Daily HOMILY for December 4, 2012: Tuesday of 1st Sunday in Advent, Cycle C

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Tuesday 1^st Week of Advent
St. Luke’s Institute
December 4, 2012

CHILDLIKE FOLLOWERS THEN ++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  The time of fulfillment is coming and today we find Jesus rejoicing that his disciples are out in the world, working wonders – just as he has commissioned them to do

Ø  They have been casting out demons, healing the sick, preaching the good news of Christ

Ø  More than this, Jesus is rejoicing that his Father’s will is being done by these disciples and that the Kingdom of God is being established

Ø  Notice all of this is being done through the anointed work of ordinary folks – not scholars, presidents, kings, archbishops, military leaders, doctors, lawyers, or Nobel Prize winners, but by a “childlike” band of fishermen and everyday folk

CHILDLIKE FOLLOWERS NOW ++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  We see Jesus praising his Father that he has “hidden these things – the mysteries of the kingdom – M from the wise and the learned,” but “revealed them to the childlike”

Ø  And so this is a day all of us can feel worthy – and anointed – to do God’s work of building the kingdom

Ø  We don’t need to be Scripture scholars, theologians, members of the Church’s magisterium, or “higher ups” in any way whatsoever

Ø  What we need to be is a people who are open, ready, eager, willing, curious, alive, alert – just as “little people” (children) are

Ø  In this way, the mysteries of the kingdom will be revealed to us, the gifts of the Holy Spirit will be handed over to us, and we will be proudly boasting that, thanks be to God, “even the demons are subject to us.”

GOD ENTERING IN HISTORY THROUGH CHILDLIKE +++++++

Ø  Yes, at Advent we celebrate the fact that God continues to be about to enter history, is about to intervene, about to change things, about to heal someone brokenness, about to bestow hope upon someone who is hopeless, about to reveal the Father’s infinite love

Ø  And all of us “ordinary folks,” who are childlike enough to want to be part of it, will be given major roles in the action

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