Friday of the Second Week of Advent
Readings: Is. 48:17-19 | Ps. 1:1-4, 6 | Mt. 11:16-19
Isaiah is reminding us that if we lived our lives according to God’s desires, we would be reaping great benefits and our prosperity would be tremendous. God rewards those who listen to God’s Word and try to live accordingly. We may not always see the reward immediately but God, out of the goodness that is God’s, cannot do otherwise. Jesus is reflecting on the people who are around Him. He compares them to people who do things for others just to be recognized and rewarded and to have others dance to their beat. They rejected John the Baptist because he was so austere and they reject Jesus because He is so loving of the poor, the lowly, the tax collector, etc. Jesus’ last words are important: “Time will prove where Wisdom lies.” How often we criticize or reject others just because they look, talk, or speak differently than we. We also wonder about those who think differently than we! Jesus and Isaiah are calling us to live the Gospel and love. Doing so, we will not even recognize differences among people and if we do, we will not hesitate to be with them.
Reflect on your own life and how you interact with others. Are there some people with whom you do not interact? Are there some people you would “not be caught dead” with? How will you change this? When will you begin to do so?