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Reflections
for Sunday, December 7, 2014
The Prophet Isaiah wants us to hear the word of God: Comfort my people.
Speak tenderly! This second Sunday of Advent is filled with warmth and
with God's love. It is God who loves us, over and over. All through the
history of salvation - that history of God seeking out His chosen people so
that He can show His love to all peoples - God is looking for us, for you and
for me and for every person who has ever lived. It is not just us who are
seeking spiritual truths! No, it is God Himself who is seeking us out to
draw us to Himself.
The Second Letter of Peter tries to reach our hearts by assuring us that
according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which
righteousness dwells. Why would we await righteousness? Because if our
eyes are open, there is unrighteousness around us in every age and it
consumes our world. Those of us who live in relative comfort are
unrighteous because the hunger and the needs of the poor don't touch our
hearts. The hungry and the needy often lack righteousness becaue they
covet what the wealthy have. Yet God assures us over and over that He
takes His side with the poor and the needy because we who have don't share
and don't even care.
Into our world comes John the Baptist. The Gospel of Mark today puts in
front of us the figure of the Baptist, who preaches so clearly to us the
need to repent. Do we repent? No often! Do we seek the way of the Lord?
When it is convenient! The Baptist will cry out to us: Prepare the way of
the Lord!
We should always trust in God's love for us. It is God inviting us to know
His love. It is God who tells us that He does not come to condemn us. It
is the same God who invites us to repent! Even though we find ourselves
too comfortable and not worried about the poor and the needy, that can
change. Conversion is not just a nice feeling. Conversion is not just
thinking about God. Unless we change and begin to care for the poor and
the needy in our actions, we have not yet embraced conversion. We want to
follow Jesus as our Lord. Advent is the time to begin!!
Readings of the day:
First Reading: Isaiah 40.1-5, 9-11
Second Reading: 2 Peter 3.8-14
Gospel: Mark 1.1-8
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Reflections are available for the following Sundays:
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