3rd Sunday of Advent, A

Time to change!

Matthew 11:2-11

In this third Sunday of Advent, called the Gaudete Sunday, we are challenged to shift from "old" to "new".  "It's time to clean the room"; to remove the clutters, to give it a fresh look, to open the windows and the let the fresh air come in.

History shifts from the promises of old till its realization in Jesus through whom "the blind see again, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised to life and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor."  There are three shifts I would propose in our preparations for Christmas:

First, Jesus really brings sweeping changes in our lives more that we can change on our own.  Shift from self to Jesus.

Second, the more others can change, the more change will be felt.  Shift from self to others.

Third, the change can be as beautiful as heaven itself.  If God truly dwells in our hearts, then it is heaven.  This is Christmas!  Shift from earth to heaven.