Fourth Advent:
Lighting the Candle of Love:
By
lighting one candle each week of Advent, we prepared ourselves to celebrate the
birth of Jesus. So far we have lit three candles: the candles of hope, peace
and joy. We spread the Light of the
world, Jesus Christ, by sharing his hope, peace and joy through our testimony
and the examples of our lives.
Ultimately
we spread God’s light, by sharing God’s love.
God
shared his love for us, and for all of his creation, by “sharing” his Son with
us. Giving his Son to become one of us,
to be born for us, teach us and guide us, to die for us and conquer for us, is
God’s amazing love declaration to an entire human race in dire need of the light
of the Lord.
Luke 1:
31 - 33: “The angel said to her, “Do not
be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give
birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be
called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his
father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will
never end.”
God so much loved the world that he gave his
only Son...
“The Son of the most High” demonstrated sacrificial
love during his ministry on earth, showing us the loving character of his
kingdom that will never end. Advent is a
season that reminds us to do what Jesus is coming to do, as we remember what he
did when he ministered on earth. We are reminded to be kind, selfless and
sharing. It is a time to practice how to
love as God loved us, by giving us his most precious gift, his only Son. As God
is love, let us be love also.
The
Gospel according to John says:
“I give you a new commandment, that you love
one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By
this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one
another.” – John 13:34-35
The
Apostle Paul teaches:
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not
envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. Love never fails." - I Corinthians 13: 4,8.
As we
light the last candle, we express our need, even our desperate want, for God to
love us, in spite of whom we are and what we became. The Child of hope, peace and joy is to us the
confirmation of the divine love of God.
Our God loved us even when we were his enemies, when we were rebellious
sinners and while we still were determined to undermine his never ending Kingdom.
It is
his love and his mercy that brought us into the fold and made us family, sons
and daughters, of the Most High, too. It
is the love that reconciled us with God, in Christ Jesus, our Redeemer.
Prayer:
Dear
God, as we light this candle of love, we look with hope to the coming of your
Son into our hearts, our lives, our Church and our nation. O son of David, son of Mary, we receive you
as the only Son of God, Most High. We welcome
you with joyful hearts filled with hope. We welcome you with hearts that are at
peace with you!
Come,
Lord Jesus, and make us whole again - through your divine love and mercy.
Come to
us now!
Come to
us in love and have mercy upon us! Amen!
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