Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Come, the hour has come...

And God called and said…

Come, the hour has come […] let’s go […]” 1   When one is summoned and the voice calling shows urgency, it might be very hard to drop everything behind yet, the person has to respond.  Each of us has had such an experience and how did we respond? I know how I would do, If  I was on the phone, I would either hang-up the phone and ran to the door and follow the voice or say to the voice calling  “I’ll be right there”. Yes, when we hear the ‘Call’ we can't help but respond to the voice. The response we give will depend on how attuned we are to the “Caller”.


We are still on the late Season of Advent, the preparation of the coming of Christ as an infant. In effect, sending Jesus to the world is like the Father was saying, “Son, It is Time, I have something for you to do.” Jesus was listening, attuned to the Voice of His Father and so without hesitation and without delay, he dropped everything he was doing and promptly obeyed. Could you see him saying, “I’ll be right there, Father.”? Yes, His obedience, that is what we celebrate on the winter night of “Christ-mas”… when Christ came down on earth as a child.





Let us not forget the role of the Mother's "Yes" in this greatest story ever told. Mary was listening, she was not only praying. She was waiting and in her heart she heard the call and her Yes was prompt as she said,
 "Let it be done unto me " 3




We know the story, The Creed that we recite every Sunday reminds us how Jesus spent his earthly life --how he was born of a woman in a poor stable and how he spent his thirty years learning and growing in wisdom under the care of Mary and Joseph, his human family. He was at that point of his journey when he heard another call, “This is my Beloved Son, listen to Him”.2 Yes, another call -- the time has come, the Father said so. Jesus, recognizing the Voice of his Father, the One who has been with him all along those 30 years responded to the call. He knew that His second yes is necessary. He was reminded of the work that he was sent for.

                                                 It is time. The world awaits God’s love. Jesus is coming, the Love made flesh for us!  Yes, Jesus knew as soon as he came out of the water, that the moment has come. He mus now leave their home in Nazareth. He must be about his father’s business. He looked at Mary, his Mother… She smiled. She knows... "The hour has come".










She knows., She herself opened her heart and soul to the Will of the Beloved when she heard Him call. Was it thirty years back that she too she said YES to the Voice?









For three years Jesus traveled the road  day and night spreading the Word of God; teaching about the essence of true love and healing their infirmities even when "he did not know where to lay his head". 4   Jesus knows that words are not enough for the world to understand what love is all about. He knows that if they could not understand love, how much more could they experience the real essence of Loving. Yes, for humanity to understand, to know and to experience love, he must show them how to live love, this is His mission...


That winter evening of his birth and the 33 years he spent on earth  were just preludes. When he hears those words again, “it is time”,  he knows exactly what he must do. He must drop everything behind and follow the road to Calvary.It is necessary...  "I must be of my Father's business."5 


The path of the cross he freely walked and on Calvary He lifted his eyes. 
The Father seems nowhere of sight, yet His presence is ever might
Enveloped by the Father's arms, the Master breathes his last, 
And from that breath comes forth the fullness of life 
The joy that awaits those in His presence
Those from whom He died for 
In following the will of God.
Life and Joy united
On the Cross


Yes, Advent is the season when it all began... the season when we await for Love to come. Love that was born on Christmas nightLove that journeyed on the face of the earth... Love that justified the world... Love that purified it and when all has been said and done, ultimately, Love perfected everything on the Cross...

We who embark on this Advent journey must prepare. The Love that urges us on is a relentless Lover, His love is faithful and He will not fail us. But there is one thing He will ask you and me... "Follow Me to the end".

There is no other way to accomplish this greatest love story that began on One Winter Night except through the Majesty of the Cross , on the sacrifice of Calvary, the sacrifice called joy.

"The Hour has come."  We have been journeying Advent for weeks, are we ready for the coming of Love on Christmas Eve?

This is our love story handed on to us who believe by Love Himself... Would you say yes when you hear on Christmas eve, "come the hour has come..."?



References:
1 (Matthew 26:45-46) 
2 (Matthew 3:17) 
3 (Luke 1:38) 
4 (Luke 9:58) 
5 (Luke 2:49)





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