Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest
During Advent, we patiently wait for the birth of Christ. We allow ourselves to enter into a time of waiting, even though we know the end of the story and its immense joy. We take on the great task of waiting for a Lord we already have present to us. But this time of waiting is crucial for our spiritual lives because it reminds us of our shortcomings, of the ways we rush to God’s abundant grace as if we earned it. Advent reminds us that although the Kingdom is among us, it is also far from realized.
Today’s reading from Isaiah is the prophetic picture of where Jesus comes from and what the Kingdom of God looks like under his reign. In a series of beautiful scenes, the prophet describes that all of creation will be in such peace that even those who were once enemies will be friends: lions and lambs, leopards and baby goats, babies and snakes. And one thing is for sure: the Spirit of God is with him. This Spirit gives Christ the ability to act with the most perfect justice: “Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, But he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted.” Usually when we think of justice, we imagine justice being meted out to criminals who deserve punishment. But Isaiah chooses to mention the poor and the afflicted. The prophecy of justice, then, is about restoring a right relationship between human beings and between humans and God. It is Christ who ushers in this justice. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus says as much to his disciples when he explains that they are seeing what people have longed to see and hearing what people have wanted to hear: Christ himself and the justice he brings.
While Advent gives us time to reflect on our own shortcomings, it also reminds us of the great responsibility we have to help realize the Kingdom of God. The bishops at the Second Vatican Council were thinking just this when they wrote, “[People] can justly consider that by their labor they are unfolding the Creator’s work, consulting the advantages of their brother men, and contributing by their personal industry to the realization in history of the divine plan” (Gaudium et Spes). It is a great joy and a great responsibility to play a part in unfolding the plan of God, a plan that is marked by justice for the poor and afflicted, according to Isaiah. And so while we wait for our coming Lord, we should reflect as well on the times we have waited too long to bear witness to the justice and love of Christ. Advent is a time for remembering our place in the created order, for remembering our dependence on the grace of God. But this grace also compels us to hold our lives and our world up to the Kingdom described by the prophets and instantiated in Christ. As our measure, this would make clear for us the places and people most in need of Christ’s justice, which only he can give but in which we surely participate by our lives and work.