Defects and all ....

Apparently it rained last night but no one realised it. This morning the roads and terraces are all wet and the sky is very clear and the sun is out in full force. many of the professors and students want to go out; just to take a break. Me too. Want to get away from the books just for today - clear the mind by taking a walk outside in the New City, or maybe a nearby park.

This morning I concelebrated Mass at the Flagellation Chapel instead of the Holy Sepulchre; was feeling really tired and bogged down by loads of work. Fr Bissoli gave a nice sermon which I'm adapting here for you. The theme was "waiting" in Advent; but what are we waiting for? John the Baptist expected a Messiah to come and judge the world; but Jesus corrected this by showing that the Messiah comes to treat everyone with great patience and bringing everyone to wholeness (therefore 1st reading Isaiah talks about blind seeing again, lame walking etc... which is repeated in the Gospel). The Messiah is coming not to judge and condemn but to bring to fullness everything that is suffering from defects; to make everything whole and perfect; and he does this with great patience (2nd reading Letter of St James). So think about that - what are the areas that you feel is defective and requires wholeness? Are we patient with others' defects? Critical? or helping them overcome it?