Second Week of Advent
Gospel: Mt 11: 11-15
Jesus said to the crowds: “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force. All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
TO BE IN THE COMMUNITY OF THE LORD: John the Baptist is the greatest of all those who were born during the period of the Old Testament. This means that he was greater than all the prophets like Abraham, Isiah, Elijah except Adam and Eve were not born but created by God. To become a member of the Kingdom of Heaven is to supersede John the Baptist. The Kingdom of God is not a doctrine but it is a community that lives according to the teachings of Jesus. The Kingdom is so valuable that it is worth making any sacrifice. The Kingdom of God can be the lifelong desire. As the psalmist says, ‘One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life’ (Ps 27,4). Do we have such a desire?
PRAYER: Lord give me the privilege of being a part of the community in which you are the head.
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WHOEVER HAS EARS OUGHT TO HEAR: It is a moment of choice. One can reject Jesus or embrace him. John the Baptist came with the message about the coming of the saviour. Some embraced it, others rejected it. The choice was theirs. Jesus is open to our making the choice. If we do make that choice towards the acceptance of Jesus, then we will enjoy the promise that we heard in the first reading of today from the Prophet Isaiah, “I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open up rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the broad valleys; I will turn the desert into a marshland, and the dry ground into springs of water.” The celebration of Christmas will only be external, if we do not embrace the hero of the celebration: Jesus Christ. Christmas divides the two epochs: Before Christ (BC) and After Christ (Anno Domini – AD). The times that Prophet Isaiah is speaking about is After Christ. Why do I still live in the BC?
DAILY GOSPEL 