Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent
Today’s Gospel | Matthew 21:28-32
This Week’s Intention: For a renewed spirit of care and vigilance for the sanctity of life and the dignity of all persons.
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: “What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but afterwards he changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did his father’s will?” They answered, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him.”
A Reflection for the Third Tuesday of Advent
The earthly life of our Lord began and was spent with the poor. The word evokes many different feelings and understandings. What does it truly mean to be poor? Consider the view that the essence of poverty is the absence of opportunity. You are powerless to make a difference in your own existence or in that of those you love. You suffer in want because you have no other option. And so, to simply be offered a choice can be a moment of life-changing empowerment. The birth of Christ presented a choice. For then, as now, it is an open door to all that can be and should be. It is something to which we can say yes that is worth the acceptance, that allows us to lift ourselves closer to that which God intends for us. What greater dignity is there than to have the freedom to choose what is good and right, and to become whole. The time of Advent is a time to consider that perhaps the most wonderful of God’s graces comes with just being given the chance to choose.
Prayer for the Day
Eternal Father, we always are in your presence, but sometimes we make ourselves too much the center of everything and so do not recognize you. As we remember how your Son first came to us in simplicity and ordinariness, let us see you in every person that we meet. Let us hear you in both the laughter and the cries that reach our ears. May others know you through how we live our own lives, and may all of us learn the lessons that you have placed in our struggles and our successes. We ask this of you who lives with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
St. John Baptist de La Salle, pray for us.
Live Jesus in our hearts forever.