Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Saints)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, all of us are reminded that all of us have been called and chosen to be His missionaries and messengers, that we should always strive to reach out to our fellow brothers and sisters all around us, while introducing and revealing the truth and Good News of God to everyone. And how should we do that? We should do that by truly living our lives in a most Christian manner, dedicating our time and works, our lives and examples to do what we can so that by our lives, God may truly be glorified and known by more and more people in this world, those whom we encounter and interact with in each and every moments of our lives. As we continue to progress through this blessed time and season of Advent, it is important that we should always do our best that we keep our gaze and attention focused on the Lord too.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which the prophet spoke to the people of God, relating to them how they would be reconciled to Him, helped and assisted in their troubles and challenges. Contextually, at that time, the people of God in the kingdom of Judah, to whom Isaiah ministered to, have faced a lot of trials and hardships, humiliations and challenges because of their own folly in rejecting God and abandoning Him for worldly temptations and the allures of false pleasures and comfort present around them. They had disobeyed the Lord and His commandments, persecuted His prophets and messengers who have been sent into their midst in order to help and assist them in their path.

The Lord therefore reminded all of His people that He still loved them while at the same time despising their sins and wickedness. As their loving Father and Creator, He wanted all of them to come back to Him, and to be reunited with Him, and hence, He promised them that His salvation will come into their midst, as He revealed His grace and love, His compassion and patience, in leading them all towards Himself. The Lord has sent to them His messengers and prophets, all the help and guide to allow them to find their way back to Him, and He would reveal Himself to them, just as the prophet Isaiah mentioned in today’s first reading passage, revealing the truth about His love and His Good News to all of His beloved ones, all of which are fulfilled with the advent and the coming of Jesus Christ, the long promised Saviour of the world.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the words of the Lord to His disciples and followers, reminding all of them that they are all labourers and workers in the field of the Lord. This field of the Lord refers to this world, all of its people and everything that we have all around us. These words are always important reminders for us, that in His own words, the Lord said that, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are only few. Ask the Master of the harvest to send workers to gather His harvest.” What this means is that, while there are many people out there who are ripe for the revelation of the Lord’s truth and Good News to be given to them, but there are few of those who are willing and are actually doing God’s works in revealing all these truth and love of God to those who have not yet to know the Lord and His salvation.

Now, each and every one of us as Christians have received this assurance of salvation and grace through none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Our Lord and Saviour. All of us have been called to put our faith and trust in the same Lord and God, as we are all taught to do through the Church. And as we have been given the revelation of God, and have professed our faith and belief in Him, it is then only right that we should do what He has called and entrusted to us to do, that is to be the ones to proclaim the Good News to the nations, to proclaim God’s truth and love through our every actions, words and deeds in life, at each and every moments. All of us are the ones who ought to continue the works of the Apostles and disciples of the Lord, to be missionaries and evangelisers in our daily lives today.

That is why, all of us should lead by good example especially during this time of Advent and in the events leading up to Christmas that we all truly show the world Who it is that we are celebrating about, that is Christ our Lord, Who has willingly and generously come down to us, to dwell in our midst, showing all of us God’s perfect and ever enduring love in the flesh. That means our preparation for Christmas and its celebrations should always be centred on the Lord and be focused on Him, rather than on our own desires and wants for worldly glory and glamour. Unlike the secular celebrations of Christmas that are often devoid of Christ, our Christmas joy which we begin preparing this Advent should always be Christ-centric in all things.

Today the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, also known as St. Juan Diego, as we recall the life and holiness of this great man of God, whose devotion to Him and to His blessed mother had brought about great conversions and much good for the Church and for the people of God. St. John Diego was especially known for his role in revealing to the world the now world famous apparition of Mary, who appeared to St. John Diego as Our Lady of Guadalupe. At that time, not long after the conquest of the New World, the Americas by the Spanish forces, there were a lot of disruptions and chaos, which therefore brought the Blessed Mother of God herself to appear before her beloved children to remind them to turn away from their sins and wickedness, and return to the side of her Son, their Lord and Saviour.

St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin was one of the early converts among the native populations of Central America, and he was known to be a devout person, dedicating himself to his new faith zealously, and he was also known to be a righteous and good person in his deeds. One day, at the hill of Tepeyac, where the great Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe now stands, St. John Diego saw the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, appearing to him like a woman of his own race, and she revealed herself to him as the Mother of God and told him to inform the local bishop that a shrine should be built at the site so that she could assist those who have been troubled and distressed. St. John Diego obediently told the bishop and after another apparition, again shared with the local bishop what he had witnessed.

And when the bishop requested from the Apparition for a heavenly sign to show the authenticity of the supernatural event, the Blessed Virgin Lady of Guadalupe told St. John Diego that she would provide one. But when St. John Diego’s uncle was very sick and he missed the appointed time of the apparition, and attending to his uncle, later on when Our Lady of Guadalupe once again appeared to St. John Diego, she chided him gently for not having sought for her intercession and help, telling him in the now famous words, ‘Am I not here, who am your Mother?’ Then, while assuring St. John Diego that his uncle has fully recovered, she told him to gather flowers that were blooming at the site, using his own mantle, known as tilma, to hold those flowers to be shown to the bishop.

The moment that St. John Diego returned to the bishop and revealed the unusual flowers that he had gathered from the Blessed Lady of Guadalupe, the bishop was astonished to have seen the imprint of Our Lady of Guadalupe herself on the tilma or cloak of St. John Diego. This assured the bishop that the Apparition was truly genuine, and he immediately venerated the Blessed Lady of Guadalupe. Henceforth, the devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe became very popular, bringing countless souls to God, being saved through His mother’s love and care for us, and until today, countless millions came to venerate Our Lady of Guadalupe at her shrines, and many more throughout the world devoted themselves to the Lord through her, His Blessed Mother, who is also our Mother.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard the reminders from the Scriptures about the love and the salvation which God Himself has brought unto us through His Son, and also having listened to the great faith and dedication which St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin has shown us, in his commitment to God, his obedience to His Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and more of his other virtues, let us all therefore strive to be ever good and worthy in our own lives and deeds, so that by our good examples and actions, our every words and interactions with each other, we may always be the good role models and inspirations for all around us, that God may be better known to more and more.

Let us all also keep our focus and attention ever directed to God especially as we continue to prepare ourselves in this time and season of Advent for the upcoming joyful celebration of Christmas. May the Lord, Who has chosen to come to us, Incarnate in the flesh, continue to bless each one of us and bless our Advent observances and actions. Amen.