ARK OF THE WORD

With Advent, we begin a new liturgical and pastoral year in the Catholic Church, under the theme: "Disciples-Missionaries," which sets the direction for our journey of faith in the coming year. During this time, we will rediscover that every baptized person is simultaneously a disciple of Jesus and a missionary sent by Him. Being a disciple means listening to the Master, growing in His school, living through prayer and sacraments. Being a missionary means sharing the gift of faith we have received in the places where we live and work.

First – LISTENING TO THE MASTER. We can listen to anything – music, radio, news, audiobooks, etc. But we as Christians must listen to the Master, that is, Jesus Christ, who is the WORD OF GOD. Let us ask ourselves a question at the beginning of Advent: How often do I reach for Sacred Scripture? Do I read the Bible at all, that is, the Old and New Testaments? Do I have the Gospel at hand? Because it may turn out that I listen to everything else, but not to my Master, who desires to speak to me daily, especially when I lack words of comfort, support, words that give life.

Second – LIVING IN PRAYER. In fact, it is prayer that should create the proper atmosphere for mutual listening. See how difficult it is to converse with another person if there is no proper atmosphere – when there is mistrust, fear, when love is lacking. The same happens in our relationship with the WORD OF GOD. If I do not invite the Holy Spirit in my prayer, if I do not open my heart and do not give myself time to enter into prayer, then we should not be surprised that I neither hear the Lord's words nor accept the Master's words as directed to me here and now.

The next step is SACRAMENTAL LIFE. In fact, this is the culmination of the entire spiritual life of every Christian. If I find additional time in Advent for conversation with Jesus Christ, that is, my Teacher and Master. If I invite the Spirit of Christ into my mind and heart. If I hear even one of His holy Words or one sentence from the biblical readings like today, for example: May those who love You live in peace (Ps 122:6) or Understand the present time: now the hour has come for you to wake from sleep (Rom 13:11). Let us put on the armor of light – clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 14) and be ready, then my greatest desire will be to make use of the holy sacraments, that is, holy confession and the Holy Eucharist.

These three dimensions of spiritual life – listening to the Word, prayer, and sacraments – interpenetrate and support each other, naturally leading us to become MISSIONARIES who share their gift of faith with the brothers and sisters they meet. It doesn't matter whether they are believers or non-believers, whether they support the right or the left, whether they have the same skin color, the same religion or worldview. A disciple of Christ who is a missionary of Christ has the courage, like the biblical Noah, to show those who are having a great time, eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, that in Advent it is worth entering the spiritual ARK OF THE WORD, so as not to be engulfed by the waters of the flood. Of course, one person will take this Word to heart, and another will not. Indeed, one person will be taken by this Word to Heaven, and another left on earth. That is why we must watch over the Word and read it daily, because we do not know on which day of the New Year our Lord will come. Therefore, we must always be ready, because the Lord comes to us not only on the last day, but in every hour when we open His Word and allow Him to transform our hearts. Amen.