Friday, December 15, 2017 Friday of the Second Week of Advent
Friday, December 15, 2017 Friday of the Second Week of Advent Such a terrible evil by not doing or saying anything! Second Isaiah 48:17 to 19 THIS IS AN UNUSUAL PASSAGE for SECOND ISAIAH! Although most of Second Isaiah's message announces the creative initiative of God for His people, occasionally there are passages like this one today, when the focus is more on what the prophet had failed to do rather than to pay attention to heed what God wants us to do. This reading is such an example: "I, the Lord your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on where you should go. If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river…your descendants would be like the sand on the shore…"Note well here that this reading focuses on what the Jews have not done! They had failed to pay heed to God. So here God is indirectly telling the Jews that they have brought this experience on to themselves, i.e. their exile into Babylon. So the Jews had refused to do God's will, and thus they cut themselves off from the source of life with God. So the Jews and us must learn again the teaching of their God and to be responsive to His leading them and us by His teaching us. See how clearly God is teaching us non-practicing Christians today! Matthew 11:16 to 19 JESUS ASKED CROWDS OF PEOPLE: "To what shall I compare this generation? They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one another: 'We played a flute for you, but you did not dance; we sang a dirge but you did not mourn!" So here we see that Jesus has compared John the Baptist and Jesus Himself with preaching saying:John came neither eating nor drinking, and people said: 'He is possessed by a demon.' The Son of Man [Jesus] came eating and drinking and they said; 'Look He is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. But wisdom is vindicated by her works!" This reading is the whole short Gospel for today! Here we see that Jesus was saddened by the sheer perversity of our human nature! Here we get the impression that Jesus saw and sees adult people with real perversity. So we get the impression that Jesus saw and sees many adult Jews like children wanting to play with other children and the other children not wanting to play!! So Jesus is seeing adults like we see children who at times can be very disobedient. And many moms and dads let them get away with it. These moms and dads answer, when I tell them they are warping the minds of their children, they say nothing or they exculpate [free themselves from guilt] themselves and then continue to be very poor moms and dads with lots of money!! So what the moms and dads are doing, they are supporting their children in violating the commands of God! A dastardly deed. CONCLUSION: How many young moms and dads see this perversity that they are doing by not doing what they are supposed to do! By their silence they are warping the minds of their children!! This is a terrible evil that such moms and dads are doing!! So my questions to you adults are: Are you allowing the evil doing of your children or grandchildren to continue? If you are silent about it then you are supporting the evil doing of your own sons and or daughters or grandsons and granddaughters. Such a terrible evil by simply not saying or doing anything! Peace, Faith, Hope & Love, Angelo
