+ 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!
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