preparation for the coming of Christ

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Wednesday, 17 December 2014 : Third Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple or Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today it was told to us about the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is a descendant of Abraham, the father of many nations and our father in faith, and also a descendant of Jacob later known as Israel, who is the one blessed by God to be the chosen people, Israel, His people. He is also the descendant of David, the King of Israel, who belonged to the tribe of Judah.

We can see that Jacob, who in our first reading today from the last chapters of the Book of Genesis, blessed his children one by one, pronouncing their future and their goodness, showed how God had shown to Jacob the vision of what would happen in the far future after his own time. Jacob must have seen the vision of the coming of the Messiah, although he did not know exactly who He is, but he knew that He is to come.

And indeed, He was to come through Judah his own son, whom Jacob then blessed more than all of his other sons, even more than his eldest Reuben and even more than his most beloved ones, Joseph and his two children and Benjamin. For Judah had been prophesied to be the from whom the King of kings would come from, the one from whom would come a king who would rule all of Israel, and this was David, the one whom God had appointed in place of Saul as the king of Israel, and on whom God had promised that his throne will remain secure forever.

The sceptre of power and rule will be given to the descendant of David, the Shoot of David, who is the One we are going to celebrate this coming Christmas. Yes, the Christ, whose birthday is on Christmas. The Christ who was given the Name above every other name, Jesus, our Lord. For He is indeed the Son of David, his Heir who will rule over all Israel, and not just Israel, but the whole world, the Son of Man through Mary His mother, but also the Son of God, the Divine Word incarnate into the flesh of Man.

He is a King with power and authority, the source of all worldly power and authorities, but yet, He is not the kind of king that we commonly know about in this world. Jesus Himself said that His kingdom is not of this world, because His kingdom is the kingdom of God, not like any of the kingdoms of the world, which are built on possessions, material wealth, power, land, peoples and many others. The kingdom of God is the place where God and His beloved people may live together, those who have been found to be worthy, to enjoy forever the blessings and graces of God.

Jesus is a King, but He is simple and humble, and He showed His authority and power not by intimidation and fear, but through service and love towards all those who have been placed under His authority. He showed His leadership and kingship by service, showing care and genuine love for the poor, defending the rights of the weak and challenging those who have persecuted these people for their own benefits.

It is this King who we are welcoming into our midst in this coming Christmas, the Royal Baby born for us, so that through Him we are to get salvation and liberation from sin and evil. We must not forget this fact, or else, our Christmas celebration is meaningless and empty, filled with worldly desires and things of this world. We celebrate not to show off our wealth, not to be engulfed in excesses and drunkenness, but we celebrate because the Hope of this world, and the Hope of all mankind, had been born.

This Advent, as I have often mentioned, is a time for preparation for the coming of our Lord and Saviour. Not just to prepare for Christmas, but also to prepare for His coming again at the end of time, when He will come to judge all creations, and all of us according to our deeds. How do we prepare properly for this then? It is by exactly doing what Jesus had done throughout His ministry, what He taught His disciples to do, and we ought to follow them too.

Thus this Advent we should involve ourselves in more charitable and loving actions to our brethren in need. We should share the joy we have, the fortune and happiness we have with those who have less or none. In doing all these, we will be able to find the true meaning of Advent, and the true meaning of Christmas, that is to celebrate with God, our Lord Jesus Christ, for the love, hope and peace which He had brought into us all, so that we may rejoice with Him.

May Almighty God be with us all and awaken in us an ever stronger desire to seek Him and to love Him, as well as our brethren around us. May this Advent be a fruitful one for all of us, and may the coming Christmas bring God’s love ever closer to us. Amen.

 

First Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/16/wednesday-17-december-2014-third-week-of-advent-first-reading/

 

Psalm :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/16/wednesday-17-december-2014-third-week-of-advent-psalm/

 

Gospel Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/16/wednesday-17-december-2014-third-week-of-advent-gospel-reading/

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Wednesday, 10 December 2014 : Second Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple or Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listen to the Lord our God, who is our Strength, our Provider in everything we need, and as a Father who loves us all as His beloved children. He will not abandon us without help or ignore us when we have need in us. That is how much God had loved us, and indeed He continues to love us from day to day.

Indeed, to follow God does not mean that it will be easy and like a simple walk along the pond. To follow the Lord means to face the challenges and the suffering which will inevitably come upon our way if we choose to side with the Lord and become His disciples. We know that the ways of the Lord are opposite from the ways of this world, as the world itself is the dominion of Satan, the evil one, filled with sin and darkness since the beginning of the world and the fall of mankind.

Just as Satan had done all he could to subvert mankind to his cause, and laid many obstacles in the path of God’s plan of salvation for mankind, by plotting against the servants and messengers of God with the people themselves, whom he set against the prophets and the disciples of the Lord. Thus the lamentation of Jesus against Jerusalem, which represented His people, how they had slaughtered the prophets and messengers sent to them to remind them to change their ways of sin.

Satan himself tried to tempt Jesus and tried to stop His works to fulfill God’s plan to save mankind, that is to liberate us all from his yoke, the yoke that Satan had placed on us, that is sin. Yes, in the Gospel today, God spoke about His yoke, which He encouraged us all to take up, in place of the yoke which we currently have. Yes, the yoke of sin which burdened us up to now, and still burdens us even today and will be for tomorrow and beyond if we do nothing about it.

Why did Jesus mention that His yoke is light and that we will find rest in Him? That is because sin is a yoke that is truly sinister. This yoke which had enslaved us from the day when Satan tempted our ancestors, Adam and Eve, the first of men, to sin against God, was truly a yoke and a chain which tied us to Satan, our tyrannical oppressor, and yet, sin at the same time is also in a way, enjoyable and preferable for many of us, and many of us, liked this yoke.

Why is this so? That is because the yoke of sin strikes directly at our human desires and wishes. Just as Satan played into our ancestors’ desire and curiosity, the curiosity for knowledge that made them to sin, and indeed, to grow even stronger in desire. For mankind by nature, our nature, is hard to be satisfied, and Satan knows this very well. That is why, he continues to feed our desire, giving us temptations after temptations to keep us enslaved to him.

But our Lord Jesus Christ had come into this world as the culmination of God’s plan to liberate us from this sinister burden and yoke. He had delivered us from the yoke of Satan into a new life filled with goodness, through His loving sacrifice and death on the cross, and by His rising from the dead into glory. He offered us all a new life, a life of salvation in God, one free from the yoke of sin. For the yoke of sin leads to nothing else other than eternal death. Hell is our destination if we remain chained to sin.

However, to many of us, the life in Christ seems to be difficult, for the Lord indeed does not hide from us the truth about what will happen to us if we are to follow Him and become His disciples. Certainly, Satan will not be pleased with us being released from his slavery and bondage, and he will do all that he can, just like the Pharaoh of Egypt of old trying to regain his former slaves, the Israelites.

And just as the Pharaoh had his chariots and armies to chase after the Israelites during the Exodus, thus Satan also had his means and powers of this world in order to harass us with, and he will indeed not rest before he catches all of us. But he has no power over us, brethren, for if we remember the Israelites and Moses, we know that God delivered them from the hands of the Pharaoh, with His own mighty power and deeds.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, in this season of Advent, let us all be awakened from our deep slumber in the darkness of this world, and be awakened to the light of Christ, which dispels all lies and temptations, and reveal to us the true ugly nature of sin. This Advent therefore is a perfect opportunity for all of us to start over anew and prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord.

Let us all sin no more and reject the yoke of Satan, and in exchange of that, we should take up the yoke of Christ, who will give us eternal life and joy at the end of our journey. Indeed, the journey and path will be difficult, but nothing is impossible if we keep strong our faith in the Lord and adhere ourselves closely to Him. May this Advent therefore be a good time for us to reevaluate our lives and find our way to the Lord, our loving God and Father. Amen.

First Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/09/wednesday-10-december-2014-second-week-of-advent-first-reading/

 

Psalm :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/09/wednesday-10-december-2014-second-week-of-advent-psalm/

 

Gospel Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/09/wednesday-10-december-2014-second-week-of-advent-gospel-reading/