Tuesday December 17, 2019

Zechariah 2: 1 – 13  

Psalm 45

Revelation 3: 14 – 22 

Matthew 24: 32 – 44 

The imminence of joy glistens through all the readings of this day with a glory described in exotic symbols of gold, ivory palaces, and fragrant spices. This is not an unexpected joy but one greeted with expectation and fulfillment. A joy that comes through a deep faith, fidelity and perseverance towards an intentional living relationship with Christ and others in the busyness of the everyday. Christ beckons to us from the very heart of life and we must not risk falling for the most dangerous of all delusions: that of there being plenty of time to respond. We know it is Christ that shines within us, showing us the transcendental virtues of goodness, beauty and truth that shine in our soul, inherited by virtue of being created in God’s likeness. But this core must be fully owned and engaged as a living flame that glows through a kind heart, shines in a compassionate mind and emits love through a generous and gentle spirit. This is the door by which Christ’s knocks, a place of new beginnings for a heart that wants to be opened to kindness, generosity, and patience; filled with the light of compassion, in a willing and constant state of transformative change. May we open the door of our hearts to give vitality to the light that abides within this Advent season so that we can all awaken and greet the coming of Christ with a deep abiding joy in the celebration that is a life lived to the full towards a new dawning.

A Sister of SSJD