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| Carracci's John the Baptist |
During Advent, three biblical personalities--Isaiah, John the Baptist, and the Virgin Mary--deliver a special message to us.
Isaiah spoke about a Messiah, a liberator, a redeemer, a savior.
John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God. The lamb, of course, references the Hebrew Passover meal. Jesus is the Lamb who through his death and resurrection re-establishes our relationship with God so that we can pursue our true purpose in life: eternal life with God.
The Virgin Mary is the living temple of God, the ark of the Hebrew covenant, because she carried within herself the Word made flesh, Emmanuel, God with us: the revelation of God to us. The living Christ anticipates what we will become.
Advent also references Joseph, who had a dream in which the angel said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.” Do not be afraid. I'm always with you. An overarching biblical theme.
As I thought about Joseph’s dream, I thought about what couples dream when they learn that they will be parents or even grandparents. They usually begin to dream for a safe birth, a healthy child. Then, parents may dream that their child will excel: win in sports, master the sciences, or distinguish himself or herself in the arts, music, or literature.
But along the way, dreams may change. Mom and dad may settle for their child passing courses in biology or math or literature. They pray their child will overcome an addiction. They wait and hope that their child will recover from an illness, or an auto accident.
Disappointment or bad luck or tragedy may change our dreams. Sometimes for the better. Or for the worse at times. But as Joseph knew, the most important things we can dream for our loved ones are these:
that they always know we love them dearly,
that we accept them unconditionally for who they are,
that we are always ready to forgive their “peccadilloes”
(as we hope they are ready to forgive ours),
and that we always pray that God will grace them with his gifts.
Like Joseph, let us pray for the grace to see God’s presence in all things, especially ordinary things; to do things as best we can; to accept people as a gift from God even if they’re not quite the gift we hoped for; and to be affirming and supportive of one another.
As we prepare for the birth of the Eternal Word of God at Christmas, let us pray that the touch of the Master’s hand will tune us up into ever more faithful disciples of Jesus. And may our kindness and faith and compassion be a channel of grace to others. Especially this season, we pray, “come Lord Jesus, transform us into a new creature; and renew this planet of ours.”
