Homily
Tuesday of the 1st Week of Advent
29 November 2011
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
Daily Readings
Today's prophecy from Isaiah, a classic Advent prophecy, focuses on the gift of peace that the coming of the Son of man will bestow. Peace will be a gift from the one who has the fullness of God's Spirit. Isaiah prophesies the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit, which will be poured into the human nature of Jesus as the Father's gift to His Son.
One of the most profound prayers of the Christmas season is for peace. The Holy Father always prepares the World Day of Prayer for Peace message for January 1st during the Christmas season. To pray for peace in the Christmas season means a recognition that a real and lasting peace of which Isaiah speaks will be the fruit of the Lord's coming. It will be God's gift to a world. We have been through enough New Year's resolutions ourselves to know that unless the Lord gives the gift, in vain do we labor. So too for mankind. We see over and over man's ability to make great progress on many fronts, but so often we get dumber as quickly as we get smarter. Moral progress and technological progress do not go hand in hand. It is not a smart thing to create the ability to destroy ourselves, and yet that is what we do. We may hope for human solutions toward peace, and work sincerely toward them, but asking for peace in the Christmas season teaches us that we are wise to ask for peace as God's gift, for our ability to receive peace is greater than our ability to produce it.
Perhaps today is a good day for us to meditate on the role of the Holy Spirit in the Christmas story and Christmas mysteries. The Holy Spirit who overshadows the great Advent prophets, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Mary and Joseph, can also help us listen to them. Advent invites us to start again at the beginning, and to recognize that before the Holy Spirit can sent us out at Pentecost, He must prepare a fertile ground in our hearts for the Lord's coming. Come, Holy Spirit, and with your seven-fold gifts descend, and prepare your Church to celebrate the mystery of the Lord's incarnation.
Tuesday of the 1st Week of Advent
29 November 2011
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
Daily Readings
Today's prophecy from Isaiah, a classic Advent prophecy, focuses on the gift of peace that the coming of the Son of man will bestow. Peace will be a gift from the one who has the fullness of God's Spirit. Isaiah prophesies the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit, which will be poured into the human nature of Jesus as the Father's gift to His Son.
One of the most profound prayers of the Christmas season is for peace. The Holy Father always prepares the World Day of Prayer for Peace message for January 1st during the Christmas season. To pray for peace in the Christmas season means a recognition that a real and lasting peace of which Isaiah speaks will be the fruit of the Lord's coming. It will be God's gift to a world. We have been through enough New Year's resolutions ourselves to know that unless the Lord gives the gift, in vain do we labor. So too for mankind. We see over and over man's ability to make great progress on many fronts, but so often we get dumber as quickly as we get smarter. Moral progress and technological progress do not go hand in hand. It is not a smart thing to create the ability to destroy ourselves, and yet that is what we do. We may hope for human solutions toward peace, and work sincerely toward them, but asking for peace in the Christmas season teaches us that we are wise to ask for peace as God's gift, for our ability to receive peace is greater than our ability to produce it.
Perhaps today is a good day for us to meditate on the role of the Holy Spirit in the Christmas story and Christmas mysteries. The Holy Spirit who overshadows the great Advent prophets, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Mary and Joseph, can also help us listen to them. Advent invites us to start again at the beginning, and to recognize that before the Holy Spirit can sent us out at Pentecost, He must prepare a fertile ground in our hearts for the Lord's coming. Come, Holy Spirit, and with your seven-fold gifts descend, and prepare your Church to celebrate the mystery of the Lord's incarnation.
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