YOU
LITTLE CHILD
First
Reading, Second
Samuel 7:1-5, 8-11, 16
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29
Gospel, Luke 1:67-79
First
Reading, Second Samuel 7:1-5, 8-11, 16
Once the king had settled into his palace and Yahweh had
granted him rest from all the enemies surrounding him, the king said to
the prophet Nathan,
'Look, I am living in a cedar-wood palace, while the ark of God is
under awnings.'
Nathan said to the king, 'Go and do whatever you
have in mind, for Yahweh is
with you.'
But that very night, the word of Yahweh came
to Nathan: 'Go and tell my servant David, "Yahweh says this: Are you to
build me a temple for
me to live in?
This is what you must say to my servant David,
"Yahweh Sabaoth says
this: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader of my
people Israel; I have been with you wherever you went; I have got rid of all
your enemies for you. I am going to make your fame as great as the fame of the
greatest on earth.
I am going to provide a place for my people Israel;
I shall plant them there, and there they will live
and never be disturbed again; nor will they
be oppressed by the wicked any more, as they were in former times ever since
the time when
I instituted judges to
govern my people Israel; and I shall grant you rest from all your
enemies. Yahweh furthermore
tells you that he will make
you a dynasty.
Your dynasty and your sovereignty will ever
stand firm before me and your throne be
for ever secure." '
Responsorial
Psalm, Psalms 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29
For
you have said: love is built to last for ever, you have fixed your constancy
firm in the heavens.
'I
have made a covenant with my Chosen One, sworn an oath to my servant David:
I
have made your dynasty firm for ever, built your throne stable
age after age.
The
heavens praise your wonders, Yahweh, your constancy in the gathering of your
faithful.
So
I shall make him my first-born, the highest of earthly kings.
I
have established his dynasty for ever, his throne to
be as lasting as the heavens.
Gospel, Luke
1:67-79
His father Zechariah was filled
with the Holy Spirit and
spoke this prophecy: Blessed be the Lord, the God of
Israel, for he has visited his people, he has set them free, and he has
established for us a saving power in the House of his servant David, just
as he proclaimed, by the mouth of his holy prophets from ancient
times, that he would save us from our enemies and from the hands of all
those who hate us, and show faithful love to our ancestors, and so keep
in mind his
holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham,
that he would grant us, free from fear, to be delivered from the hands of our
enemies, to serve him in holiness and
uprightness in his presence, all our days.
And you, little child, you shall be called Prophet of
the Most High, for you will go
before the Lord to
prepare a way for him, to give his people knowledge of salvation through
the forgiveness of their sins, because of the faithful love of our God in
which the rising Sun has come from on high to visit us, to give light to
those who live in darkness and the shadow dark as death, and to guide our feet
into the way of peace.
Writer’s
Reflection
Christmas
Day is just one day away, and what a special journey we have shared together
this Advent, drawing closer to God through reflecting on the words of scripture
from each daily devotional. In today’s first reading, God asks an important
question to King David, that he softly asks each one of us as we eagerly await
Jesus’ coming as the little infant child tomorrow –“are you to build me a temple for
me to live in?”
When I
think of some of the beautiful churches I’ve been blessed to visit, I sometimes
forget in my awe of them that their purpose is not to glorify the building
itself, but through it, to move us to glorify God. At the heart of the Catholic
Church, the tabernacle contains the Blessed Sacrament, where God is divinely
present, yet the ultimate dwelling place He seeks to find rest and intimacy in
is within our very hearts. Looking back on my teenage years, I remember my mum’s
gentle yet constant reminder to me before I would leave the house “Be safe,
trust in God, and remember your body is a
temple of the Holy Spirit”. For 16 year old me, the last line always used
to make me cringe, because I would see what else she was hinting at, but now, I
realise how true and life-changing her words were.
As St
Paul asks us in 2 Corinthians 13:5, do
we realise that Jesus Christ is in us? When we truly take to heart that the
Creator of the universe and our very being, chooses to use us as His tabernacle,
it should compel us to change our lives to be worthy for His presence. Think
about the way we frantically prepare our lives for guests at Christmas; we decorate
our homes, cook the food, buy the presents and beautify ourselves. But then
looking into our own hearts, how do we prepare our souls for the greatest guest
we could ever host, Jesus Christ?
This topic
of preparing our souls for Jesus is one that many saints have urged us to do. In
the first chapter of her book ‘The Interior Castle’, St Teresa of Avilla
compares the human soul to a castle made of a diamond, with each facet a room. She
discusses the different rooms as degrees of prayer, whereby entering each room
is entering deeper into our understanding of ourselves and what we are created
for, and through this we drawer nearer to God Himself; who rests at the very
centre of this diamond caste. Yet like St Paul, St Teresa points out a reality
of the understanding of our souls very early on; “Rarely do we reflect upon what gifts our souls may possess, Who dwells
within them, or how extremely precious they are. All our care is concentrated
on our bodies, which are but the coarse setting of the diamond, or the outer
walls of the castle”.
In truth,
we put so much effort into our outward appearance in terms of how we look or
how others perceive us; that we forget to nurture, protect and value our inward
souls for Christ, lying within. Do our outward actions, words, thoughts and
emotions reflect the inward graces and gifts that God is blessing us with? Or
do we sacrifice or hide them, for concern over our outer selves? Often, this
concern for our outer selves is paradoxically more damaging to us; through the bad choices we make in life, the tempting influences we give into, or the diminished respect and love
we have for ourselves despite the image that God created us in.
Yet when God sees
us as infinitely precious, and chooses to dwell in each one of us out of His
love for us - how could anything else be more important? The same Jesus that chose to be born into a messy stable, chooses
to live through the messiness of our own lives; and it is
because of His presence within us that we have true life. As we are reminded in
today’s Gospel message, Jesus came to bring
light to those in darkness, and through His light burning within us we are called to shine out His truth to others.
Ultimately,
through preparing our souls and building our heart’s temples for Jesus, God is
calling us to sainthood. This year a beautiful homily on All Saint’s Day was
said about how saints are like the stained glass windows in church; their
beauty and awe is only revealed when the light shines THROUGH them– and that is
how to direct others to God. For God’s light to shine through us, we need to
centre our hearts on all that is good, and turn away from anything that causes
it to be dimmed. We need to be confident of our worth, our identity, and our value - for Christ lives in us.
So, as we
draw Advent to its completion –remember the little child of Christ that entered
into our world 2000 years ago, but also ask Him to enter into your life more
intimately than ever before. You little
child – you are so loved, so blessed and so precious to Him – so welcome Christ this Christmas to form His home in you.
Prayer Reflection:
Dear
Jesus,
As we await
for your coming into our world this Christmas Eve, let our hearts be open to
your presence.
Let us remember the love you have built to last forever; and let us remember that our home
is with you.
Help
us to live our lives worthy of your presence within us.
Thank
you for drawing us closer to You this Christmas, and let us drawer closer each
day in our journey with you.
In
Jesus name,
Amen
Writer’s Bio: Theresita Joseph
Hi everyone, I’m Theresita, and I currently run the Y2K blog page. I’m 23 years old and am a medical student studying at UCL. I’m a big fan of journaling, science, singing in the shower, buying lots of flowers and consuming (a bit too much) wine.
2018 has taken me on a big adventure of moving to a little city in Scotland, where I’ve been undertaking a Masters project in Parkinson’s disease research; a condition very close to my family’s heart. This year has undoubtedly been the biggest and most exciting year of my life in strengthening my faith and love in God, and am excited to see where He leads me in the year ahead.
My message to all readers would be to begin your journey with God at whatever point of life you’re at now – it’s so easy to delay it for fear of the unknown, doubts or lack of trust – but once you start it’s a path you won’t want to stop following. Seek out your faith, read the Bible, talk to others; and be open to change. Take a risk and give God your worries, doubts, fears and joys – and let a mustard seed of faith begin to grow that He will transform. Be not afraid!
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