Second Sunday of Advent
Last week I began with the story Corey Cooper and Christina Jackson who died in a car accident. Ever since the accident, not only have I offered my comfort to the families but I have also wanted to reach out to Robert Finkley, the man who caused the accident. On Thursday, I made a visit to the jail and spoke with him for about half an hour. He did not know that I was coming, who I was or what to expect. He came to the window holding a Bible in his hands. The man I met was unspeakably regretful and filled with inexpressible sorrow. He wanted me to convey to the families how incredibly sorry he was for his actions. As Robert said, “What I did was more than a mistake.” I have rarely seen such hopelessness or sense of despair. I asked him not to give up on God, on faith, and not to lose hope. May be, he could become the greatest campaigner against driving under the influence.
The way Robert Finkley feels is very similar to the feelings of the people of Israel. Last Sunday we reflected on how the Israelites, because they were unfaithful to the Covenant they made with God, were led into exile. In their hopelessness and despair, I said that the people did three things - stepped back, examined their life and prayed for renewal. Their act of surrender was expressed in their prayer, “We are the clay and you are the potter” (Is 64:7). In many ways, today’s first reading is a continuation of the story. Finally, God comes through for the people. The exile is about to end. In today’s readings, God presents three things to the people. First, he offers them comfort; second, he offers them a challenge; and third, he offers them a responsibility.
I would like the reflect on these three dimension as practical points for us.
1.First, God offers comfort. God declares the end of the exile in these words: “Comfort, give comfort to my people. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at and end…indeed she has received double for all her sins” (Is 40: 1-2). For the people in exile the comfort came from the awareness that, after all, God had not forgotten them. Once again, the people experience God in their midst. For the Cooper and Jackson families, one of the greatest challenges has been to find comfort. I wonder how anyone can find the right words to comfort them. One of the things I have done is to keep in touch with these families and on one occasion pray with them over the speakerphone. But I also went to visit Robert Finkley because no matter how deep our sin, God never withdraws God’s presence from us forever. God’s comfort is available to both the victims and the victimizer. We do not have to face deep tragedies or encounter sin to find God’s comfort. If we have spent time with God in prayer like I suggested last week, I am sure one of our experience has been the comfort of God’s presence.
2.Second, God presents a challenge. In the first reading, the people of Israel begin a second exodus from Babylon to Palestine. Isaiah says to the people, “Make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Is 40:3). This is the same cry we hear from John the Baptist in today’s gospel reading (Mk 1:3). The desert is a very special place in the history of the people of Israel. It is a place of denial; it is a place of discipline; it is a place of dependence. It is a place of preparation. For Robert Finkley, the jail will be his desert. For us, the advent season could be our desert. These days are days for discipline, for denial, for preparation, and for prayer. Let us make a highway for God in our life. As we travel through the desert of advent, let us prepare our hearts for the God who comes to us. The real preparation for Christmas is one that calls for rooting out selfishness and sin from our lives. Through denial that requires discipline, and dependence on God that requires prayer, let us prepare the way for God.
3.Third, God presents a responsibility. After their second exodus, after they have disciplined themselves, and learned dependence, the Lord entrusts them a great responsibility. Israel itself is called the “herald of good tidings; herald of good news.” Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: here is your God.” They themselves are called to become the sign of the presence of God. Through their life they will make real, the presence of the Lord. This Christmas can we reach a stage where because of the birth of the Lord in our hearts we can say to the people we meet, “Here is your God?” We ourselves are given the responsibility to become the manger that carried the Savior. I am not sure what my visit meant for Robert Finkley, but he asked me to visit him again. I told him I would be there on Christmas day. We as individuals are to become the heralds of the good tidings; heralds of good news. Become the bearer of forgiveness, of compassion to someone who needs help, pray with someone who is lonely, assist someone who needs your help. Become the manger that carried the Savior.
Let me conclude by saying that, the same Jesus whose arrival the Baptist announced will come to us in bread and wine. Even as we prepare for his coming during Christmas, today, right now Christ will come to us to comfort us, to challenge us and to entrust to us his good news. Let us be prepared to be comforted, to be challenged, and to take up our responsibility. Amen.
-Fr. Satish Joseph