SUNDAY TAKEAWAY:

At the moment, it is possible that you may be passing through difficult times and expecting that Jesus’ coming at Christmas bring you help. Even if you are not finding life easy, do not panic, do not lose hope for St. James in the second reading (James 5:7-10) asks us to be patient. The Lord has not forgotten you. The Lord sees how much you have suffered. As the first reading (Isaiah 35: 1-6, 10) says, he is coming. He is coming to save us and to restore our joy but his coming will have more of spiritual effects. All those who are spiritually blind who cannot see His presence in the world will be given the sight to see Him. Those who are spiritually deaf and cannot hear His voice talk to us will be given the faculty to hear His consoling voice directly. All those who are spiritually lame and cannot journey with him through the events of their lives would receive the power to walk with him even across the sea. All those suffering from spiritual leprosy (sin) and have been quarantined outside of God’s mercy will be spiritually cleansed and admitted into the abode God’s mercy. Those who are dead in sin would be raised up to a life where grace would abound in them. But this salvation is not attainable by default? We cannot sit without doing anything and wait for him to save us. We have to make effort. The effort we have to make is simply to reach out to him. We can find him in our brothers and sisters who are rejected and forgotten. This is a period to share our joy with them. Perhaps, the joy we share with another today may be God’s way of blessing that person. Can God use you as a channel to reach another person?