We are called to repentance, conversion, reconciliation through the penitential characteristic of the Advent season, but perhaps something is holding us back. Perhaps we feel so guilty and remorseful for our sins that we can’t get past them. Perhaps we can’t forgive ourselves 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 have become complacent to this new reality of the pandemic, or they don’t think God is even there for them any longer.
It is in this context that we hear from the prophet Isaiah today as he tells us that we should not fear, that we won’t be put to shame, that we will not be disgraced. We may feel alone and abandoned, but God will take us back with tenderness. What a wonderful message for us to hear this holy season of Advent.
When Isaiah first preached this message, Israel indeed felt abandoned. They had turned their backs on God, they had sinned, they were defeated by their enemies, and they had been taken into exile away from their homeland and away from 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.
A week from tomorrow, we will celebrate Christmas Eve, 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 and into our lives. It is not too late for us to repent and to see the ways that God wants us to change our lives.
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