Advent Child: Not your average Final Fantasy (Week 3)

Veni, o Jesse Virgula; Ex hostis tuos ungula, De specu tuos tartari Deduc et antro barathri. Gaude, gaude! Emmanuel nascetur pro te, Israel. Third Sunday of Advent, 11 December 2005 The Jews in the Gospels did not know how the Messiah was to come. They were expecting him to come, but did not know who. When Christ finally came, they could not believe it. They thought, ‘How could a baby born in a dilapidated shack, a bastard child of a teenage girl be the Messiah?’ The people of Israel at that time were being ruled by the Romans, and expected a militaristic saviour to liberate them. They thought the Messiah would suddenly descend from heaven and establish his reign by destroying the enemies of Israel.

But this was not to be. Christ instead came to free us from sin, not material poverty. Since we are free from the shackles of sin, it is then our turn to free others from poverty, both material and spiritual. Today’s first reading says,

Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11

‘The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God.’

Can we not see that everyone is made in the image of God? Yes! The beggars, the homeless, the old and lonely. Even the filthy backstabber in your class and the poor lonely kid you always pick on. We must begin to reach out to these people no matter how difficult it is. And we must always use love and peace. We are not expected to like our enemies, but we are expected to show Christian love for them. Oh, come, strong branch of Jesse, free Thine own from Satans tyranny; From depths of hell Thy people save And give them vict'ry o'er the grave. Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel, to thee shall come Emmanuel!