Sunday 11 December
3rd Sunday of Advent Gospel - Matthew 11:2-11 “John in his prison had heard what Christ was doing and he sent his disciples to ask him”. Hearing about Jesus Christ evokes in him the desire to send disciples to ask him. Hearing and sending. Listening does not stop there. It moves to action. That is the Word of God. John is sending the disciples to Jesus to see the changes, to see the person of Jesus. The disciples of John saw, “the blind see again, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised to life and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor;”. Jesus said to them, “Go back and tell John what you hear and see”. They went back to John. This is again the Word of God. Hearing and going back. It starts with listening, then going out of oneself to see Jesus and then going back to interiorize what you have seen and heard. Going out and going back make the life complete. Going out hearing the Word of God to search for an experience of God and once you found that experience, you go back to make it part of your life. Advent is the time to go in search of Jesus by listening to the Word of God and then go back to one’s own life to interiorize that meeting with Jesus.
Saturday 10 December
Saturday of the 2nd week of Advent or Our Lady of Loreto Gospel - Matthew 17:10-13 “I tell you that Elijah has come already and they did not recognise him but treated him as they pleased; and the Son of Man will suffer similarly at their hands”. When the prophetic voice is not heard, the Son of Man will have to suffer. What is the prophetic voice? “The disciples understood then that he had been speaking of John the Baptist”. The prophetic voice is the voice to repent and to be humble. “Bear fruit worthy of repentance (Matt.3:8). When the prophetic voice is not recognized by the Church the way of Christ will suffer. When the prophetic voice is not recognized by a community, the truth of Christ will suffer. When the prophetic voice is not recognized by a family, the live of Christ will suffer. When each one of us fail to recognize the prophetic voice, the presence of Christ will suffer. Advent is the time to bear the fruits of repentance: humility.
Friday 9 December
Friday of the 2nd week of Advent or Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin Gospel - Matthew 11:16-19 When we hear something good, follow it, get inspired by it and act accordingly. But sometimes we trash the wisdom of the other. In order not to follow that wisdom, we find excuses. Excuses which demean the message and their friendship. Let the wisdom guide us. Advent is the time to welcome the thoughts of the other without prejudice.
Thursday 8 December
The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Solemnity Gospel - Luke 1:26-38 “Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?” Mary had this crisis of understanding how the plan of God is going to work. Then she accepts the plan of God, “‘let what you have said be done to me.’”. “What you have said” or in other words, ‘whatever you have said’ be done to me. That is complete trust. And absolute courage to open oneself up to the plan of God. Mary is ready to welcome whatever plan God has into her life completely. Nothing hinders her opening to the plan of God. That is the grace of Immaculate Conception. Everything in her cooperates fully to the plan of God. Having the courage and docility to plan of God. Capacity to adhere totally to the will of God. The grace of overcome the crisis when you don’t know what the plan of God for you is. We can be in a crisis because we don’t understand what God wants from us. Or we can be in a crisis because what we want is not happening. The first is the fear to open ourselves towards the plan of God. We need the grace of God like Mary. The second is the fear to lose our comforts. That, we need the grace of God to overcome our selfishness. Let’s reflect: Advent is the time to have the courage to open ourselves to the plan of God by being docile to His grace.