Tuesday of
the 3rd Week of Advent
December 16, 2014 6:30am
Recently I bought a new black
suit and, as I suppose most people do, I needed some alterations.
When I picked up the suit, there
was some leftover material in the pocket of the trousers.
I think you call this a remnant
and it can be used to repair the suit if there is ever a tear that needs
mending.
A remnant is something left over
from something larger.
Tailors and seamstresses regularly
talk of a remnant of cloth or fabric.
Well, several of the Old
Testament prophets hoped for a remnant of people within Israel.
They hoped for a remnant who
would be faithful to God and renew Israel’s religious life.
The Prophet Zephaniah in today’s
first reading hopes for such a remnant.
He warns the people about their failure
to follow the Lord’s way.
He foresees that there will be a
remnant of this people.
And the chief characteristic of
this remnant is that they will be humble.
They will recognize their need
for God and dependence on God, and they will follow God’s way as the way to
true happiness and the fullness of life. They will, as the prophet says, take
refuge in the Lord and live upright lives.
Out of this remnant came John the
Baptist and even Jesus.
Jesus now calls us to be humble.
This is why in today’s gospel he
says that some of the sinful people of his day are entering the kingdom of God
before some of the apparently religious people.
Some of the sinful came to
realize their need for God and became humble.
But some of the apparently
religious were caught up in their own worthiness and they lacked the humility
to be part of God’s kingdom.
So, the Advent message is that we
are now to be God’s remnant.
We are to be humble people –
realizing our need for God and for growing in the way of the Lord as we journey
through life.
