Daily Gospel Reflection for December 16, 2019

Today's Gospel: Matthew 21:23-27 Here we stand on the very ledge of Advent. Tomorrow we begin the “O Antiphons,” the last week before Christmas Eve. On this day, Jesus asks the chief priests, the elders, and us to look back at what has happened so far. He asks us to own up to what we’ve done with the knowledge we’ve gained. He asks us to stop sitting on whatever fences we’ve constructed. We sit on those fences and look outward, seeing what Jesus should be to us, but we keep the fence up so that we can jump behind it should Jesus get too close… or we get too close to Him. Ouch. This one gets me in all the properly painful places. How often do I use “I don’t know” as an excuse to not do what I know I should do? Should I reprimand in truthful love that former friend who blasts social media with invectives against Christians? I don’t know. Should I skip that snack I obviously don’t need? I don’t know. Should I really be scrolling through Twitter when it’s time for Vespers? I don’t know. The painful reality is that I do know. I’m just weak. I need to follow Jesus through all truth, even the most difficult. If I do, I will keep those lines of communication open between me and my King Jesus--lines the chief priests and elders sneered at from on top of the fences they’d built.