December 15th

December 15, 2022
Thursday of the 3rd Week of Advent
Readings: Is 54:1-10/Lk 7:24-30
Julian Ohizu: Campus Minister
Today, the words of Scripture remind us during this season of Advent to
focus on God and the salvation He brings in our midst. Through the coming of the
Messiah, we have Hope and an assurance of triumph over sin, evil, and death
brought by the Paschal Mystery. In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah continues to
remind us that the same Lord and God Who spoke to His people through the
prophet Isaiah, is the same Lord Who comes into our midst at Christmas to bring
us salvation. Just like the time of the prophet Isaiah, people in our time including
you and I encounter a lot of hardships and misfortunes.
In this challenging time and circumstances, prophet Isaiah brings the Good
News of God’s hope and reassurances to us. The prophet Isaiah reminds us how
fortunate we are to have God by our side even amid hardships. This message is
encouraging for us and offers support for us during this Advent season. The
prophet Isaiah makes us to understand that God loves us and want us to reconcile
to Him. God does this by extending His love and mercy, His generous forgiveness
and grace to all of us who are willing to embrace Him, those who seeks His
forgiveness and most compassionate love. In fact, throughout the ages, God’s love
and grace has always ever been freely and generously extended to everyone,
without exception.
In the Gospel, we hear Jesus speak to the people regarding the coming of
God’s salvation. In this Gospel, Jesus speaks about St. John the Baptist as the one
who will announce the Advent of the Messiah. In this Gospel, Jesus acknowledges
John the Baptist as his Forerunner, who comes to prepare the way of the Lord. In
our time, the Lord continues to present a lot of opportunities during this Advent
season through the Church and its ministry. Through our Holy Cross campus
ministry, every day, we ask you to open your hearts to God’s invitation to walk
with him in your life. In our Holy Cross Community last week on December 8, we
organized an Advent Day of Recollection to give you an opportunity to invite God
into your life this Advent season. In our different parishes, there will be more
opportunities for the sacrament of Reconciliation this Advent season. Just like in
the days of John the Baptist, the Church continues to call you and I to repentance
and heralds the coming of the Messiah every day. But we must prepare to meet
Jesus with a repentant heart. During this Christmas season, Jesus will once again
come into our lives. Are we ready to meet him with a clean and reconciled heart?
My dear friends in Christ, these Scripture passages challenge us to look
deeper into our hearts. The word of God is challenging you and I to consider

valuing the many opportunities God is throwing out to us this Advent season and
see in them the grace of God asking us to work with Him so that our salvation will
be enhanced. We cannot wait any longer. There is no need to delay or to reject
God’s invitation just like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law in today’s
Gospel, many of whom questions and doubts the authenticity and the authority of
John the Baptist’s work and ministry. The Church in these readings is asking us to
spend some time to reflect upon the message that God wants us to know, in
preparing ourselves well during this time and season of Advent so that we may
worthily rejoice and celebrate His coming at Christmas, with proper understanding
of what it is that we are celebrating and rejoicing about.
As God’s beloved people, each and every one of us should hence do our
best to respond to that love that God shows us in Christ, and strive to give Him
thanks for all that He has done, for everything that He has blessed us with, and
commit ourselves to a life that is truly worthy of His love and kindness, and of all
the blessings that He has granted to us. May the Lord continue to protect and guide
us through life, and may He bless each one of us, in our every endeavor and effort,
in our good works and commitments, so that we will always be faithful to Him and
continue to persevere in our obedience to Him and His Law. May God be by our
side always as He has ever done, and may He lead us to the path of righteousness
and eternal joy. Amen.