How we prepare determines what we “see” - And what we “see” dictates what we do

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel of St Matthew about Jesus’ family tree….The reading is long with all kinds of “weird” names…..”Abijah the father of Asaph. Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah”………and on and on……The reading today ends with this - To give us some prospective on just how long God took to bring about the time of Christ’s birth….”Thus the total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen generations; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Christ, fourteen generations.”….God’s time is not our time and God’s ways are not our ways……After hearing this litany of names and after pondering all the time that passed from Abraham to the birth of Jesus himself…Do we forget that Jesus is going to return once again?….Do we lose sight of this reality!?!…..Yes - Two thousand years has passed since Christ was crucified…..To us, that is a long time - To God, that is not even a second!……Christ will return - The question is - Are we ready?…What are we doing to prepare our hearts for his return?

“In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed; all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.”

We all know the story about how Jesus was born….Joseph and Mary were refused a place to stay and Mary was forced to give birth to the Savior of the world in a barn amongst animals…Do you imagine if you were one of those Inn keepers who refused to let Joseph and Mary stay in their Inn?……Talk about a HUGE mistake……What about us?……What keeps Jesus from our sight?………The last year I was in Kolkata was December 2012, I was engaged to be married and knew I would not be back in the city for many years……It was the afternoon and I was working in the Home for the Dying….Two men came to the door and they were arguing with the door keeper….The one man who requested to come in had a clear plastic bag over his hand…Two of his fingers had rotted to the bone and he wanted to be admitted to the home to get some care….The doorkeeper was trying to tell him there was no room……Coming from a country like America, we are not used to seeing human carnage like those who live in the third world and work in healthcare….If you are poor and you or a loved one suffer from an accident, there are no emergency rooms…The flesh on this man’s fingers was literally rotted to the bone!…..The Home for the Dying was full and the doorkeeper was trying to tell them they could not help…..So I begged the doorkeeper to let this man in…..And after some time of me “carrying on” like a crazy person from New Jersey - One of the sisters let him in….An Italian Doctor from Milan was volunteering there at the time and he took care of the man’s hand…….There is always room!!!!!….There is always room for one more at the table….One more child…..One more lost soul….Its for us to make room!!…Make room for Christ this Christmas in your heart…..One YES can change the world! - How do I know? - Because one YES did change the world

“He shall defend the afflicted among the people, save the children of the poor”

Today we get a glimpse at just how long it took for Jesus to be born…..Many generations came and went…..Jesus tells us very clearly he will return….Did we forget?…..But when he returns, will we recognize him?…..Remember, Christ walked among us as a poor carpenter…Many people did not recognize him……..And how about now?….Do we “hear” Jesus words when they are read to us at Mass?…Do his words penetrate our hearts?….And when we hear them - Do we respond?……Its very easy to “get lost” in all the noise of life….The Inn keepers who refused to let Joseph and Mary in their place did not think anything of it…..Jesus tells us….What you do to the least - You did for me……This is the entire Gospel summarized into one sentence….But before we “do” for the least - We must “see” and “hear” them…....”Blessed are the pure of heart - For they shall see God”…..How we prepare determines what we “see” - And what we “see” dictates what we do…………..JMJ

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