KNOWING OUR UNWORTHINESS


MONDAY, FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT

Isa 4:2-6; Ps 122:1-2,4-5,6-9; Mt 8:5-11

Our Unworthiness to have the Son of Man

It is customary to begin the Advent season with repentance for our sins and misbehaviour. As we begin to listen to the wonderful prophecies of the Messiah that God promised to his people and how he fulfilled the promise, we are moved by God's faithfulness to repent of our unfaithfulness. Understanding that our sins have been due to our lack of faith in God’s word, we repent and confess these sins that have kept God away from entering our lives and homes. What is required for us to gain the grace of repentance and forgiveness that God grants through his Son Jesus our Lord, is that we first acknowledge our sinfulness and past unfaithfulness and own the sins we have committed against God and not shift the blames to anyone; second is to express real sorrow for the sins with a firm purpose of amendment of our lives; third is to confess the sins to God through the priest at the confessional, to receive absolution and pardon of them sacramentally; fourth is to do the penance given and other penitential works as the expression of our repentance and reconciliation with God and neighbours.

The above describes the general scheme or outline of the Christian conversion process as guided by the Church and based on the scriptures. The prophet Isaiah recognises that our sins and misbehaviours are the cause of our downfall and problems. “That day, the branch of the Lord shall be beauty and glory, and the fruit of the earth shall be the pride and adornment of Israel’s survivors. Those who are left of Zion and remain of Jerusalem shall be called holy, and those left in Jerusalem, noted down for survival.” Thus, the Messiah will come with a blast of judgment to purify and heal us, to make us worthy of dwelling in God’s presence. “When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughter of Zion and cleansed Jerusalem of the blood shed in her with the blast of judgement and the blast of destruction, the Lord will come and rest on the whole stretch of Mount Zion and on those who are gathered there, a cloud by day, and smoke, and by night the brightness of a flaring fire.” Because the word of God is the fire that purifies us from our sins, we must take time to listen to the word of God and these prophecies of God’s promise of deliverance and meditate on how they were fulfilled in order to receive the same effects as those who first received them and repented. We are even more privileged than they who heard the prophecies first, for they had not the privilege of their fulfilment in Jesus Christ. We have more ground to believe and repent of our sins and welcome the Son of Man into our hearts and homes.

Faith is essential for us to reap the abundant fruits of this season of grace. Faith admits us to the privileges and blessings contained in the word of God. Our Lord emphasised this in the Gospel. When the Centurion recognised him through faith, he received the same privilege as the people of Israel. “The centurion replied, ‘Sir, I am not worthy to have you under my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured. For I am under authority myself and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: Go, and he goes; to another: Come here, and he comes; to my servant: Do this, and he does it.’ When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, ‘I tell you solemnly, nowhere in Israel have I found faith like this.’” If faith was the criterion for putting out those born of Israel’s stock from the presence of God, and admitting those born of Gentile stock, it is the condition for receiving the Messiah into our hearts and houses. The centurion received the effects of the Messiah in his house without his bodily presence; we can also receive the effects of the Messiah in our hearts and homes through faith in his word. “And I tell you that many will come from east and west to take their places with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven.” We all can go to the house of the Lord with the Psalmist through faith, and there enjoy the presence and peace of the Messiah, if we accept his judgment of our sins and admit our unfaithfulness.

Let us pray: Keep us alert, we pray, O Lord our God, as we await the advent of Christ your Son, so that, when he comes and knocks, he may find us watchful in prayer and exultant in his praise. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. 

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