Sunday, December 5th
Scripture
Bar. 5:1-9
Ps. 126: 1-2, 2-3, 45, 6
Phil. 1: 4-6, 8-11
Luke 3: 1-6
Reflection
God will guide Israel with joy, mercy and justice/and all humankind will see the salvation of God.
Bar. 5:9/Lk.3:6
In this day and age people don’t like to be told where to go. Independence is valued and “doing it my way” is more than a song. Yet our cars, watches, verbal direction apps, and oh, so much more do just that, constantly tell us where to go and how to get there. Enter our first reading. Baruch’s proclamation of God’s “bringing Israel” reminds us that joy, mercy, and justice are our guides… the kind that we need to practice more than proclaim. And where does all this guidance get us? Luke has no doubt: “all humankind – indeed all creation – will see the salvation of God.” Here’s the catch: if all humankind – all creation – will see that salvation, where do we look? We look at our lives and how we go about living, with whom we partner, how we forgive, heal, and risk righting wrongs that separate us. OK, so that seems impossible, yet… a one-day-at-a-time attitude says that we can make a gospel difference. Dare we? Dare I? Isn’t all life worth our being and acting with Gospel energy and Old Testament hope! All it takes is one step at a time.
Prayer
Holy God of all creation, no exception, guide and strengthen me to live with contagious joy, mercy, and justice!
Personal Challenge
I will choose at least one way of practicing more than preaching joy, mercy, and justice during this Advent, Christmas season and upcoming 2022 New Year.
Sister Barbara Dreher, CSJ
St. Louis, MO
