DAILY HOMILIES #church

The word Advent means “coming.” Who and what is coming? Our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we celebrate two types of “coming” at Advent: the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh (commemorating the Virgin birth of our Christ) and the second coming of Christ at the end of time. During the season of Advent, we think of the events leading up to the birth of Christ, but we also remind ourselves that Christ will come again and that this whole world will soon end.

Like falling in love, the beginning is usually very sweet; you think about the person all day, and you are ready to do anything for them, but as time passes, familiarity creeps in, the fire goes out. Upon conversion to the faith, the Ephesians must have begun many devout practices pleasing to God, but over time, these practices faded away.

At the death of a person, there is usually grief and sadness, especially from his close friends and family members, but no sooner have the tears dried up than the person is completely forgotten! It is as though they never existed. Nothing can be more painful than knowing that a time will come when no living person will remember you anymore. Thank God the Church set aside this day for the living to remember the dead.

As the church was gathered in one place, praying and worshipping God, we are gathered today, and we all ask God for another outpouring of the Holy Spirit. More than ever before, the church today is in dire need of the Holy Spirit.

We are used to hearing: “Love your neighbour as yourself” or “Do to others what you want done to you”, but in this case, Jesus wants us to love others as He loved us; he wants us to offer our lives for one another as He did on the Cross of Calvary. This is the basis of abiding by Jesus – sacrificial love.

“While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’”(Acts 13:2). This is the first recorded instance of the Holy Spirit speaking directly, not just to one person, but to an entire congregation; everyone heard and understood the Holy Spirit’s message.

Spiritual creativity is not a luxury; it is the essence of our faith. Either I am winning for Jesus or betraying (denying) him. I can only imagine Jesus's pain, knowing that those who shared the same plate with him would betray him. Nevertheless, Jesus said: “Woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

The Galileans received miracles not because of their location but because of their deep-seated faith. Jesus said to the woman at the well: “The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.” (John 4:23). It is not about your location. Are you worshipping God in spirit and truth?

St. Paul tells us today: “Do not yield your members to sin as an instrument, but yield yourselves to God.” There is an extent to which a slave would give trouble that the master will have no choice but to let the slave go. You only become a slave when you stop resisting and give up the struggle.

Is it a time for you to dwell in your panelled houses while this house lies in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared. You have sown much and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill

Are you a leader in any capacity? Are you a man or woman of God? Do you head a family, a church or a company? Know that your success highly depends on your closeness to God, active prayer life and willingness to listen to God’s voice daily. Left to your power and intelligence, you can do nothing.

In our Gospel passage, Jesus is unhappy with his people due to their over-familiarity. Have I become too familiar with God? Do I still have the fear of God in me? Do I value the Bible or treat it as just one of those books?