothing is hidden
from Him, He will never turn away from us but if we ourselves are tainted with
the guilt of our sins then we can not withstand His presence and will
definitely hide and ran away from Him, far from His ever blinding Light that
penetrates us. Let us all hope that when that day comes we can stand in His
Holy Presence and claim with confidence our rightful place in His Kingdom. For
our information, all of us are eligible to be in heaven with God. There is no
doubt about this since we have been made and washed clean by the Blood of the
Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. A virgin is with child. The Old
Testament scriptures have foretold of this and point to the coming of Christ.
The prophets preannounced and prefigured His coming and pointed to the
fulfillment in Jesus in the New Testament. He has loved us first and continues
to do so. He encounters us ever anew in the sacraments especially in the
Eucharist. The Church helps us to respond to God’s initiative through word and
teaching and the gathering of believers who respond faithfully. We have to be
firm, resilient and faithful people of God. We’ve got to really focus on what
is truly important and essential. We live in a world where there are so many
distractions that we tend to lose sight of what should be our greatest and most
important concern. After all has been said and done we will find in the end
that what truly matters is not what will last only in this lifetime but for all
eternity, a reward from God our Savior. When somebody invites us for a party we
just don't go there without preparing ourselves for it. Much more gatecrash and
just go to a party without an invitation. We are blessed that God has invited
us. The best we could do being privileged, honored and counted to come to His
banquet in heaven is to make preparations and always be ready to take part in
it, really belong and not end up an outcast. We should not lose sight of this
standing invitation that God gives us in our daily life. There is indeed a need
to always be prepared so that when the final moment comes we can reside in the
heavenly abode of God. In every game there is a rule to follow and only those
who play it fair and square can finish to the end and win their prize. Today’s
psalm gives us a guideline to follow in order to make it through. We should
always long to see the face of God at all times in every person, event and
circumstance in our lives. Let us always hold on to this image so that someday
when we finally come face to face with God we will receive a blessing and
reward for He will surely bring about what He said He would do. In the course
of the time and in the history of mankind we hear of people like Abraham chosen
by God. The chosen people were given laws and ordinances to follow. The
remnants of the chosen people or those who were faithful to God in keeping
these commandments like Simeon and Anna, Joachim and Anne are those who belong
to the Hebrew generation, kept the Jewish tradition and prepared the way for
the coming of the Messiah. This initiation of God in loving us first should
bring us to act and make love blossom as a response on our part. We've got to
be consistent to the kind of people who longs to see God's face. Amen.
Hallelujah!
Psalm
24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
R: Let the
Lord enter; he is the king of glory.
...For he
founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. (R) 3 Who can
ascend the mountain of the LORD? Or who may stand in his holy place? 4 He whose
hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain. (R) 5 He
shall receive a blessing from the LORD, a reward from God his savior...Such are
the people that love the LORD, that seek the face of the God of Jacob."
Today’s 2nd reading should always remind us to
always stand firm in our faith in God and never doubt or waver. No matter how
dim our prospects are because of the negative feedbacks we are getting with
regards to our situation we must not lose hope. We may be hearing warnings not
to put our hopes up too much so as not to be disappointed in the end but we
must never give in and hold on to God’s power to prevail in the midst of all
doubts and discouragements. Amen. Hallelujah!
Romans 1:1-7
...Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to
bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the
Gentiles, 6 among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus
Christ;...
Today’s gospel speaks of the Annunciation scene of Joseph
when the angel said to him not to be afraid to take Mary into his home. He woke
and did so as the angel had commanded him. God’s beauty and Mary are one in the
heart of Joseph. Pope John Paul II said in his book that Joseph did not suspect
Mary but was afraid and held back since did not want to interfere in this great
mystery of God’s plan. He has great respect for her holiness and felt unworthy
but the angel assured him and he obeyed. We can see the inner drama of Joseph
and the test of faith that we sometimes think holy people do not encounter. We
have this notion that when we’re holy we don’t have to walk in the darkness of
faith. Even Mary had her dark night of faith in Calvary .
We are invited to emulate her faith and Joseph’s too. We can see Joseph’s
radical humility at his disposal to God’s will and his quiet and firm
determination to obey God and be at the service of God’s plan. He shares in the
very faith of Mary. They have a union of hearts and souls through marriage since
he is the husband of Mary and so is considered the father of Jesus although not
biological. In this union, we see the humble service of Joseph. He does not
speak any words and yet achieves his great holiness through his loving service
to love the Church and Jesus and takes Mary into his home. The word of God
comes to us through the Church and calls us like Joseph to bring out the
fullness of Christ in whatever situation. Joseph is there at the birth, the
presentation, the circumcision, the flight to Egypt and all other mysteries of
the life of Jesus. Jesus comes to us in the beautiful institution of the
sacraments we should radiate His presence to the world. This is the challenge
being posed on us today as we celebrate the season of Advent. Joseph is an icon
of faith and obedience to God. He followed well the example of his ancestors,
Abraham and King David. We can see how the hand of God made all things possible
throughout all generations what He said would be. We should never have any
doubt in our minds that God has a great plan for all of us and He is able to
carry them out for our welfare. We find out from the gospel that Joseph had
other plans and intentions in mind but God’s plan and will prevailed over him.
This is how we should follow his example. We may have other things in mind and
think that it is for the best but we must not lose sight of what God has in
mind for us. We may be encountering some disappointments and struggles at the
moment as most people do but our faith, hope and love should always rest firm
in the Lord who is able to make us stand firm forever. God will not allow us to
go through something without seeing us through it. There are so many parallels
in today’s readings pointing to St.
Joseph and the angel in our very own lives if we come
think of it and look at it very closely.
When things happen to us in an entirely different manner that we
imagined and planned it to be let us always remember that God is faithful and
would surely send us angels along the way who would guide us to the right path.
It has always been divine intervention rather than what people commonly say as
coincidence, since with God there is no such thing. We may never have thought
things to happen and be the way it turned out but we must always yield to the
will of God. It is through obedience that we can show our unwavering faith in
God. St. Joseph 's
example reminded us of this virtue that in spite the uncertainties of events he
continued to trust in God's goodness and followed what he was told to do. We
should remain faithful and obedient to the Lord and let go of our plan in
exchange of God's plan. St. Joseph
inspires us to always do what the Lord is leading us to do. We may think that
if we will just go by what is fair then we are already justified. Sometimes we encounter
circumstances that require us to do more than what is fair. We are challenged
by God to always deepen our faith with one step more. Joseph in today's gospel
did not go with what is fair for him during his time but did as the angel of
the Lord had commanded him. With that I quote what Companion says of this:, "Jesus’
birth is no sure thing given that He is a child out of wedlock in a world where
Mary could have been stoned for this! Following the will of God will always
have its challenges and difficulties but they should not daunt us to the point
that we give up. This would be giving in to the sin of despair, a response
unbefitting a disciple of Jesus. Let us resolve that no matter what the future
holds for us we will persevere in doing God’s will to the end." St.
Joseph is an ever faithful father and protector to
Jesus and he could be one to us too. There were several circumstances that I
could attribute to the intercession of St.
Joseph . I can still remember when I had to make a
major decision way back in Oct 2007 and at that same time was gifted with a rare
and miraculous sign of being able to get a rose petal with an angel imprinted
on it in a healing service I attended. This gave me the courage and conviction
to keep on going and not be afraid. I should say that it helped me a lot during
that time in building up my confidence and faith in God who never abandon nor
forsake. There are times when we have doubts about a certain decision and the
Lord sends us his message through an angel it could be disguised in a dream or
in any other manifestations but what's most important is to listen to God's
message and act on it like what Joseph did.
We all have our plans in life and these are all good plans, I suppose. We
should know by now that whatever it is that we plan to achieve, God is with us
all the way. But sometimes our plans are just good but not the best. Joseph
being a righteous man remained calm and quiet in the midst of all these
unexpected developments in his life. Thus he was sensitive and receptive to the
angel's instruction to him. He did as he was told with all obedience. We can
learn a great deal from Joseph's trusting attitude in God's plan over his
personal plans. Sometimes we get disappointed at how things turn out in our
lives but we just have to believe and have faith that there can never be
something better than what God has planned for us. I like this sharing from
Didache by Joy Sosoban because it should make us think of our own lives in
parallel with Mary. This is because we are confronted daily by many
distractions that we start to think that they are just what they are, merely
distractions. We may want to consider what she said in this sharing and apply
it in our own lives. Here it is, entitled, “BLESSED DISTRACTION”.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph but before they
lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. – Matthew
1:18
Are you running at 120 kilometers per hour in a mad dash to
finish your Christmas shopping, gather ingredients for your family’s Noche
Buena meal, and still have time to attend all the parties you’re invited to?
Let’s just say, if you’re in this kind of situation, part of
you is probably thinking, “Out of my way, out of my way! I’m in a hurry!”
In our Gospel today, someone was also looking forward to a
busy and exciting season — marriage! That was Mary. But what’s this news that
she hears? An out-of-wedlock pregnancy by some other man apart from Joseph? I
can just imagine wringing my hands and losing sleep if I were in her shoes.
Mary’s situation reminds us today that not all delays,
distractions and unexpected events are bad. In fact, they might even be moments
crafted by God for our eternal glory. A blessed distraction, so to speak.
So when the going gets tough and you want to grumble or
start a fight, just laugh at all the delays and follow Mary’s response. After
all, you never know what great surprise awaits you along the way. Joy Sosoban
(jsosoban@gmail.com)
REFLECTION:
“It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the
air.“ (W.T. Ellis)
Dear Jesus, You came at an unexpected moment in Mary’s life.
Like her, I want to be open to Your coming in the midst of all that’s going on
in my life. You’re welcome, dear Lord! -end of sharing-
Matthew 1:18-24
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When
his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she
was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he
was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce
her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to
take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this
child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him
Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place
to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin
shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which
means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord
had commanded him and took his wife into his home.
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