4th Sunday of Advent-Year B

2 Samuel 7:1-5; 8b-12, 14a, 16

Psalm 89: 2-3,4-5, 27-29

Rom. 16-25-27

Luke 1: 26-38

God is always up to something!

Beloved in Christ, last week I was in Florida for a conference. I stayed in a hotel, which was very close to a Baptist Church. After Mass, I decided to take a nap in the afternoon but the sound of the music and prayers from the Church was so loud that I could not sleep. So I decided I would rather go and join them to worship if they would not allow me to sleepJ. After the worship, which lasted about two and half hours, I decided to introduce myself to the pastor and learn more about his church. He shared some inspiring story with me. He told me he spent 7 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit. The first three years he was very angry and frustrated with God for allowing this to happen to him; but at a point in time he decided to ask God “what do you want to do with me for bringing me here?” He did not receive any immediate answers but it was in prison that he received the desire to become a pastor. When he came out of prison he joined a church and after 15 years became the head pastor. For the past 10 years he has help about 300 drug addicts to overcome their problems and turn their lives over to Christ. Four of them have also become pastors. What really surprised me was when he said the best thing that has ever happened to him was the time he spent in prison. My conversation with this pastor reminded me of what one philosopher by name Soren Kierkegard once said that we must live our lives looking forward; but we can only understand our lives looking backward.

Beloved in Christ, our readings today tell us that God is faithful, he keeps his promises, and that he always knows what he is doing. St. Paul tells us in the second reading that God is ALL WISE even when what he allows to happen in our lives does not make any logical sense to our human minds. Our responsorial psalm tells us to praise him forever because he wishes nothing but the best for us. The readings teach us that life is not so much about what we can do for God, but rather what we allow God to do with us. We see that in the life of David in the first reading. David wanted to glorify God by building him a house but God sent the prophet Nathan to tell him that he did not have to do so and that he is pleased just with the good thoughts that David had for him. This could have been very frustrating for David because he wanted to really do something great for God. God was teaching David that the desire to please God is itself pleasing to God, and that life is not so much what we can do for God but what we allow God to do unto him.

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we all go through situations in our lives that humanly speaking might not make any sense to us. There are times we wish to do something to glorify God, but then things do not seem to work out they way we want them to. We all desire to be saints and we can get very frustrated and even angry when we struggle with some sinful habits and all our efforts to overcome them do not seem to work. This could be very frustrating. But, if you are feeling that way today, don’t be discouraged or frustrated because our first reading today tells us that even our desire to please God is itself pleasing to God. Do not give up on yourself. Keep trying, keep living your life looking forward with faith in God and allow God’s grace to work in your life at the pace and in the manner that God wants. Let it be done unto you according to God’s will and timing.

That is what we learn from the life of the Blessed Mother in the gospel. In her life, we see that at times, the sufferings we go through might have a bigger purpose and might be part of God’s bigger plans for fulfilling his promises to the world. The gospel we listened to today was not written on the same day that the Angel Gabriel visited the Blessed Virgin Mary. I am sure St. Luke was not hiding somewhere taking notes. What happened to the Blessed Mother that day was something that did not make sense to her right away. She had questions, but she embraced the message believing that even though it did not make sense according to human thinking, it was part of God’s bigger plan for the world. It was only after many years, when Jesus died and rose from the death that Mary began to understand fully what it was all about. That was when she began to tell the story to the disciples who were also trying to understand the master they had followed for three years and had to suffer so much for his sake. She lived her life looking forward, but she understood it fully looking backward. So, Beloved, I don’t know what situation you are going through right now that brings pain, frustration, and discouragement. But I want to urge you to adopt the perspective of the Blessed Mother, live your live forward with faith in God, believing that someday either here on earth or in heaven it will all make sense; and we will realize that all we go through is part of a bigger picture. God is always up to something!

Second Sunday of Advent-Year B

Is. 40: 1-5, 9-11

2 Peter 3: 8-14

Mark 1:1-8

Don’t just wait for the Lord; Herald his coming. MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Beloved in Christ, if you remember, recently CNN and other news channels showed Christians and other minority groups in Iraq who were forced to flee into the desert and the mountain because of persecution from Isis. One of the pictures that brought tears into my eyes was a little girl who was crying out: “We are dying here; please God bring us water”. Do you remember how God answered that prayer? He touched the hearts of many governments and humanitarian institutions around the world to send food and water to save our brothers and sisters in Iraq. Beloved, that is the gift that God has given us, human beings, to be his face, his voice, his hands, and feet that make salvation real in this world. God always needs human beings to save the world. He could do without us, but he chooses not to, because God wants us to share not only in his image and likeness but to also in his glory. That is the message of our readings today: We are invited not just to wait for the Lord, but also to herald his coming for the world.

Beloved, like the people of Israel in our first reading, our world is hurting! When you look at the wars in the world, the unrest here in our country and other parts of the world, the economic and political problems, the world at times looks like a desert. We live in a world where people don’t feel safe; a place where millions still die of hunger and thirst. Like Pope Francis keeps reminding us, we live in a world where people have lost hope. In our individual lives, sickness can make us feel like we are in the desert. The lost of a dear one, a broken relationship, lost of a job, disappointment from those you trust, dreams that do not come true, etc. can make you feel like you are in a desert.

However, regardless of all these problems in the world, we, Christians, believe that our God can make all things new. Do you really believe that? If so, God is telling you today that he needs your help to transform the world. You and I are the Isaiah in the first reading. God is telling us to bring comfort to his people. St. Peter in the second reading tells us never to forget that our God can make all things new. The problems in the world are not beyond our God, because for him thousand years are like a day and a day can be thousand years for him. He is a God of wonders! The problems in the world are not too difficult for God, if all Christians will truly put others first and lay down our lives so that others will have life. That is why St. Peter is telling us in the second reading that we should not just announce God’s salvation to the world, but also hasten it.

My Dear People of God, what the world needs today is not so much the announcement of the goodness through words; rather they need practical actions that bring about the realization of the kingdom that we Christians believe in. That is what John the Baptist did in the gospel. He did not just announce the day of God’s salvation; he also made concrete life choices that helped the people to experience the power of God’s love and mercy, a new life. Beloved, God is calling you and I, in our own small ways, to bring comfort to our families, friends, and communities and help make the promises of God real for them. Like the little girl on the mountain in Iraq, millions of people in the world today are crying the same cry we cried to God in our responsorial psalm: “Lord, let us see your kindness, Lord grant us your salvation!” Will you be the answer to that cry?

First Sunday of Advent-Year B

Is. 63: 16b-17, 19b, 64:2-7

Ps. 80: 2-3, 15-16, 18-19

I Cor. 1:3-9

Mark 13: 33-37

Live this Advent as a new and daily encounter with Christ!

Beloved in Christ, I wish you a Happy New Liturgical Year! Today we begin a new year as a Church with the Season of Advent. We continue to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of God at Christmas and at the end of our lives. I have some questions: How did the past liturgical year go for you? Did you get a little closer to God? Did you get a little closer to your family, friends, and neighbors? As we come to the end of one liturgical year and the beginning of another, we need to celebrate what we did well, find ways of avoiding the mistakes we made, and become more open to God’s grace so that we can do better. St. Paul, in our second reading, reminds us that God appreciates every little good thing that we have done for his glory in the past year. That is why St. Paul is thanking God for the grace that God gave us to live as witnesses of the gospel, people who tried our best to testify to Christ through our words and actions.

Beloved, in addition to celebrating what we were able to do for the glory of God, we need to ask ourselves, “What could I have done better?” Even though we have done so many good things, there are still more beautiful things in us that need to come out in order that we can make this world more loving, more beautiful, more just, more peaceful, and more joyful than it is today. The need to make this world a better place is expressed through the symbols we use during Advent. The candles should remind us that we need more of the light of Christ, the King, to dispel the darkness in our world. The wreath made of evergreens should remind us of the gift of a new life that God brings us anytime we open our hearts to him; and the colors of Advent (purple and rose) also remind us that true joy cannot be attained without repentance. Advent is a new beginning; a time when Christians are called to make intentional choices and adjust their lives in order to make more room for the God who comes into our lives to make all things better (John 10:10).

Our first reading and the gospel teach us how to make the best out of this Advent Season. The first reading tells us that we need to acknowledge our need of God as a savior in all aspects of our lives. That is the lesson that the people of Israel learned in exile. They thought they could fight their own battles, defeat their enemies, and solve all their problems without God. However, they came to realize that human effort alone is not sufficient to turn things around in life. They realized that what they needed was not more of human strategies and planning, but more of God. When they came to this realization, they cried out asking God to return into their lives and help them live every moment of their lives for him “Would that you might meet us doing right, that we were mindful of you in our ways!” (V.) When they cried, the God who gives a second chance and provides new beginnings listen to their cry and delivered them. Beloved, have you at times behaved like the Israelites? Have you at times tried to solve some problems without God’s help? What we need is more of God not more human strategies.

In the gospel, Jesus reminds us to live not so must in the past or even in the future, but to live in the moment. That is what Jesus meant when he told his disciples to stay awake! If we don’t live in the moment, we will miss how the God we are waiting for comes to us even today in our Eucharist, and how he comes to us through Scriptures, our family, friends, and community. That is why Jesus’ advice that we should stay awake is extremely important. What happens to a security guard who goes to work and spends all the time thinking about the past or the future? S/he will miss what is going on in the moment. Right? And will that bring more peace or more trouble? At times, the greatest challenge we have is how to live in the present moment. We dwell so much on the past and on the future that we miss the presence of God in the moment.

So Beloved in Christ, I don’t know the troubles from your past that continue to occupy you even now as you listen to this homily. I don’t know the questions you have about the future that makes it impossible for you to live in the moment. But, this Advent, I want to challenge you to focus not so much on the past or the future but to live in the moment. Don’t be afraid to express your need for God. Don’t be afraid to live in the moment with God, because God can make a way even where there seems to be no way. Make some time to mediate on the question “How can I live this Advent as a new and daily encounter with Christ?