Fourth Sunday in Advent

Link to Mass Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/121910.shtml

What if we received everything we wanted?

Sometimes I think we ask for success, or love, or responsibility, and don’t know what it is we’re asking for. Sometimes we ask for a miracle, and when it comes we don’t know how to deal with a Power that can make it happen. God is powerful, and Christmas reminds us of that.

In the first reading, King Ahaz of Judah is about to be overrun by his enemies. God sends Isaiah to tell him this will not come to pass, and tells Ahaz to ask for a sign that he might be assured of what God has promised. But Ahaz is afraid, and says “I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!” What he means, is that he is afraid to acknowledge God.

It is the same when Jesus was born. The world was in the grip of sin, and crying out to God for deliverance. Israel was waiting for the messiah, and God delivered him. God gave John the Baptist to proclaim him, and had Jesus fulfill all the prophecies that spoke of him coming. But when Jesus came, he was rejected. The world was comfortable in their sin, and afraid to accept Jesus and what he represented; holiness and the kingdom of God established on earth.

But this is the power of God, that Jesus came. We asked for salvation, and here He is in all His power and glory. The readings this Sunday remind us of the power and inevitability of God. Next week we will celebrate the arrival of God on earth, foreshadowing the victory over death and the final return of the King of Heaven. By the promise of His birth, we know Jesus will come again.

The victory is here, and the celebration almost upon us. Now is the time for the obedience of faith, for us who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. Paul reminds us of our obligation: we have called for Him, and He is here! Let us love Him with all our hearts, all our souls, all our strength, and all our minds.