Advent: The Call to Faith in Christ

 Reflection on Today's Readings, Monday of the 1st Week of Advent, Year C, November 29th, 2021
Texts: Isaiah 2:1-5; Ps. 122: 1-9; Matthew 8:5-11
Today, in the gospel reading, Jesus invites us to have a genuine faith in Him. In the display of the faith of the centurion, we come to learn that time and space are not barriers to Jesus' action. He says, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed." This tells us that faith is beyond reason. We also learn that humility is important to growth in faith; his word is full of humility. As we wait for the coming of our Lord, we are to exercise faith that is full of humility and not limited by reason. Our faith must be able to see beyond reason. A genuine faith sees beyond reason but it is not devoid of reason. We are to build our faith on reason and go beyond it. The word of the centurion shows that he built his faith on reason; he says, "For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
In today's first reading, Isaiah speaks of the mountain of the Lord which will be established as the highest mountain, rallying point and centre of attraction for many nations. The mountain of the Lord,  here, is Zion, which refers to Jerusalem city and a particular location of a hill in Jerusalem. In Jewish culture, mountain is a place of encounter with God. Being the highest of the mountains, it becomes the most preferable God's dwelling place and the choicest place of encountering Him. A place where God can be encountered is a mountain of the Lord. The mountain of the Lord becomes me when I become the channel of God's love and goodness. It also becomes you when you become a channel of God's  love and goodness. We are to make ourselves the mountain of the Lord by becoming points of encountering God. We become points of encountering God when we are full of good deeds, when we speak words  of God and make known to people the ways of God and walk in His paths.
Prophet Isaiah also shows that it is by walking in the ways of the Lord that there will be an end to war and destruction, fear and insecurity. He says, "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plough shares, and theirs pears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord." Let us teach the nations the ways of the Lord, that there may be in peace in our world.

Lord, we repeat once again in our time the word of your apostles: "Lord, increase our faith"; help us to walk in your paths and keep us faithful to You always. Amen

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke