Spiritual Food for 2nd Sunday of Advent (Dec. 5, 2009)

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Christmas is just around the corner. We must prepare. “Prepare the way of the Lord,” as the gospel admonishes us. This is the best way to have a meaningful Christmas. Materialism and consumerism are misleading us to thinking that the celebration of Jesus’ birth is all about buying and giving gifts from the store. This mentality makes those who have no money to buy gift items look and feel miserable. It makes Christmas look like it is only for those who can buy. But this is wrong.

To have a meaningful Christmas we must change ourselves. Our hearts will serve as the royal road for Jesus. And so we must pave the way for his arrival. Our hearts need straightening. This means that, as the avenue where Jesus will pass through, this road must be under construction and reconstruction. This is certainly not an easy task to do. It’s much easier and fun to buy gifts and stroll around the mall. But what good would that be if you have hatred in your heart, if you live in envy or pride, if your family is in constant chaos, if you can’t sleep soundly at night because you have wronged other people? There are things money can’t buy. There is more to Christmas than just a beautifully wrapped gift.

Let me quote Fr. Nil Guillemette, SJ: “Our task is to open in our hearts a royal highway for the Lord…We must make straight the devious and deformed paths of our hearts; we must watch over the rectitude of our intentions and dealings; we must persevere on the straight road of our responsibilities, without stopping or turning back. We have to fill the valleys of our hearts if they are empty of generosity and zeal, bring low mountains and hills of our pride, smooth out the asperities of our characters and put an end to our divisions. This is the manner to prepare for the coming of the Lord in our lives.”

[tags]Fr. Jojo Mendoza, Sunday Homily, Mass, Sermons, Gospel, Batangas[/tags]