Come, Lord Jesus
As we enter into the Advent season, we place ourselves in the mind of the Hebrew people who looked forward to and longed for the coming of the Messiah. We also look forward ourselves to the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time.
Advent is about waiting. We practice the spirituality of waiting, which is to look forward to the fulfillment of the promises made by God. The waiting of the Hebrew people was not some form of wishful thinking, or of Norman Vincent Peale’s teachings on positive thinking. Neither is our waiting and hoping for the Second Coming of Christ. Both are based on confident hoping and looking forward to God doing what He said He was going to do. We wait, and we hope, because we believe that the one who made the promises is trustworthy.
Our first reading, from the prophet Daniel, speaks of “one like a Son of Man, coming on the clouds of heaven.” The second reading, from the Book of Revelation, says, “Behold, He is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him.” In the Gospel, Jesus, who is on trial before Pilate, responds to Pilate’s question, “Are you the King of the Jews?” by saying, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.” He acknowledges that He is a king, but a very different kind of king than Pilate could ever understand.
Jesus’ kingdom is not a political kingdom, or a territorial kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom. Yet He is every bit a king as was Herod or Caesar, or any other king in history. As members of His kingdom, we owe Him our loyalty and our obedience every bit as much as those serving other kings. We are challenged to decide who we will serve—God or human beings, God or political leaders, God or the false gods of wealth, power and pleasure.
We live in a world where we must deal with other powers and authorities, and Jesus tells us that we are to “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Whatever we may owe to any other king, our souls belong to God.
—Fr. Mike Comer
Advent is about waiting. We practice the spirituality of waiting, which is to look forward to the fulfillment of the promises made by God. The waiting of the Hebrew people was not some form of wishful thinking, or of Norman Vincent Peale’s teachings on positive thinking. Neither is our waiting and hoping for the Second Coming of Christ. Both are based on confident hoping and looking forward to God doing what He said He was going to do. We wait, and we hope, because we believe that the one who made the promises is trustworthy.
Our first reading, from the prophet Daniel, speaks of “one like a Son of Man, coming on the clouds of heaven.” The second reading, from the Book of Revelation, says, “Behold, He is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him.” In the Gospel, Jesus, who is on trial before Pilate, responds to Pilate’s question, “Are you the King of the Jews?” by saying, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.” He acknowledges that He is a king, but a very different kind of king than Pilate could ever understand.
Jesus’ kingdom is not a political kingdom, or a territorial kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom. Yet He is every bit a king as was Herod or Caesar, or any other king in history. As members of His kingdom, we owe Him our loyalty and our obedience every bit as much as those serving other kings. We are challenged to decide who we will serve—God or human beings, God or political leaders, God or the false gods of wealth, power and pleasure.
We live in a world where we must deal with other powers and authorities, and Jesus tells us that we are to “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Whatever we may owe to any other king, our souls belong to God.
—Fr. Mike Comer
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