Advent 2: Vice Will Kill Us If We Do Not Allow God to Kill it

Since only Jesus can lead us to justice and holiness, peace and harmony cannot be achieved either individually or communally without Him.

Advent: Preparing for Your Meeting with the Lord

A meeting is fruitful when we’re clear about whom we’re meeting, the purpose, the issues to be addressed and the actions that must follow. This applies especially when we prepare for a meeting with Jesus, which is inevitable, whether sacramentally in His Church or daily in our prayer or at the moment of death or when He returns again, if that comes before we die.

Know Who You’re Meeting

The first step in preparing for a meeting with Jesus is to answer the question: Who is Jesus and why must we meet with Him? The answer lies in recognizing Him as the Messiah whom God promised to send in order to save the world from sin and be its Judge of what is right and wrong. God promised He would accomplish this because

“The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord … not by appearance shall He judge, nor by hearsay shall He decide … Justice shall be a band around His waist, and faithfulness a belt upon His hips” (Is 11:2-5).

He had the power to conquer the warring spirit of the sinful world and replace it with a Spirit of justice, peace and harmony. “He shall govern God’s people with justice …He shall rescue the poor man when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. He shall have pity for the lonely and the poor … from fraud and violence He shall redeem them … as long as the sun His Name shall remain…in Him all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed; all the nations shall proclaim His happiness” (Ps 72: 2, 12-14, 17). He alone was empowered to restore man and woman to the just relationship, peace and harmony with creation that God originally created them to enjoy. Jesus is the visible image and likeness of God; He is the incarnation of God’s Word and the model for all men and women to imitate in order to be fully human and fully alive. Without Jesus we would neither know nor have the wherewithal as to what it takes to live fruitfully, faithfully, hopefully, and charitably.

Why the Meeting Is Necessary