Weekday of Advent

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Friday, 20 December 2013 : 3rd Week of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 7 : 10-14

Once again YHVH addressed Ahaz, “Ask for a sign from YHVH, your God, let it come either from the deepest depths or from the heights of heaven.”

But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask, I will not put YHVH to the test.” Then Isaiah said, “Now listen, descendants of David. Have you not been satisfied trying the patience of people, that you also try the patience of my God? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign : ‘The Virgin is with child and bears a Son and calls His Name Immanuel.'”

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Thursday, 19 December 2013 : 3rd Week of Advent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the two related stories of how two great men were born, both of them the faithful and great servants of God the Most High, and each entrusted with great missions, to prepare the way for what was to come. They were prepared especially for that, and they were consecrated to God for that purpose.

They were prepared and destined for a life totally dedicated to God and His purposes, and that was why they were what is called the Nazirites, who did not give themselves to the corrupting influences of the world, and fully gave themselves to God and to His will. They were indeed Samson, one of the later judges of Israel, renowned for his strength and his exploits against the Philistines, and John the Baptist, the one who prepared the way for the coming of the Lord.

Although they lived in different era and time, and had different backgrounds and missions in general, but their missions are truly about the same things, that is about bringing the people of God back towards the Lord and to bring help and succour to the people of God living in the darkness and in the suffering of the world.

Samson used his strength and power given from God to fight against the Philistines who were oppressing the people of God at that time. And just as he wrestled lions and bears, he also wrestled against these pagans who oppressed God’s people. And even though he would later fall into temptation in the woman Delilah, eventually he repented, and with the last of his power, he made a building to crash down on the Philistines just as they were making fun of him, killing even more of them in death than when he still lived.

St. John the Baptist, who baptised many people in the Jordan was both the messenger of God’s Good News, proclaiming to the people of the imminent and impending arrival of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and who brought many people to repentance through his repeated and ceaseless calls to the people to seek God’s forgiveness for their sins. He persevered even despite rejection and ridicule by the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

The examples given in the birth, life, and experiences of these two men of God highlighted to us of the nature of our faith itself. God is with us, and He loves us. He continued to repeat this over and over again to us, sending prophets after prophets and messengers after messengers to show His love for us. In Samson, He made His power manifest and liberate His people from persecution, oppression, and suffering.

In John the Baptist, God made clear His care and love for us, seeking our redemption, through our repentance, that we abandon our sinfulness and our sin-tainted past, and leading a new life dedicated solely to the Lord, just as these two men of God had been dedicated to the Lord. He did not want us to perish because of our sinfulness and our tainted selves, and that was why He sent John to us, to lead the way for Christ.

We all know of this love our Lord has for all of us and we should not spurn it as many of our ancestors had done in the past. They rejected the people He had sent to them, ridiculed them, persecuted them, and even spilled their blood. Should we do the same then, brethren in Christ?

No, we should indeed change our ways, repent and promise that we will turn our back on sin, and from now on follow a way of life acceptable and worthy of the Lord our God. We ought to heed what St. John the Baptist had called the people of his time to do, to repent and prepare for the coming of the Lord. Be liberated and be free from the power of sin, just as Samson broke free the bonds of Israel from their Philistine masters.

And ultimately, we too, brothers and sisters in Christ, who belong to the Church of God, have the same responsibility as these saints and holy men of God, to be the extension of God’s will, hands, and power in this world. We ought to go out and proclaim the Good News to others, and help bring God’s people back towards Him. It is through our mouths and through our hands, that we will bring great glory to God and to His people.

Therefore, today, let us renew our faith and our commitment towards the Lord. May the Lord who empowered John the Baptist and Samson, also empower us to do the same as what they had done, and bring the Lord and the Good News of His salvation closer and closer to many, especially to those who are lost. Amen.

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Thursday, 19 December 2013 : 3rd Week of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 1 : 5-25

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah, belonging to the priestly clan of Abiah. Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife, also belonged to a priestly family. Both of them were upright in the eyes of God, and lived blamelessly in accordance with all the laws and commands of the Lord, but they had no child. Elizabeth could not have any and now they were both very old.

Now, while Zechariah and those with him were fulfilling their office, it fell to him by lot, according to the custom of the priests, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. At the time of offering incense, all the people were praying outside; it was then that an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

On seeing the angel, Zechariah was deeply troubled and fear took hold of him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, be assured that your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you shall name him John. He will bring joy and gladness to you, and many will rejoice at his birth.”

“This son of yours will be great in the eyes of the Lord. Listen : he shall never drink wine or strong drink, but he will be filled with Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. Through him, many of the people of Israel will turn to the Lord their God. He himself will open the way to the Lord with the spirit and power of the prophet Elijah; he will reconcile fathers and children, and lead the disobedient to wisdom and righteousness, in order to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I believe this? I am an old man and my wife is elderly, too.” The angel replied, “I am Gabriel, who stands before God, and I am the one sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news! My words will come true in their time. But you would not believe, and now you will be silent and unable to speak until this has happened.”

Meanwhile, the people waited for Zechariah, and they were surprised that he delayed so long in the sanctuary. When he finally appeared, he could not speak to them, and they realised that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He remained dumb and made signs to them.

When his time of service was completed, Zechariah returned home, and some time later Elizabeth became pregnant. For five months she kept to herself, remaining at home, and thinking, “This, for me, is the Lord’s doing! This is His time for mercy, and for taking away my public disgrace.”

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Thursday, 19 December 2013 : 3rd Week of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 70 : 3-4a, 5-6ab, 16-17

Be my Rock of refuge, a stronghold to give me safety, for You are my Rock and my Fortress. Rescue me, o my God, from the hand of the wicked.

For You, o Lord, have been my hope, my trust, o God, from my youth. I have relied on You from birth : from my mother’s womb You brought me forth.

I will come to Your strength, o Lord, and announce Your justice, Yours alone. You have taught me from my youth and until now I proclaim Your marvels.

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Thursday, 19 December 2013 : 3rd Week of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Judges 13 : 2-7, 24-25a

There was a man of Zorah of the tribe of Dan, called Manoah. His wife could not bear children. The Angel of YHVH appeared to this woman and said to her, “You have not borne children and have not given birth, but see, you are to conceive and give birth to a son.”

“Because of this, take care not to take wine or any alcoholic drink, nor to eat unclean foods from now on, for you shall bear a son who shall be a Nazirite of YHVH from the womb of his mother. Never shall his hair be cut for he is consecrated to YHVH. He shall begin the liberation of the Israelites from the Philistine oppression.”

The woman went to her husband and told him, “a messenger of God who bore the majesty of an angel spoke to me. I did not ask him where he came from nor did he tell me his name. But he said to me : ‘You are to conceive and give birth to a son. Henceforth, you shall not drink wine or fermented drinks, nor eat anything unclean, for your son shall be a Nazirite of God from the womb of his mother until the day of his death.'”

The woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew and YHVH blessed him. Then the Spirit of YHVH began to move him.

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Wednesday, 18 December 2013 : 3rd Week of Advent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the day is coming indeed, when the Lord will come again to be with His people, at which time, He will gather all those who remained faithful to Him and to His ways and His laws, rewarding them with the promises He had shown to them.

This coming Christmas, which celebration we are preparing for in this Advent season, celebrates indeed the already past coming of Christ, promised to the people of God through the prophets, which had happened in the birth of Jesus Christ the Messiah, as the Son of the virgin, given with power and authority as the Word of God made flesh. This was the first coming of the Lord, and one which we are most familiar with, but there is yet another dimension for Christmas.

This other dimension, is the awaiting of the promised Second Coming, when Christ will come again to be with His people. Remember that Christ is also called Emmanuel, which means that God is with us. God is indeed always with us, even though He may not be visible physically to us, and many of us indeed question if He even exists at all!

God loves us, brethren, very, very much. He does not abandon His people when they were in need, and He sent them many help along the way, in the form of the prophets, messengers, and many other forms unknown to us. It is mankind who often spurned His love and rejected His help, and yet we complained because we thought that God did not care for us.

And He showed that by making Himself as one of us, He who is divine, almighty, omnipotent and all powerful beyond measure, would lower Himself to be a lowly and weak human like us. That was the proof of our Lord’s love and dedication for all of us. And by doing that, He truly made complete His own promises, that He will be with us, as God who is not distant and uncaring on the conditions and plights of His people. Instead, He became one of us, like one of us, with all of our human weaknesses, emotions, and others, save for sin.

And as mentioned, Jesus came into this world not just for leisure or for holiday, or to enjoy His time with us all. Yes, indeed, He did enjoy the time He had while He was in this world. He was happy, surrounded by all His beloved ones, and even though He faced stiff oppositions from those who hated Him, He continued to seek for their redemption and return to the path towards salvation.

He came so that He can lead us all to be free from sin, our slavery by sins and evil! Yes, just as the people of Israel, the first to be chosen by God, had been liberated from their slavery in Egypt, the Lord too would liberate every men and women from their slavery by sin, ever since sin first entered into the hearts of mankind.

And while He sent Moses to be His tool for the deliverance of Israel, to be His tool and to represent His hand in delivering salvation and freedom to the people of God, He spared no expense in liberating us all, for ever, from the slavery under sin. He gave mankind hope in the words He had revealed to the messengers and prophets He had risen for mankind through the ages. And those words, promises and prophecies were fulfilled perfectly when Jesus came into this world, and when He fulfilled the long drawn plan of salvation.

Jesus is the Lord Himself who came to be our deliverer, to be the shepherd to lead us all out of the darkness of sin into the light of God, just as Moses led the people through the desert. And that is what we are going to celebrate about in Christmas, and what we are rejoicing for. We do not rejoice for the physical gifts, gadgets, and all the good things that we receive from each other during gift exchange at Christmas. We rejoice because of Jesus, who came unto us born as a humble man, which we celebrate as Christmas.

Sadly, just as the people of Israel grumbled and protested against the Lord because of the difficulties they faced along the way, we too often grumble and rebel whenever things do not go our way. We often prefer to choose the easy way out, and disobey God and His will. The people of Israel indulged themselves in the worship of the pagan gods, the golden calf and the gods of the people around them, enjoying the corrupted fruits of the world. So we too often enjoy the corrupted fruits of this world.

As we approach Christmas, brethren, we ought to take some time and reflect. Have we all made our Christmas truly centred on Christ? Have we all made Christ to be the One we celebrate with joy this Christmas? And not just this Christmas but from now on henceforth? It is not an easy path that we will have to take and endure, but if we make the effort, we will be well rewarded.

Let us all make the commitment to seek the Lord Jesus, who came to save us all and liberate us from the slavery under the power of sin. Let us all come and seek Him and follow Him, on the way towards salvation in Him, and let us always be faithful and remain loving towards our God and our Saviour. May the Lord continue to strengthen us, bless us, and watch over us as we walk through this life in this world. God be with us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 18 December 2013 : 3rd Week of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 1 : 18-24

This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her. While he was pondering over this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ for He will save His people from their sins.”

All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet : ‘The virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means : God-with-us.’

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do, and he took his wife to his home.

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Wednesday, 18 December 2013 : 3rd Week of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 71 : 2, 12-13, 18-19

May He rule Your people justly and defend the rights of the lowly.

He delivers the needy who call on Him, the afflicted with no one to help them. His mercy is upon the weak and the poor, He saves the life of the poor.

Praised be the Lord, God of Israel, who alone works so marvelously. Praised be His glorious Name forever; may the whole earth be filled with His glory! Amen. Amen.

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Wednesday, 18 December 2013 : 3rd Week of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Jeremiah 23 : 5-8

YHVH further says, “The day is coming when I will raise up a King who is David’s righteous successor. He will rule wisely and govern with justice and righteousness. That will be a grandiose era when Judah will enjoy peace and Israel will live in safety. He will be called YHVH-our-Justice!”

“The days are coming,” says YHVH, “when people shall no longer swear by YHVH as the living God who freed the people of Israel from the land of Egypt. Rather, they will swear by YHVH as the living God who restored the descendants of Israel from the northern empire and from all the lands where He had driven them, to live again in their own land!”

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Tuesday, 17 December 2013 : 3rd Week of Advent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we approach closer and closer to Christmas. It is just another week before we once again celebrate the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was born in the city of David, in Bethlehem over two millenia ago. The coming of the Lord as the Messiah, or the Saviour of all had been foretold long before His birth, through the revelations made through the prophets and the numerous messengers sent by God to His people, to tell them of the great joy of that Good News.

God is faithful to His promises and sought their fulfillment in the coming of the Messiah, born of the family of David, as a fulfillment of His promise to Israel, to those who had remained faithful to Him. He promised David, that his descendant will rule forever in a kingdom that is without end, and the same He had promised to Abraham, that his descendants would be innumerable and great. And not least of all, God promised even our first ancestors, from the very beginning, that He would not abandon them to the works of the evil one.

Mankind had indeed erred ever since the beginning, when they first tasted the fruits of sin, in contempt of the love of God for them, trusting more in the sweet but poisonous words of Satan rather than the loving words of God. Adam and Eve were lured into the trap of the devil, who promised them knowledge, greatness, and glory, by disobeying God. Indeed, the Lord loved them and gave them all the blessings He had intended for them, but He also set specific rules for them, to keep them away from sinfulness and thus, destruction.

Mankind were created pure, without knowing even an ounce of sin and evil. Evil was unknown to them, and all creations were created good and perfect. Yet, you may indeed ask then, why did God even plant such a dangerous tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, so that our ancestors might eat from them? Would it not be better for that tree to be not present at all?

Well, brethren, indeed, although all creations were created good and perfect, it was the devil himself who first ruined the order of the universe, through his own pride, jealousy, and vanity, desiring none other than the throne of God and to supersede God in his pride. Evil therefore was made to exist in the world, and that was why, God contained that evil and prevented our ancestors from knowing them, that they would not be corrupted as the devil had been.

After mankind fell to the temptations of the evil one, God could easily have obliterated them and destroyed them, for they have followed in the path of rebellion of Satan. Yet, He did not do so, and although He punished them for their disobedience, banishing them from the bliss and joy of Eden, to labour and work hard on barren earth, but deep inside, the Lord loved us still, and loved us deeply He did.

We have known good and evil, and therefore, we have the capacity for good or for evil. And that was exactly what mankind had done all these while. We had done much good, but also much evil. And evil and sin are the thongs that prevented us from reuniting ourselves with God, for God is good and perfect, and sin has no place before Him. As long as we remained sinful and rebellious, we cannot be with God.

That was why, for a long while, ever since the beginning, God had prepared a comprehensive plan of salvation. One that He first told our ancestors and the devil himself, as a premonition of what will happen. He chose those who were righteous and just, who disdained sin and rejected the sinful temptations of the devil, beginning with Noah, whom He called and rescued from among all mankind and their wickedness in the Ark, and then to Abraham and his descendants, the chosen ones of God.

And He chose David, a faithful servant, through whom the long planned salvation plan would continue, and although both his ancestors and descendants did not remain faithful to Him, sometimes even committing things very evil in the eyes of God, the Lord continued on, as He certainly knew what will eventually happen. And He revealed part by part His plan to the numerous prophets and messengers He had sent to His people, to call them to repent from their sinfulness.

And while some did heed His call, many continued to defy Him and turned deaf ears against His words delivered through the prophets. In fact, they persecuted and rejected these prophets and messengers, and even slaughtering them. Even John the Baptist, who prepared the way for the coming of Christ, they rejected, ridiculed, and eventually brought to death.

After a long while, in Jesus, the salvation itself finally arrived. God Himself incarnate into man, to be one of us. He did this for no other reason than that first He might reveal to His beloved children, of what He had intended for them, in all its fullness, and most importantly, to be a sacrificial victim, a worthy sin offering to take away from us, all the taints of sin that separated us from God. He became the way, and the only way between us and God our Father.

After hearing what the Lord had done and what He had planned, and what He had done through Jesus, as we all know from the Holy Scriptures, now it is our time to think, and to reflect on our own actions, and on the reality of our own sinfulness.

Yes, brethren, we have received the word of God and His revelations, as part of our faith, and we have indeed accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. But have we truly lived in the way that Christ had taught us? Have we all remained faithful to His laws and commandments of love? Just as it was in the past, our world and our surroundings presented to us many tempting challenges and offers, those that many of us and those before us had taken up.

We professed our faith in God, and yet many of our actions still did not reflect this faith we have in Him. We are no better than those Pharisees and the chief priests who outwardly professed their faith and yet had no love for the Lord in them.

As we approach ever closer to the celebration of Christmas, let us all renew and strengthen our love for God, that we will be able to commit fully to the Lord and walk faithfully in His path. Let us all renew our faith in Him and profess it through not just our words, but also our actions. Let us all be courageous to proclaim our faith in God, that we truly believe in our Saviour, Jesus Christ, the long awaited Messiah.

May this Advent season be a fruitful one for all of us, that we make best use of the time to prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christ’s coming into this world. Let us all prepare ourselves, that we rid ourselves of sin and wickedness, that we all be pure and ready to welcome our Saviour, that when He comes again, we will be found worthy for the eternal joy and rewards He had promised us. God bless us all. Amen.