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. This is a vision of everyone living in peace and harmony with God and with their fellow human beings. At the time Isaiah had this vision 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 Babylon. In this vision of peace, the Lord will mediate the disputes that exist amongst the nations, as the nations beat their swords into plowshares, leaving behind war and violence. Isaiah’s vision of salvation being offered to all the nations - not just the Jews - would have been radical and unheard-of to 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.” Yes, certain boundaries and limits are important for us to have in our journey through life, without a doubt, but it is also important for us as disciples of Christ, to be able to dream the unimaginable, such as the Son of God who will come to us as a little baby in that 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.
I know that a lot of us have read books by Matthew Kelly, the well-known Catholic lay evangelist and best-selling author. I think that a few years back many in the parish were reading the Rediscover Catholicism book. He has a new book out called Resisting Happiness. We are going to have copies for parishioners later after Christmas. As I was thinking about today’s passage from Isaiah with its image of pilgrimage, of the nations making pilgrimage 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 in general, journeying here on earth to the eternal life we will have in Christ. We also go on pilgrimage at different times in our lives. We’ve had parishioners go to Rome or the Holy Land. Some of our Hispanic parishioners went to visit the Holy Door in Alabama at the ETWN headquarters at the end of the Year of Mercy. And I just made my plane reservations to go back to Spain on pilgrimage in January - those of you that know me know that this is one of my passions on my journey of faith. 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. A tourist goes sightseeing and counts the cost. But, pilgrims are very different from tourists. A pilgrim looks for signs and symbols on the journey, seeing the spiritual aspect of it every step of the way. A pilgrim tries to see God in all of the experience, both the planned and the unexpected surprises, both in joys and the 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 of Advent is a special pilgrimage, too.
Our lives are complicated for sure. Complicated and busy. But as Jesus reminds us today on this first Sunday of our Advent journey, 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 many other things that occupy our lives are important. We make a live and contribute to society. We provide food and shelter for ourselves and our families. But there is something more important than all of that: the coming of the Son of Man. God will arrive again unexpectedly. We don't know the time or the hour, so we are prepared for him at all times. We are in the midst of our hectic holiday season. In fact, I have been busy this long weekend with many different priestly duties, and I will be going to Ripley for a reconciliation service after my masses on Sunday as well. No matter, how busy we are, our job this Advent season is to keep our daily life centered on Christ.
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