In this 3rd week of Advent, it is easy to begin to give in to the hustle and bustle of the season. Christmas is less than 10 days away.
How have I lived Advent? Has my prayer increased or decreased? Those Advent resolutions made in earnest about being more recollected during this holy season can at times seem like an impossible dream at this point, but maybe not.
John the Baptist is one role model we can turn to during this time. His whole life was about setting time apart, about being ready and helping others to prepare for the coming of Christ. In the gospel today, John sends two of his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” (Lk 7:20)
When I ponder this scene, it strikes me as curious that John sent these two with this question. Was John unsure? No. John knew full well that Jesus was the begotten Son of God. He was present at Jesus’s Baptism. He had dedicated his whole life for this purpose. John had already declared Jesus as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29). So why the question sent by two disciples?
For their benefit and ours!
Let us listen carefully to Jesus’s response: “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” (Lk 7:22).
Jesus could have more easily answered that he was indeed the One, but instead he calls them to reflect on their own experience—what they have seen and heard with their own eyes and ears. If we peruse the Gospel of Luke prior to the Gospel proclaimed today, we will find this evidence which Christ implored them to consider. Indeed, he proclaimed the Good News in the synagogue (Lk 4:15) and in the countryside when he gave the Beatitudes (Lk 6: 20-22). His healings were numerous. He cured the demoniac, Simon’s mother-in-law, a paralytic, a leper, and many others. He even raised the widow’s son from the dead (Lk 7: 11-17). These stories had spread throughout the land. How could there still be any question about his identity?
Perhaps, this is a good time to stop and ask ourselves the same question. What have we seen with our own eyes, heard with our own ears, and experienced within our own hearts? Stop for a moment and identify the first 5 things that come to mind about how you have experienced Christ in your life. They may have been seemingly big things or little things. If you have a prayer journal or piece of paper, jot them down now.
Read over your list slowly. Think on these things. How did you know they were Christ? If Christ acted then AND if Christ is always faithful, then why allow doubts to assail you?
This is the importance of dedicated daily prayer time – to learn how to ponder in our hearts as Mary did – the wondrous things Christ has done in our lives – to really think about these things and express our gratitude. They help us to see the way Christ works in our daily lives. They make us more spiritually sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit on a practical level.
In these final days of Advent, let us stop throughout our day and ask the Holy Spirit to give us the spiritual insight to recognize His movements, inspirations, interventions and love. Join me in praying:
Jesus, thank you for being the One Who was, Who is, and Who is to come. Help me to spend a few minutes each day recognizing you in the daily events of my life that I may be a ready witness to your power and love.
