The Rock-Solid Secureness of the City of God and the Nestling Place of Christ in Our Hearts – Thursday of the First Week of Advent

The First Reading (Isaiah 26:1-6) portrays the strong city of the Lord (Yahweh) when Christ the King reigns. The city is secure and peaceful (cf. Psalm 125). It is for those whose faith is strong enough to have persevered through tribulation (cf. Revelation 7:14; Matthew 24:13) because of their steadfast faith that makes them secure in the Lord (i.e. Revelation 3:10; Romans 5:3). This reflects the Lord’s sheep pen with the secure gate, which is controlled by the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-18). This is where the incarnated Christ, whose coming we are preparing during Advent season, will take us, as our Good Shepherd.

Secureness is a quality found in wise builder’s works, as the Gospel Reading (Matthew 7:21, 24-27) reflects. And the Lord (Yahweh) is the wisest builder of all builders, in this regard, as reflected in the First Reading (Isaiah 26:1-6). The builder, whose work is always secure, is wise, not on his or her own term but in the eyes of God. They are wise in this way because they listen to Christ, who says:

Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand (Matthew 7:24-26).

And when Christ returns as the King of the Universe, those who are able to enter the secure city of God (Isaiah 26:1-6) are those who are wise to be able to build secure house on solid rock, for having listening to him, but those who are unable for having not listen to him shall be kept out of the city of God (Matthew 7:21, 24-27).

As we prepare for the coming of the incarnated Christ, we are building a suitable “house” for him to nestle and dwell. When he came about 2,000 years ago, he was placed in a manger (Luke 2:7), because the world did not recognize his arrival through Mary giving birth. But this year, we are vigilant for his coming, as the Gospel Reading of the First Sunday of Advent has called (e.g. Mark 13:33-37) and diligently preparing for his place to nestle and settle in our hearts. So, we make the path of his coming straight by removing what makes it crooked, as John the Baptist calls us to do (e.g. Mark 1:2-3), fulfilling Isaiah’s prophesy of the voice crying out in the wilderness (Isaiah 40:3). And it is our sin to be absorbed through the Sacrament of Reconciliation (i.e. Mark 1:4).  This way, the path of his coming is straight and our hearts are clean. Then, we can build his place in us secure as we make our hearts secure with our rock-solid faith.

The city of God build on the solid rock of the holy mountain prospers forever. It is built by God and His strong hands keeps it secure. It is He who sends Christ the Son to us (John 3:16; Galatians 4:4; 1 John 4:9) to shepherd us to this city, called New Jerusalem (i.e. Revelation 21:1). And Christ the Son is coming to us. So we have been awaken as we began this new liturgical year on the First Sunday of Advent. We are working hard now in our preparation to build a secure house in our hearts, which are secure with our rock-solid faith in the Lord. Therefore, during this Advent, we build the secure house for the incarnated Christ as a reflection of the secure city of God on the secure rock in heaven.