Sunday, December 4, 2011

Gospel Reflection

December 03, 2011
Saturday
St. Francis Xavier, Priest (Memorial)
Anticipated Sunday Mass (Second Sunday of Advent)
by Rev. Fr. Stephen Mifsud (MSSP – Quezon City)
MSSP House / Mass for the poor

First Reading:               Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
Psalm:                         Psalm 85:9-14
Second Reading:           2 Peter 3:8-14
Gospel:                        Mark 1:1-8

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way; 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight -- " 4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair, and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit the Seraphic Order (M

HOMILY

Story In1980 a disabled man with cerebral palsy was talking to a group of professional footballers.
What could this man tell these footballers? He told them.
“You may kick the best shot, earn thousands of Pesos a year, but when the day comes that they close the lid on that box, you won’t be any different than I am.  That’s one time when we’ll be the same.  I don’t need what you have in life, but one thing’s for sure: you need what I have, and that’s Jesus Christ

“What I need is Christ” 

Death has no age.  The important thing in life is whether I arrive at Jesus or not.  The question is how can I arrive at Jesus?

Today in the Gospel we have John Baptist who tells us how. Shows us the door to arrive at Jesus.  John said : “Prepare a way for the Lord

Advent is time to prepare for Christ, so he can come to me.   Imagine the president wants to come here to give us 10 thousand pesos each but the road up there is a mountain of basura which prevents him from coming in.  What do you do?  Remove the basura.

That’s why John the baptist said today“Lower mountains” ibig sabihin remove the obstacles so that Jesus may come in your life. 
            what are my mountains? My obstacles?
My laziness... “I am tired to pray... next time na lang”
 my pride... “I don’t need God in my life!” I can do it myself
 shyness... what do my friends say if I go to church or I pray?
Selfishness...  I want everything for myself and do not share with others my things, my thoughts and my time.

John Baptist said also “straighten the paths” ibig sabihin, straight your attitudes
            Do I show honesty in my actions? Do I live right?

So let us ask God to help us clear those things in our life which makes us far from him.  Let us make at least the decision to start clearing the way.  Let us make way to Jesus to come near us... not to give us money but to give us the peace in our heart, to give us the hope that we need to continue our struggles in life, to give us the faith in Him that one day we will be enjoying the beauty and the riches of heaven.