These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; With divine recompense he comes to save you. (Is 35:1-10)
When Jesus saw their faith (the faith of the friends), he said (to the paralyzed man), “As for you, your sins are forgiven.” (Lk 5:17-26)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120522.cfm
Troubled times are always a part of the human story. The word of the old prophet Isaiah still speaks to us today. The message of Advent is the same: Don’t be afraid, our God comes to save us. But we have to hold on. Sometimes like the paralyzed man in the gospel story, we need the faith of our friends to get us through.
John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: "A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths." At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. (Mt 3:1-12)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120422.cfm
In addition to the Prophet Isaiah, John the Baptist is one of the most important figures of this first part of Advent. Our mission, like John the Baptist, is to prepare the way of the Lord in our world, in our lives. Perhaps it’s as simple as Saint Paul says: “Welcome one another as Christ welcomed you.”
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” (Mt 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120322.cfm
After telling the disciples to ask the “master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest,” he then sends THEM out. Like them, we think that the Lord wants to call other people to the work of evangelization when really Lord sends US! Perhaps that’s why Pope Francis keeps reminding us that we are “missionary disciples.” Saint Francis Xavier was a companion of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first Jesuit missionaries to carry the gospel to Asia.
On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; And out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. The lowly will ever find joy in the LORD, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. (Is 29:17-24)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120222.cfm
The longing of the prophets for the coming of “that day” fills the readings of Advent: that the deaf shall hear, the blind see, and the poor and the lowly will rejoice in the Lord. What do we long for? What would fill us with joy? In his encyclical letter on the liturgy (Desiderio desideravi), Pope Francis speaks of the Lord’s desire to eat with us. Could our participation in the Eucharist be joyfully satisfying the Lord’s desire?
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 118)
R. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever.
R. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120122.cfm
The Lord’s mercy endures forever, human kindness not so much. There are those who would like to exclude from the Christian community those they consider “not worthy.” But judgment is not entrusted to us, rather the One whose coming we await weighs minds and hearts and “humbles those in high places.” Today we remember all those living with HIV & AIDS, and especially we remember those we have lost.
