2nd Week of Advent, Thursday, Dec 12
Isaiah 41:13-20 / Matthew 11:11-15
I am the Lord your God; I will turn deserts into marshes.
Before child labour laws were enacted, a ten-year-old boy was working in a factory in Naples, Italy. He wanted to earn money for music lessons. After singing for a schoolteacher, however, he was told to save his time and money. "Forget about singing," the teacher said; "you have no talent." The boy's mother, a poor peasant woman, encouraged her son in the face of the rebuff. She even went barefooted to help save money for his lessons.
Her efforts paid off, and her son, Enrico Caruso, became one of the world's greatest tenors. Faith and perseverance are gifts through which God helps us turn "deserts into marshes."
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How supportive are we of other people, especially young people? "The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all." Psalm 118:22
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It is heartening to hear these days a strong and repeated message of encouragement. This is what we believe in if we trust in the nearness of God in his Son Jesus Christ. When people are poor and afflicted, God is near as their Savior, that is, one who is bound to them with close bonds and who is bound to come to their assistance. The poor are those who trust in him. He promises them a new paradise. Even the least in his kingdom are greater than the greatest and last of the prophets, John the Baptist.
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Life can be very much easier and comfortable when we have someone around to help us and guide us. One good example is when we have to go to a foreign place for a meeting or for business. It would be very much easier and enjoyable if we have someone to receive us at the airport and show us the way. Then we would be able to enjoy the sights and the scenery without having the anxiety and the fear of the unknown.
In this season of Advent, there is someone who is ever willing to help us in our Advent journey towards Christmas. John the Baptist is our Advent guide and he shows us the way and the preparations that we need to do. His message is clear and simple - repentance and the conversion of heart. We must remember that it is God who sent John the Baptist to be our Advent guide as we journey in faith towards Jesus.
Even Jesus, in the gospel, would exalt John the Baptist and affirm that John was the one sent by God to turn the hearts of the people back to God. So, in our prayer, let us also ask John the Baptist to pray for us so that we can journey deeper into the heart of Jesus and in turn lead others to experience Jesus at Christmas.
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Jesus tells us that, until the coming of John the Baptist, the kingdom of Heaven was subjected to violence, and the violent were taking it by storm. The ground reality of the people of Israel was mostly a story of defaulting in their faithfulness to the God who had moulded them as his chosen people. Through them, he planned to establish His Kingdom and draw all peoples to himself. But because of their unfaithfulness, they were violently ripped apart and had to undergo oppression and subjection under the superpowers of their day. John the Baptist, whom Jesus affirmed as Elijah who was to return, is the last of the Old Testament prophets who came to usher in the Messiah. Am I ready to welcome the Lord when he comes again?
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Opening Prayer
Lord our God, you do not abandon those who rely on you. Take us by the hand when we are afraid, help us when we call out to you, for we experience that we are powerless to establish your kingdom of justice and love. Send your Son again among us today to be our Lord and Saviour now and forever. Amen
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Our Lady of Guadalupe
Feast Day December 12
On December 9, 1531, a 57-year-old Aztec, Juan Diego, saw the Blessed Mother on a hill in Mexico City. She told Juan to have a church built in her honor. When Juan went to ask Bishop Zumarraga about this, the bishop did not understand the Indian dialect—and he did not believe in the vision Juan described.
Three days later, on December 12, Mary appeared again to Juan Diego, and this time she gave him a sign for the bishop. “Take these roses to the bishop,” she said, as she arranged in his cloak beautiful roses she had Juan Diego pick from the hillside although it was winter. When he was admitted into the bishop’s room, Juan Diego opened his cloak, and out dropped the roses. On the cloak there remained an image of Mary as she had appeared to Juan Diego.
The image of Mary on the cloak is known as Our Lady of Guadalupe for an interesting reason. On that same day, Mary appeared to Juan’s uncle and cured him, giving him a message for the bishop, saying that she would “crush the serpent’s head.” The bishop did not understand the Indians’ language. The Indian word for “crush the serpent” sounded to him like “Guadalupe,” the name of Mary’s shrine in Spain. Thinking that the Virgin wanted the new shrine to have the same name, the bishop called her Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Mary appeared to Juan Diego dressed as an Aztec woman to show her love and compassion to an oppressed group of people. Mary had heard the prayers and pain of these people, and she came to give them hope.
Mary’s visit to Guadalupe is a reminder that God will remember his mercy for all people. In Mary’s song of joy, the Magnificat, she praised God because he has put down the mighty, exalted the lowly, filled the hungry, and sent the rich away empty. People honor Our Lady of Guadalupe because they recognize her motherly concern for them.
