3rd Week of Advent, Thursday, Dec 15
Isaiah 54:1-10 / Luke 7:24-30
Isaiah talks about God's mercy; "I will take you back with love."
During his star-studded career, Babe Ruth, the famous baseball player, let himself drift away from the Church. Shortly before he died, he was critically ill in a New York hospital. A friend suggested that he make his peace with God. Babe agreed and asked to see a priest. After receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation, Babe wrote: “As I lay in bed that evening, I thought to myself what a comfortable feeling to be free from fear and worries. I could simply turn them over to God.” That evening, Babe experienced first-hand God's promise through the prophet Isaiah in today's reading.
***
What kind of use do we make of the sacrament of Reconciliation? Why? "Suddenly an overwhelming peace took hold of me, and a joy so intense it brought tears to my eyes.” Frederick William Faber
***
The first reading speaks of the future glory of Jerusalem, God’s people. She had deserted God like an unfaithful bride, and God had apparently abandoned her for a while in the exile. Now he is ready to take her back and renew his covenant with her; she becomes again like a new bride. God’s new initiative of love has even room for the sinner, for it is a covenant of mercy and pity, and Jerusalem’s stability will come not from her justice but from God’s love. This will become a reality in the new people of God, the Church, which is God’s bride through Christ.
***
“When a wise man points at the moon the fool examines the finger.” (Confucius) We might think that it is absurd that there are people who would just end up looking at the finger that is pointing to something else. But the fact in life is that there are many who get so absorbed and stuck with the sign that they do not see or understand what it is pointing to and to the reality that it is pointing to.
In the gospel, Jesus asked questions like "What do you go out into the wilderness to see?"; "Then what do you go out to see?" Yes, the people went there to see the prophet John the Baptist. And Jesus tells them that more than just another prophet, John the Baptist is the messenger who was to prepare the way for the Saviour. And for those who saw and heard him, people like the tax collectors acknowledged God's plan. But the Pharisees and others thwarted what God had in mind for them.
The season of Advent is filled with signs and symbols, like the Advent wreath with the lighted candles, the purple vestments, the Christmas decorations and lights, etc. All this point to something that is approaching, a reality that we are waiting for, and preparing the way for us.
When we can see that the signs are pointing to reality, then the way is prepared for Jesus to enter into our hearts. John, who prepared the road for Christ’s coming, is the greatest of prophets, yet he is the smallest in the new Kingdom of Christ because he did not see the full reality of Christ, the God-Man, the God-with-people, and of the message of Jesus.
***
Prayer
Lord, faithful God of the covenant, you kept your promise of a new and permanent union with people through Jesus Christ, our God-with-us. Give us grateful hearts for accepting us with mercy and pity as the sinners we are. Renew us by your faithful love and let your covenant of peace never be shaken. Stay always with us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
