Reflections on the 1st Sunday of Advent (Bro Martin Arlando)

1st Sunday of Advent - Hope

All I want for Christmas is ….
Hope seems to be the center of our life more than often. We can say that to a certain extend it is a driving force in our daily lives. How? Well let me illustrate with a story :)
Many years ago there lived a very old man in North China. His house faced South and right in front of his door stood the two gigantic peaks of Taihung & Wangwu.



They blocked his way to the south. So he sat down with his sons made a solemn promise and then went out with his hoe. They made up their minds to hack away those two mountains.

A neighbor saw them set to work and shook his head, “How stupid can one get?” he screamed. “It’s absolutely impossible for you to carry away these mighty mountains.”

The old man smiled and said, “Well, when I die, my sons will carry on the work. When they die, my grandsons will continue it. Yes, the mountains are high but they won’t get any higher. But our strength can still grow. With every bit of earth that we carry away we come closer to our goal. It is better to do something, than just sit around and complain that those mountains keep out the sunlight.”

And with complete conviction the old man kept on digging.

Will this determination and hope disappoint us especially that now we are embarking into the season of Advent, a season of hope? At its core, it’s faith that Jesus will come again to bring us to into his kingdom. Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. We put our faith and our hope in Jesus because we believe that he is faithful and loving. We believe that he will never abandon us. And so together with the psalmist of psalm 62 and 149 and the canticle of Daniel, let us praise God, the one we hope to meet soon. Sustained by God’s love, we can move mountains.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~