16th December, WednesdayI. Is 45:6-8, 18, 21-25
II. Lk 7:18-23
Theme: The Reassurance of the Messiah
Isaiah was preaching to people who was in Babylon exile. They had refused to remember their total dependence on God. And their forgetfulness brought on the destruction of the Holy City and its holiest treasure, the Temple of God itself.
The great theologian Romano Guardini is not afraid to admit that John, crying out from his dungeon torture, actually had experienced a moment of doubt about Jesus and needed to be reassured. After all, John was human and doubt is our human heritage. Jesus’s way of convincing John is simple and effective: He quotes the Isaian prophecy which tells of the works to be done by the promised Messiah. The disciples of John the Baptist too were the witnesses of what had happened when they approached Jesus for the reassurance. Is it too impossible to believe that Jesus had us also in mind here? We may not be locked in dark dungeons, but the dungeons of our suffering are relative to the strength and courage of each person. Suffering overwhelms, may cause despair, may very easily cause us to lose faith in Jesus. So, the whole point of the Gospel is that we may need reassurance as much as John the Baptist, maybe even more.
Each of us knows the nature of the “saving help” we want and need. One thing is certain: if it does not stir up our faith in Jesus, it will be only temporary and will do little to prepare us for eternal life, and that’s what matters at the end. The coming celebration of Jesus will hardly achieve its best possible purpose if we do not prepare ourselves well for it each remaining day of advent by intensifying our longing and hunger for Jesus and his love.
Bro. John Bosco SMM
II BTH