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First Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:37-44
Summary
These readings put front and center our greatest need for, and the
Lord?s response to, the act of full humility at his feet.
Reflection
We love to hear how God will cleanse us and make us whole, but
what we don?t care for so much is the hard labor that brings us to
readiness. Each of these readings present, in their way, the glory of
complete submission, as well as the chagrin for those unwilling or
unable to do so. The lovely Isaiah 4:2-6 reading is bookended by
warnings of doom and anguish. As prophecy, these verses are meant
to wake us up. It?s one thing if you live in Damascus or Cité de Soleil,
where all you really have is your faith, but when you live in the relative
splendor of North America, what, really, is the motivation to fall to
your knees? What keeps you there?
What I have learned in my short three plus years as a Catholic is that
your faith becomes a way of life, wherein you cannot do all that much
without the counsel and presence of God like a most trusted friend.
We become humble or, more simply, let ourselves
let go
to be weak
as a choice that ultimately leads us to
unexpected gifts from the Lord. It sounds
so easy, yet we are born, and often
raised, that it is US who do well in school
or play the best piano or have the coolest
