15 December 2020 - Tuesday of the 3rd week of ADVENT - Matthew 21:28-32, Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13

       Our Gospel reading this evening gives us a lot to ponder in the midst of the Advent season.  Perhaps there are times on our Advent journey when we can identify with both of the sons described in today's Gospel.  Sometimes we are like the son who initially says “no” to his father, but then later goes into the field to work.  Other times we can say “yes,” but then never go out to do the will of the Father, just like the second son.  I bet there have been times when we have told ourselves that we would do whatever God asked us to do if we could discern his will, only to disobey him.   We often put our own will, our own desires, and our own pleasures before the will of God in our lives.  

         In a similar way, the prophet Zephaniah proclaims woe to the rebellious and tyrannical city that will not follow God and will not put its trust in him.  God tells the city that it need not be ashamed of its past misdeeds and rebellions.  God will wipe away their sins, making that city new again.  If we believe that God indeed has the power to do this, what is stopping us from the repentance and conversion we need in our lives during this holy season of Advent? 

When I was looking at a devotional book that I have for the month of December, I saw a reflection on Catherine de Hueck Doherty.  She is in the process of eventual canonization, having been named Servant of God.  Born in the Russian empire at the end of the 19th century and married to a Baron at the age of 15, she served as a red cross nurse on the front in WWI and then fled as a refugee to Finland in the midst of the Russian Revolution.  Making her way to New York and Canada, she found two organizations of apostolic outreach: Friendship House and Madonna House.  I remember reading a book written by her entitled Pounstinia, founded on the Russian Orthodox principles of silence and prayer.  She died in December 1985 at the age of 89.  When I was up in Canada, I volunteered at the soup kitchen at the Madonna House in Edmonton.  I have great respect for that community.  Catherine de Hueck Doherty’s spirituality of silence, service to her neighbor, social justice, reconciliation and prayer speak to us in the midst of our Advent journey.