Sermon for Saturday in Advent 2 – Br. David Allen
Mt. 17:9-13
Last week I had been thinking ahead about today’s sermon. One night I dreamed that I was working on this sermon. In that dream I was told that I would find the message that I should preach at the end of the Gospel reading, and that it would be about light, or enlightenment. The next day I read through the Gospel for today and found that the last verse of today’s Gospel could be seen as an example of the enlightening of the 3 Disciples with Jesus, Peter, James, and John.
They had been enlightened by the Holy Spirit and brought to understand that John the Baptist fulfilled the promised appearance of Elijah to come again. (v. 10-13)
In today’s Gospel reading we were told something about the events that followed The Transfiguration. As Jesus and his inner three disciples descended the mountain he spoke with them concerning what they had seen. I am sure that those 3 disciples were mystified concerning what they had just witnessed. Jesus admonished those disciples to tell no one about what they had seen until after he was raised from the dead.
He did this because he knew that if they started talking about it too soon the others would be confused. At the right time they would understand.
As it is, even for us, it takes some time truly to comprehend the sacred mysteries of Jesus’ birth, of his passion and death, and of his resurrection.
In time the Disciples did learn to put their trust in the Holy Spirit. They were enlightened and went forth to spread the Good News of the Gospel throughout the then known world. Others coming after them carried the message on into the rest of the world.
In some parts of the world, even in our own world, the message is still not completely comprehended. Reading the daily newspapers shows us that!
It takes prayer, and faith, and trust in the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth.
Do you trust in the Holy Spirit to enlighten you and lead you into all Truth?
Think about it! Isn’t this what Advent is about?
The blessing of old age is that although time does not slow down, we make more time and sort out more nonsense. The gift we receive is the time and need to evaluate the End Times/Heaven and how we spend our time moving towards God. This allows us to refocus and determine how we chose to spend this precious time with our God and our Lord. I treasure the time for contemplation as I move (slowly) through the day, and the days. Thanks be to God!!
I am old and have served Our Lord most of my life. But, even so, I need to be enlightened with His truth every day. Since I retired twenty-five years ago I have had more time to think and digest spiritual things. I know I need more and more grace, more strength, more joy, more awareness of His Holy Presence in my life. Thanks for this good sermon, Br. David.