Advent Daily Devotionals - We Have One King - 3rd Dec

WE HAVE ONE KING

2^nd Day of Advent: 3^rd December 2018

Readings of the Day:

First Reading, Isaiah 2:1-5

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

Gospel, Matthew 8:5-11

First Reading, Isaiah 2:1-5

The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

It will happen in the final days that the mountain of Yahweh's house will rise higher than the mountains and tower above the heights. Then all the nations will stream to it, many peoples will come to it and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob that he may teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths.' For the Law will issue from Zion and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.

Then he will judge between the nations and arbitrate between many peoples. They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears into sickles. Nation will not lift sword against nation, no longer will they learn how to make war.

House of Jacob, come, let us walk in Yahweh's light.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

[Song of Ascents Of David]

I rejoiced that they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of Yahweh.'

At last our feet are standing at your gates, Jerusalem!

Jerusalem, built as a city, in one united whole,

there the tribes go up, the tribes of Yahweh, a sign for Israel to give thanks to the name of Yahweh.

For there are set the thrones of judgement, the thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, prosperity for your homes!

Peace within your walls, prosperity in your palaces!

For love of my brothers and my friends I will say, 'Peace upon you!'

For love of the house of Yahweh our God I will pray for your well-being.

Gospel, Matthew 8:5-11

When he went into Capernaum a centurion came up and pleaded with him. 'Sir,' he said, 'my servant is lying at home paralysed and in great pain.' Jesus said to him, 'I will come myself and cure him.'

The centurion replied, 'Sir, I am not worthy to have you under my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured. For I am under authority myself and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man, "Go," and he goes; to another, "Come here," and he comes; to my servant, "Do this," and he does it.'

When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those following him, 'In truth I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found faith as great as this.

And I tell you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of Heaven;

Writer’s reflection

I think sometimes it’s difficult to see others as our brothers and sisters if they’re not coming from the same Christian background. We find it difficult to speak to them because we are afraid that we will be misunderstood, judged or ridiculed for what we believe. We find it more challenging to build real friendships with them and open ourselves up to them truly.

God however tells us that we are ALL children on the same God who loves us SO much that we cannot even comprehend it. He tells us that our enemies are our friends and that those who persecute us should have a special place in our hearts. God invites us to do what seems impossible, to not be afraid of the people who can, and many times will, hurt us, misunderstand us and cause us trouble.

I remember last year when I had a God given opportunity to build a deep and real friendship with someone who did not believe in God. My dear friend was very much against any sort of absolutism idea and we had lots of discussions about life in general and what we both made of it. It dawned on me how similar we were in our search for truth, in our search to understand our own existence and our own needs, dreams, fears and joys. To be perfectly honest I was terrified many times I spoke with him because I did not what to say the “wrong” thing, I was again… afraid of how he would react.

As I was getting to know my friend more and more it was clear to me that I was not the one who was supposed to “convince” him to believe. That’s not the way God works and that is not our job. I realised deeply that the question of faith is the most intimate conversation between our own hearts and the heart of Jesus who is there and softly tells us about Himself, gently inviting us to enter into the relationship of Love at its source. I realised that to live on earth means to be on a pilgrimage with lots of different people, some of them who know the direction vaguely, some of them who don’t, and others who will cross our path at some point.

Jesus tells us in today’s readings that we are all invited to share the same ‘feast in the Kingdom of Heaven’; where He will be all in all, and He will be the King of all. Peace and joy will fill that place and we will be there with all the other pilgrims from all corners of this earth, praising Him for who He is. God works in mysterious ways, and even Jesus was “astonished” at the faith of the centurion saying that “in no one in Israel have I found faith as great as this”.  The Church honours the centurion using his words in the prayer directly before Communion during Holy Mass, words which every Catholic knows: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed”.

This Advent, let us not be afraid and continue our journey with Jesus being grateful for all the other friends we meet on the way and everything they teach us, and being open to the opportunities we are called to share our faith through.

Prayer Reflection:

Jesus,

Thank you so much for all the people who come into our lives and shine the light of truth, even though it comes from unexpected places.

Help us to be your true witnesses and draw others closer to You, and always be present in our friendships with others.

You are the God of surprises and You want us all to worship You together.

May your Name be praised forever!

Amen

Writer’s Bio: Agata Kowalska

Hi everyone, I’m Agata and I’m 25. I live in Southampton at the moment where I started my first year of being a junior doctor.

I love to talk about God and with Him all the time and it brings me lots of joy to see people growing in faith and becoming who they were created to be in His image. I love hot chocolate (without sugar!) and being surrounded by nature so the proximity of the New Forest is very much appreciated.

My message to readers is: talk to Him, God knows you already and He will be delighted to tell you more about you and Him.