You Need Heaven
3rd Sunday of Advent
“Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.”Is. 12
We live in a cold and barren world, where the love of many hearts has grown cold (cf. Matthew 24,12) and where many souls wander thirsty and hungry, seeking and begging for love at the doors of impoverished people, even though Jesus told us several times:
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”John 6:35
This is the GOOD NEWS: Jesus did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, because it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick (Luke 5:31-32). Jesus knows that we need Him because He is the head the one who knows best how to give us what we need to live without hunger or thirst. He comes to be our light, aware that without Him, we are in darkness, like sheep without a shepherd, lost in the desert, unable to find the way out and settling for a small, murky oasis, which is all this world can offer. This is why John the Baptist invites us to a conversion of heart so that we may receive God.
JESUS KNOWS WE NEED HEAVEN, just as we need oxygen to breathe. Without the oxygen of His love, our souls suffocate, seeking worldly “oxygens”—false substitutes for the one true source. These are tainted with pollution that harms us and fails to sustain our souls as we truly need.
Jesus is the heaven that descended to earth to make our burdens lighter and easier. This is why He calls us to come to Him:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy…”Matthew 11:28-30
With Jesus— and only with Him and His Word our souls are oxygenated, cleansed from the contaminants of this world, and detoxified, allowing us to continue walking through this desert without losing our way. He shows us the path to the Father, the Kingdom of eternal life, so that we do not perish along the journey. This is what happens to many in this world who do not receive the divine revelation that Jesus came to bring — the way, the truth, and the life for all (John 14:6).
HE IS THE OXYGEN OUR SOULS NEED TO BREATHE FREELY-the love and happiness we need to be truly full and overflowing so that we can give love, joy, peace, and bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Jesus stood up and cried out in a loud voice:
“If anyone is thirsty, let them come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”John 7:37-39
He was referring to the Holy Spirit, which those who believe in Him would receive.
Weekly Readings
Sunday: Zep 3:14-18a/Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 (6)/Phil 4:4-7/ Lk 3:10-18
Monday: Nm 24:2-7, 15-17a/Ps 25:4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8- 9/ Mt 21:23-27
Tuesday: Gn 49:2, 8-10/Ps 72:1-2, 3-4ab, 7-8, 17/ Mt 1:1-17
Wednesday: Jer 23:5-8/Ps 72:1-2, 12-13, 18-19/Mt 1:18-25
Thursday: Jgs 13:2-7, 24-25a/Ps 71:3-4a, 5-6ab, 16-17/Lk 1:5-25
Friday: Is 7:10-14/Ps 24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6/Lk 1:26-38
Saturday: Sg 2:8-14 or Zep 3:14-18a/Ps 33:2-3,11-12, 20-21/Lk 1:39-45
Next Sunday: Mi 5:1-4a/Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 (4)/ Heb 10:5-10/Lk 1:39-45
Observances for the Week
Sunday: 3rd Sunday of Advent
Saturday: St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church
Next Sunday: 4th Sunday of Advent
