Daily Reflections

Scripture:

Isaiah 40:25-31
Matthew 11:28-30

Reflection:

During Advent, the Prophet Isaiah takes center stage in the Old Testament. He is, in a real sense, the Advent Prophet. Today’s first reading is a lovely example of Advent preparation.

By way of background, the Book of Isaiah focuses on the Babylonian exile of the Jews, which began in 586 BC, when Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, and enslaved the Jews for more than 50 years.

Isaiah had warned the Jews of God’s judgment if the people were to continue placing their trust in secular rulers rather than God. They continued to disobey. Consequently, Babylon became God’s instrument of punishment against Judah.

Chapters 40-55, (Second Isaiah), which are most quoted passages during Advent, include today’s reading. These are words of encouragement, meant to lift up the promise of redemption for a people experiencing their harsh judgment.

God, through Isaiah, inspires the dejected Jews to take heart. The end of their exile is near. “Those who wait for God will renew their strength and will mount up with wings like eagles (27-31)

These verses call the exile to faith in the midst of defeat and servitude.

“He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound. Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall, they that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.”

The day is coming when they will return home, home to Jerusalem.

We, too, as with the Jewish exiles, await the coming of the Lord. In fact, we look forward to three Advents — in the historical past, in the present, and the future.

The first coming is the one that happened more than 2,024 years ago in Bethlehem. The second Advent is the one for which we prepare our hearts and souls to receive the Lord now.

The third coming will take place at the end of the age, when God will call us home, in a new heaven and new earth

We are a people in the in between time, between the past and the future. Now is when we lift our voices to sing the Advent anthem — “O Come, O Come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here.”

Now is the time for us to prepare for the coming through prayer, quiet reading and meditation on the Scriptures, and in silent, anticipatory contemplation.

And just as importantly, we are to prepare by caring for one another, lifting one another’s spirits and hope — as in the words of yesterday’s reading In Isaiah called us to do: “Comfort, give comfort to my people, says the Lord.”

Deacon Manuel Valencia is on the staff at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.