PROMISES, PROMISES

PROMISES, PROMISES

The desert shall bloom, the mountain will be brought low, the wolf will be the guest of the lamb, the lion and the calf shall walk together, the crooked road will be made straight, the baby will play in the cobra’s den and not be harmed.  All this when the Messiah comes.  So promises Isaiah. 

I heard someone say that Isaiah’s prophecies regarding the Messiah were very upbeat and optimistic. Isaiah did not intend to mislead, but believed that when the Messiah came all those trials and tribulations of his people would just be bad memories and going forward things would be better.

Things could be better. They should be better, but it wasn’t just His presence on earth that would make the difference, it would be what he said and what he did and the example he left behind. The prophecy surrounding the Messiah gives the impression that the Messiah will correct everything and make everything perfect.   That would be all well and good if Jesus were intending to do it all by himself, but that is not how it was meant to be. Obviously God’s plan was different.  As St Paul reminds us, ‘Who has known the mind of God?’

Jesus is definitely the Messiah, but he only laid the groundwork for these things to happen. He set the example, and gave the guidelines, but we must do the work.  If the mountains of greed and corruption are to be laid low, we must do it.  If the swamps of hatred and discrimination are to be drained, we must do it.  If the lions of violence are to lie down with the lambs of peace, we must see to it.  Jesus is with us to guide us but as a great saint said, we are his hands, his feet, his mouth, and his beating heart.

Advent should be a time when we contemplate just exactly what the birth of Jesus means, meant, and will always mean to the world. We must understand that this is our world and God has given us all we need to bring it peace, prosperity and happiness.  The birth of the long awaited Messiah had nothing to do with Romans, or Zealots or any other political entity.  He came to world to stay, but to stay within us.

We are the tools, we are the future, and we are the hope.  Our belief in Jesus should be obvious to everyone because of how we speak and act.  When Jesus told the disciples to love one another, he did not mean just each other and their immediate families.  He meant that leper, that Samaritan, that blind man, that fellow in the turban or the woman in the hijab or that person on trial.

Advent and Christmas pose the question; “Just exactly what does the Birth of Christ mean to me and how do I respond?

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA