+ On this second weekday in the Advent season we are
asked to behold the Lord who will come in
power to enlighten the eyes of his servants. “Enlightening the eyes” refers
not to the physical eyes of the body, in this context, but rather the spiritual
eyes that must be as functional as possible, so to guide us safely through
life. We must remember at this early point in retelling the Jesus story that
Jesus fulfilled all of the prophecies and lived a very exact and profound and
self-sacrificial life not for himself but for us, and as a model for us when we
are asked to do as he did. And so in the first reading Isaiah prophesies that
the one who has sprung from the root of
Jesse will have the Spirit of the
Lord rest upon him, and that he will receive
seven gifts from the Spirit, noticeably the same seven that disciples and
followers of Jesus receive on entering the Church and who are confirmed: the Spirit of wisdom, and of understanding;
of counsel and of strength; of knowledge and of fear of the Lord and a holy
reverence for all things.
The one who first receives
these gifts – Jesus – will inaugurate the new kingdom where there is peace,
even among the animals, with the wolf
being a guest of the lamb and the leopard lying down with the kid. It will
later be up to us, who possess the same gifts to continue that presence of
peace and harmony by our own inner and outer attitudes and actions.
St. Luke tells us in the gospel
passage that the true realities of the faith-life are comprehensible beginning with the childlike; the learned and the clever often-times get
too caught up in the academic nature of things to simply believe in what cannot
many times be seen. Especially at this time of the year, children can teach us
all a lot about that as the Spirit of Christmas begins to manifest itself
through them.
May we spend this day in
wonder and awe – using the gifts of the Spirit for the benefit of others and
the glory of God; he will be pleased and he will enlighten our eyes to see
justice flourishing in our time!
No comments:
Post a Comment