Tuesday - 1st Week of Advent 2017 - A glimmer of hope

The four candles on the Advent wreath certainly help us count down the weeks until Christmas. The wreath though is more than a primitive calendar, each of the candles represent different themes of the Advent season.

The first candle represents hope: hope in God, hope in his promises, hope for his justice, hope for salvation that only he can bring.

The second candle represents love: the reign of love that the savior comes to establish, the love which should characterize the Christian people’s attitude toward one another, the love we are to extend to the poor and down trodden.

The third candle, the rose colored candle represents joy: the joy that is born at Christmas, the joy of the birth of the savior, the joy of a restored relationship with God, the joy which is a foretaste of the joy of the eternal joy of heaven.

The fourth candle, which will only burn for a few hours this year, due to the proximity of the 4th Sunday and Christmas Eve, represents peace: the peace of that most holy night, the peace of reconciliation and forgiveness and mercy.

Now only a single candle is lit. Sometimes in life all you have is a single candle, a glimmer of hope. For the people of Isaiah’s time, living in the devastation of a ruined divided kingdom, all they had was a promise of hope, spoken through lips of God’s prophet. A promise that despite the terrible destruction—separation from the families, the forces of evil pressing in on every side—God would bring about a reign of justice so great that even wolves and lambs, babies and cobras will be at peace.

Out of what appears to be a dead, hopeless situation, the Lord can cause new life to sprout and rise up. Your stump might be a broken family devastated beyond reconciliation, a ruined marriage without the possibility of reuniting, or a drug-addicted child, whose mind and life cannot be rebuilt.

The single candle reminds us that it is good to have hope that God can bring new life to hopeless situations. For where we see a lifeless wasteland, God sees the potential for abundant life. Where we see devestation, God sees the seeds of new life. Let your hearts dare to hope, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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We raise up our prayers of petitions, as we await with longing the Advent of Christ the Lord.

That through the witness and charity of the Christian Church, Our Lord will bring hope to the hopeless and joy to the joyless.

That our president and all civil servants will carry out their duties with justice, honesty, and respect for the dignity of every human life.  We pray to the Lord.

That Christ may banish disease, drive out hunger, and ward off every affliction.

For Pope Francis prayer intention for the month of December, “That the elderly, sustained by families and Christian communities, may apply their wisdom and experience to spreading the faith and forming the new generations.”

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Almighty ever-living God, who bring salvation to all and desire that no one should perish, hear the prayers of your people and grant tha the course of our world may be directed by your peaceful rule and your Church rejoice in tranquility and devotion. Through Christ our Lord.