My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Today’s Words of God invite us to “Rejoice, rejoice, for the Lord is coming!” As Christmas comes early and quickly this year, our Mother Church emphasizes the joy that should be in our hearts because God the Father is endowing on us the ultimate gift. The Only Son of God is coming to us! The great joy of Christians is to see the day when the Lord will come again in His glory to lead them into His Kingdom.
Are we ready for Christ’s final coming? Not only at Christmas, but also at the end of the world, or at the time of our own death? If you say you are ready for Christmas but you are not ready for death and judgment, perhaps you are deceiving yourself. You are not ready yet for the real Christmas. If you are ready, you should have confidence to say: “Fear not! Be strong, for here is your God. He comes with vindication, with divine recompense. He comes to save you. Indeed, Jesus is coming, not to condemn but to save. If you are looking forward to His Christmas coming, you can be joyfully anticipating His coming even in death and judgment. It will be so good that it is hard to wait for. But be patient until the Lord comes.
There is only one more week until Christmas of 2013. We should make a resolution together: we can speed Jesus’ second coming by repentance, evangelization and intercession. “He who is to come” is coming. Let us pray, Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus, come. May we yearn for Your coming because we love you. We believe that when You come, Lord, “The blind will recover their sight, cripples walk, lepers be cured, the deaf hear, death men be raised to life, and the poor have the Good News preached to them. Blest is the man and woman who find no stumbling block in Me.” May the Holy Spirit come and help us prepare our souls, our hearts and our minds beautifully for the coming of the Lord Jesus.
With love,
Fr. Thuong Hoai Nguyen, Pastor