Advent - To meet the Lord, we must be prepared for life, not just for death!

Travellers wait for buses and planes, students wait for their exam results. Waiting is part of life. Life is not like instant coffee, there is always more to life than we can grasp its fullness at any one time.

Advent invites us to wait for the Lord and surely we must wait for the Lord who will come at the moment of our death. Hence Advent calls us always to be ready to meet the Lord at our death. But as Christians, we should be ready not just for the final coming of Christ but for His constant coming every day of our lives.

If we are alert, we can find the Lord popping up in the ordinary activities and possibilities of life. If I am watchful, He may be tapping me on my shoulder when I meet my 'sisters and brothers'. If only we have 'those eyes that see, those ears that hear' (Is. 64:4), we can meet Him in His supreme visit, which He makes in a thousand ways. To meet the Lord, we must be prepared for life, not just for death!

As a community waiting in prayer, we pray...

Prayer is WAITING and so is Advent.

Prayer is WAITING.

Waiting, places the emphasis on the other person who is coming.

To wait is to express my powerlessness, my insufficiency because the other is in control. And that is how our attitude should be towards God. I cannot force God to come. All I can do is wait and be present. In simply waiting for God, I admit that God is important to my life.

As a people waiting in prayer, we pray...

Little Drummer Boy

In my post yesterday, i shared about one of my favorite psalm and had linked it with one of my favorite Christmas carols i.e. Little Drummer Boy. Personally i feel this song is suitable to be sang at mass for offertory or presentation of the gifts during the Christmas season. Check out the words of the song and enjoy the clips.




Little Drummer Boy
Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

So to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
When we come.

Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,
On my drum?

Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum.


Another version of the song.

Psalm 50 (51)

Psalm 50 (51) is one of my favourite psalm. I am very happy that this psalm is said every Friday morning at Lauds. For me this psalm is like a child begging or non-stop asking (pestering) the father for something and the child will only stop when the father says yes or gives it to the child. Likewise through praying this psalm, I am the child asking God my father for His grace of forgiveness and His love.

I dare not and will not say that I am perfect for I am a sinner. By praying this psalm, I am able to feel and receive God's forgivenes, assurance of His mercy and His love.

I have identify a 'mini penintential service' in this psalm:-

a) Introduction - a song of hope and assurance of God's forgiveness (verses 1-2) - confident that God will forgive me.

b) Confessing of one's sins / acknowledging of sins (verse 3-6)

c) Act of Contrition - prayer for forgiveness (verse 7-12)

d) Penance - to bring others back to God (verse 13)

e) Thanksgiving (verses 14-17)

f) Intercession (verses 18-19)

What attracted me to this psalm is God's constant love, His great compassion and His assurance of His forgiveness (verse 1-2). That God is able to create a pure heart and able to give me a new spirit. Just like the 'drummer boy' (a Christmas song) who could only play his drum as a gift for the newborn King, I can only offer my broken spirit and my broken heart to God as a sacrifice (verse 17).

Advent invites us to straighten-up, as we WAIT.

Christmas is fast approaching. We can feel the commercialized presence of Christmas already in our TV, Radio and Newspapers' advertisements and not forgetting the music and decorations in all the malls. Many in fact started either end of November or beginning December.

In the midst of this swelling excitement, worshippers in churches are reminded to be watchful, to repent, to do penance. Now, I am afraid that you are beginning to wonder whether Advent is a joyful season or a penitential period! It is true that Advent brings joy and feelings of excitement as we wait, but it also calls us to straighten up our lives.

Let us then "Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight" (Mk 1:3).