Today there are more than sixty-five million people in our world like Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, and Jesus who are forcibly displaced from their homelands because of persecution, war, or violence.  We can only imagine how the Holy Family felt when good-hearted people unsuspectingly helped them in their need and extended spontaneous gestures of support and kindness.  We cannot do everything to relive the pain of those on the move, but we can do something.  How can I make a stranger feel welcome today, honor their dignity, or reach out to those near me who are living away from their homeland?

 

Too often we think being righteous is about being “right”. Yet people who need to be “right” have done countless wrongs throughout history.  And it is no different today.  Biblical righteousness is far deeper.  It requires more than legal and moral certitudes but rather deals with faith and trust.  Paul reminds us that true righteousness comes through faith in the One who alone is righteous.  Faith ultimately is a leap into the unknown, a surrender of trust in the God who has the power to forgive us, reconcile us, and restore us to right relationship with Gone and one another.

 

Everyone struggles with forgiveness.  While forgiving others who have wronged us is difficult, we often face greater challenges forgiving ourselves.  When we do not forgive, we remain trapped in our past, which keeps us from being truly free to live out the lives God has in store for us.  Advent is a time to seek forgiveness.  And forgiving ourselves is an important step in trusting God’s forgiveness.  We protest that we don’t deserve it and are not worth.  The truth is, we’re not!  But God’s love is greater than our darkness.  Where do I need the light of God’s forgiveness?

 

In today’ Gospel, we hear that we are to be active in reforming our lives.  The reading call us to “repent,” “prepare the way of the Lord,” and “make straight his paths.”  These verbs help us realize that we need to strive continually to renew ourselves in the Lord.  In repenting, we are to bring about God’s ways and turn to God so that the kingdom may come.  We can look inward and ask ourselves what we need to change or turn from at this time.  Preparing for new growth means learning to release old patterns.  By confessing our sins and making changes in our lives, we ready ourselves to make a place with the “inn” of our lives for Jesus.

 

What are we awaiting this Advent?  Why are we to be alert?  Every three years, this reading begins our liturgical year, challenging us to prepare the coming of Christ.  Until the flood came, people continued going about their lives as usual.  Only Noah’s family was saved.  At the Second Coming, those who have been alert to the Lord in their lives will be taken.  Those who have fallen asleep to God’s desires will be left.  With Advent hope, we use this liturgical season to turn our hearts to the Lord.

The reading of Christ’s passion shows who we are to be as Christians.  Just as Christ did not respond to the soldiers who taunted him, we are to turn the other cheek.  As the criminal put his faith in Jesus, we are to rely on God.  Our lives are a gift.  We know that God is responsible for all that is good.

 

Today we will hear of horrifying signs, that may portend the end of the world: earthquake and famines, wars and persecutions.  Even though these warnings were given two thousand years ago or more and the world has not yet ended, they can still spur us to action now.  As we celebrate Mass today, let us look at our lives and consider what we should change and then resolve to do so.

 

As the liturgical year nears its end, the readings reflect more on the life to come.  In answering the query, Jesus points out that our earthly attachments are not our focus in heaven.  When we reach the next life, nothing will be as it is this world, where people live and die and marry and are given in marriage.  There, the focus will be on God.

 

One can imagine the joy o Zacchaeus, when Jesus sees him.  But the story does not end with this tax collector’s rejoicing.  The next verses tell of the change of heart that Zacchaeus experienced.  Not only did he say he would give half his possessions to the poor but he would repay fourfold anyone he had extorted.  Upon entering Jesus, Zacchaeus was able to detach from his possessions.  In the Word and Eucharist we meet Christ.  Have those encounters prompted you to detach from any possessions in any way?

 

“LOW,” I AM WITH YOU

“The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds.” —Sirach 35:17

Clouds can be a sign of God’s presence or, figuratively speaking, a barrier preventing us from “getting through” to God. Clouds present no problem to the prayer of the lowly, for their prayer pierces the clouds.

We can surmise that the prayer of many people is not “getting through” to God, for many people pray infrequently. If they were “getting through,” they probably would be encouraged to pray always (see Lk 18:1). Who wants to keep calling a phone number when you seldom “get through”? Many of us must not be lowly, or we would be “getting through” and praying more.

Sign of not being lowly are:

• Not forgiving
• Not going to confession often
• Not submitting to the authority of the Lord through the Church
• Focusing on ourselves

Jesus is lowly — from the stable at Bethlehem to the cross on Calvary to appearing as bread and wine in the Eucharist. Be like the lowly Jesus, and your prayer will pierce the clouds.