REPENT! Prepare the way of the Lord! These words of John the Baptist echo down through the centuries…and are as pertinent to us as they were to those who first heard them. John came from the desert crying out to the people, calling them to a moment of “metanoia”…literally “a turning around”. The voice of John the Baptist cries out to us in the midst of the rush and chaos of the Advent season, calling us to a conversion of heart. He announces the breaking forth of the Reign of God in our very midst.
The Scriptures for this Sunday speak of a great hope…a new heavens and a new earth. Jesus preached the breaking forth of the Reign of God…a new world order that is breaking forth in and through his preaching. In this Reign of God, justice and peace will flourish and the wicked and unjust ones will be banished forever. But as we look around it seems as if we are a long way off from the “peaceable kingdom”. Wars rage and rumors of genocide swirl around us like the biting winds of a cold December night. Our sisters and brothers in Syria, Yemen and Sudan, the Rohingya in Myanmar and Bangladesh, all of them continue to suffer and it seems there is no end in sight.
Where is the Reign of God bursting forth? It is waiting to burst forth from within each one of us! The Reign of God bursts forth every time we respond to a person or a situation in a Christ-like and loving manner. Christ calls us to “be alert”, “to stay watchful” for we know not the time of his return. But the time of the Reign of God is NOW. We need to wake up to be the prophets we were anointed to be, to speak up, to be "silence breakers”, to speak out on behalf of all the women, children and men who are sexually harassed and abused, to speak out against racism and bigotry and white supremacy, to speak up for the ones whose voices are silenced or ignored, to stand up for the immigrant and refugee!
Now is the time . Let us find our prophetic voice, let us not be silent in the face of evil when we see it, let us prepare the way of the Lord by living prophetic lives that call out injustices, war and evil whenever and wherever we see it! Let us be alert, let us prepare the way of the Lord, let us lean into Advent, take up our mantle of prophet and put all the abusers and harassers and war mongers on notice; and proclaim the Reign of God is bursting forth and speak the truth of the Gospel to power! What is the Gospel truth I need to speak? How can I make this Advent more meaningful, more about building up the Reign of God?
Advent Blessings,
Fr Tim
The Scriptures for this Sunday speak of a great hope…a new heavens and a new earth. Jesus preached the breaking forth of the Reign of God…a new world order that is breaking forth in and through his preaching. In this Reign of God, justice and peace will flourish and the wicked and unjust ones will be banished forever. But as we look around it seems as if we are a long way off from the “peaceable kingdom”. Wars rage and rumors of genocide swirl around us like the biting winds of a cold December night. Our sisters and brothers in Syria, Yemen and Sudan, the Rohingya in Myanmar and Bangladesh, all of them continue to suffer and it seems there is no end in sight.
Where is the Reign of God bursting forth? It is waiting to burst forth from within each one of us! The Reign of God bursts forth every time we respond to a person or a situation in a Christ-like and loving manner. Christ calls us to “be alert”, “to stay watchful” for we know not the time of his return. But the time of the Reign of God is NOW. We need to wake up to be the prophets we were anointed to be, to speak up, to be "silence breakers”, to speak out on behalf of all the women, children and men who are sexually harassed and abused, to speak out against racism and bigotry and white supremacy, to speak up for the ones whose voices are silenced or ignored, to stand up for the immigrant and refugee!
Now is the time . Let us find our prophetic voice, let us not be silent in the face of evil when we see it, let us prepare the way of the Lord by living prophetic lives that call out injustices, war and evil whenever and wherever we see it! Let us be alert, let us prepare the way of the Lord, let us lean into Advent, take up our mantle of prophet and put all the abusers and harassers and war mongers on notice; and proclaim the Reign of God is bursting forth and speak the truth of the Gospel to power! What is the Gospel truth I need to speak? How can I make this Advent more meaningful, more about building up the Reign of God?
Advent Blessings,
Fr Tim
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