There is a time for mourning, that is a time to rend our hearts in contrition for our many sins and shortcomings. And there is a time to rejoice and revel in the joy of our salvation.
Holy Mother Church in her wisdom guided by the Holy Spirit teaches us that we are in Advent, a time for soul searching, a time for metanoia….a radical change as we prepare room for our Lord in our hearts. Will He find room when He comes?
As it is many have chosen to ignore or have decided they know better and have already started their merry making, singing, feasting and wishing one another a merry Christmas! Really? Will there be a true Christmas for them? Perhaps these are the same folks who did not believe when Jesus pointed out that there is a place where there will be gnashing and grinding of teeth. And so make merry as they see fit. How will our Lord find His lost sheep when they choose not to be found?
The same voice is calling out to us… As it cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness a way for the Lord. Make a straight highway for our God across the desert. Do we heed this call?
Come Lord Jesus, come, your servant awaits You. Amen
First reading
Isaiah 40:1-11
Consolations from the heart of Jerusalem
‘Console my people, console them’
says your God.
‘Speak to the heart of Jerusalem
and call to her that her time of service is ended, that her sin is atoned for, that she has received from the hand of the Lord double punishment for all her crimes.’
A voice cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness
a way for the Lord.
Make a straight highway for our God
across the desert.
Let every valley be filled in, every mountain and hill be laid low.
Let every cliff become a plain, and the ridges a valley; then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all mankind shall see it; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’
A voice commands, ‘Cry!’
and I answered, ‘What shall I cry?’”
– ‘All flesh is grass and its beauty like the wild flower’s.
The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on them.
(The grass is without doubt the people.)
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God remains for ever.’
Go up on a high mountain, joyful messenger to Zion.
Shout with a loud voice, joyful messenger to Jerusalem.
Shout without fear, say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God.’
Here is the Lord coming with power, his arm subduing all things to him.
The prize of his victory is with him, his trophies all go before him.
He is like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his arms, holding them against his breast and leading to their rest the mother ewes.
Gospel
Matthew 18:12-14
The one lost sheep gives him more joy than the ninety-nine that did not stray
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray? I tell you solemnly, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all. Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.’
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