1st Week of Advent

1) Opening prayer

Lord our God,

You never give up on people.

Again and again You want to make

a new beginning with us.

You showed us in Jesus Your Son

the kind of people You want us to be.

As your Spirit rested on Him,

pour out on us the same Spirit

that we may see our mission in life

with Your wisdom and insight

and that we may have the strength

to live as we believe and hope.

Grant us this through Christ our Lord.

2) Gospel Reading - Luke 10:21-24

Just at this time, filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, He said, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children. Yes, Father, for that is what it has pleased You to do. Everything has been entrusted to Me by My Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.'

Then turning to His disciples He spoke to them by themselves, 'Blessed are the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.'

3) Reflection

Today’s text reveals the depth of the heart of Jesus and the reason for His joy. The disciples had gone on a mission, and when they return, they share with Jesus the joy of their  experience (Lk 10: 17, 21)

•  Jesus’  joy comes from seeing the joy of His friends.  Listening to their experience , Jesus  feels  profound joy.

• It is not a superficial joy. It comes from the Holy Spirit. The   disciples have shared  in Jesus’ mission during their own missionary experience.

• Jesus calls them “ little children”. Who are the “little children? They are the seventy-two disciples (Lk 10: 1) who return from the mission. They are not doctors. They are simple people without education , but they understand the things of God better than the doctors.

• “Yes, Father, for that is what it has pleased You to do!” This is a very serious phrase. It pleases the Father that the little ones understand them. Therefore, if the great of the world want to understand the things of the Kingdom, they should become the disciples of the little ones!

• Jesus looks at them and says “blessed are you!” And why are they happy? Because they are seeing things which the prophets would have liked to see, but did not see. And what will they see? They see the Kingdom in the common things of life such as  curing the sick, consoling the afflicted, and expelling evil.

4) Personal questions

• If I take the place of the people: Do I consider myself as belonging to  the little ones or  the doctors?

• If I take the place of Jesus: What is the basis of my joy, superficial or profound?

• Does being a “little one” versus a doctor imply ignorance is good, or does it question where we place our trust - in our knowledge or in God?

• Do I pray to God as a father with spontaneous prayer as Jesus did here, or is my prayer  formal and rigid?

5) Concluding Prayer

“I give You praise, Father,

for although You have hidden these things from the wise

You have revealed them to the childlike." (cf. Lc 10:21)