We are called to repentance &
conversion & reconciliation this holy season of Advent, but perhaps
something is holding us back. Perhaps we
feel so guilty or we are so remorseful for our sins that we can’t get past
them. Perhaps we can’t forgive ourselves
for something, or we don’t believe that God or others can forgive us. Perhaps we have been away from our prayer
life for so long that we don’t know how to get back in touch with the divine in
our lives, to get beyond just going through the motions. Perhaps there are those in our community who
have been away from the Church for so long that they are ashamed to come back,
or they don’t think God is even there for us any longer.
Yet, listen to the message we hear from
Isaiah today. The prophet tells us that
we should not fear, that we won’t be put to shame, that we have no need to
blush, that we will not be disgraced. We
may have felt abandoned, but God will take us back with great tenderness. What a wonderful message for us to hear this
holy season of Advent.
When Isaiah first preached this message in
his day, Israel felt very abandoned. The
people had turned their backs on God, they had sinned, they were defeated by
their enemies, they had been taken into exile into Babylon away from the Temple
of Jerusalem which had been the center of their faith. They wondered where the presence of God had
gone. At this moment in our own lives,
perhaps we can relate to what the people of ancient Israel were feeling at this
low point in their history of faith.
In a little more than a week, we will
celebrate Christmas Eve, we will celebrate the birth of Christ into our
world. We have almost completed our
Advent journey, our time of preparation for the arrival of the baby Jesus. It
is not too late for us to prepare, to welcome him into our hearts & into
our lives. It is not too late for us to
repent & to see the ways that God wants us to change. Let us look inside of our hearts – let us
feel the love & mercy of God that is reaching out to us today.
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