3rd Sunday of Advent 17.12.17 Spiritual progress
The human race goes on, one generation after another. In
some ways we make progress:
Technology, transport, communication, medicine…
In other ways we make little or no progress: we still have
hatred, violence, neglect, greed etc
Morally or spiritually, each generation repeats the mistakes
of all the previous generations.
God has led us all the way, from Eden to the present day,
making a series of covenants with us - with Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and finally
Christ, each intervention showing a greater generosity on God's part; yet our response
does not match it.
We should be smarter or more aware of moral matters than
previous generations, but somehow we are not.
Why does spiritual progress differ from technological
progress?
The spiritual aspect requires a deeper perception. Anyone
can see the marvels of a mobile phone, but not everyone can see what is wrong
with adultery.
Our Lord could have worked more miracles, even in our time, and
keep people on track through frequent reminders of His closeness.
He is looking for something deeper on our part. He reveals Himself
only to those who are humble, pure, and contrite enough to recognize Him – the
poor in spirit, people such as Simeon and Anna, or John the Baptist himself.
The last shall be first; the humble shall be exalted.
The proud are too preoccupied with themselves to see the
work of the Messiah, let alone welcome Him. They are not looking in the right place,
or in the right way.
Not recognizing the coming of Christ they do not change
their lives.
Meanwhile they buy more gadgets for their home! They
recognise one progress but not the other one.
The saying: Seeing is
believing could be better put: Believing
is seeing.
This is what God asks of us - to trust Him in advance, to
believe His promises before we see them (such as the Second Coming), and then
all manner of things can happen. Moses held out his staff and the waters
parted. Five minutes before that event, it would have seemed highly unlikely,
like most miracles. Miracles happen when someone obeys first.
If we can be like that we will escape the folly of the
present and previous generations.
We will have the essential joy (Gaudete Sunday). Rejoice if
you have such a stance with God, because you will directly experience His
blessings.
Presently we are hemmed in by massive amounts of sin, doubt,
fear, and the like, all of which threaten to submerge us.
It can be a battle to keep even our own faith, still more to
try to convert others.
It is as simple as which road we take. So much depends on
the decision.
It is all there if we want to know, the revelation of God,
the story, the miracles - it is all there for public consumption.
There are mysteries in our faith, but the general thrust is
clear. It is not classified information. Go to your local library, or to your very
advanced phone! The data of our faith, the technical details are not hard to
find.
The hard part is to be humble enough to recognize truth, and
to desire it; to go down on our knees, from which position we are able to learn
a lot.
Naaman the Syrian was told to wash himself seven times and
he would be cured. He thought that was too easy. Yet, persuaded to do it, he
was cured (4 Kings 5,1-19).
What we are asked to do to reach faith is not difficult,
apart from overcoming one’s pride.
We pray we can unravel some mysteries, and finally we will
get that long-overdue improvement across the generations.
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