Advent Reflection: Week 1

(Isaiah 2:1-5)

My friends, tonight we hear from Isaiah, the first of the great Advent figures we will be looking to in these next four weeks. Isaiah is the prophet of hope, the one who trusts in the Lord, even when everything around him seems to be falling apart around him.

If you’ve ever read the Book of Isaiah, you’ll notice that the prophet uses many evocative images in his writings. We just heard of the “Lord’s mountain” – this fantastic peak in which all different peoples and all different nations will climb to learn of God’s law of peace and justice.

We know the literal risks of driving, climbing, and living in the mountains. We are also quite aware about the challenges of ascending God’s mountain, of striving towards that place where God’s everlasting peace reigns. How can we even dream of climbing the mountain of the Lord, to walk in God’s ways of justice, love, and peace, when we see and experience so much violence, suffering, and division in our world? Think of the suffering civilians in Aleppo, Syria. In our own cities, we are afflicted with violence. Political differences and animosity still divide us. We may know the pain of division in our own families as well.  

The mountain peak of God’s peace might seem too far from our grasp! Isaiah's vision of many peoples and many nations who were once divided coming together to climb the mountain of the Lord is nice…But can it be real? Can God truly break down these barriers?  Can former enemies walk together in God’s light?

Isaiah believed this was possible. The prophet lived during a time of great unrest, much like our own. Despite these issues of war, weak leadership, corruption, division, religious indifference, Isaiah was still inspired by his undying hope in God. God had acted in the past. And God will act now! 

Isaiah teaches us that as we look to the past and see the many ways that God has been at work in our lives, we can live in our present moment and look to the future with a profound sense of hope. This hope is not blind optimism nor does it ignore the harsh realities of our world. Rather, we live as a people who have known and experienced God’s saving presence in our lives. 

John Paul II forgives his would-be-assassin (1981).

This is the gift of hope that inspired Isaiah to trust that there would be peace in his time, that swords and weapons of war would be turned into pruning hooks and plows, that rocky paths would be made smooth, that the lion would lie down with the lamb – that former enemies would climb God’s mountain together. This gift of hope propelled women like Dorothy Day and Mother Theresa to work on behalf of the poor, to further the reign of God's Kingdom of justice. This gift of hope propelled men like Pope John Paul II and Nelson Mandela to see the world marked not by vengeance and retaliation, but by forgiveness and mercy.

We entrust our present moment and our unknown future to our loving God who has proven his faithfulness in our own past, who has acted in our lives before. With God’s gift of hope, may we dream anew with Isaiah concrete ways in which we can begin to break down barriers, climb the mountain of the Lord, and walk together in God’s light.