Dance then wherever you may be

Ish 48:17-19, Mt. 11:16-19. Jesus keenly observes people of all ages. He speaks of the Kingdom of God using practical images drawn from daily life. In today's Gospel, we find Him drawing on His observation of children at play in the market square. Sometimes their play simply reflects the joy of life. They happily act to play pipes while other children dance to the music. At other times their games reflect the sorrows of life, perhaps what they had seen at the death of an elderly neighbour. Some of them sing dirges while the other children would mourn and wail in response. However, some children refused to join in any game; they would not dance when the pipes are played and they would not mourn when dirges were sung.

The unresponsive children reminded Jesus of some dour, while the responsive ones followed Him. They would neither mourn in response to the grim message of John the Baptist nor dance in response to the joyful message of Jesus. They accused John as possessed and Jesus as a glutton and a drunkard. It is interesting how our Lord identifies His ministry with the piper and the dance. His life and message are good news, the good news of God’s love for us all; he plays a joyful tune. We are called to move in unison with the 'music of Jesus', the 'music of his Spirit' in our lives. We try to attune ourselves to the rhythm and melody of the Lord and allow it to shape all that we say and do. That is our Advent calling in preparation for our celebration of the birth of Jesus.

May the Lord keep us watchful as we await the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that, we may be faithful to His teaching and hasten to meet our Saviour with lamps alight! Amen!! Good morning and Have a pleasant day!!!