Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the LORD, your God, teaching you how to prevail, leading you on the way you should go.
Last week I passed by the apartment of my 93-year-old neighbor, Barbara. She was upset and was worried that she had just thrown her apartment and car keys into the dumpster when she throughout her trash. It was late in the day and the staff had gone home. Barbara didn’t think that it would be too difficult to retrieve them because there wasn’t much trash in the container. Her other neighbor had a hideout key, but she had no spare car key. She said that it would not take much to find them.
I was a little more worried. The easy part was climbing into the dumpster. There were footholds on the outside. Getting out was another story. The smooth sides and nothing to climb on was what made me wonder how I was going to get out. I also had a heavy magnet on my refrigerator and a long stick.
We had options. There was a possibility that she had dropped her keys on the sidewalk. So, we retraced her steps back to the dumpster. We checked the sidewalk and shrubs along the way. All the way I am praying for the direction in Isaiah. I knew that God had put me there in that time and place and I was supposed to be His instrument to solve the problem. I was thinking a magnet or a broom handle. I was hoping that I didn’t have to crawl into the dumpster.
We retraced her steps and passed her car in the handicapped parking and guess what was sticking out of the trunk of her car. Yes, her keys to her apartment and car.
Barbara was thankful for finding her keys. It wasn’t a big deal to her because there wasn’t much trash to go through. I was so very thankful to God that I didn’t have to climb into the dumpster.
Isaiah goes on to say: If only you had been alert to my commandments, your happiness would have been like a river, your integrity like the waves of the sea.
We should not only be aware of the big 10 commandments but to the little things that God leads us to do to help us to love one another. Jesus says in today’s Gospel: For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works.
God gives us opportunities to be alert by calling a recent widower or widow. Calling a grandchild who is having difficulty with life. This is the things that we must be alert and on guard. Our happiness and people like Barbar’s happiness depends on it. Barbara retrieved her keys, and I got a good story to tell. Wednesday, I purchased a meal for a homeless man with a cast on crutches. Our opportunities are endless if we are alert to God’s call.
In Barbara’s case, someone could have come by and stole her car and in addition had a key to her apartment. Things could have gone “South” very easily.
We have to be alert to sin and creeping sin in our lives but also those little things that God wants us to do. Personally, I am much happier in the state of Grace than not. I am much happier when I listen than when I don’t listen.
We had a Penance service at Church this week. Nice priest and a wonderful feeling for this Holy Season. I hope everyone takes the time to pause and reflect and be alert this Advent.
I know I am happier when I do what God wants me to do.
This is the message for today’s readings. Listen and be alert to God’s call.
God Love You Always
Bob Burford
PS: Please pray for Peace in the Ukraine. Also pray for cancer victims and their caregivers.
