The Scripture Readings of Thursday of the First Week
of Advent, Cycle I (odd number year), Isaiah 26:1-6; Matthew
7:21, 24-27, are about what Christ will bring with him upon his adventus. We have started our
preparation to welcome the incarnated Christ’s coming to us for Advent Season.
Christ came in his human incarnation of baby Jesus,
born of Mary, in Bethlehem, about 2,000 years ago – historically. And every
year, he comes to our hearts, to establish the Kingdom in us and among us.
Therefore, preparing for the coming of the incarnated Christ in Jesus to our
hearts during Advent also means to prepare ourselves to be fitting place for
the Kingdom to be built.
The Gospel Reading (Matthew 7:21, 24-27) is taken
from the latter part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. In this, Jesus said it
clearly about a necessary condition to enter the Kingdom of Heaven:
Not
everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven
(Matthew 7:21).
Furthermore, Jesus indicated that “doing the will of
the Father” is to act wisely upon listening to his words, like building a house
that endures, built securely on a solid rock (Matthew 7:24-25).
Those who are fool, like a man who builds a house on
sand (Matthew 7:26), to forfeit the Kingdom, are also like the five foolish
virgins who were not allowed by the bridegroom to enter for the wedding feast,
because they let their lamp oil run out and fell asleep (Matthew 25:1-10). So,
we need to be as wise as a man who builds a house on a solid rock to make sure the
house can endure harsh climate conditions in order to enter the Kingdom
(Matthew 7:24-25).
This reminds us that we would forfeit the Kingdom if
we were fool in the eyes of God – even though the world may consider us as
wise. Those who are wise in a worldly sense are not necessarily wise to God.
In the Gospel Reading of Tuesday of the First Week
of Advent, Cycle I, Luke 10:21-24, Jesus praised the Father for keeping the
wisdom in the words spoken by Jesus from those who are proud of their own human
wisdom and learning. And their pride
prevents them from doing necessary preparatory works to enter the Kingdom. The
world may see them wise and learned. But, according to Jesus, God rather see
them fool.
In the First Reading (Isaiah 26:1-6), we see that God
does not want those who are too proud to listen to words of Jesus and act
accordingly in the Kingdom (i.e. Isaiah 26:5). So, besides excessive richness
that is not be used for anawim (i.e.
Matthew 19:16-24), pride for our own wisdom and learnedness becomes obstacles
to enter the Kingdom. And the Kingdom is imaged as a strong city built by God
for His anawim – those who keep their
steadfast faith in God and remain humble, in the First Reading (Isaiah 26:1-6).
At the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus
said that the Kingdom belongs to those who are blessed for their humility – for
being poor in spirit, namely, anawim
(Matthew 5:3). But, for those who are not humble, those who do not listen to
the words of Jesus and act on the words – because they are too proud – will not
enter the Kingdom.
Ultimately, as reflected in St. Augustine’s City of God, as well as, Leo Tolstoy’s
philosophical treatise in 1894, The
Kingdom of God Is Within You, the Kingdom is found not in the geopolitical
world but only within us - in our
hearts, depending on their conditions.
This is why Pontius Pilate struggled in trying to figure out if Jesus
was a king to be a threat to Caesar (John 18:28-38). Jesus said:
My
kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world,
my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.
But as it is, my kingdom is not here…… For this I was born and for this I
came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth
listens to my voice (John 18:36-37).
Jesus said that the Kingdom belongs to those who
listen to the truth in Jesus’ voice (John 18:37), and the truth is found in
Jesus and in his words, delivering those who listen to and follow him from what
would keep them from the Kingdom (i.e. John 8:31-32). After all, he is the
truth, as well as, the way and the life (John 14:6). Not to mention, he is the
Word incarnated (John 1:1, 14). And, according to the Gospel Reading (Matthew
7:21, 24-27), the truth in Jesus’ words makes us wise and humble, as we listen
to it and act on it, to enter and inherit the Kingdom (cf. Matthew 5:3).
Remember, we are to welcome the incarnated Christ in
our hearts so that the Kingdom of God which he is bringing in, shall be
established in our hearts. So, what we prepare on our hearts throughout Advent
Season for the Kingdom to be established on our hearts upon Christ’s arrival in
our hearts. In the Kingdom, there shall be the House of the Lord (i.e. Isaiah
2:1-5), as reflected in the First Reading of Monday of the First Week of
Advent, Cycle I, and in there, there will be a banquet (Isaiah 25:6-10a; cf.
Revelation 19:6-9), as reflected in the First Reading of Wednesday of the First
Week of Advent, Cycle I.
In his November 23, 1986, homily in Wellington, New Zealand, Pope St. John Paul II asked his audience:
If
we do desire to belong to the Kingdom of God, what are the ways in which this
Kingdom of God begins to take root in the human heart? How do reconciliation
and peace come about in our innermost self?
And, he listed, prayer, accepting the Gospel
message, seeking the truth through dialogue, and the Sacraments, to help us let
the Kingdom take its roots in our hearts.
We are not merely preparing to receive the
incarnated Christ but to let the Kingdom that he brings take its root and grow
in our hearts through our Advent works. Let us build the Kingdom with the House
of the Lord on the solid rock faith in our heart to please Christ!
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