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Our days are numbered. One of the primary goals in our lives should be to prepare for our last day. The legacy we leave is not just in our possessions, but in the quality of our lives. What preparations should we be making now? The greatest waste in all of our earth, which cannot be recycled or reclaimed, is our waste of the time that God has given us each day.
- Billy Graham
(Advent invites us to slow down, to consider the final things, to live this day well.)
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Nm 24:2-7, 15-17a; Psalm 25:4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9
Mt 21:23-27
When Jesus had come into the temple area,
the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him
as he was teaching and said,
“By what authority are you doing these things?
And who gave you this authority?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me,
then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things.
Where was John’s baptism from?
Was it of heavenly or of human origin?”
They discussed this among themselves and said,
“If we say ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say to us,
‘Then why did you not believe him?’
But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we fear the crowd,
for they all regard John as a prophet.”
So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.”
He himself said to them,
“Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
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Reflection on the Scriptures
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The coming of God's kingdom or reign on the earth inevitably leads to conflict - a conflict of allegiance to God's will or my will, God's justice or the world's way of playing fair, God's standard of absolute moral truth or truth relative to what I want to believe is good and useful for the time being. How do you respond to Jesus' claim to be not only the Messiah, but the source of everlasting life and truth as
well? Do you submit to his word and stake your life on the coming of his kingdom? Jesus promises that those who seek to live according to God's truth will find true joy, freedom, and happiness both now and forever.
Lord Jesus Christ, you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Let your light shine in my heart and in my mind that I may grow in understanding the truth of your word and find joy and freedom in living according to it.
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The Ascent of Mount Carmel, by St. John of the Cross
E. Allison Peers Translation. Paperback, Kindle, Audio Book.
Click here to purchase on Amazon.com
BOOK THE SECOND
Wherein is described the nature of dark night and how necessary it is to pass through it to Divine union; and in particular this book describes the dark night of sense, and desire, and the evils which these work in the soul.
Of the Ascent of Mount Carmel
Wherein is treated the proximate means of ascending to union with God, which is faith; and wherein therefore is described the second part of this night, which, as we said, belongs to the spirit, and is contained in the second stanza, which is as follows. __________________________________________________________________
Second Stanza
Chapter 22
Wherein is solved a difficulty -- namely, why it is not lawful, under the law of grace, to ask anything of God by supernatural means, as it was under the old law. This solution is proved by a passage from Saint Paul.
15. Wherefore on the day of judgment God will punish for their many faults and sins many souls with whom He may quite habitually have held converse here below, and to whom He may have given much light and virtue; for, as to those things that they have known that they ought to do, they have been neglectful, and have relied upon that converse that they have had with God and upon the virtue that He has given them.
And thus, as Christ says in the Gospel, they will marvel at that time, saying: Lord, Lord, were the prophecies that Thou spakest to us perchance not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name cast we not out devils? And in Thy name performed we not many miracles and mighty works? And the Lord says that He will answer them in these words: Depart from Me, ye workers of iniquity, for I never knew you. Of the number of these was the prophet Balaam and others like to him, who, though
God spake with them and gave them thanks, were sinners. But the Lord will likewise give their proportion of reproof to His friends and chosen ones, with whom He communed familiarly here below, as to the faults and sins of neglect that they may have committed; whereof there was no need that God should Himself warn them, since He had already warned them through the natural reason and law that He had given to them.
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