Monday of the Second Week of Advent

Today's Scripture

In this second week of Advent, we continue longing for Christ’s coming, recalling his birth in Bethlehem 2000 years ago as well as anticipating his coming at the end of time. In this time of darkness, we long for light. In this time of cold, we long for warmth. This is a joyful anticipation because we are full of hope and confidence that God does indeed come to us. Today’s first reading from Isaiah is also one of longing and anticipation. We hear what will happen when God comes to us, and it is amazing! 

Isaiah wrote before Jesus’ nativity, but it is obvious why the Church recognizes Christ in this passage. “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; Then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing” (Is 35:5-6). For indeed, when Jesus began his ministry, he did give sight to the blind, healing to the lame, and so on. Our gospel passage from Luke attests to Jesus’ healing power; at Jesus’ words a paralyzed man gets up and walks! This is amazing! We too can say the words at the end of the gospel passage: “We have seen incredible things today” (Lk 5:26).

But if we are awed by the beautiful and poetic description in Isaiah and impressed by Jesus’ powers as a healer and wonderworker, we ought to be even more impressed by something else. “Our God will come to save us!” as the responsorial psalm refrain has it (Is 35:4f). God does not come merely to make the desert burst into bloom or to heal physical ailments such as paralysis. No! He comes to save us! This is why there is some tension with the scribes and the Pharisees in the passage from Luke. While it was hard to believe that Jesus was capable of performing miracles such as healing someone of paralysis, it was harder still to believe that Jesus had the authority to forgive sins. It should still strike us as incredible - our God was here among us! He dwelt with us, lived for us, died for us, and rose again in the ultimate defeat of death. Our God comes to save us.

This should be one of our most cherished Advent prayers as we experience longing for Christ. We are not perfect people. Even when we try to live as good Christians, offering our lives to God, we sometimes fail. But through Jesus we can have our sins forgiven, as did the man suffering from paralysis. We can experience this man’s spiritual healing, even if we cannot experience his physical healing. Hence this time of the year is an important time wherein we ought to seek out the sacrament of Reconciliation. Our God does not come to judge us; he comes to save us, and he offers his grace freely to those who will accept it. In this time of Advent, let us make ourselves ready for Christ’s coming. Today, let us keep in mind these words: “Our God comes to save us!”

- Maria Morrow