Advent Reflection

Advent Reflection

“…his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned.…”

Jesus came and lived among us, as one of us. With his own eyes he saw human misery; all forms of pain and desolation. He dared to face the reality of human suffering. He conquered evil by doing good; he restored life and brought us hope.
When Jesus looked at the crowds who followed him, he saw them as God sees--they had been betrayed and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd, as Jeremiah described the Chosen People: “Lost sheep were my people, their shepherds misled them…losing their way to the fold” (Jer 50:6). In the Old Testament, God was called the “Shepherd of Israel” (Ps 80:1), who ”feeds his flock” (Is 40:11). And God said: “I myself will look after and tend my sheep…rescue them…I myself will pasture my sheep…. The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal, shepherding them rightly” (Ez 34:11~16).
Jesus not only felt compassion for them, but he also knew they needed a shepherd to love and guide them. He called himself the “Good Shepherd” (Jn 10:11). As a true shepherd he dwelt continually in the midst of God’s People. He sought after the stray and wanted to lead them all. He saw that the time was ripe to gather the flock into God’s Kingdom. However, the workers were few. Jesus invited his disciples to pray to God, the Lord of the harvest, for more laborers. He then called twelve and invited them to share his same mission--to proclaim the arrival of God’s Kingdom and to heal every ill. Jesus fulfilled God’s promise: “I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart, who will shepherd you wisely and prudently” (Jer 3:15). Later, Peter exhorted those entrusted with a pastoral office: “Tend the flock of God in your midst…as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly” (1 Pt 5:2).

Oratio

Jesus, you see that the harvest for your Kingdom is ripe. Give all your disciples the courage to face the reality of human suffering, to see the needs of others as you do. Substitute our minds with yours. Give us the compassion and desire to meet their real needs in love. Substitute our hearts with yours. Give us the strength to do good to others so that they may come to you and enter your Kingdom. Substitute our wills with yours.

Contemplatio

Jesus, allow me to see and meet the true needs of others with loving compassion.

This week's Strength for the Week excerpted from Advent Grace: Daily Gospel Reflections.