UNDERSTANDING THE MISSION

We should have peace if we would not busy ourselves with the sayings and doings of others– Thomas Kempis -

“God, here I am! I am coming to obey your will”. Heb 10:7

As we come closer to Christmas, it is a very useful question to ask, why did the second person of the Blessed Trinity become man? Naturally, the answer that comes to us is that he became man to save us. But then one may press on and ask, why did he save us? And here the answer is given by Christ in the words of prophet “God here I am. I am coming to do obey your will”.

He was the only person who ever was and ever will be perfectly obedient to the will of God. He is one who never did what he liked, but what God liked. He was one sent by his Father. He was one under orders. He was not his own, he was God’s man. Jesus lived under the consciousness that he had not to do what he liked. We shall see him in his childhood-staying behind in Jerusalem. His remaining behind in Jerusalem. His reply to the parents was: “did you not know …

Readings: Zeph 3:14-18; Phil 4:4-7; Luke 3:10-18

Theme: “Rejoice in the Lord; again I say: rejoice. Give proof to all of your
forbearance (let your discipline be known to all) the Lord is near”

“Love your neighbour, but do not pull down the hedge” - Swiss proverb –

The leading idea in today’s liturgy is “The Lord is at hand” it is today’s focal point.
The Christian thinks of the Lord as someone who is always at hand. Not as someone who once lived visibly among us and has simply gone away to Heaven. For the Christian the Lord is abiding with him in his spirit. He finds him in his word. He sees him in various circumstances of life. The Lord is nearby, he sees him in his fellow man in spite of his weakness and malice. He sees him in his various circumstances of life. The Lord is nearby, he is at hand in the sense that “He is coming”, he is coming to penetrate into the life of the Christian, to take full possession of him, to absorb his life ever more.
It’s that kin…

THE JOY OF SALVATION

Readings: Baruch 5:1-9; Phil 1:4-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6

“If you have no joy in your religion, there’s a leak in your Christianity somewhere” - W. A Sunday -

Joy is distinctly a Christian word and a Christian thing. It is the reverse of happiness. Happiness is the result of what happens of an agreeable sort. Joy has its spring down inside, and that spring never runs dry, no matter what happens. Only Jesus gives that joy. He had joy, singing its music within, even under the shadow of the cross. It is an unknown word and thing except as he has sway within.
Awaiting for Christ so that he may reveal himself and make his presence felt in a new way giving us an intense experience of the joy of salvation. That joy does not come to us by lighting a Christmas light, balloons, cards and planting “father Christmas” at the gates of supermarkets. Salvation is free, yes, but it is not cheap. We have to work for it; breaking the chains we have bound ourselves with moments in our lives t…