Saturday of the Second Week of Advent
The readings for today talk about Elijah and how his preaching was filled with the holy spirit and how he must arrive before the Messiah. In the gospel the disciples ask Jesus why Elijah has to come first, and Jesus replied that Elijah will restore all things and that his arrival has already occurred. Jesus’ reply made the disciples realize that the Elijah mentioned in the scribes is John the Baptist. Elizabeth was pregnant with John the Baptist when Mary was pregnant with Jesus, and Elizabeth felt John jump in her belly when he felt Jesus’ presence in Mary’s womb. At that moment John the Baptist was acknowledging that Jesus was the coming messiah and was essentially doing what a prophet does which is share the good news and proclaim the will of God. As he became older his preaching’s consisted of baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
The arrival of John the
Baptist before Jesus provided the occasion for John the Baptist to prepare for
Jesus’ arrival. The preparation of Jesus’ arrival is the purpose of the Advent
season. Most people prepare their homes for Christmas by putting up their
decorations. There are Christmas trees, lights, wreaths, Santa Clauses, and
nativity scenes. If you go to any store, you see Christmas decorations,
presents, wrapping paper, and desserts of many kinds in Christmas packaging.
Although all these events and items help us prepare for Christmas, we must not
forget the reason of this season which is the arrival of Jesus Christ. We
should prepare for Jesus’ arrival by preparing spiritually. During this time, we
should work on forgiveness and repentance. As well as working on our
relationship with God to make our connection with him stronger. Going to
confession is a great way to reconnect with God by asking for forgiveness.
During confession we rebuild and restore our relationship with God. During Advent, we can go to mass to listen to the word of God, through the readings and
homily we learn more about God. As we prepare for Christmas let us not forget
the reason of this season which is Jesus Christ.
A very meaningful commentary and sums up the season of advent,and importance of reflection & penance
ReplyDelete