The Fourth Day in the Octave of the Nativity
The Feast of the Holy Innocents
Year A
Reading: 1 John 1:5 – 2:2
Responsorial Psalm: PS 124: 2-5; 7-8
“Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare”
Gospel: Matthew 2: 13-18
1 John 2:1 – “We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one”
Another name for Advocate is Paraclete. The Paraclete is often depicted as a bird which, coming from Heaven, represents the Holy Spirit. If we have an active faith, the Holy Spirit lives within us and around us.
We have a Trinitarian God – The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – three in one. When praying through the Holy Spirit to Jesus, we are praying directly to God.
Jesus experienced life as a man. He experienced everything that we experience, including temptation, pain, stress, frustration and anger. Jesus is also divine. However, He physically dealt with these negative experiences as a man, while using His divinity to teach others of the realities of this world and how God the Father can bring about grace and joy if we will allow Him to play a part in our lives.
If we open the door to God, he will enter into our lives and bring light and love with him. The direct line to God is through his son Jesus Christ. Let’s focus on this icon of life as the year comes to an end so we can prepare for the new year with greater hope for ourselves and the world around us.
Pray for those blinded by earthly riches today.
With thanks to Holy Name of Mary Parish, Hunters Hill, who have supplied these daily Advent and Christmas 2019 reflections from their publication Daily Inspirations of Faith: A Season of Prayer – Advent to Epiphany 2019-20.
