Changing the course of life

4th Sunday of Advent
December 22, 2013

Hos Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heavens!

First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-14

The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test.’
  Then Isaiah said:
‘Listen now, House of David:
are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men
without trying the patience of my God, too?
The Lord himself, therefore,
will give you a sign.
It is this: the maiden is with child
and will soon give birth to a son
whom she will call Immanuel,
a name which means “God-is-with-us.”’

Psalm: Psalm 23

Second Reading: Romans 1:1-7

From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus who has been called to be an apostle, and specially chosen to preach the Good News that God promised long ago through his prophets in the scriptures.
This news is about the Son of God who, according to the human nature he took was a descendant of David: it is about Jesus Christ our Lord who, in the order of the spirit, the spirit of holiness that was in him, was proclaimed Son of God in all his power through his resurrection from the dead. Through him we received grace and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faith to all pagan nations in honour of his name. You are one of these nations, and by his call belong to Jesus Christ. To you all, then, who are God’s beloved in Rome, called to be saints, may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send grace and peace.

Gospel: Matthew 1:18-24

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.

Reflection

By  Bernard M. Borja

Joseph was a man who always did what was right. This was one of the reasons why he decided to break the engagement to Mary privately. He did not want to publicly disgrace Mary. According to the law concerning purity (Deut 22:20-21), Joseph should have Mary stoned because if the child does not belong to Joseph, it must be a result of Mary having committed adultery with another. But Joseph was filled with compassion to Mary, so he decided to quietly break their engagement.

Like John the Baptist, Joseph faced a crisis in faith in preparing for the coming of the saviour.  He knew that if he can “escape” from the situation, he could go on pursuing his own desire and plans for his life. But when he learned that Mary conceived because of the Holy Spirit, and that the child will save the people from their sins, he gave up his own desire, plans, and hopes in creating his own family and having an heir of his own. He wholeheartedly accepted God’s plan to take care of God’s familyeate his own family.is own desires and accept n dreamsnew what was . Having faith that all of God’s plan is to give us joy, is much easier than surrendering our own desire and plans in life to be one with what God really wants.

God speaks to us in many ways to reveal His wonderful plans. Changing the direction of our life is one of the biggest tests we have been given when we are called by God to be one with His plans. We do not fully understand it in the beginning, but our faith tells us that His plans are always better than ours. Like Joseph, we are called to let go of our expectations in the world in order for God to be more present in us.

I have my share in being one with God’s plans which literally changed the course of my life. I started my business venture almost two years ago which helped me build bigger dreams especially in the financial aspect of my life. I can say that I have strong faith in knowing that God will prosper me especially when my businesses went on a higher level. I knew I was getting closer to reaching my goals when it became a struggle in balancing my business and relationship aspect. Then I realized that my dreams were just a small part of His plans when He called me to reach out to the people who are looking for inner peace by knowing God’s purpose for them. This was also when my purpose has been revealed to me. I have let go most of my businesses to work on God’s plan which is to share my own story of struggles in faith especially in letting go of my own desires. I was able to start pursuing my dream as an inspirational speaker and created an inspirational video series based on a very popular book, “The Purpose Driven Life”, where I share my personal reflections and experiences on how God made a difference in my life.

The season of Advent reminds us to prepare the way for the coming of our saviour, Jesus Christ. But the preparation is not by our own way but the way God want it to be. Even though sometimes it means giving up our own desires, plans, and hopes, to have a much meaningful life in the presence of God.

Prayer

Lord, grant us compassion that we may see beyond our own desire and live the life that You want us to have. May we learn to let go of our expectations in the world and put our trust fully in Your plans. We may not understand your desire for us because it can mean of giving up the things we want the most, even our dreams, but we have faith that in Your presence, we will fulfill that purpose which You have created us for. We receive your grace in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son and our saviour.

Amen.

Prayer