Worth Revisiting - He Came and He Will Return

Thank you Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan for another opportunity to re-publish our favorite posts on Worth Revisiting

Go there now (and every Wednesday) and be nourished spiritually.

Visit Allison at  Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb during the rest of each week.  You will enjoy your visit.

  

A Merry Christmas to Allison, Elizabeth and to all who visit each week.

Here is my contribution: 

He Came and He Will Return

(Originally posted December 23, 2013)

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The Jewish people waited centuries for the coming of the promised Messiah.  When He came their leaders rejected and killed Him.

As we approach Christmas Day, ponder this sad reality: many who profess being Catholic today are no better prepared to receive and accept their Lord upon His return than were the Chosen people when He first arrived.

God has sent us numerous messengers announcing His mercy and laying out the need for us to repent before we stand before His Throne of Justice.  

But we are sinful creatures. We do what others expect us to do instead of what God may be prompting us to do. By acting in that manner, we are killing our souls not Him.

When Jesus comes, either at our individual death or at the

(Source:Wikimedia Commons)

end of time (whichever comes first), we will either be the beneficiaries of His mercy or the subjects of His Justice. We choose one or the other by the way we respond to His graces and live our earthly lives.

If we really want to experience the true Joy of Christmas this year and the eternal blessings that flow from His Incarnation, we must ponder these Truths over the next few days.

Then when you next enter the Church, consider doing these three things.

Take a few moments and kneel before the tabernacle wherein your Savior resides. Stop and recall that our Mother Mary was the very first tabernacle in which our Lord resided. Remember that she took the newly and spiritually conceived Savior of the world to her aged cousin Elizabeth, who, after Mary and Joseph, became the next recorded Adorer.

Then resolve never to walk by any tabernacle again without spending a moment acknowledging and adoring the King of Kings in residence there.

Finally, before you leave church this week, gaze upon the baby Jesus lying in the manger, tell Him you love Him, ask Him for the graces to stop doing what the world expects you to do and request the faith and strength instead to do what He has asked of you.