Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths... Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. – Matthew 3:3, 8

     Do you get easily annoyed? Irritated? Upset? Do you constantly compare yourself to other people and resent them? When you hear rumors, do you keep silent or spread them? What kind of words do you entertain? Your answer will depend on the state of your heart today. So, how is your heart?

        The heart is the center of our emotions, and the origin of our desires, motives and intentions. That’s why God says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23).

      Imagine a rotting tooth inside your mouth. It’s causing your bad breath. So what do you do? You brush your teeth and you gargle with mouthwash. Yes, that will solve your problem — for a few minutes maybe. Until the scent of mint is overtaken by the foul rotting smell again.

        In the same way, it’s not enough just to change bad habits. We must go to the heart of the problem — which is the problem of our hearts. King David realized and so he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10). Today, let’s start to pray like this. Rea Lourdes P. Santos (rearaquelsantos@yahoo.com)

Reflection: When we hide our sins, we only give it greater power over us. Repentance brings it to light and ends its hold in our lives.

Holy Spirit, reveal to me the sins that hamper my growth as a child of God.

St. John Damascene, priest and doctor of the Church, pray for us.

The readings in the First Sunday of Advent focus on the first coming of Jesus. Today we focus on His second coming. We need hope to become the best that we can be. Eternal life inspires us to be more selfless. Pain and suffering are more bearable when we know there are eternal rewards waiting for us at the end of this life.

1 On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. 2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, 3 and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, 4 but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. 5 Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips. 6 Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. 7 The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like the ox. 8 The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. 9 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. 10 On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious.

Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17

R: Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever.

1 O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king’s son; 2 he shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment. (R) 7 Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more. 8 May he rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. (R) 12 For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. 13 He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save. (R) 17 May his name be blessed forever; as long as the sun his name shall remain. In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed; all the nations shall proclaim his happiness. (R)

God’s love will endure everything, even the worst of humanity’s sins. He will never abandon us. Distance from God is our own choice and not a punishment from Him. We need to change our image of God as judge and punisher.

4 Brothers and sisters: Whatever was written previously was written for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, 6 that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God. 8 For I say that Christ became a minister of the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, to confirm the promises to the patriarchs, 9 but so that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: Therefore, I will praise you among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name.

John the Baptist exhorts us to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord Jesus. We have to be out there evangelizing others and this is part of the call. But more importantly, we must prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus. As we celebrate His birthday, let us be open to the work of the Holy Spirit who will deepen our faith in God.

Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths: all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

1 John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” 3 It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. 4 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him 6 and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. 7 When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. 9 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. 10 Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I am baptizing you with 1water, 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. 12 His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

think: Pain and suffering are more bearable when we know there are eternal rewards waiting for us at the end of this life.

Thank You Lord for: __________________

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR  Proverbs 1-4

ADULTS PREPARING FOR AN ADULT CHRIST

A trite expression for this season is this: “Christmas is for children.” This statement could have grown out of the association of Christmas with outward practices like Christmas parties, carols, gift-giving, shopping, visiting godparents and relatives — and in all these, children are the “natural” beneficiaries.

       John the Baptist is mentioned in our Gospel lesson and this leads us to deeper considerations. First, the story where John is mentioned is not a story about a prophet preparing for the birth of the Child Jesus. The Gospels mention that John was only six months older than his cousin Jesus (Luke 1:36). Therefore what we read this Sunday is an adult John the Baptist calling out for people to prepare for the emergence of the public ministry of an adult Jesus who will not be just a great storyteller or motivational speaker. The adult Jesus who emerges to preach in his thirties (Luke 3:23) will minister in the line of the prophets — in the tradition of fiery prophets like John himself. Jesus will not mince His words, but He will make demands about charity, unconditional forgiveness, and social justice. John the Baptist was therefore telling everyone: “Like a tree, bear fruit... Grow up! Grow up!”

       Advent and Christmas are a “liturgical gateway” leading us not just to the annual feast of Jesus’ incarnation and human birth. These liturgical seasons open to us another year of journeying with the adult Jesus — through the Ordinary Times (in honor of Jesus’ three years of preaching and teaching and miracle signs) to another Lent-Easter (in honor of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection). We are ushered into another year to grow more and more in the image and likeness of Jesus. Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP

REFLECTION QUESTION: Do you have plans to make a retreat or recollection part of your Advent-Christmas schedule?

Bless me, Lord, with a day or two to quiet down with You this Christmas season. Amen.