5 December 2016 - be strong, fear not

 

[ Today's Readings ]

 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.

Our faith and hope in the coming of the LORD can make us strong. Even when we are exhausted by all that happens in the world, things that don't seem to be according to God's plan, just knowing that he is coming can be this difference between making it through and giving up. If we know that the presence of Jesus can be found we become willing to push through obstacles to find him.

But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd,
they went up on the roof
and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles
into the middle in front of Jesus.

How many times do we simply encounter the crowd and turn back around even though we know there are blessings Jesus wants to give us? We are afraid we won't make it through to his presence, afraid that his blessings are meant for others but not ourselves. Today we hear the words, "Be strong, fear not!"

We live in a world where blindness is a real problem. Many are deaf, lame, and mute. The renewal of all things is hard to imagine from our perspective. We are exhausted by the simply facts of life. Today we hear the words, "Be strong, fear not!"

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
Then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.

Jesus is coming. He is coming to renew all things and to set right every wrong. But he begins in our hearts by giving us the strength to welcome him and to go out to meet him. Before he comes in glory he comes in humility, in the incarnation and in the Eucharist, in order to teach us how to receive him with joy. Let us learn this lesson so that when he does come to renew all things we are ready to welcome him.

Our God will come to save us!