Third Friday of Advent

You, Judah, shall your brothers praise–your hand on the neck of your enemies; the sons of your father shall bow down to you. Judah, like a lion’s whelp, you have grown up on prey, my son. He crouches like a lion recumbent, the king of beasts–who would dare rouse him? The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his legs, While tribute is brought to him, and he receives the people’s homage.

Jesus is the fulfillment of this promise to Judah. He is the greatest fruit from the tree of Jacob, Judah’s father. He came into this world to be praised and so he is among his faithful. He came to conquer the enemies of man and he did conquer sin and death for us. He came to be worshiped as our Lord and Savior and we are all given the chance to do so as individuals and as members of His Spiritual Body, the Church. He is the King of Kings and we would be wise not to rouse His wrath by choosing vices over virtues. He is our Lord forever and though we might rebel against him for selfish reasons, we cannot escape his rule. And when we are caught by Him, we have only two choices: to refuse him and be cast into Hell or to pay him homage and enter eternal life with him.

Do we give God the praise that is due to Him for all He’s done for us? When we rouse God’s anger with us through sin do we confess our failings and seek to make amends with Him? What kinds of homage can we give God?

O Lord, we praise you for all you have done, are doing, and will do for us.

Amen.