The WORD in ADVENT - Living the Reign here and now #20

Reach out, Receive the Reign here and now

Friday, December 21, 2018

Song of Songs 2: 8-14; Luke 1: 39-45

Living the Reign here and now would mean that we actively receive it here and not just passively wait for something to happen. To long for the Lord and to receive the Lord with true love in the heart: that is the objective of the season of Advent. And in the context of the Second coming of the Lord, Advent involves longing for the Reign and receiving it with commitment! At the fag end of this season the first reading brings that longing strongly to the fore. But the Word taken together offers us an insight totally different. 

To begin with, it is not enough to long for the Lord and imagine that the Lord will come to stay with me, as if the Lord has to come from somewhere... the Lord is already in our midst and we need to feel the presence of the Lord. This is the same with the Reign, as Jesus teaches us: The Reign of God is amidst you! The way to feel the presence of the Lord or the Lord's Reign is to Reach Out to those in need, those in want, those in struggles, those in loneliness, those in grief. See our Blessed Mother reaching out, in the Gospel.

The second insight is, though when we reach out, that is when we go to do something for someone in need, we feel that we are giving - the Word today says, No! In fact, in reaching out, we receive! In reaching out to the other who is in need, we actually receive, we receive meaning to our life, we receive peace in our hearts, we receive the Lord who is in our midst, we receive the Reign into our midst. In reaching out, we receive and we begin to live this Reign here and now!