The prophet Isaiah has a vision of all the nations gathering together on Mount Zion. Isaiah looks forward to a time when the covenant between God and his people will be extended to all. It is a vision of everyone living in peace and harmony with God and with their fellow human beings. At the time Isaiah prophesied in the late 8th century BC, the Jewish people were divided between the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Israel was already under Assyrian rule, while Judah and its capital city of Jerusalem were in danger of being conquered by the Babylonians. In this vision of peace, the Lord will mediate the disputes that exist amongst the nations, as the nations will beat their swords into plowshares, leaving behind war and violence. Isaiah’s vision of salvation is offered to all the nations. It is not just for the Jewish people. This vision would have been radical and unheard-of for the Jews of the 8th century BC as well as the Jews of Jesus’ day. We might think that this vision of the world is unrealistic in our own day as well. In her poem “Evidence,” poet Mary Oliver challenges us: “Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.” Indeed, certain boundaries and limits are important for us to have in our journey through life, but it is also important for us as disciples of Christ to be able to dream the unimaginable, such as the Son of God coming to us as a little baby in a humble stable in Bethlehem on Christmas morning.
Our psalmist sings today, “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.” Jewish pilgrims used to sing this hymn at they journeyed on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the site of their holy Temple, the dwelling place of God here on earth. As we sing those words today in our psalm, as we start our preparations on this first Sunday of Advent, we’re called to look longingly toward Christmas, the feast of the celebration of God made incarnate with us.
A lot of us have read books by Matthew Kelly, the well-known Catholic lay evangelist and best-selling author. A few years ago, he wrote a book called Resisting Happiness. As our reading talks the about Jewish pilgrims going to Jerusalem, one of the chapters in Kelly’s book caught my eye, entitled: “Are You a Pilgrim or a Tourist?” We Catholics are a pilgrim people, journeying here on earth to the eternal life we will have in Christ. Many of us also go on physical and spiritual pilgrimage journeys at different times in our lives. I recently went to Italy and we’ve had parishioners go to Rome or the Holy Land on pilgrimage. Think about how we would approach life if we are in “tourist mode.” A tourist wants everything as he has planned and imagined it. He wants to cram everything into a planned out schedule. A tourist demands prompt attention and service to his every need. A tourist focuses on himself and shoves past others, going sightseeing and counting the cost. But, pilgrims are very different from tourists. A pilgrim looks for signs and symbols on the journey, seeing the spiritual aspect of the journey every step of the way. A pilgrim tries to see God in all of his experiences, both the planned experiences and the unexpected surprises, both in joys and in challenges. A pilgrim has a focus not only on himself, but also on others, on service to others. A pilgrim focuses as much on the journey as the destination. Our journey of faith is a pilgrimage, a sacred journey. Our journey during the season of Advent is a special pilgrimage, too.
Our daily lives are complicated. Complicated, complex, and busy. But as Jesus reminds us today on this first Sunday of Advent, we need to be alert always in the midst of our busy lives, ready for eternal life, ready for when Jesus comes again. In the Gospel, the man working in the field and the woman working at the mill will be “left," because they won’t leave their work. True enough, work and the many other things that occupy our lives are very important. We need to support ourselves, to live out our vocation, and to contribute to society. We provide food and shelter for ourselves and our families. But there is something more important: the coming of the Son of Man. God will arrive again unexpectedly. We don't know the time or the hour, so we are called to be prepared for him at all times. We are in the midst of our hectic holiday season. No matter how busy we are, our focus this Advent season is to keep our daily life centered on Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment