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| The Welcome at the Country Mission - William Kurelek |
Sunday Week Two
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Lectio
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The beginning of the
gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.
As it is written in
Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will
prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: "Prepare the
way of the Lord, make straight his paths." John the Baptist appeared in
the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
People of the whole
Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him
and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their
sins. John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist.
He fed on locusts and wild honey. And this is what he proclaimed: "One mightier
than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of
his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit." Mk. 1:1-8
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Meditatio
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At the time of
Jesus society governed as theocracy – not like a democracy where people make
the laws, but by laws laid down by God. The belief was – keep the laws of God
and God will keep you. So, when bad things happened to the people, personally
or as a nation, it was because they had abandoned the law of God and chose
lived their own way.
God sent
prophets, his messengers, sent to tell the people why things are going badly,
and to change their ways. But the people did not always welcome the prophets
– often rejected and even killed them. Here in Jesus time, Israel had lost
their sovereignty – oppressed by Romans. The prophet God sent this time, to
call the people back to law was John the Baptist. John understood that God had an even
greater solution – a Prophet greater than he would soon come. He knows, this
prophet would show the people that it was not just a matter changing just
their minds but changing their hearts; obeying God not because they had to, but
because they wanted to.
Take for
example our life in our bodies to help understand the struggle of knowing
better and not doing better. Our bodies are governed by God’s laws of nature.
Treat our bodies the way God intended and they will be healthy and
strong. Abuse our bodies by indulging
in unhealthy, unnatural practices, our bodies suffer. Yet, even knowing this,
we still break the laws of our natural bodies.
So it is for
our life as a society. Even though we live in a democracy and make our own
laws, God’s truth, God’s natural law for our humanity still remains the only
true way of living. When we for get this, reject this, things start to go
wrong.
Jesus said in Mtt. 5: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” He is saying, I have come to put a fire in your hearts that will empower you to overcome your weakness and tendency to sin. John Baptist today telling us he will baptize us with the Holy Spirit.
In Luke 3:15
we read, “The people were waiting
expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John could be the
Christ. John answered all of them: “I baptize you with water, but One more
powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to
untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
There is a
danger for us to simply make Christmas a sentimental time – but it has this
much deeper meaning. Jesus is coming to light a fire in our hearts.
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Oratio
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Jesus my Lord, I confess to you and to all the world my need
for your presence in my life. I am alone and in darkness without you. I am
influenced and controlled by the many forces that surround me. Even though I
struggle against them, it is sin that so easily dominates my life. Who can
save me but you alone, my Lord and my God. Deliver me from the Evil One.
Touch my life with that power which flows from your resurrection. Cause your
Holy Spirit to be born in me anew. Prince of Peace and Lord of Glory reign
now in my heart. Baptize me with your Holy Spirit and Fire. Raise me up to a
New Life in you.
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Contemplatio
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"Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" Lk. 24:32
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