Tuesday of the First Week of Advent

Today's Mass Readings

This is one of several instances when Jesus uses the child as an example and encourages us to be childlike. In order to see ourselves as children, we must be able to see ourselves in relationship with God as Father. How important is this child and father relationship? One speaker said, “I believe most of the emotional, physical, and spiritual ills of society can be traced to humans feeling alienated from God and their biological fathers.”

Bishop Olmstead wrote, “This is our enemy’s underlying plan: to remove our reliance on God, the benevolent Father. To do this, Satan’s primary strategy is to damage and abolish human fatherhood, in the man and relationship where each of us first glimpses what God’s fatherhood might be like.” In all the difficult and incredibly isolating tasks Jesus had to do throughout His life and ministry, I believe it was His unique relationship with God the Father that gave Him strength. He frequently retreated from His company and those who asked of His time and energy in order to seek communion with the Father. He’d spend the whole night in prayer. He would offer words of praising, rejoicing, and saying: “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth…”

We can get enthralled in a certain type of ‘busyness,’ but even good things must be set aside for a time to pray and enter into communion with the Lord of heaven and earth.

Reflection by Fr. Paul Sheller, OSB