FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT MESSAGE BY CATHOLIC UNIVERSAL CHURCH OF THE WORLD

Fourth Sunday of Advent
2Sm 7:1-5, 8-11,16
Ps 89:2-5,27,29
Rm 16:25-27
Lk 1:26-38
What do you have that is not a gift from God? The Lord gives to us what we need in order for us to be led closer to salvation. Your home is not here, and your heart should never be set upon the things which surround you at the present moment. Everything that we are given, we should receive with thanksgiving to God; everything that we have we should be able to offer up to the Lord. A simple, quiet, and humble heart is able to pray with greater ease and be led towards the Truth of salvation than one who is overflooded personal thoughts, prideful opinions, and noises of society, which destroy peace within the heart. The Lord who has created us, desires to save us, and promised to come into the world to gives us the strength of grace after uniting His divine life with our weak body and spirit. The Lord gives to us what He wills to lead us to the glorious Paradise. We can only bear the Cross together with Him, and be led by the Light through the darkness.

Our goal in life is to walk towards Christ with our personal Cross, bearing only a minuscule fraction of the weight the Lord had to carry and suffer for the sins of men. God has prepared for each one of us a road to travel and a place in Heaven. He has come to us to draw everyone to Himself. Blessed are those who follow Him humbly, peacefully and gently towards eternal life. It is true that everyone must suffer and the Lord chooses who, how and when we are to suffer to partake in the Cross with Him. A man can only receive true peace within his heart when he fully lets go of himself and conforms to the will of the Savior, who is the only One that knows the perfect way for each one of us to our home in Heaven. The Most Holy Word of God took on flesh so that our search in this world becomes centered upon Him and no longer is misled by the evil spirits that prowl surrounding us. Men have strayed many times, prophets have sinned, and many have been misled by other supernatural revelations. Only the Lord can show us the way perfectly to our eternal home. The lowly, humble, the weak and the poor realize their powerlessness before forces greater than themselves. Christ however has come into the world to comfort the lowly, the mourning, and be the Light to those who patiently wait for Him in the darkness.
“The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” 1Pt 4:7-11.
Every man is to use the gifts they have received for God’s glory, to bring others closer to the Lord, to praise His Name, and for the salvation of sinners. There is no man that should say that he has nothing to give of himself, after all, everyone can pray, even a man with no material goods and no great spiritual gifts; there is nothing more important than prayers for the salvation of sinners. Those who are close to the Lord, devote themselves to many prayers in the silence of their hearts. It is prayer that lifts a man from the ground into the heavenly glory of the Lord.
“Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. And a man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, ‘Look at us!’ And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, ‘I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!’ And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. With a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God; and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him” Acts 3:1-10.
Every man must be able to stand regardless of the weight placed upon him. God gives nothing and permits nothing to happen to a man unless the man can is capable of handling the difficulty with God’s grace. Christ promised that He would come and build new Temple on the stone that the builders rejected to comfort is mourning people surrounded by the world of sins. The temple of God must be built from the ground up, and it can only be done so by the sweat of sacrifice and the perseverance with love. It is the Rock of Christ that is forever engraved into this world through the Cross and Resurrection, and there is no man, no prophet or angelic revelation that can abrogate what has been set in stone by the Lord’s omnipotent and eternal hand. The House of the Lord can never be moved, and it is the only House through which a man can attain salvation. Christ humbled Himself to the lowest of the low, although being the Son of God and One with the Father. God accomplished what is incomprehensible to the human mind, but He has done this so that man could understand how great is the love of God for the sinners of this world. God pulls men to Himself through their trials of darkness. Men are able to stand only in Christ when the floods and waters swallow and snatch the souls from this earth. The floods come upon every man, and therefore one must walk daily in the peace, mercy and love of Christ. Those who walk in Christ, walk in the darkness with the Light of eternal life before their eyes and feet.
A man who has received little in this world can more easily humble himself before the Lord, deny himself, and stand strongly on the Rock of Christ. However God is to be praised not only by those at the level of poverty, but also by those who have received much. Although faith is of the spirit and men are to live in the spirit, the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and therefore one should purify the body, fill it with good things and provide the necessities to those who have none. It is necessary for all to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and heal the sick. Those who have received much are to share in the Lord’s fruitful bounty of their homes with those less fortunate. Some can give through their hands, others with financial support, and yet others with prayers. All men should work charitably using whatever means available to them, since all methods are fruitful and necessary. God is to be praised by all men and those who have received should seek to give what others have not. Those who have received much more will be required of them.
King David knew what he bountifully received can only be attributed to the Lord’s heavenly care over him. However he is living in a cedar palace adorned by opulence, security and servants, while the Ark of the Covenant is in a tent. Therefore David is inspired through the prophet Nathan to give back to God what is rightfully His so the Lord may be praised among the people. David is blessed by the Lord and this blessing is to be shared with the people so they can worship the Most-Beneficent God.
It should always be praised when a man is moved to walk in the direction of the Lord in whatever degree is revealed within the heart. A man would have nothing if the Lord has not given them the supernatural grace and power, intellectually, physically, or spiritually, to accomplish the work they have done. Although David lives in a cedar palace, the people still live in poverty, and it is not possible that every man lives in a cedar palace. However if David did not live in the cedar palace there would be another who would live in his place and rule over the people. This authority would have possibly not been moved by the Lord to build a Temple so others would worship. There will always be men who rule over others and have authority over nations, but do not seek the Lord, although their power is given to them from the Lord. Pressures may be great among authorities, nevertheless they are also called to conform to the will of God, serve Him, so they may in return serve the people. A man is never victorious by his own powers but through the grace of God and the sacrifice of the people, whether it is a physical or spiritual battle. Authorities who will not become obedient to the Lord will come upon the Lord’s Judgment. The ways of men have always been impure, disgraceful, prideful, sinful, and inconstant. Only by the great gift of grace can turn men to the Lord if they open up their heart in whatever circumstance and environment they live. The Lord desired to fulfill what has been lacking, to lead what has many times strayed, and to build another Temple not by human hands, but upon the Spirit of the Living God, upon the Rock that can never be moved.
God from the mysterious depths of eternity spoke His eternal Word in order to establish a new way of life, a new way of thinking and a new Kingdom that is entirely different from the ways of men and this world. Not by wealth, not by the sword, nor by oppression, but by the poverty of heart, mind, body, and soul, so that men may give to God what belongs to Him, and share with others the Most-Beneficient of God’s blessings.
Christ was sent to this world to create a new Temple upon His Body of the Church, where Christ is at its Head, and consequently pours out divine grace to all its members through the mystical and spiritual union of His members. This is a union that is different from all other relationships and faiths because it is directly, intimately, spiritually and eternally instituted by the Lord. No other faith is comparable to that of the One, Holy, Universal, and Apostolic Church because the Church is directly bonded to the Vine of heavenly grace through the Sacraments beginning with Baptism. It is Christ’s intention that from within Mother Church will flow divine life from the Savior who is carried within Her womb. Christ is infinite, eternal, and Life itself. There is no greater gift that any man could ever receive than the gift of Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, Who is Christ, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. For this purpose has Christ come into this world to lift men from their darkness with faith, comfort them in their sorrows, and bring them to the light of salvation through the Cross and Resurrection. Christ has come into the flesh to give to us Himself, to be consumed, so that we are made one with Him. In partaking of His flesh we partake already in the divine glory of Heaven.
Men have sought to live in great palaces, but the Lord chose to be born in a stable. Men have desired to be honored by men, but Christ humbled Himself, did not seek His own glory, and was rejected by the people: from the initial rejection at the Bethlehem Inn to the ultimate rejection at the Jerusalem Cross. Men have sought to be surrounded by wealthy and important people, but Christ was born among the poor and the shepherds, took tax collectors and prostitutes for friends, and washed the feet of sinners. Men desire to take over the world and attain all its treasures and powers, but Christ had won victory through humility, poverty, and obedience to the divine will of the Father of Heaven.
The Father of Heaven sent His Son, who is uncreated, eternal and one with the Father, into this world to build a new house and a new temple of Israel in the heart of every man that will be ruled by the Spirit of God. In this Temple no man will be able to usurp God’s grace, no enemy will be able to tear down the bricks and rule over their hearts. Each man baptized with the Holy Spirit shall live with God if he walks faithfully and obediently with God. The Lord promised that He would come to renew the face of the earth, and He has come to the faithful in their difficulties, darkness, and desolations. With Christ there is no despair but hope, death becomes a man’s resurrection, and the glory of the heavenly star shall one day shine eternally when the faithful are taken away from this world of pain and suffering to the glory of Heaven.
A great light shall shine in the darkness, and will enter this world through an immaculate, humble and prayerful heart that shall speak the fiat, ‘May it be done to me according to Your Word’ Lk 1:38b. The Lord’s House shall be a House of worship, mercy, comfort, and rest. No man shall take away the great gift that God has given to the sinners of this world. Christ’s Kingdom is not of this earth. Seek the treasure of Heaven, and let the Light shine within your humble and prayerful heart.