ADORATION
SERVICE
THEME: IF GOD CAME TO YOUR
HOUSE...
INTRODUCTION:
...Yes
my Brothers and Sisters, he is coming...these days we are in the holy season of Advent.
Advent is a season of waiting and preparation for the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Waiting in such a way that we are ready to receive him fully prepared
with our hearts open and clean. It is a time to empty our hearts of all our
useless attachments and anxieties, so that when the Lord comes and knocks He
may find Himself welcomed.
What do
we do when we come to know that a dear relation of friend, whom we have not
seen in a long time, is going to drop in? Of course, we see to it that the
house is spick and span, we plan our menu well and prepare those things we know
our friend/relative would enjoy; then of course, we would attend to a host of
other little details in order to ensure that our friend's/relative's stay is
pleasant and comfortable. Well we are going to receive a guest soon: The Lord
Jesus Christ Himself. Let us all stand and welcome Him.
Hymn: The king of glory comes.
GOSPEL: Lk 2:1-14 (adapted)
In
those days Caesar Augustus published a decree ordering a census of the whole
world. This first census took place while Quirinus was governor of Syria.
Everyone went to register, each to his own town. And so Joseph went from the
town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to David's town of Bethlehem - because he
was of the house and lineage of David - to register with Mary, his espoused
wife who was with child. While they were there...
Joseph: In the name of heaven, good
friends, give us a place to stay.
Innkeeper 1: This is not an inn; keep going.
We don't open to strangers.
Joseph: I am Joseph, the carpenter form
Nazareth. Do not refuse us; that God may reward you.
Innkeeper 2: We don't care who you are, let
us sleep... We've already told you we won't let you in.
Joseph: My beloved wife Mary can go no
further. She is heaven's queen who will bear God's son.
Innkeeper 3: Enter holy pilgrims. You may
use this poor place. My house and heart is open to you.
There Mary gave birth to her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the place where travelers lodged.
REFLECTION:
The sad
story of that first Christmas lay in the fact that there was no room in that
crowded inn. Imagine the state of Joseph. He searched in vain for a place where
He, to whom heaven and earth belonged, might be born. There was room in fact in
the inn for all those who had a coin, but there was no room for him who came to
be the inn of every homeless heart in the world. In the filthiest of place
purity was born. In the darkest of places was shinning the light of the world
and in the poorest of places was born the king of kings. This could happen to
us also, for our hearts could be crowded with sweets, cakes, decorations,
parties, dances and all the rest, with the result that we put a sign "NO
VACANCY" in our hearts.
May it
not be said of us, that there is no vacancy, but let us make sure there is room
in our hearts which will be available for Jesus. What does it profit Christ to
be born in Bethlehem a thousand times
unless He is born in our hearts. Let us no lament like the inn-keeper who in
the poem of Carle Grant said:
Oh why did I turn them away, the
two that came to me that day.
The man Joseph and his wife, who
was soon to bring to birth new life?
If what I know now I had known
then, I surely would have taken them in.
And given them the inn's best
fare and made them comfortable there.
If I had only known a strange
light would shine and that Angel's so bright would appear; that the little one
born in the stable was God's son.
Oh, how different would it have
been If what I know now I had known then.
We too can miss the Christmas light as did the
innkeeper in the inn, unless we open wide our hearts and joyfully make room for
Him. Let our prayer be, "Dear God, make of my heart a manger that it may
cradle your very precious Christ Child"
-Benediction
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