“Where are you then?” The man replied, “I heard You in the garden, I got scared because I was naked, and I hid” – Genesis 3:10
First of all, let me say that we humans find it easy to respond to God in the different circumstances of our lives, when faced with a fault or a sin that we commit, forgetting our responsibility for it!
Do we escape with excuses regardless of our consciously deliberate participation in such an act?
God always comes and knocks at our heart one way or another, but we don’t know how to respond to this opportunity. We do not answer Him easily. Don’t we always look for red herrings? So, we must imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary who did not calculate how to respond to the will of God.
Secondly, I feel the response of the congregation to this matter of God’s will is very similar. At the time of the first visit of Brother Superior General and his council here with us in Lubumbashi, a similar situation occurred for me. During the individual interviews, Brother had asked me if I could continue to be in the leadership of the region? I immediately answered no! So, he was a little surprised because several of my colleagues said how well we had led the region in the last months!
On the last day of the regional assembly, we began to choose the members who would constitute the new regional council. After several discernments, an inner voice was asking me, ‘Given all that has been said, if I were elected, what would I do?’ This question is related to the reading for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception: “Where are you to serve your confreres?” I replied: With the humiliations I have suffered, I feel unfit to serve. So, I let myself be guided by the will of God. Being guided by the will of God better prepares us for the coming of Christ Jesus whom we commemorate each year on Christmas Day. The Church makes Advent available for our benefit.
God, may Your will guide each of us this Advent season.
Amen.
Brother Joseph Ngoie, C.F.X.
To view the full Advent 2022 booklet in English, click here.
For Spanish, click here.
For French, click here.