CHRISTMAS: FEAST OF FAMILY Christmas is a feast of the family: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We all are from a family. We all belong to a family. The family is the most important nucleus of our neighbourhood, community, society, church,…
The mystery of the Incarnation and celebration of Christmas is a total demonstration of God’s love for us. It is the feast of Immanuel: God with us! The Dwelling Presence of God among men and women forever. That is, God who builds the house among us! It is God who sends the Saviour! It is God who comes to Mary and through Mary gives us the Saviour. All comes from God and all returns to God, but the present is the most important time because it is now that God and humans are in a relationship.
Rejoice in the Lord always because the joy of the Lord is our strength! The third Sunday of Advent is traditionally called “Gaudete Sunday”. It is derived from the original Latin text of the entrance antiphon of today’s Eucharist celebration: “Gaudete in Domino Semper” which means–“Rejoice in the Lord always.” This changes radically the tone of our Advent celebration and preparation for the Coming our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
The Season of Advent is a moment of repentance, reparation and reconciliation with God, ourselves and our brothers and sisters. These are the “3Rs” of the Advent Season. It is a moment of peace that comes from giving and receiving forgiveness from God and others. The theme of our celebration this second Sunday is peace through reconciliation.
Once again, we begin the season of Advent and a new liturgical calendar of the Church´s year of grace in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ. Advent is a moment of grace to be awake while waiting. It is a new season of waiting, preparing, and being alert for the coming of the Lord. The world awaited his coming more than 2000 years ago. The world anticipates his coming in glory at the end of time. Equally, the world awaits his coming daily in every event and experience of our lives.
There is nowhere Christ the King can reign more than in our hearts and over our lives. The truth is that Christ does not want to be a proclaimed King on the lips of men and women. He wants to be enthroned in our lives, marriages, families, churches, communities and everyday affairs but above all in our hearts.
Life is a gift of God to us without any merit of ours, but the Christian principle of fulfilling or doing the will of God calls us to a life of stewardship and accountability. We are not only challenged by service but also the transparency of rendering account to God for his trust to confide us with able talents or gifts according to our capability.
We are not meant to live forever and the thought of dying one day can be very scary especially when there is no preparedness or hope for the end time. As Christians what gives our human existence a a sense of meaningfulness is our hope of the resurrection. Hence, amidst the uncertainty of earthly life, the Christian hope assures of a bright tomorrow.
This is an irrefutable statement any form of true religion liberates us from the shackles of enslavement not to only sin but to persons and things. This is what makes Christ different from other religious leaders. His life, deeds and teachings have one principal motive to direct men and women to God freely them from all internal or external enslavement.
Love is all that there is to life and Christian living. Hence, no matter our intelligence and knowledge of the Holy Scripture, doctrine and theological discourses on God, the Church and Christian life, faith and spirituality. If our lives do not reflect the basic empathy to relate, connect, feel or love, then all is nothing. Love is all there is in the Christian faith, life and spirituality.