Throughout the season of Advent we will read extensively
from the book of the prophet Isaiah. Not only each Sunday do we read from
Isaiah, but throughout the week as well. If you aren’t in the habit of
attending weekday Mass; what a wonderful way of making Advent a bit more
special this year: attending weekday Mass will help you enter more deeply into
the Spirit of the season.
The book of the Prophet Isaiah have been called “the fifth
Gospel” by some scholars, for it contains so many of the themes of the Gospels:
the call of God’s people to practice justice, the need for repentance, the
reality of judgment, God’s promise of salvation, reflection on God’s mercy; the
need for God’s people during times of darkness to practice faith and hope. Certainly,
one of the most important themes of Isaiah is his proclamation of the coming of
the Messiah; Isaiah calls Israel to remember God’s promise of a Savior in some
of the most beautiful passages in the entire Old Testament of the Bible.
Isaiah is like a tour guide through Advent pointing out the
important sights. You may be thinking: I’ve been through Advent before, I know
what Advent is about. But sometimes a tour guide can offer new insights to a
familiar place. You often hear it said, that converts make the best Catholics.
Why is that? Because they are so often able to see the beauty and value of our
faith with fresh eyes. So what do you need to do to put on fresh eyes this
Advent, to rediscover the beauty that God presents us with?
If you can’t make it to daily Mass, I encourage you, this
Advent, to at least read through the Isaiah reading every day. The Scriptures
verses are printed in the bulletin; if you visit the US Bishop’s website, you
can sign up to have the daily scripture readings emailed to you. Take a few minutes throughout the day to read
through and reflect upon the Isaiah reading: ask, why has the Church picked
this reading for the season of Advent? What are the symbols here; how does this
passage help me to prepare for Christmas; what does this say about God, about
the attitude and dispositions God’s people are meant to have?
Isaiah wrote at a time when Israel had been devastated by
the Babylonian army; the Jews had been bound and chained and marched off into
exile; they had seen their temple, their beautiful city, their homes and
families destroyed. Isaiah wrote, during
this time of great loss, a message of hope, he wrote of a time when all of
God’s promises would be fulfilled, a time when the tears from all faces would
be wiped away by God himself.
Perhaps it feels like your world has been devastated;
perhaps your family is experiencing division, perhaps you feel alienated from
old friends, perhaps you’re struggling with a particular temptation; perhaps
you’ve experienced the loss of a loved one, or deepening financial woes. Just
as God spoke to the sorrowful captive exiles in Isaiah’s time, he speaks to us,
words of promise, words of hope, words of comfort.
But again, in order to hear those words of hope, you need to
quiet down—go to a quiet room, the church or chapel; put aside anxious thoughts
and listen to and meditate upon the word of God. If we do not pray as we ought,
how can we be surprised when we do not know the peace that God wants to give
us.
In the Isaiah reading for this 1st Sunday of
Advent; we heard of a mountain, a mountain upon which will stand the great
Temple of God; not only will God send a Messiah; Isaiah said, “the mountain of
the LORD’s house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above
the hills.”
On this Holy Mountain, in the Lord’s House—his temple—is
where he wants to give us his gifts of peace and joy. Yet, so often we fail to
climb the mountain, to enter the temple. We allow other mountains to be higher,
other temples to be our destination.
Is the Lord’s mountain really the highest mountain in your
life? Is the praise and worship of God more important to you than anything
else? Is it more important than your job? Is it more important than your social
relationships? Is it more important even than your family, the people you love
the most? If not, something is off-kilter in your life.
What’s the highest mountain for you? We all have one. We all
have mountains and hills, things that preoccupy our time and effort. But what
is your highest mountain? If it’s not the mountain of the Lord’s house,
something is wrong. If you don’t have the love of God first in your life, you
will not know what to do with the other goods in your life.
Isaiah says, It is on this holy mountain that the Lord
instructs us in his ways, that we may walk in his paths. In a sense, this
mountain is certainly a foreshadowing of the earthly Church. As Christians, members of the Church, we are
instructed in the ways of the Lord. We learn our catechism, we learn how to
apply the teachings of Jesus to the concrete circumstances of our life. We just concluded a Year-long meditation on
Mercy, constantly reflecting upon how the Lord is calling us to engage in the
works of mercy, and how God in His mercy is inviting each of us to experience his
love and forgiveness.
The mountain is not just a foreshadowing of heaven, it’s not
just a foreshadowing of the Church, it is also a symbol of our own personal
spiritual journey. Are you undertaking in the inner journey? Is the pursuit of
spiritual things more important than your pursuit of earthly things? Are you
quieting down in prayer so that the Lord may teach you his ways? Are you
allowing him to teach you how to be more gentle, more patient, more generous,
more trusting?
In the Lord’s house on his Holy Mountain we hear how “swords
are turned into plowshares and their spear into pruning hooks.” Coming from an
Italian family, I come from a long tradition of very sharp tongues. And from
time to time that sharp tongue has gotten me into trouble. But as we undertake
that spiritual journey, as we climb the Lord’s mountain and enter his temple,
the sharp-cutting words are transformed into words of encourage, comfort,
instruction, clear teaching, and words of praise and worship.
Allow this Advent to transform you, to turn your swords and
spears into instruments of goodness, peace, and joy. Let Isaiah remind you of
the beautiful, awe-inspiring, consoling promises of God. And may the Holy
Spirit help us all to prepare our minds and hearts for the coming of Christ for
the glory of God and salvation of souls.
No comments:
Post a Comment