The Lord our Justice

Today we begin the season of Advent, a time of waiting for the coming of the Lord.  On Christmas day we will be celebrating the incarnation, the birth of Jesus, the Son of God, as one of us. God stoops down to us to lift us up to God.

In today's first reading, Jeremiah 33: 14-16, the Lord says to us:  "The days are coming...when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah. In those days, in that time, I will raise up for David a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land." How badly we need this Savior as individuals, as a nation, as church, as family, as municipalities, as countries, as a society--worldwide and otherwise!  When the Savior comes, there Lord tells us, "Judah shall be safe and Jerusalem shall dwell secure; this is what they shall call her: 'The Lord our justice.'" We shall be safe and feel secure in Christ Jesus, our justice, our salvation, no other way and by no other means! You and I cannot save ourselves. Humankind cannot save itself. Our disobedience to our God needs one equal to God to reconcile us to God. Jesus, by being obedient to God the Father into death is our justice!  And for that reason, with the psalmist in today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 25,we beg the Lord as follows:

Your ways, O Lord, make know to me;
teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me, 
for you are God my Savior,
and for you I wait all the day. 

Good and upright is the Lord;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way.

All the paths of the Lord are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the Lord is with those who fear [reverence] him,
and his covenant, for their instruction.

May you and I be among humble, allowing the Lord to lead us to justice and teach us His way.  Only then will we be secure!

Choices in Life

Today's first reading, Proverbs 3: 27-34, clearly spells out the dilemma of the wicked and challenges us not to envy such, as he/she grows wealthy and piles on what looks like one success upon another and another.  "Envy not the lawless [individual]  and choose none of his [or her] ways: To the Lord the perverse one is an abomination, but with the upright is [God's] friendship. The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, but the dwelling of the just [God]  blesses; when dealing with the arrogant, [God] is stern, but to the humble [God] shows kindness."

Whom do I envy and why? Whose goods/wives do I covet? Am I among the upright or the perverse ones spoken of above? How much at peace am I or am I a disturbed individual who seeks to escape his/her troubles by excessive drink, overeating, compulsive shopping or obsessively running after one relationship after another or whatever addiction that enslaves me?

The response to today's responsorial psalm, (Psalm 15) reads: "The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord."  The psalmist goes on to speak about persons who are upright: "[An individual] who walks blamelessly and does justice; who thinks the truth in his/[her] heart and slanders not with his tongue. Who harms not his fellow man [woman], nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor; by whom the reprobate is despised, while...[honoring] those who fear [reverence] the Lord....[An individual] who does these things shall never be disturbed."

Am I a person about whom others would say these praiseworthy things?  Is the psalmist describing me/you? If our answer is "no," what changes do we need to make in our way of living?