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​Short message from Fr. Lawrence R. Brito

Second Sunday of Advent:​

Advent is a time to prepare for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ into our lives. It is the time to make way for the King of kings to rule our lives.

 

The imagery, in the first reading and in the Gospel, can and should be applied to our spiritual lives. We begin by first laying low those mountains of pride that blocks the passage of Jesus into our hearts and minds. We must listen to Jesus and fill in those hollow valleys of our lives with virtuous and holy actions.

 

This is a good time to be reminded of God’s great mercy and love. These are the things we can do to prepare ourselves to receive this great mercy. We can begin through prayer and other acts of communion with God; especially by attend holy mass. We must make every effort to show mercy to others. We should be ready to help those in need of mercy.  We can help relieve the suffering of those in poverty and to serve them with love and respect as if we were serving the Lord himself.

 

Another important aspect of mercy is forgiveness. We must truly make an effort to forgive those who have sinned against us, and our loved ones. Remember what our Lord said: “the way you forgive is the way you will be forgiven”.  True forgiveness is demonstrated by our desire to hope for salvation for those that we claim to have forgiven. In other words we must pray for their salvation. If we can learn to forgive then we can look forward to the day we stand before the Lord. If we have been generous showing mercy to others, then God will also be generous with his mercy towards us.

 

We should also, as St. John the Baptist urges us to do, turn away from sin. Most of us have been baptized and are still in need of cleansing because we continue to sin. The sacrament of confession is a sacrament of God’s great mercy. It is a gift from Christ to help us lay low those mountains disobedience and pride.

So lets us prepare well for the coming of Christmas and the dawning of our salvation and hope. When the Lord comes again in glory he may find us ready to welcome him once again. Amen