Dear friends,
On this Third Sunday of Advent, we rejoice in the Lord because of the closeness of the birth of Jesus; our salvation is nearer and our consolation at hands. Our healer is coming to restore us and to make us whole again. He is coming to heal our poverty, our broken hearts and to free us from all bondage.
The challenge in front us is however our blindness because our focus on material and passing joy and rejoicing. John warns us that there is someone among us whom we do not recognize. We are therefore invited to open the eyes of our faith to see the Lord present among us and around. This invitation tells us that we do not have to go far off or to search too much to see him. He is manifest and present to us there in a brother or sister standing at your side but whom you ignore; he is there in our children whose parents cannot afford him a Christmas present; he is there in the poor and the needy from whom we take our eyes away and neglect. For he is coming as poor, defenseless, and marginalized. Today’ joy will be truly experienced only if we can see the Lord through our eyes of faith and work towards transforming the world to the kingdom he is coming to inaugurate.
Since he is the light which enlightens everyone who embraces him, we are comforted that the darkness of hopelessness and despair that covers us amidst the trials and challenges of the present life will be wiped away. There is no more place for sadness and mourning. He says, I am making everything new, including you. So, brother and sister, time has come for you to smile and make the joy of Christmas contagious; and more precisely, time has come to think about your own action of gratitude towards God for his endless love and mercy.
This Advent season is the opportunity for us to reflect more on the relationship between discipleship and giving. When we look back in our life, we will realize how blessed we are, and amazingly good God has been and is for us. Today is the time to think about it and ask whether your generosity and support for his Church and ministry can make a difference.
Let us pray that God’s generosity for us might nurture and strengthen our gratitude towards Him through consistent and significant support for his Church, our Church as we embark on our path to discipleship. And let us continue to pray for one another and for our parish family.
Fr. Emery