Selected Reflection for the Week
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
FIRST READING: Isaiah 7:10-14
RESPONSORIAL PSALM: Psalm 24: 1-2.3-4ab.5-6 (R. cf. 7c.10c)
SECOND READING: Romans 1: 1-7
GOSPEL READING: Matthew 1:18-24
Rosemary Ibazebo
Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord? Who shall stand in His Holy place? The clean of hands and pure of heart, whose soul is not set on vain things.
What is my soul set on?
Especially in this festive season....are our hearts and souls set on Christ, the reason for the season, or on something else?
We must make Christ the center of our lives and hearts....and may He guide our paths all the days of our lives.
Glory to Jesus!
Chinwe Ann Udechukwu
MY REFLECTION
In a state of confusion, what do you do? When you are struggling in all situation, what do you consider God's will?
My Reflection will be coming from the Gospel pertaining St. Joseph and Blessed Virgin Mary's actions.
It really baffles me how St. Joseph was able to cope with such a dicey situation of accepting that the woman whom he trusts so much got pregnant and he wasn't responsible for it, yet he was advised to take her home. In a world today social media will be the first place St. Joseph would have gone in order to seek advice from his social friends and also embarrass and expose his betrothed, but what did he do? He prayed and God told him what to do in the dream and he went ahead and did exactly! He didn't look for any god of man to expose his fiancee because he didn't understand what is happening, but he accepted the humiliation from her because that was God's will.
In relation to our blessed mother Mary, she was exposed to such misunderstanding with her supposed husband and also in the public eye, how will she explain that pregnancy came without him having any canal knowledge with her husband? She was humbled in all these happening, in our world today as far as she is aware that she is carrying God, she would have told her husband Joseph to go to hell for all she cares, no she didn't, rather in all the two of them was able to solve the misunderstanding through God's intervention without involving an outsider.
Let us ask ourselves a salient question if I find myself in Joseph and Mary's shoes how would I have handled the situation?
Lord, please give us the grace to always listen to you as we pray and accept your will in our lives, even when it exposes us to danger and humiliation, let us trust that you will never abandon us. Amen.
Samuel Ikechukwu Okolo
If it is God that began it he will perfect it! If he is Alpha in your situation, decision and project he will be Omega.
The birth of Jesus was recorded to demonstrate to us how to birth anything we hope will have spiritual relevance.
His genealogy teaches us family is sacred as it preserves spiritual heritage in bloodlines.
His Annunciation was to demonstrate the importance of a life of purity and piety that births divine revelations as Jesus taught that the pure shall see God and Mary not only saw but was overshadowed and God took flesh in her.
Joseph teaches us how to pick spiritual frequencies by attentive listening and righteousness.
The Name of Jesus revealed exposes God's divine salvation and the office or power of the Christ.
Christmas is the road map to birth a glorious life in Christ. Follow the pattern closely.
Nwoko Valentine Eziokwu
My Reflection: “Let it be done to me according to thy will.”
These are dangerous words – powerful words.
With these words, a brave woman puts aside her own will and desires, and yields to another.In God’s plan, there are no coincidences.Over the years, when praying this third petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done,” even as a child, I always felt that due to my own imperfections, I was falling short of performing God’s Holy Will. Although I always sought to accomplish God’s Will through my words and deeds, I generally felt deep within my heart and soul that it was impossible to properly do so.
When praying the words, “Thy Will be done,” isn’t it true that we often hope that “God’s Will” matches our will or, at least, our specific hopes and desires? Isn’t it the case that we hope God’s Will be what we want at the time of our prayer? When we pray the words “Thy Will be done,” do we truly submit to His Will or is our will somehow conditioned by what we currently want?
In addition to day-to-day decisions which involve God’s permissive Will, there is also God’s ordaining Will that refers to our vocation or state in life.
Atife Oghenerukevwe Valentina
God made the impossible possible by making a virgin give birth to a child,not just a child but a child of Salvation.
Why are we tired of praying for God's miracle? Is your situation so bad that the impossible cannot happen? If a virgin can conceive and give birth, something that will never happen again in this life, why do u think your situation, problem, condition that is not rate cannot be turned into a miracle by the I AM THAT I AM?
I pray that as we prepare for the coming of the Savior,may we have the patience to continue praying not only for our situation to be a miracle but not to be found in sin when the greatest miracle comes. Amen.
Comfort Mary Edewor
My Reflection on the Gospel.
The gospel reading points to the necessity for us Christians to seek God's face in every situation, and before taking any important decisions. Joseph's decision to send Mary away when he found out that she was pregnant was humanly justifiable because that was what the law prescribed. However, being the just and honest man that Joseph was,it was easy for him to discard the carnal suggestion to dismiss Mary because he had learned to consult God in every situation.
Many Christians fail to realize that prayer is a dialogue between God and man. When you have prayed it is necessary to create the time and atmosphere to listen to God concerning your request. This means that the more time you spend in communion with God, the more likely you are to understand God's divine plan for your particular situation. This must be one reason the first gift from our Lord Jesus Christ to his disciples after his ascension was the holy Spirit, who was sent to teach them all things.
Let us learn to be patient in discerning God's plan in every circumstance for only in that lies our peace.
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