Homily: Monday - 1st Week in Advent 2016 - Renewing your hope

Yesterday at Sunday Mass I spoke of the importance during Advent of paying close attention to the readings from the prophets, particularly the Prophet Isaiah. We hear from Isaiah on all of the Advent Sundays and for the first half of the weekdays. The prophets each speak to Israel longing and waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises. Each of us have a deep longing to know that God is with us, to know that the wickedness and darkness in the world do not get the last word.

The Isaiah reading today recalls several promises of restoration and salvation. In one sense, Isaiah was speaking to the captive exiles, deported by the enemy Babylonian army. There in captivity, they were in darkness. Isaiah spoke a word of hope to them; that their captivity would come to an end, that their destroyed nation would even surpass its former glory, and their enemy would be purged from their land forever.

In another sense, Isaiah speaks a word of hope to all of God’s people of every age: surrounded by sin on every side, hatred for the Church and for Christ all around us. He speaks to us who are often so burdened by life’s demands, this word of hope.

Or perhaps, we like the centurion in the Gospel have a friend or family member who are paralyzed—trapped in a cycle of poor choices, estranged from the church.

Advent is a time to renew our hope in a savior. The first candle of the Advent wreath is lit as a symbol of hope. Hope that God does hear our prayers; that God does hear the cries of the suffering, our pleas for the sick. Advent is a time to renew our belief in miracles: that God can bring joy to the severely depressed, that he can bring freedom and recovery to the severely addicted, that he can bring the light of faith to those who walk in the darkness of faithlessness.

Isaiah proclaims a Messiah so powerful that He can cause those who only know war and violence to cash in their weapons to buy seed and plows.

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Let us begin this Advent identifying those parts of our lives and our society that need a miracle, and to renew our hope in God’s powerful intercession, that he may transform us all to be his instruments of peace, mercy, and joy, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.