Third Sunday of Advent
My focus today is on Isaiah’s proclamation in today’s first reading, “Here is Your God!” It is as if he was holding God in his hands and showing God to the Hebrew people. It was as if Isaiah was trying to bring close to the people a God who was thought of as being far away. Isaiah says, “Here is your God!” In this homily, I would like to reconcile the ‘otherness’ of God with God’s imminence. There is nothing more relevant as we prepare ourselves for Christmas.
When Isaiah proclaimed this prophecy, the Assyrians had already occupied the Northern Kingdom and the Babylonians had destroyed the Southern Kingdom. The Temple of Jerusalem – the very dwelling place of Yahweh, the only symbol of the identity of the Hebrew people – had been desecrated and razed to the ground. The citizens of Jerusalem had been exiled into Babylon. The entire land of the Hebrew people lay ravaged. If there was a time when the people felt totally abandoned by God, the exile was the most intense experience. Like many of us at a dark and sad time of our life, God felt very distant to them. To this hopeless, despairing and humiliated people Isaiah offers a glimmer of hope. “Be Strong, Fear Not! Here is your God!”
In my three practical implications, I would like to reconcile these two seemingly contradictory things.
We are in the third week of advent. We are preparing for the birth of Jesus as a human person. In other words, not only is the human person made in the image of God, but God now comes to us in the image of the human person that God created in the first place. What does this mean? This means that God’s first sacrament is the human person. Every child conceived is an assurance of God’s presence. Every child born is a sign that God has not abandoned us. Look around you. Every person sitting next to you is in the image of God. Every person around you communicates the presence of God. God is nearer than we think. Sometimes we will find God in people we least expect to find him. Isn’t that the Christmas story. Yes, God is so much above and beyond us; on the other hand, God is closer than we think.
And then, as Catholics, each Sunday we hold a simple piece of bread in our hands. Last Wednesday, I was in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. For the first few minutes, I was merely looking at the host in the monstrance. Then suddenly, there was this deep and strong awareness that I was looking at my God. I have been in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament many, many times. But there was something different about it this time. If Isaiah was here today, he would be pointing out to the Eucharist and proclaiming – “Here is your God.” God comes to us in bread and wine because God meets us where we are. So that one day we can meet God where God is, in the here and now, God meets us in a human, simple and humble way. Yes, God is way above and beyond us; yet God is closer than we think.
Yes! Here is your God!
Fr. Satish Joseph