Second Week of Advent: Friday
Reading: Matthew 11:16-19
Jesus spoke to the crowds: ‘What description can I find for this generation? It is like children shouting to each other as they sit in the marketplace:
“We played the pipes for you,
And you wouldn’t dance;
We sang dirges.
And you wouldn’t be mourners.”
‘For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He is possessed.” The Son of Man came, eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom has been proved right by her actions.’
Reflection Here we see the frustration of Jesus at the hardness of heart of the crowd when they reject the message of the gospel presented to them by both John the Baptist and himself. Every effort has been made to invite people into a life-giving relationship with God, sadly the people are indifferent and don’t want to listen. He attempts to forewarn them of the risks of spiritual blindness when he says, ‘wisdom has been proved right by her actions.’
Our modern society often appears to be indifferent to the good news of the gospel. Many false gods have replaced true worship, and in some instances, little thought is given to spiritual growth and service of the kingdom of God.
The season of Advent is a graced opportunity for each of us to reflect on our own lives through the lens of the gospel. Open to the grace of the Holy Spirit we will come to know ourselves more deeply and will be able to begin to redress our relationship with God and each other. Any hardness of heart will give way to gentle compassion that reaches out in love to meet the needs of another. This surely will be a work of the wisdom who will be proved right by her actions in our lives.
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