I guess we all know the Christmas story very well. Sometimes we so familiar with it that we can easily lose sight of the meaning of the story. And the Christmas story is not just an event that happen 2000 years ago but has meaning for us today in our very lives.

In the Christmas story we hear that there was no room in the inn and so Mary gave birth to Jesus in a manger, a place where the animals were kept. On the one hand, this tells something of God. There in the manger lies God in baby Jesus. God does not impose himself on us. God only comes to offer his love to us.

The baby Jesus is not a threat to us. Yet baby Jesus is a challenge to us. In all this Jesus is asking us to open the doors of our hearts to him. His desire is to live in our hearts.
Jesus knocks at the door of each of our hearts that he may live in us. Will we let him enter?

What does it mean to let Jesus into our hearts?

The answer is found in the visits of the shepherds to the manger. What did they see?
Nothing spectacular really; just a baby wrap in swaddling clothes. What were their expectations? Their lives did not change for they were still poor and would struggle in life. Yet they were filled with joy, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.

What do we see at the manger and what does it mean for us? One way to look at it is to ask ourselves what are our expectations of God and His Church today?

Sometimes we are reluctant to let Jesus enter into our lives because we are just afraid that letting Jesus into our heart might change us. And so we give excuses: “My life is too busy Lord…..I am too tired……there are other things in my life that I like to do.”

Yes, the truth is, to let Jesus in will change us. It will change us for the better, it will transform us the more we open ourselves to him. Christ is our light, our hope our joy, our Saviour. True peace and happiness can only come through him and with him.
It is heaven that Jesus offers us.

That is why God came to live amongst us. That is why Christ desires a room in our hearts. And so when we pray, each time we come to Mass to worship God, each time we forgive others, each time we do an act of kindness in God’s Name, we are opening the doors of our hearts to Jesus, God.

May the humble birth of Jesus reveal to us the loving tenderness of God and help us to become more truly human like him.

ISAIAH 7: 10-14
PSALM 23: 1-6 R. v. 7.10
ROMANS 1: 1-7
MATTHEW 1: 18-24

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A week ago, we witnessed the tragic horror of the massacre of so many people at Bondi Beach. And there are also so many conflicts and terrorist attacks in the Holy Land and around the world. There is a sense of helplessness in all this.

In the face of this, let us remember that the season of Advent and the coming season of Christmas are very much a time for praying for peace. How then do we find peace in the face of the many conflicts in our lives?

The starting point is found in our prayer, for we cannot achieve peace by ourselves but only through God. For Jesus came to bring us God’s peace, a peace the world cannot give. But prayer must be accompanied with trust in God.

Today’s readings give us a contrasting respond to God by two people. In the first reading, King Ahaz was asked by the prophet Isaiah to trust in God instead of making an alliance with his neighbouring countries to attack Egypt. Ahaz disobeyed and was destroyed by the evil in his heart.

Joseph in Matthew’s gospel today is an example of a person who was at peace within himself and with God and with those around him, simply because he was able to trust in God and to put others before him. He struggled with what Mary told him, yet he cared for her. He did not understand but he trusted in God’s command through the angel. Through his obedience he became a participant in God’s plan for the salvation of humankind.

It is so easy to point to the failings of world leaders in all that is wrong in the world but forget that we too have our own personal conflicts. We cannot demand for peace in the world if we ourselves are not people of peace. There is a hymn that goes: “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”

How often in our own personal conflicts do we see the other person as the obstacle to reconciliation and not ourselves. We can end up becoming impatient and frustrated and even bitter. Often it leads us to become judgmental and aggressive towards those we are in conflict with. Where we end up is not peace but further conflict.

Christmas is a time to seek God’s peace in our life. Real peace will be possible for us no matter what we face if we allow the love of God into our lives. The deeper our relationship with God grows, we become like His Son Jesus and we will find the peace within, no matter what conflict we face.

A person with the peace of Christ will know what is important in life and will never despair, even in the face of conflict. And a person with the peace of Christ
Will always seek to resolve and not confront where there is a conflict
Will be patient and not be aggressive
Will try to understand and not become judgmental.
Will bring mercy where there is sin,
Will bring hope where there is despair
And will bring love where there is hatred.

At Bondi beach we saw the evil of hatred take the lives of so many. Some unfortunately will see only hatred and revenge as the answer. They only become more victims of evil of the massacre at Bondi. They let the same evil of hatred of the two terrorists into their hearts to destroy them.

May the love of God from the cross be our answer to the evil of hatred in people.

ISAIAH 35: 1-6, 10
PSALM 145: 6-10 R. Is. 35:4
JAMES 5: 7-10
MATTHEW 11: 2-11

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In the newspapers the other day it was reported that a research conducted recently found that for half of Australians, Christmas is actually the most stressful time of the year. The research found that the biggest stress triggers were financial pressures (67 per cent) as well as family expectations (57 per cent) and social obligations (48 per cent).

It is ironic that Jesus, God came and was born in a humble manger and today people go into extravagant expenses beyond their means to celebrate his birth.

Today, the third Sunday of Advent, we are invited in the liturgy to be joyful as we draw closer to Christmas. If people find it stressful rather than a joyful time, maybe they need to ask themselves what exactly is Christmas all about for them.

Yes, joy is found in the very message of Christmas not in what we choose to do. Joy comes from knowing that God has come amongst us and that Christ will come again.
God has kept His promise. God is faithful to us. And God in Christ will come again.
The joy that God speaks of is the hope we have that comes from faith.

Mary and Joseph are great examples for us. Mary knew whom she carried……the incarnate love of God. Though they had to go through hardships knowing whom she carried would have filled Joseph and her with a joy that no hardship could destroy.

Today we carry the Risen Christ, the Glory of God, in our hearts. The first reading from the Prophet Isaiah talks about the joy that this brings to the faithful. The second reading from the letter of James tells us that this is a time for waiting. Have patience, trust in God for God is faithful to His promise.

Advent is a time then to reflect on what does it mean to us to say that we are Christians, followers of Christ. Advent is a time to seek a deeper faith in God, that that faith in God may fill us with joy.

Often this joy can seem so elusive because we are caught up with the worldly things and not of the spiritual and heavenly things.

And a joyful faith is so contagious. In the Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples of John the Baptist to tell John what they hear and see. Through Jesus, lives are transformed, there is hope for a light has come into the darkness as prophesied by the prophet Isaiah in the first reading.

And so, let us reflect on how has our lives been transformed because of our faith in Christ? And how have we touched the lives of others because of our faith in God? In so doing we not only transform the lives of others but there is in ourselves a greater understanding of the gift of God to us.

The Christmas Story is more than the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem. It is also the birth of a new faith, a new relationship with God in Christ. When we focus our Christmas celebrations more on its true meaning our celebrations will be one of joy and not a stressful experience.

ISAIAH 11: 1-10
PSALM 71: 1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17 R. v. 1
ROMANS 15: 4- 9
MATTHEW 3: 1-12

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This time and the Christmas season, besides being a busy time is always a time of joy. What makes it a joy filled time is that it is a time for the family to be together, to be planning things together. It is a time to spend time with close friends or to renew old friendship,

It is in this Spirit that many people are often willing to forgive one another. When this is difficult, something of the Spirit of the season is lost. This spirit of joy is a great reminder for us about what we are preparing to celebrate in the coming of the Lord Jesus. He came to bring reconciliation into our world, to heal relationships, between us and God and between ourselves.

The message of the first reading was given to a desperate people in exile. They wondered if God had abandoned them. It talks about the coming of the Messiah, and the two great gifts he would bring, two gifts that the world desperately needs, namely, justice and peace. Jesus, the Messiah would fulfill this expectation, bringing what the people were yearning for: justice, truth, order, peace and love for all peoples. It is about healing relationships.

In our second reading, Paul is stressing the message of the first reading to give us hope, comfort and courage so that we may give glory to God. In spite of all set-backs, confusion, frustration, etc., the Plan of God will be fulfilled. Paul talks about right relationships with each other.

John the Baptist proclaimed the coming of Jesus. His message is both an invitation and a promise: “Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is close at hand.” Jesus brings the Kingdom of God precisely because he brings healing and reconciliation. Therefore the starting point for those who are seeking God’s kingdom is repentance, that is, recognising our sins that destroy relationships, a desire for a change of heart, and turning towards God who brings healing and restoration.

When we speak of God’s kingdom then, we speak about right relationships, where there is justice, peace, harmony, and perfect joy. If we are to reflect on our own relationships, we find that all of us have relationships that are hurting and difficult. During this time of the year there is usually a greater effort by us to be forgiving of one another. Unfortunately more often than not, this does not last beyond Christmas day.

Reconciliation is difficult for most of us, especially when we feel hurt. Often, when we extend forgiveness, we qualify them. One reality though where there is no reconciliation and we retain that anger and hatred, it is we who suffer most. We become the victims of our own hatred.
God’s message to us is to turn to seek His love and mercy that we may begin the road to healing and reconciliation. This is the central message of the readings today, and indeed to the whole season of Advent as celebrated in the church.

We do this in a special way in our church through the sacrament of reconciliation. The sacrament of reconciliation helps us to experience the love and mercy of God that we may find healing to be forgiving as well. It is God’s concrete way of helping us to encounter his healing love.

The truth of the Christian Gospel is that we are all in need of God’s mercy. The Gospel’s message is to seek God’s mercy that we will be able to face God’s justice.