Good morning my dear brothers and sisters. Here are the readings and reflection for TUESDAY 1st December 2020. READINGS Isaiah 11:1-10 Psalm, Ps. 72 Gospel, Luke 10:21-24 AS WE AWAIT THE COMING OF THE LORD: ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things form the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do’ Lk. 10:21. The revelation to us his mere children: Do you know that the Lord imparted more Blessings upon us than he did to the disciples and those who heard him and saw him physically? Hear what the Lord said to Thomas, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe’ Jn. 20:29. In other words, they believed because they saw and heard him, but we have not seen yet believe that he came based on the testimonies of Holy Scriptures. These are the revelations he has made known to us as his mere children. It is worth the while for you to spend sometime to recall how we actually came to embrace the Christian faith. How did the Lord reveal the Christian faith to you? Through whom did he bring you to faith: Father or mother or both; catechists, a friend; or through no one; did you just enter into Church and inquired about the faith yourself? That very moment when you decided to embrace the faith, when you decided to follow Jesus, was the moment of faith, the moment of grace, the humble moment when faith came to birth in you. The happiness of those who experience the Lord: In the gospel reading of today we are told that Jesus said to his disciples in private, ‘‘Happy the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it’ Lk. 10:23-24. This is to rate the first coming of our Lord over and above the times of the prophets, who prophesied of his coming but did not experience it. The holy man, Simeon, was however, privileged and in fact carried the baby Jesus in his arms and said, ‘Lord, now let thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel’ Lk. 2:29-32. Now, the first coming of our Lord was a ‘happy’ one, happier would be the Second coming, because according to the prophet Isaiah, on the holy mountain of the Lord, ‘the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. We shall be happier people at Jesus’ coming; he comes to give reward to his children ‘who are waiting for the return of their master.’ That day would not be a day of sorrow or sadness or fear or woe; it shall be a day of joy, for the Lord shall come to take his own with him in the company of his angels. Even though some people already entertain so much fear and unreadiness this should not be the same with us; he is our Lord and God and we are his people. What are we to do at this season of expectation? The Lord himself gives us the clue to this answer, just as we have exercised great faith in him all this while between his first Coming and his Second Coming, we should all the more intensify our faith and good works. We should not allow our faith to dwindle, be misguided or drift away. Secondly, we should ask for a closer walk with our Lord in the Spirit that he may reveal more of himself to us, so that knowing him more we may love him more and loving him more we may increase in charity and be ready for his appearing. For us to increase in charity also means that we shall be just and fair to everyone. Thirdly, the responsorial psalm says, ‘in his days justice shall flourish and peace till the moon fails’ Ps. 72:7. We shall also be just to others, not judging them by hearsay or appearance; not condemning others before hearing their side of the story; not coming to conclusion about any matter presented to us without having a full or total knowledge of the matter at hand. This should be a time we allow the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom, insight, counsel and power and the fear of the Lord take absolute control of us and allow him to manifest himself in our lives. We are also called at this time to be people of integrity and faithfulness to the Lord. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ dwell and abide with us now and always. Amen. Let us pray: Let us pray, that the Lord will continue to give us the grace to be humble in embracing his commandments. We pray that we may continue to experience the goodness and mercies of God and give testimony to his name. Lord, may we continually seek after the good and welfare of our friends and neighbours. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. © Fr. Felix Onemheghie, OP