 |
||
 |
|
|
Home BishopStude SundayMassMP3 FromthePriests Directory Offices Schools NewsArchives Gallery BalangaRocks |
||
|
|
|
 |
||
|
|
|
|
||||
GOSPEL REFLECTIONS FOR BUSY PEOPLE Second Sunday of Advent December 5, 2004
Mt 3: 1-12
“All is clear…”
Preparations for Christmas vary from all walks of life. The houses of the rich and famous will be lighted with bright luxurious decors, and shopping is the favorite past time of many with pocketful of money and excess bonuses. Just look at Makati and Ayala by night and you will never see darkness in the dark!? We are tempted to pass by the roads going SM, malls and the like, no matter what and Christmas is not true if we never go there. Christmas is partnered by the grandeur of living! Christmas is more Christmas if we are sensitized by many lights and sounds, and outside appearances.
But can we dare look at Christmas by the looks of John, the Baptist? He wore cloth of camel’s hair, leather belt around his waist, locusts and honey as food. How austere? But why do people keep coming to him from all walks of life? He may be a hermit away from the city, a desert man, a primitive man, or a spiritual guru! Above all apprehensions, one thing is clear, John said…”Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths!” For me this road is the inner way, the heart, and the conscience! Can we be assured of Manila and city lights as clear signs of development while the hearts of many are filled with networks and highways of graft and corruption? How about the luxury of the rich and famous? Can we be sure in saying that happiness resides in their hearts? How about the dictates of worldly pleasures and the company of sins, are they leading us properly? Can we just try the inner way, the heart, and the conscience?
Typhoons, flash floods, darkness, dark clouds, and calamities are symbols of chaos! But we have tools to navigate, and we have the radar to signal the trouble. We have such turmoil inside us, the voice of conscience, and the cry of freedom from sin! Inside us is a longing, the much awaited coming of God, the reopening of a righteous way of life, a conscience which will say…”ALL IS CLEAR!” Nothing and no one can bit a Christmas preparation like a clear conscience! It is as universal as the sun that never sets. From poor garbage man to a rich business tycoon, from the holy of holies down to a penitent soul; from the world to many different “worlds” of people, a clear conscience is the home of true Peace! The core of righteousness within every heart will build a strong nation. Faithful vows will establish a bright credible Church. Deep faith in God and faith practices will bring us into the foundation of the Kingdom.
Why not prepare the way of the Lord? A spiritual retreat for sure will make a long journey for God to love us endlessly and unconditionally! Go inward, enter the heart and repent. Be crystal clear in conscience! It is the best way to say and live out the “Peace” in this world! |
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||
|
|
|