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A WORD FROM THE PASTOR
Reproduce Heaven On Earth
There is a story that is told about a young monk who approached an experienced desert Father. He expressed his frustration, "I feel so restricted. I am stagnating like a pond or a puddle." The elderly monk responded, "Then do not be a pond. Be a bay." A bay, of course, is joined with the immense ocean. Each day it has a fresh exchange of water. It rarely stagnates. St. John the Baptist was like that. He was in an extremely lonely spot - the Judean desert. But the desert is a place where one encounters God. Also, he did not stagnate, for he always connected himself with the great ocean, viz. God's mercy.
So, during this holy period of Advent when we prepare ourselves for the coming of our Lord, what should our response be? There can be two responses on our part: First, we need once more to hear the challenging call of John the Baptist to baptism of repentance and forgiveness, and connect ourselves to the ocean of God's mercy, and second, we have to realize that our own role is not unlike that of John the Baptist. Like him, each one of us has a mission to communicate the message of hope, love, freedom and peace to others, so that - "All humanity shall see the salvation of the Lord!" (Lk 3:6).
How can each one of us experience the ocean of God's mercy? A story is told of a soldier who asked a monk, "Teach me the difference between heaven and hell." The monk said, "You are an obvious coward, not a warrior. Furthermore, I believe you do not know how to use that gun." The soldier was so enraged that he drew his revolver from his holster to shoot the monk. As he prepared to squeeze the trigger, the monk said calmly, "That's Hell." The abashed soldier immediately came to his senses and placed his gun back in its holster. And the monk said quietly, "That's Heaven."
In just 18 days, we shall salute the feast when Heaven came to earth as a Child. As a fitting preparation for that feast this second week of Advent, why don't we each attempt to reproduce Heaven on earth - here and now? Why need we wait for Christmas day itself?
In the Service of the Lord,
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