Blessed Is The One Who Takes No Offense At Me

12-11-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

The theme of patience and joyous hope runs through the Readings of this year’s Third Sunday of Advent. We who await the arrival of our salvation are encouraged to do so joyfully, patiently and full of hope.

In the First Reading, the Prophet Isaiah, preaching to a devastated Israel now in exile, encourages the people not to be afraid but to be strong in hope because God is here and with Him will come their salvation and restoration. As we draw closer to Christmas day, we are invited to receive joyous hope.

For our hope not to wane, St. James in the Second Reading counsels us to be patient until the coming of the Lord. A time of waiting can produce undesirable behavior like complaining about others. St. James cautions us to look towards the prophets, many of whom did not live to witness the perfect fulfillment of what they foretold, but ministered in hope for the fulfillment of what the Holy Spirit inspired them to preach.

The experiential evidence for how delicate an elongated period of waiting can be is seen in the Gospel where John the Baptist, now in prison and probably at the crossroad of his prophetic ministry, sent some of his disciples to extract a confirmation of His Messiahship from Jesus. To many, including yours truly, this action is baffling. This is John who leaped for joy in his mother’s womb when the metaphysical encounter between him and the Redeemer occurred during the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth (Luke 1:41), the same John who prepared the people for Jesus’ coming (Mark 1:4), who baptized Jesus and certainly heard God the Father authenticating His Sonship (Matthew 3:17), and pointed Him out as the “Lamb of God“ (John 1:29).

The experiential evidence for how delicate an elongated period of waiting can be is seen in the Gospel where John the Baptist, now in prison and probably at the crossroad of his prophetic ministry, sent some of his disciples to extract a confirmation of His Messiahship from Jesus. To many, including yours truly, this action is baffling. This is John who leaped for joy in his mother’s womb when the metaphysical encounter between him and the Redeemer occurred during the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth (Luke 1:41), the same John who prepared the people for Jesus’ coming (Mark 1:4), who baptized Jesus and certainly heard God the Father authenticating His Sonship (Matthew 3:17), and pointed Him out as the “Lamb of God“ (John 1:29).

Take a quick note of the manner of response given by Jesus to the enquiring disciples of John. Jesus did not ask them to go and report to John that the Messiah has offered a verbal positive confirmation of His Messiahship. He simply instructed them to go and report to John, “What you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the Good News proclaimed to them.” What Jesus essentially did was to ask John to believe Him, not by oral selftestimony, but to see that He is the fulfillment of the promises made about the Messiah by the prophets by evidence of His works. Herein lies a very deep theological implication: mere verbal testimony of our discipleship counts for nothing if it is not backed by tangible witnessing. We are not disciples of Jesus by mere verbal declaration, we are disciples if we have compassion, if we forgive, if we are kind, if we show by verifiable behavioral change that Christ lives and works in us.

May we be afforded the joyous hope that patiently waits for the fulfillment of what God has promised.

Please be kind and may God bless you.

Fr. Manasseh

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