B
BarbaraTherese
Guest
Today’s meditation speaks for itself, I think, and is well worth a read. Isreal was living in a time of captivity in Babylon, hence suffering…through the prophets she continued to look forward in great hope and trust to deliverance which was not to be effected for hundreds of years. We too live in a time of injustice, war and troubles…through The Church we continue to look forward in great hope to a time when Peace and Justice shall reign and the Kingdom of Christ established. This is a ‘twofold establishing’. First in our hearts and then we look forward with a hopeful and trustful heart to the Second Coming of Christ. At this time in Advent, 17th - 24th. December, we have begun to look forward with Joy to that first coming of Christ - humbly in Bethlehem.
**Mass Readings **
usccb.org/nab/121807.shtml
Meditation from “The Word Among Us” site
wau.org/meditations/meditations.asp?month=12&day=18&year=2007&x=13&y=9
It’s clear from today’s Scripture readings that God had a plan for the welfare and salvation of his people. Prophets like Jeremiah had the thorny task of preparing their kinsmen for the coming of the Messiah. While he lived in a time of great turmoil for Jerusalem, Jeremiah foretold a time of justice and security that would characterize the Messianic reign of a new king who would be as great and wise and just as David.
“As the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. . . . As the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of the house of Israel up from the land of the north” (Jeremiah 23:7,8). Jeremiah told the people that God hadn’t stopped working in the exodus. He would even bring his people out of exile from the northern empire of Babylon—seven hundred years after he rescued them from Egypt!
God is continually active in his people’s lives. Today, we can say, “As the Lord lives, who sent his only Son to redeem us.” We can even say, “As the Lord lives, who has put his Holy Spirit in my heart and comes to feed me and empower me every Sunday at Mass!” As Pope Benedict XVI has said: “The one true God, ‘the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,’ is not a God who is there in heaven, unconcerned with us and our history. He is the-God-who-comes. He is a Father who never stops thinking of us.”
God’s plan is still unfolding. He is still at work in the world, preparing his beloved people for that glorious day when his Son will come back to establish his eternal kingdom. On that day, we will be able to look back on our lives and see how meticulously he has been at work, getting all of us ready to receive that kingdom. But until that day, even though not all is clear to us, we can still hold our heads up high and know that we belong to the Lord—the One who sent his Son to atone for our sins, who has prepared a place for us in heaven, and who will fulfill all of his promises! “Thank you, God, that you are a Father who always cares for us and who will never abandon us. I praise you for your goodness and mercy, and thank you for the gift of all gifts, your Son Jesus!”
**Mass Readings **
usccb.org/nab/121807.shtml
Meditation from “The Word Among Us” site
wau.org/meditations/meditations.asp?month=12&day=18&year=2007&x=13&y=9
It’s clear from today’s Scripture readings that God had a plan for the welfare and salvation of his people. Prophets like Jeremiah had the thorny task of preparing their kinsmen for the coming of the Messiah. While he lived in a time of great turmoil for Jerusalem, Jeremiah foretold a time of justice and security that would characterize the Messianic reign of a new king who would be as great and wise and just as David.
“As the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. . . . As the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of the house of Israel up from the land of the north” (Jeremiah 23:7,8). Jeremiah told the people that God hadn’t stopped working in the exodus. He would even bring his people out of exile from the northern empire of Babylon—seven hundred years after he rescued them from Egypt!
God is continually active in his people’s lives. Today, we can say, “As the Lord lives, who sent his only Son to redeem us.” We can even say, “As the Lord lives, who has put his Holy Spirit in my heart and comes to feed me and empower me every Sunday at Mass!” As Pope Benedict XVI has said: “The one true God, ‘the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,’ is not a God who is there in heaven, unconcerned with us and our history. He is the-God-who-comes. He is a Father who never stops thinking of us.”
God’s plan is still unfolding. He is still at work in the world, preparing his beloved people for that glorious day when his Son will come back to establish his eternal kingdom. On that day, we will be able to look back on our lives and see how meticulously he has been at work, getting all of us ready to receive that kingdom. But until that day, even though not all is clear to us, we can still hold our heads up high and know that we belong to the Lord—the One who sent his Son to atone for our sins, who has prepared a place for us in heaven, and who will fulfill all of his promises! “Thank you, God, that you are a Father who always cares for us and who will never abandon us. I praise you for your goodness and mercy, and thank you for the gift of all gifts, your Son Jesus!”