The Advent season of hope begins the new liturgical year of the Church. It offers us hope amid uncertainties of life and the time we are living. With the pandemic still lingering, it seems our hope of a better future is depicted.
The Solemnity of Christ Our Universal King is a celebration that implies Christ must be King of our hearts. This means his kingdom of peace, justice, love, grace, and mercy should reign in us and around us. In other words, the celebration of Christ as King, Lord, and Saviour of the world is a feast the challenge us to enthrone Christ in our hearts and lives.
Christ must also reign in our families, marriages, businesses, schools, workplaces, societies and churches. It is not enough to acclaim Him, King by words, songs, banners, symbols or rites. We must enthrone over our existence and affairs.
The end of time is a moment of celebrating with the Lord the fullness of salvation. It is not a reckoning time of death, judgment and punishment. Our Christian reality is one that whether we are dead or alive, we are in the Lord. As such, the Second Coming is not something for us to be afraid of rumours of many frightening things happening in heaven and earth
The beauty of life is that we can practice generosity in poverty. Giving and sharing out of the little we have in life. We cannot wait until we have in abundance before we can share with others. There is one thing that is certain about sharing generously with others out of our limited sources. The God of providence never let us lack anything. He replenished all our giving with abundant blessings, favours and graces.
God is love (1John 4:8). This statement has a fundamental implication for all who adherents followers or devotees to God in the Christian religion. The fact is clear here being a Christian implies being a lovable person. This is what it means to love is to be a Christian.
The mission of God (Missio Dei) is the encouragement of God to us to be good on earth as followers of his Son Jesus Christ. The Christian life calls to be an encouragement to one another at all times. This is the mission entrusted to us by Christ himself.
The Christian life is not only a life of self-effacing alone. It is also a life of loving service to others. This is the life Jesus Christ himself lived for others and called us all to embrace as well. Whether those we live for or serve are grateful or not.
Discipleship is making that fundamental or radical choice for God through the Word of God. Indeed, in life, we have many preferential options. God cannot be one of them. He has to be our priority above everything: wealth, power, authority and affluence.
The reflection of this Sunday invites us to see the institution of marriage as something holy in the natural order of the creation of God. The topic of marriage is one of the touchy topics of our time. This is because of many controversies around it.
An authentic living out of the Christian life and principles demand of us a sense of tolerance. In addition, social responsibility is in our conduct towards others. As Christians, we are a call to think, speak and act with and in the character of Christ (Rom. 12:1-2; 1Cor. 11:1; Eph. 4:22-24; Eph. 5:1-2).