Travels, I presume, will be picking up. Some of us here are scheduled for a Holy Land pilgrimage in March. Hopefully what supposedly happened on an Air Lingus flight doesn't happen to us. A flight attendant announced in her brogue 1 hr into the flight: “There has been a terrible mix-up. We have 200 passengers, but only 100 meals. Anyone kind enough to give up a meal will get free unlimited drinks for the duration of the flight.” Her update after two hours: “We still have 100 meals.” Must have been a merry flight!
Tis the 2nd Sunday of Advent. The Advent season is about waiting. We do plenty of waiting, don’t we? In stores. In a doctor’s office. At the airport. On the telephone. Yes, we wait.
So did the ancient Hebrews: but theirs was a different kind. They often waited for the Messiah to rescue them. The Messiah often seemed hidden.
Some would say this is everyone’s story. We often pray for God to save us from a crisis of some sort—a shattered relationship, or a workplace crisis, or a life-threatening illness. We beg God to make things right.
Yet God sometimes seems silent. But is God silent? Our faith proclaims loudly that God is among us. Do not be afraid, Jesus proclaimed. I am with you always. Seek God especially in silence.
The word of God gives us Baruch, in the sixth century BC. Those were catastrophic times for the Hebrews; everything they thought would endure suddenly disappeared. Yet, Baruch spoke of hope: a splendid new Jerusalem, a faithful people who will reflect the glory of God and be forgiving, compassionate, generous, honest, joyful, peaceful, and loving.
The word of God may be asking if we try to embody those virtues.
Why? So that we may see clearly the way to walk, the truth to speak, and the life to live. God is asking whether each of us, like John the Baptizer, is preparing afresh to make Jesus a priority.
Now during Advent the bible focuses on three personalities: Isaiah, John the Baptizer, and the Virgin Mary. Each of these, in their encounter with God, delivered a special message.
Isaiah spoke of a future Messiah, a liberator, a savior for us.
John the Baptizer pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God: who through his death and resurrection created a future for us whereby in death we will be transfigured more fully into the likeness of God.
The Virgin Mary became the living temple of God, the ark of the covenant. She carried within herself the Word made flesh, the Christ child, Emmanuel, God with us.
The Advent word also references Joseph. Joseph had a dream in which the angel said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary (as) your wife.” For the Spirit of God has conceived a child in her.
Like Joseph, couples also dream when they learn that they will be parents. Their first dreams are usually for a safe birth, a healthy child. Then parents may dream that their son or daughter will excel: perhaps in sports, science, arts, music, or literature.
Along the way,
parents' dreams may change very quickly. Where they once thought about a Nobel
Prize, Mom and Dad may settle for their child graduating. The desire for a
World Series champ may be forgotten as they wait and hope for their child to
recover from an illness. Their image of a tech genius may all but disappear
when they pray that their child will overcome an addiction.
