Thursday of the first week of advent year A
Theme: The righteous nation
The prophet Isaiah in today’s 1st reading talks about the righteous nation that will get in, because they have kept faith. In view of this, a very important question today is, are you part of the righteous nation that will gain entrance because of their faith? This is very important, because trust in the Lord will go a long way towards helping us to be counted amongst the righteous nation. When our actions are driven by the faith and trust we have in God, we are already threading on the right path. This is made more powerful by Jesus in the gospel reading of today from St. Mathew.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, the response to the Psalm today says, “Blest is he who comes in the name of the Lord”. This stems from the fact that there is power in the name, and it is efficacious for all those who have faith in it. Faith in God places us on a solid foundation that stands the test of time, both in good and bad times. This is also very pronounced from the assertion of Jesus in the gospel reading of today that, “Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock… and it was able to stand the test of time. Jesus is simply saying to us that hearing the word of God and going to church is not enough, the word of God must be practiced and lived in our daily lives for it to be meaningful to us at the end.
The statement of Jesus is a way of encouraging us to do the needful in the practice of our Christian faith. There has to be harmony between the word of God that we preach and listen to, and the way we apply it in our daily lives. The ability to harmonize them will make a lot of difference in our lives and in the world in which we live. This is because today in our world, we listen to the word of God and preach the word of God, but it does not really translate into action in our daily lives.
In view of this my brothers and sisters in Christ, let us make conscious effort to practice the word of God that we hear in our daily life, trusting in the grace of God. Let us do our best and we will be richly blessed, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Peace be with you.