Already in Advent, listening time, prayer, and hope, God promises that we will all be better as individuals, families, churches, and people.
The Word of God says:
“From the swords shall be forged roasted, from the snout spears. He will not raise the sword people against people, they will no longer train for war (Isaiah 2:4).
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“The wolf and the lamb will go together, and the panther shall lie down with the goat, the steer, and the lion shall fatten together; a little boy shepherds them” (Isaiah 11:6 and ss.).
To fulfill these promises of hope, God sent his Son, who is God from eternity and became a man within Mary’s virginal bosom, pregnant with hope.
John, the Baptist, who had heard in prison the works of Christ, commanded him to ask through his disciples: Are you the one to come or do we have to wait for another?
Answer: Tell John what you have seen and heard. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are clean, the deaf hear, the dead are resurrected, the poor receive the Good News (Luke 7:22-24).
With Christ, Son of God made man, walker, teacher, shepherd, healer, crucified, and risen the promise of God and his followers has come true, we have a mission that these promises of love and hope be fulfilled in our day.
St Paul, an apostle of hope, writes to the Christians of Philippi from a prison:
“Always be joyful in the Lord, I repeat to you, be joyful, and have good dealings with all. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, rather on every occasion submit your requests to God and gather thanksgiving to supplication. And the peace of God, which is greater than you can imagine, will keep your hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7).
The fullness of love is done step by step and often inadvertently and popular wisdom lives and transmits it.
Our ancestors enjoyed the Christmas Dinner where the whole large family was there to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Party for a birth, family party, food party. Feast for the promises fulfilled, through the birth of the child God, whose life, teaching, death and resurrection make possible the love between enemies, between the rich and the poor, between the jailer and the prisoner, between the doctor and the sick, between the Catholic and the evangelical, among whom they think differently.
Popular wisdom has preserved in many families in the countryside and the city to have lunch together on Sunday.
What a beautiful photograph of husband, wife, children, grandparents, daughters-in-law and sons-in-law having lunch together at the table!
How sacrificed effort and rewarding that of the housewife preparing everything for this holy encounter!
How captivating to read the biblical text of the Sunday gospel and comment on it among all! (The Gospel 2019 can serve us.)
What interesting conversations about work, study, worries, joys!
What lights, what hope, what advice, what laughter around the table!
Sunday lunch is a small time on the way to a better family.
Sunday lunch is a step towards fulfilling God’s promises, of which we are today in charge of bringing them to reality.
God says to us with hope:
“Love is patient, it is helpful, it is not envious, nor seeks to appear, it is not proud or acts with care, it does not seek its interest, it does not become irritated; forgets and forgives offenses, never rejoices in injustice and always rejoices in the truth. Everything endures, believes everything, expects everything, endures everything” (1st Corinthians, chapter 13, 4-7).
Can you imagine the whole family living this love?
Can you imagine all of Cuba living this love?
What else do we want?
We have hope.
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