Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11 First Thessalonians 5:16-24John 1:6-8, 19-28
Dear Friends.Advent’s message leans heavily on the lessons of the book of Isaiah. The prophetic text 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 either destroyed and or in chaotic condition. The dreams of the beautiful land of their youth were confronted with the reality of rabble and total neglect. We often have a similar disillusionment in our lives.
Isaiah’s proclamation of hope has the power to transform both the broken hearts of the returning Exiles and of us gathered in faith today. He helped unleash the creative energy necessary to rebuild once again. This creativity flowed from the power of hope, the critical element of the prophet’s testimony.
Isaiah was able to preach to the Exiles because he walked the dreadful journey with them. His relentless message of hope was rooted in one thing. It was not the suffering and pain of the people nor was it based on the merit of their faithfulness. It was simply the goodness and faithfulness of God. The Scriptures today tell us to rejoice because God can be trusted. Advent is about the coming of God. We soon will celebrate that goodness and trustworthiness of God becoming flesh in Jesus.
Today’s call to hope 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. It had been decades since they had a new recruit. The members were dying off with an increasing pace. A cloud of melancholy permeated the few remaining brothers.
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. It told him the Messiah was one of 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 enrich the daily apathy of the routine. 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 similar to the words of Isaiah to the returning captives. The hope of the coming Messiah fueled the hearts of the people to forsake the fear and the hopelessness they found in their broken and abandoned homeland. The message of joy and hope urged them on to embrace a 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)
The joy we are called to celebrate today is not a trivial or gullible joy flowing from an ignorant blindness to the rampant evil in our world. True Advent joy is rooted in the goodness, mercy and unconditional love of God. In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist identifies that reality of hope in the person of Jesus. He tells us Jesus will bring light into every darkened heart, to every shadowy corner in our blighted world. This Jesus is the source of divine love and healing. He offers us a truly transforming hope. This Jesus opens up a world of joy and hope that lets us transcend the endless expression of sin and injustice and senseless violence in our world.
Hope has to give way to action. When action is in the footsteps of Jesus, the love that is generated makes the new day happen right here and now. The coming of the Lord begins to take place when our lives witness to the Gospel message.
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.
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