December 10, Friday of the Second Week of Advent
Daily Readings: Isaiah 48: 17-19 & Matthew 11:16-19
From today's readings, we are reminded to listen to what God is telling us. From the first reading, we are informed that if the Israelites were faithful, their prosperity would be like a river, signifying abundant graces. Their "children would be numbered like the sand and their descendants as many as grains." It makes us remember the promise made to Abraham that God "will make his offspring like the dust of the earth" (Genesis 13:16).
In today's Gospel, Jesus rebukes the crowd for not listening. Jesus compares them to be like children in the marketplace who talk to their playmates: "We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge, but you did not morn."
When John the Baptist came in austerity, he was thought to be possessed by the evil spirit. On the other hand, when Jesus came "eating and drinking" and was found to be with tax collectors and sinners, He was said to be a glutton and drunkard.
If we refuse to hear what God is saying to us through the people and situation in our lives, we would reject the bearers of the message and reject the Gospel.
We must realize that God speaks to us through very unpredicted and surprising people and the situations in life. God speaks to us through the lives of Saints as well. It is also true to know that some of the prominent saints had serious weaknesses. But we have seen that many of them have become saints amid their weaknesses and through their weaknesses. And their lives become the message of God for us.
"That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10).
As we are preparing for the Christmas celebration, we are to look at how we respond to the call of our Lord in this Advent period. To hear means total acceptance and assimilation of the Gospel message and incorporate it in our lives every day.
May we always be attentive to the people and the different situations in our lives and know the will of God through them. May the Holy Spirit lead and guide us amid hardships and tribulations to know and understand the will of God and live it.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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