Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Isaiah 40:1-11, Psalm 96:1-3, 10-13, Matthew 18:12-14
Link to Readings --> http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121019.cfm
BULLDOZERS
"A voice says, 'Cry out!' I answer, 'What shall I cry out?' " -Isaiah 40:6
When we think of Christmas preparations, we think of trees, cards, presents, cookies, and candles. However, the Bible speaks of a different kind of preparation. To prepare the way of the Lord, we must turn a desert wasteland into "a highway for our God" (Is 40:3). This means bulldozers, earthmovers, dynamite, a fleet of dump trucks, and the Army Corps of Engineers. It would take all that to lay low mountains and hills and use them as fill dirt for valleys (Is 40:4).
It's a big operation to take crooked, rough, winding ways and make them straight and smooth. Yet this is the picture the Bible presents about preparing for Christ's coming. This Advent time of preparation requires a heavy-duty job of deep repentance, conversion, soul-searching, and healing. It can be heart-wrenching, painful, convicting, and tearful. However, the end product is a clear and straight road for the Christmas Jesus to enter into our hearts.
What will it be - superficialities, worldly desires, and mere customs, or a real Advent preparing for a real relationship with Jesus?
Prayer: Jesus, bring in the bulldozer. All I've got to lose is my sin and selfishness.
Promise: "It is no part of your heavenly Father's plan that a single one of these little ones shall ever come to grief." -Mt 18:14
Praise: Thomas prepared for Christmas by leading his family to Confession.
(To prepare a highway for our God, read the Bible daily. For encouragement, order, listen to, or download any of the following on our website: "Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ" CD 82-1 or DVD 82; "How to Pray the Bible" CD 82-3 or DVD 82; "How to Read the Bible" CD 46-3 or DVD 46; "Principles of Bible Interpretation" CD 79-1 or DVD 79.)
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Rescript: In accord with the "Code of Canon Law", I hereby grant the "Nihil Obstat" ("Permission to Publish") for "One Bread, One Body" covering the period from December 1, 2019 through January 31, 2020
?Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, April 2, 2019
The "Nihil Obstat" ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the "Nihil Obstat" agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.
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