I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth.
As this year comes to an end let us take the time not only to plan for the future and the laudable changes we want to make but also to reflect on the truth we already know. This truth is a person. How has he been present in our lives throughout the past year? In what ways did our year reveal that Jesus was with us?
I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God remains in you, and you have conquered the Evil One.
Not just young men, but all people young and old can say this. We can take heart in our troubles because Jesus has overcome the world. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (see John 16:33).
In him we too are conquerors.
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (see Romans 8:37).
But we need reminders about this truth. We don't always feel victorious. We often feel, in fact, as if the circumstances are winning, or our sin is winning, or the fallen tendencies of the world are winning. So we need to be intentional about remembering. We need to believe our faith more than we believe our feelings.
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith (see First John 5:4).
John writes to help his audience remember important truths. They know the Father, they know him who is from the beginning, they have conquered. It is only from this vantage point that he asks them to address the places in their lives that still need work.,
Do not love the world or the things of the world.
We can learn so much from this! If we spend more time confessing what is true about us in Jesus we will be better equipped to pursue holiness. If we insist on trying to fix ourselves first, especially if we insist on trying to fix our feelings first, it isn't going to work.
Anna is someone who knows and believes the truth of God's promises. She doesn't have much to go on in terms of worldly fulfillment. The fulfillment of God's promise in Jesus is everything to her. Because she has learned to rely on her belief she is able to receive the consolation of its fulfillment.
And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.
Some commentators have said that this is an understatement. It is as though she goes a little out of her mind with joy. This is a true and lasting joy which we too can know in our own lives. But it starts with believing in what is already true about ourselves in Christ.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
Suggestion: Throughout the day say "I am strong and I have conquered" especially when challenges arise, out loud if possible.
And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.
There is a specific shape this love is meant to take and a specific form in which the bond of perfection is most perfectly realized. God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother's authority he confirms over her sons.
From the very beginning of the human story the family has been the basic building block. It is the basic organizing principle. It comes before institutions and governments. It retains priority and primacy over them even now. They exist to serve the family and not vice versa.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful.
The Church is a bigger family that joins together our smaller ones. Israel was God's family in a special way. Hence we hear, "Out of Egypt I called my son" first in reference to the nation (see Hosea 11:1). But it is then spoken of Jesus, in whom there is no Gentile or Jew (see Galatians 3:28). In Jesus those of all nations are invited to belong to the family of God. He allows us to become sons and daughters through his own divine Sonship.
It is no accident that Jesus was born into a family. It is through his birth in a family that all families are sanctified. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, are the models and exemplars of the perfection of family life.
Although we are not perfect we can still look to the Holy Family for their guidance and for their intersession. Joseph especially shows us how to live our responsibilities with humility and yet with courage.
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt.
Mary teaches us how to be available to God and how to treasure his work in our lives. Jesus himself shows perfect deference and obedience to the Father's will, and also to that of his earthly parents. He still holds their prayers in great esteem. Let us become a part of this Holy Family together with our own families, all united under the Fatherhood of God.
Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and preserves himself from them.
When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.
Even acts of violence as apparently meaningless as the slaughter of the Holy Innocents can still be incorporated into the deeper plans of God and given meaning. It was certainly a tragedy for all of these children to be slaughtered. But God did not leave it as only that. He made it a prophetic witness to birth of Jesus.
He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, Out of Egypt I called my son.
Just as Moses narrowly escaped the decree of Pharaoh that male Israelite babies should be killed so too did Jesus. These children who were killed earned the crown of martyrs through sheer grave and divine sovereignty. It was no strength of their own that made them witnesses. In all of these ways we can learn from the Holy Innocents. We learn that even the most meaningless and senseless of acts can still can still have a hidden meaning brought from them by God. We learn that no matter how weak we ourselves are we are not too weak or too small to be the LORD's true witnesses.
The slaughter of the Holy Innocents was a tragedy. But the tragic part of their story was temporal and came to an end. Their story of glory continues forever in eternity. We want to join into the same fellowship of light with God that the Holy Innocents now share. But unlike them we do have sin. Like them, though, we don't need to rely on our own strength. We need to avail ourselves of the blood of Jesus. His blood can make us as innocent as the babes of today's feast.
But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one. He is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.
For the Holy Innocents and for us our help is in the name of the LORD who made heaven and earth. The true fowler who sets his snare on us is death. But the LORD breaks the snare and sets us free.
Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.
John wants to help us to believe as well. He wants us to become witnesses to the resurrection.
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life — for the life was made visible;
John is talking about the Word that was in the beginning with God who took on flesh and pitched his tent in our midst (see John 1:1 and John 1:14). This is Jesus, the one has always existed but took on human flesh in such a real and historical way that John was able to hear and see and even touch him. He was able to rest his head on his shoulder. The incarnation was not just some poetic reflection of philosophical truth. It was he in whom all truth is found joining himself to a real specific human nature at a particular point in history.
The resurrection matters because it is more than a nice idea. It matters because without it death is the ultimate horizon of the human race, rendering all striving and progress ultimately without meaning. A fiction about a resurrection would almost be worth than nothing. But Jesus really came, suffered and died. By his resurrection he really did open a way beyond death. He defeated death and laid sin in its grave. He did this in the flesh, as John bears us witness.
we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you
Although we have not seen we believe. Jesus gives special blessings to us for this faith. His resurrection power can transform us no less than John. The fellowship the resurrection makes possible transcends time. It transcends what we can see now and joins us all in the fellowship of the Triune God.
so that you too may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.
Let us be witnesses today. Hopefully we can find a small way that our words can give testimony. But let us at least live with hope, knowing that death is not the end. This too can be our witness. Light dawns for the just; and gladness, for the upright of heart.
Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.
Most of us get so invested in our debates that we become more interesting in proving ourselves right than in the actual edification of those with whom we are speaking. Not so with Stephen. He does care intensely about the outcome of the debate. The first 53 verses of chapter 7 is Stephen making his case for the truth of the gospel. By that time most of us would be so invested in the argument as to be unable to even remember the perspective of anyone else. But Stephen manages to preserve his love and concern for others throughout the debate.
"Lord, do not hold this sin against them"; and when he said this, he fell asleep.
How does Stephen do it? How can we?
When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
Stephen does not have to retreat into defensiveness. He doesn't need to protect himself because he has faith to believe that the Holy Spirit is with him giving him the words to say. It is a connection to God so profound even death holds no fear because God is so near to him. "Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
This can be true for us as well if we simply learn to walk by the Spirit and to trust in him. We need to learn to trust even when we might be tempted to get emotionally involved and competitive. These are the times when we must make special effort to listen to the words that the Spirit has for us. Only if we do will we be able to say "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" no matter the circumstances.
When the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy
The love of God our savior has appeared. Let us go with the shepherds "to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." Let us quiet our hearts so that we can recognize the promised sign in one so small, so apparently helpless. The moments of glory when the angels speak point to something more important but less obvious. The glory of this child is veiled. But we who visit him and quiet our hearts before him can still recognize it. Jesus is entering into our world. Because he does he is able to be a part not only of the rare moments of heavenly glory but of our whole lives. They shall be called the holy people, the redeemed of the LORD, and you shall be called "Frequented," a city that is not forsaken.
We enjoy the songs of the angels who cry out, "Glory to God in the highest" but we look especially to the humble manger. We welcome the newborn King into the world and into our hearts and our lives. Light dawns for the just; and gladness, for the upright of heart.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; for he has come to his people and set them free.
Tonight this promise to set us free will be fulfilled.
He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of his servant David.
The mighty Savior is the very infant in the manger whom we celebrate. He does not yet appear mighty as the world regards might. God's strength does not exclude weakness, vulnerability, and dependence on others. Even so, he is still mighty enough to free us from our greatest enemies, sin and death.
that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery (see Hebews 2:14-15).
Only once Jesus conquers death can we be free from the fear of death, from the need to put ourselves first, from desperation to protect ourselves and prolong our lives as much as we can.
In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Christmas is the beginning of this dawn because the light of the world is about to be born for us. This is why we keep vigil at midnight masses. This is why we assemble at masses at the break of dawn. We long for this light to shine.
The baby in the manger might not seem like a solid foundation for a Kingdom. The crucifixion seems like utter failure from a purely human point of view. But God's ways our not our ways. He comes in weakness and humility. But in him we recognize the light which the darkness cannot ever overcome. Your house and your Kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.'"
And suddenly there will come to the temple the LORD whom you seek, And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who will endure the day of his coming?
Zechariah did encounter a messenger of the covenant in the temple. He wasn't ready to endure his coming without being refined. Yet that refinement was revelatory. It was nothing overly terrible or worthy of fear.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.
Ahaz might have delayed this sign by his unwillingness to ask for it. But even his reluctance did not change God's desire to give the sign.
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means "God is with us."
God had a desire to be "with us" that was so strong that he wouldn't let anything stand in the way of the fulfillment of that desire.
It is still the case that many of us have a hard time asking for all that God has promised. The reasons for this reluctance are manifold. We think them too good to be true, we think God too disinterested in us to give them, or we've been hurt before and are unwilling to trust now.
What is God telling us to ask for this morning, as Christmas draws near? In what way does he want to be more truly "with us" and how can we invite him closer? Let's not weary him by making him wait.
to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy.
Jesus wants to come so close to us. He is "established as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead". He longs to make us sons an daughters of God in him, with his own Spirit of holiness and his own resurrection power transforming us from the inside out, making his obedience our own.
When we give even a little room for Jesus to enter his Spirit within us helps us to open ourselves to receive more of his promises. Let us open wide the gates of our hearts to Christ, as Saint John Paul the Great was fond of saying.
Lift up your heads, O gates; rise up, you ancient portals, that the king of glory may enter.
O King of all nations and keystone of the Church: come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!
Hark! my lover–here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills. How different Advent is from Lent, even if the vestments look similar. Listen to the tone of hope in the options for the first reading. Our lover is coming, so close we can see him through "gazing through the windows, peering through the lattices." We hear him telling us that winter is over and the flowers are blooming.
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises of God. All of them find their 'Yes' in him (see Second Corinthians 1:20). Jesus was in this sense intensely Jewish. He was not a Greek abstract disembodied spiritual being. He came in the flesh, from a particular time, at a particular point in history.
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God (see First John 4:2).
The specificity and unflinching historicity of the birth of Jesus can be challenging. He came to one place and not another, one time and not another. He can't be made into a mere moralizing myth. Without the concrete of his coming the meaning of it is also lost. The tale of a Messiah that did not actually come would be worse than nothing. Relativism can find no room in his story. If all ideas are equal, why did Jesus enter history as part of a particular and well established story, that of the Jewish people?
The Good News is good precisely because Jesus really did come to bring the Jewish covenant to fulfillment. He came as Messiah to bring salvation to his people. For us, the fulfillment of those promises gives us great confidence in his promises to bring history in turn to its climax and goal, and great confidence in every promise to us for the in-between times in which we live.
The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his legs, While tribute is brought to him, and he receives the people's homage.
In the wisdom of the Father we receive Jesus through Mary and Joseph. This is no accident, they are part of his plan to bless us.
Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.
Mary and Joseph still help us to receive Jesus when we avail ourselves of their help. Mary brought him into the world and Joseph taught and protected him as he grew. They can help us prepare for Jesus in all of his concrete specificity, all of his tangible realness. They can show us the way beyond mere sentimentality to receive the coming King.
O Wisdom of our God Most High, guiding creation with power and love: come to teach us the path of knowledge!
Where was John's baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin? Jesus traps the wise in their own wisdom. Our own wisdom will not give us a correct or sincere answer about the baptism of John. Instead, it will give us a political and pragmatic answer. It doesn't allow us to either believe him, for then we would have to change, or to condemn him, because we fear what people will think of us. Fear of change and fear of what people think is the result of our human wisdom. Such wisdom is not able to understand the authority by which Jesus acts.
"By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?"
The prideful can't solve this mystery. But to the humble it is obvious.
And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes (see Matthew 7:28-29).
The humble don't need to see Jesus' Curriculum Vitae to validate his authority. They don't resort to a complex syllogisms to explain his claims. They hear and in hearing they know.
The officers answered, "No one ever spoke like this man!" (see John 7:46).
We ought not prepare for Christmas relying on our own wisdom. Rather, we should listen with rapt attention to the promises that are about to be fulfilled. Preparation isn't ultimately a puzzle to be solved. The King comes as gift to us. We listen now in order to receive. I see him, though not now; I behold him, though not near: A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel.
The LORD guides the humble to justice. He teaches the humble his way. Let us be more like the Magi than the chief priests and elders. Let us sit aside the pride of our own position to follow the promised star.
You too must be patient. Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand.
It is not easy to be patient. The proof of this is that we complain, about one another, about circumstances, about anything really. Complaints are a symptom of our lack of patience.
Our lack of patience might even seem admirable to us. Who wants to find stillness in difficult times? Is it not better to push on through, to force a resolution no matter the cost?
Yet patience is not entirely passive. We do our part to prepare. We actively await the coming of the King by our own works of charity. Even so, we cannot bring about his coming by our efforts. We cannot cause the restoration of all things in him. And so patience, active waiting in hope, is necessary.
Jesus wants us to have a hope that is real enough to strengthen us as we await his coming.
the splendor of our God. Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, 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.
This is now. But it is also the future. Our faith, hope, and love connect us so firmly to this vision that patience acquires new meaning for us. Let us meditate on what the good things Jesus has done and is doing in the world.
"Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me."
When we treasure the blessings we have received we are able to hear the promises of the future and can wait for them without despair, without trying to solve problems beyond our strength, but doing our part to prepare a place for the coming king. The LORD shall reign forever; your God, O Zion, through all generations.
Their staff of bread he shattered, in his zeal he reduced them to straits; By the Lord's word he shut up the heavens and three times brought down fire. How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!
It isn't altogether surprising that they didn't notice the similarities between John the Baptist and Elijah. He did dress like Elijah. "Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey" (see Matthew 3:4 and Second Kings 1:8). But he didn't perform signs like Elijah. People noticed that difference but paid less attention to the words of John, which were "as a flaming furnace" just as Elijah. Rather than signs, his call to repentance was meant to "turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons, and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob."
John the Baptist provided the opportunity for the people to prepare for the coming of Jesus. He spoke of the deeper problems of the heart that needed to be cleared away. He did no signs, because he existed only to point toward the sign of Jonah revealed in Jesus Christ.
He said in reply, "Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased.
God always delivers on his promises. He gives us what we need and helps us to prepare. But our expectations are often quite human. We want the special effects and distractions. We are less ready for the purification of heart that will allow us to see him more clearly when he comes.
What messengers is the LORD sending to us ahead of his coming at Christmas? Perhaps they aren't promising miraculous things. Perhaps they are telling us to hone in on the very simple opportunities we have before us to love one another. I doing so, truly doing so, we love Jesus himself.
May your help be with the man of your right hand, with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
'We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.'
God went out of his way to find a melody that would move the hearts of all. He sent John who lived a life of rigorous asceticism to give witness to Jesus above and beyond the material goods of this world. John pointed away from sin and toward the lamb of God. Yet those for whom John was overwhelming ought still have been able to find comfort in the Son of Man who lived a more moderate life, not entirely deprived of the goods of the world. The Son of Man gave wine at Cana and bread to the hungry crowds. Yet the people accepted neither. When confronted with John they said they wanted someone more like Jesus. When actually confronted with Jesus they preferred someone more like John.
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, 'He is possessed by a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, 'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'
In what ways are we like that generation? How much of what we say is really an excuse not to dance to the divine music? How much is a vain attempt to maintain a rigid control over ourselves that excludes the freedom of giving ourselves up to this music? We are so clever about our excuses, perhaps even fooling ourselves. At one time we say we want one song and at a different time another song. Yet really we don't want to dance to any music but our own.
But wisdom is vindicated by her works.
Those who take up God's call to dance and to mourn in time with his heart vindicate the works of Jesus. They are those who by faith become children of God, sons and daughters in the Son, who is himself the power of God and the wisdom of God (see First Corinthians 1:24). In our own lives the wisdom of God is vindicated.
I, the LORD, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go. If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river, and your vindication like the waves of the sea; Your descendants would be like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, Their name never cut off or blotted out from my presence.
We are called to a freedom that can only be found on the other side of self-will. It is not something static and predictable. If it were, we could know the path entirely in advance and accept it on our own terms. It is rather the music Jesus describes. Though it changes, the beauty and wisdom of it does not change. Let us dance to that music.
He is like a tree planted near running water, That yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers.
God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.
It was not the old ark, containing the rod of Aaron, the manna from the desert, and the law. It was Mary, the new ark, containing Jesus, who is the word of God, the new law, the bread from heaven, who slays his enemies with the breath of his mouth.
A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
Just as the old ark was important in securing victory for Israel over their enemies, so too the new. With the old, the ark was holy for the sake of what it contained rather than for its own sake. So too the new, for Mary brought the presence of Jesus with her.
And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
From Elizabeth we hear echoes of the Old Testament:
And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the LORD come to me?” (see Second Samuel 6:9).
Just as the ark was protected from even being touched by those who were not pure so too was Mary.
The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God.
Mary allowed herself to be emptied of her own self-will so that God would find room within her.
Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.
Most of us are invited to be filled with Jesus and we give a partial and qualified response. Often it is, 'Yes, fine, for one hour on Sunday.' But Mary's 'Yes' was exhaustive, complete, and unchanging. The way her life was changed was irrevocable, and she embraced that change.
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
Mary wants to go with us into battle against the Evil One and his works. Not only that, she wants to show us how we ourselves can better be tabernacles for the presence of Jesus. This is where victory over emptiness and lies, over sin and suffering, and over pain and death can be found. It is found here and here alone.
"Now have salvation and power come, and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed."
Why, O Jacob, do you say, and declare, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God"?
In our pretenses of piety we don't say it. But we often believe in our hearts that God isn't really paying attention to us and to our problems. We feel that if he really saw what was going on in our lives he would intervene to make things better.
We have an implicit doubt that our God isn't really strong enough to solve the problems of the world as we understand them. It does seem, perhaps, like he solves one or two major issues miraculously but then grows weary and wants or simply doesn't know about the others.
The LORD is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint nor grow weary, and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.
The LORD, it is true, does not choose to perfectly order the circumstances of the world to our liking. The world is still a fallen world. It is still under the power of sin even until the return of Christ. We who know and follow him are not of the world. God manifests his power most especially in our hearts by making us to be like he is.
He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound.
We are given an inexhaustible source of strength that makes young men look old and run down by comparison. We are transformed so that circumstances can't wear us down. We are given supernatural endurance.
They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles' wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.
The important thing is for us to stop insisting that everything around us be made right before we allow ourselves to be made right. God wants to begin the transformation of his world within our individual hearts. We labor and are burdened with many projects of our own devising. We are still starting with circumstances and finding ourselves not up to the task. Rather, let us come to and learn from Jesus. Let us take the yoke he has devised. Only then will we find rest and lightness even in spite of our afflictions.
He redeems your life from destruction, he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?
No, we think to ourselves. No they wouldn't. They'd leave well enough alone. Even if the hills afforded some protection for the sheep they wouldn't take a risk just for the sake of only one in one hundred. But the heart of Jesus is different. He refuses to be content with good enough or almost when even one of these little ones is still lost. He has such compassion for any sheep that is lost that there can't be perfect peace for all until that one is found.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, Carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.
This compassion for the one should give the ninety-nine great confidence. Even if we ourselves are lost in the future, even if we should wander, Jesus will seek us out. He does not begrudge the sheep that it wanders. It even seems to get special treatment. It is gathered in his arms and carried home. Let those who have not strayed not begrudge that sheep the love he receives. It is that very same love with which he loves them. If we ourselves are the elder brother of the prodigal we know that all that the Father has, has safety, his love, and his peace, have been ours all along.
The LORD is coming to restore us. He comes with "his reward with him, his recompense before him." What does he bring? He brings "the word of our God [which] stands forever." This word is the safety of the sheep. Is the entering of the eternal and unchanging into the world of time. Jesus says that he has come to seek and save the lost. This is now, with the coming of the messiah, the manifestation of this eternal word in time. It is this saving heart itself that is that word. It is a heart which is unchanging and unrelenting in its love for the sheep.
Let us "prepare the way of the LORD" in our own hearts. Let us not force him to spend time wandering and seeking us. Let us rather run and hearken to the sound of his voice for we are his sheep and we know the sound of that voice. We are the lost who sense that we are about to be found. Let us run toward the sound of that voice!
They shall exult before the LORD, for he comes; for he comes to rule the earth. He shall rule the world with justice and the peoples with his constancy.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.
We see this promise first realized in Mary. Before we are filled with every spiritual blessing in the heavens she is filled with grace. God wants us all to be holy and without blemish before him. But it is in Mary that this promise first comes to fruition. It is not so hard to imagine why, if he desires these things for all of us, if we in fact need them to truly live our adoption as sons and daughters, if we cannot enter into glory without them, that Mary would receive these things first. We see that the fullness of grace she received allowed her to accept the "intention of his will", saying, "May it be done unto me according to thy word." We see that she exists for the praise of his glory, she whose soul magnifies the LORD and whose spirit glories in God her savior.
Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.
Eve was given the choice to obey God but decided to disobey.
“Why did you do such a thing?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.”
After Eve, all other examples we were given were similar flawed and half-hearted in responding to God. In Mary, Eve's disobedience is finally reversed. Mary is allowed and chooses to be the perfect example of receiving the grace of Jesus. She is an the example we are given of what an unhindered and complete response to God's offer to us can look like. Mary is not given this grace for herself alone, but so that we can all exist "for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved."
Ultimately it is insufficient to simply chip away at the problem of sin and disobedience. We need the complete reversal that God wrought by his power in Mary, through the merits of her Son's death and resurrection. Without his merits Mary could not be what she is. Without Mary's example, understanding how to give our own assent to Jesus would never be as clear as it is when we hear her fiat.
Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.
A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.
We are called out into the desert, away from distractions. We are called, once there, to find out what obstacles exist within our own hearts. In the desert we discover it is not just those things which surround us that block God's way. Even when the circumstances don't conspire against us we have mountains and valleys within that make it harder for God to reach us. It is time to examine the roadblocks God encounters on his way to love us and to tear them down.
Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
We are complacent. These are the valleys wherein we refuse to work and to endure by the grace God gives us. They often take the name of self-pity or despair. Or maybe we struggle because we try to solve the worlds problems through our own laborious climbing of mountains. But the LORD longs to meet us on level ground. He gives us the grace to move forward.
I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
The LORD shows us what it looks like for the Spirit to rest on someone. Jesus demonstrates wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, and fear of the LORD in his own life. He in turn imparts the gift to us through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. This is the only origin of the fruit he asks of us. We cannot find this fruit in the peeks or valleys apart from him. We can only receive it when his highway of access to us is made smooth.
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. LORD, soften and level the ground of our hearts. Fertilize this ground again with your Spirit and fire that we may bear the truly amazing fruit we are meant to bear.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea.
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.
Jesus does not want us to feel troubled and abandoned. He wants calls us to cast our cares upon him, because he cares for us (see First Peter 1:57). He wants us to know that God has not abandoned us. He is with us so profoundly that no one can stand against us (see Romans 8:31).
Why do we still wander like lost sheep? We ignore the pastures wherein we might find repose. We careen dangerously close to ravenous wolves without heed to the warnings of our shepherd. Since we don't avail ourselves of his guidance we do feel troubled. We don't experience the peace that comes from knowing and following his voice. We do feel abandoned even though this more often means we have abandoned our shepherd. It is not God who has moved away, but rather us. This is a bitter thought to bear. We prefer the illusion of our perfect fidelity. But when the promised fruit is absent we should check our connection to the vine.
Even though we are partly to blame for our sorry state Jesus still does not want to leave us in feelings of trouble and abandonment. He knows that sheep can't self-organize and solve this problem on their own. He knows that unless the solution is made obvious to the sheep they will never find it in their rumination and reasoning.
O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem, no more will you weep; He will be gracious to you when you cry out, as soon as he hears he will answer you. The Lord will give you the bread you need and the water for which you thirst.
Jesus seeks out the lost sheep. All who serve him are instructed to do the same. He calls all to have the hearts of shepherds for those who are lost. He holds no grudges against we who wander. If anything he seems to love us all the more for our pitiable state. It is as if he wants to do even more for us now upon our return than if we'd never left. He gives us the bread of heaven that we need and the living water for which we thirst.
Jesus knows that we are prone to stray. He knows, and so he offers us protection. No longer will your Teacher hide himself, but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher, While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears: "This is the way; walk in it," when you would turn to the right or to the left.
The Holy Spirit surrounds us with guidance. He empowers us to stay as near to the shepherd as we choose to stay. In him we can have a peace and joy that the world cannot give and cannot take away.
On the day the LORD binds up the wounds of his people, he will heal the bruises left by his blows.
We are brokenhearted. Jesus wants to bind our wounds. Come LORD Jesus!
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.
We ourselves are the deaf who need to hear. We are the blind who need site. Sometimes we don't realize this. Yet when we listen, what is louder? Is it the clamor and tumult of the world? Or is it the voice of truth, living and active, speaking in the Scriptures? If we are honest, God's truth is usually less obvious and apparent than the world's truth. The world's truth gets in our faces aggressively. God speaks gently, ever inviting us. The world promises pleasure and happiness. But God assures us that only in him can we find lasting joy. The lowly will ever find joy in the LORD, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
We need to be re-calibrated so that the heavenly reality is the one from which we live. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (see Colossians 3:2-4).
This isn't just a future reality. It is true now by faith.
by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (see Ephesians 2:5-6).
We can't simply open our eyes and ears to God on our own. They are infected by the lies of the world and in need of healing. Fortunately, the one who can heal us is near. Now that we realize our need let us cry out to him sincerely.
"Son of David, have pity on us!"
Heal our unbelief, Jesus. Help us to believe that you can open our eyes and ears. Help us to believe you desire to do so.
"Do you believe that I can do this?" "Yes, Lord," they said to him. Then he touched their eyes and said, "Let it be done for you according to your faith." And their eyes were opened.
Having been healed we can walk without stumbling. We can move forward without worrying that we missed something important, confident we can hear God's voice.
What is the firm purpose that can keep us in peace? It is the purpose of not only hearing but acting on the words of Jesus, not just associating ourselves with him using our words, but actually doing the will of his Father.
A strong city have we; he sets up walls and ramparts to protect us.
We enter into the strong city through Jesus. He is himself the gate for the sheep (see John 10:9). There is no way around him. There is no way to simply talk our way in. If we want to get through the gate we must be able to fit. We must therefore be conformed to Christ. We must take on his shape. The shape we must imitate is the constant posture of humbling ourselves (see Philippians 2:8).
He humbles those in high places, and the lofty city he brings down;
It is not enough to say 'Lord, Lord,' and yet it is something we do well to say constantly. The secret is that to say it is not an excuse that exempts us from being active. The name of Jesus spoken in faith itself contains the power to transform us. It itself is the beginning of our basis for doing the Father's will.
Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit (see First Corinthians 12:3).
We want to build on the rock. We want a stability within ourselves that neither suffering nor any other circumstance can strip away from us. The formula isn't so fantastic that we should be afraid to attempt it. Rather, we proclaim that Jesus is LORD using the gift of the Spirit within us. This same Spirit, using this act as a starting place, begins to conform all of our actions to the will of the Father, provided we allow him to do so. When we slip back into building sandcastles we can begin again, confessing, and moving by grace into the Father's will.
Open to me the gates of justice; I will enter them and give thanks to the LORD. This gate is the LORD's; the just shall enter it. I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me and have been my savior.
