Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11
First Thessalonians 5:16-24
John 1:6-8, 19-28
Dear Friends. Isaiah is the book of Advent. Its history spans several different historical periods but its message is rich and fulfilling: the Lord is coming and the Lord is ever mindful of His people. It is a proclamation of hope in the most beautiful and poetic language.
Today’s passage is directed to a people who were just released from fifty years of captivity in Babylonia only to encounter a homeland and Temple destroyed and in chaotic condition. The dreams of the beautiful land of their youth were confronted with the reality of rabble and total neglect.
Isaiah’s message of hope helps change the broken hearts to creative energy necessary to build once again. This is the power of hope.
It is similar to the story of the rabbi and the monastery. At this time there was a small group of monks passing through the stages of death and dying in their group. It had been decades since they had a new recruit. The members were dying off with an increasing pace. The cloud of despondency permeated the few remaining members.
Then one day a rabbi came to the front door. His message to the abbot was simple and clear. A dream had driven him to seek the Messiah among the few remaining monks. The brothers received the news with skepticism and derision. Gradually, however, the “What if” possibility of the Messiah being in one of them began to take seed. As this new openness to hope began to germinate, changes followed. Kindness and patience began to replace drudgery and isolation. More and new horizons began to take root. Life had a new sparkle and a joyful tone. New recruits were encouraged by the loving atmosphere filled with hope. The slow death of hopelessness gave way to a new day and new life even though the Messiah was never identified among the brothers.
This was the message to the returning captives. The hope of the coming Messiah fueled the hearts of the people to forsake the fear and the hopelessness and to embrace new life.
We need to do the same. When we pray the Advent prayer, Come Lord Jesus!, we need to let it generate a life grounded in hope. We need to take the words of Isaiah just as Jesus did (Lk 4:18-19) and make them our own.
“The Lord has anointed me; He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God. (Isaiah 61:1-2)
Hope has to give way to action. When action is in the footsteps of Jesus, the love that is generated makes the new day right here and now. We begin the coming of the Lord when we are making the Gospel message take flesh in our reality.
Our cry of Come Lord Jesus! Is filled with hope but it is also a call to action. We make the coming of Jesus in our lives by loving and forgiving, by serving the poor and working for peace and justice in our midst. This is how we will build the new Jerusalem in spite of the broken dreams of our life.
