The Helper and the Kingdom’s Force

Voice over by Carol San San Lwin

Isa 41:13-20; Psalm: 144; Mt 11:11-15

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, in the quiet waiting of Advent, the Word of God speaks two complementary truths that stir our hearts: we have a God who tenderly helps us in our weakness, and a Kingdom that demands our most vigorous and ardent response.

The Prophet Isaiah offers words of breathtaking intimacy to a people feeling small and helpless. God does not speak from a distant throne, but draws near as a helper and redeemer. “I am the Lord, your God, who grasp your right hand,” He says. “It is I who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’” This is the promise of a God who involves Himself personally in our struggles. He pledges to transform our desolate experience: making the poor and needy exult as rivers burst forth in the desert. This is not merely physical provision; it is a sign of His covenant faithfulness, so that all “may see and know… that the hand of the Lord has done this.” Our weakness becomes the very canvas upon which He paints His glory.

This gentle, helping God, however, ushers in a Kingdom that is anything but passive. In the Gospel, Jesus makes a staggering declaration about John the Baptist: “Among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist.” Yet, He adds, “the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” John stood at the threshold, the final and greatest prophet of the Old Covenant, pointing to the Lamb. But to enter the Kingdom inaugurated by Christ is to receive a dignity and a capacity for divine life that surpasses even John’s immense holiness. Then, Jesus states, “The Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.” This is not a call to physical aggression, but to a spiritual vigor, a holy violence against our own sin, the world’s distractions, and the devil’s lies. It is the force of a soul that, knowing it is helped by God, strives with every fiber to seize the grace Christ offers.

The God who grasps our hand in Isaiah is the same God who, in Christ, gives us access to the powerful life of the Kingdom. We are too weak to overcome sin and complacency on our own, but we are not alone. God’s help is the precondition for our spiritual struggle. As St. Augustine confessed, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” This holy restlessness is the “violence” that refuses to settle for mediocrity once it has glimpsed the glory of God’s Kingdom.

The comfort for us is that our Helper is always at our side. The challenge is to channel His strength into a fervent, decisive pursuit of holiness. We cannot be lukewarm. We must forcefully reject sin, forcefully embrace prayer, and vigorously perform works of charity.

Let us take to heart the words of St. Teresa of Avila: “You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.” Trusting in His helping hand, let us strive with holy force to seize the graces of this Advent, so that we may not only hear of the Kingdom, but enter it with the vigor of the saints. Amen.