Fourth Sunday of Advent
The season of Advent is almost coming to an end. Advent will always remain a time of joyful preparation and joyful expectation of the king to be born into our midst again. By now, we should be fully prepared for His coming, knowing the benefits(numerous) that each of us and the whole humanity will enjoy at His coming: A life of renewal and liberation. A great openness to the unending presence of God-Emmanuel. The name by which he shall be known, God is with us.
Even if one does not know the essence of His coming into our world, by His Name- Emmanuel, we have the true picture of the real value of Incarnation: God is with us, God is so closed to us, we can have access to God despite our lowliness or the infinitesimal difference between God and the entire creation. God is not far away, and He is with us till the end of time.
At the time of the Old Testament, or the time preceding it, this picture of God with such utter ultimate transcendence, having close bond with humanity in such context of Incarnation is inconceivable or imaginable. Really, how do you conceive God becoming human, to have that close link or bond to human affairs. Whether this is conceivable or not, that is what God in His infinite and everlasting love has done.
The celebration of Christmas is a real celebration of the reality of EMMANUEL- God is with us. God becoming human and still not losing His Divine nature/identity. God is in our midst- the Word becoming flesh and fully dwelling among us. This is a deep mystery that we must always connect to, day after day, especially in the reality of unending human struggles and battles. In the context of our unending struggles, what keeps us going is the reality of our strong belief that God is with us.
In this perspective, we always appreciate the gift of prayers. What value do we derive from that? In simple terms, each assert that, I know that God is with us and I can always rely on Him for real guidance and strength. God is with us and our fears, failings, disappointments, complexities, difficulties and challenges are greatly handled by that reality of His presence and love. This helps us to accept our circumstances with patience and perseverance.
God is with us, whatever that happens to us, He knows about it and He knows why that will happen. This helps us with the needed disposition of patience and perseverance at difficult moments in life, since our faith rests in the assurance of God’s loving presence. We will always not be afraid of being by oneself- since really, one is not alone but God is fully present with us.
I have a very big God, He is always by my side, a very big God o, by my side, by my side. When we are faced with our own share of the cross, the storm of life, difficult experiences and hurdles of life. What comes to our mind, God is with us and we are not helpless in our circumstances. He is part of our journey, and He knows how He will lead us to higher experience. What then is the core message of God to us in the reality of Emmanuel?
He says to us: “Be not afraid, I go before you always, come, follow me and I will give you rest. Let no deceive us that we can handle life situations all by ourselves. We have to keep moving with God to appreciate the value of human life. It is by Him; we move and live. The help of God is what makes us to triumph and not to be miserable in life. Life is too complex to be handled by human strength. The God consciousness is our path to victory and serenity.
For many of us in the journey of life, the elderly, that is our coping skill. That is the principle of survival and ruggedness. We, the younger ones, must learn as regards this. We all want the best of life. The path to it is to accept the reality of Emmanuel- God is with us.
He walked where I walked, He stood where I stand, He felt what I feel, He understands, He knows my frailty, shared in my humanity, tempted in everyway, yet without sin.
God is with us, so close to us. God’s with us- Emmanuel.(Don Meon).
Let us connect more with the reality of His presence through prayers especially in the context of the Eucharistic Mystery. He is with us till the end of time. Let us always stay connected, laying our troubles before Him.