By: Bobot Apit

Dec 12, 2010 - Sunday Meditation (Here is Our Gpd!) 
As you interact with lost friends and family this Christmas season, ask them what they do with Jesus. Engage them in thoughtful, meaningful conversation about what the Bible says about Jesus and how they can have a relationship with him. And show them the love of Christ! JESUS IS THE ONE TRUE SON OF GOD AND CAME TO DIE FOR THE WORLD. SO TELL OTHERS ABOUT HIM!” 
  
Isaiah 35:1-6,10 
Psalm 146:6-10 
James 5:7-10 
Matthew 11:2-11  Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, "Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?"  4And Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.  6 And blessed is he who takes no offense at me."  7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind?  8 Why then did you go out?  To see a man clothed in soft raiment?  Behold, those who wear soft raiment are in kings' houses.  9 Why then did you go out?  To see a prophet?  Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.10  This is he of whom it is written, 'Behold I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way before
you.' 11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 
  
Meditation by Scott Hahn 
John questions Jesus from prison in today’s Gospel - for his disciples’ sake and for ours. 
  
He knows that Jesus is doing “the works of the Messiah,” foretold in today’s First Reading and Psalm. But John wants his disciples - and us - to know that the Judge is at the gate, that in Jesus our God has come to save us. 
  
The Liturgy of Advent takes us out into the desert to see and hear the marvelous works and words of God - the lame leaping like a stag, the dead raised, the good news preached to the poor (see Isaiah 29:18-20; 61:1-2). 
  
The Liturgy does this to give us courage, to strengthen our feeble hands and make firm our weak knees. Our hearts can easily become frightened and weighed down by the hardships we face. We can lose patience in our sufferings as we await the coming of the Lord. 
  
As James advises in today’s Epistle, we should take as our example the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 
  
Jesus also points us to a prophet - holding up John as a model. John knew that life was more than food, the body more than clothing. He sought the kingdom of God first, confident that God would provide (see Matthew 6:25-34). John did not complain. He did not lose faith. Even in chains in his prison cell, he was still sending his disciples - and us - to our Savior. 
  
We come to Him again now in the Eucharist. Already He has caused the desert to bloom, the burning sands to become springs of living water. He has opened our ears to hear the words of the sacred book, freed our tongue to fill the air with songs of thanksgiving (see Isaiah 30:18). 
  
Once bowed down, captives to sin and death, we have been ransomed and returned to His Kingdom, crowned with everlasting joy. Raised up we now stand before His altar to meet the One who is to come: “Here is your God.” 
  
  
Supplementary Reading 
Uniqueness of Jesus 
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” -  Acts 4:12 
  
  
I just love Christmas time! But one thing about this time of year that always makes me stop and think is the fact that it’s the only time when people who want nothing to do with Jesus sing about him being their Savior! 
  
Now, I’d just love to stop someone whom I know isn’t a believer in the middle of the second verse of ‘Silent Night’ and ask them, “Do you really believe all that?” And you know what I bet I’d hear? “Well, Jesus was a good teacher and a moral leader, but not really God.” 
  
I think it was C.S. Lewis who first gave us the trilemma that every person faces concerning Jesus Christ. He said, 
  
Either Jesus was a liar who claimed to be God even though He knew He wasn’t, he was some kind of a lunatic who thought he was God but wasn’t, or else Jesus Christ was Lord of life. Away with this business of saying that Jesus Christ was just a good man or a great moral teacher; because if Jesus Christ is not God, Jesus Christ is not good! 
  
Either Jesus is mad, bad, or he is truly God. And Jesus said he is the only way to God. So if he is just one of many ways, that would make him crazy or a liar! 
  
So as you interact with lost friends and family this Christmas season, ask them what they do with Jesus. Engage them in thoughtful, meaningful conversation about what the Bible says about Jesus and how they can have a relationship with him. And show them the love of Christ! 
  
JESUS IS THE ONE TRUE SON OF GOD AND CAME TO DIE FOR THE WORLD. SO TELL OTHERS ABOUT HIM! - Jack Graham