Just imagine the joy the people of Israel must have experienced when the prophet Isaiah told them that a new day was dawning. A day when the deaf shall hear and the blind shall see and the tyrant will be gone and the arrogant be no more. Now, the Israelites in spite of their long standing despair, had something to look forward to, something better was ahead of them, they now had hope.
What do you hope for? For many of us I suspect the litany would likely include good health, wealth and happiness. Maybe your hope is to finally lose a few pounds and get back in shape or that your friend’s cancer would go into remission, that you have a few less bills to pay each month or that you can be a better friend or spouse to those you love. All are certainly valid but should not our number one hope and prayer be that we have a better, deeper relationship with Christ and that our faith will continue to grow stronger each and every day?
As we begin to settle into the joy filled season of Advent and prepare to welcome Jesus back into our lives, let’s find a quiet time to pray each day; and when we pray let’s not only reflect on who we are and how we treated others but, better yet, start our prayers with a request that God, first and foremost help to strengthen our faith and understanding in the power of his love for us. Then we can truly share in the joy that is found in this Advent season and in the hope of Christ’s Second Coming. And then, we too like the Israelites, shall experience a day when the deaf shall hear and the blind shall see and the tyrant will be gone and the arrogant be no more. Merry Christmas.
Steve Scholer
I came to Creighton to attend law school in 1976 and following 5 years of private practice I started what I thought would be a 4 year job to help Fr. James Hoff, S.J. raise funds for the Campaign for Creighton. Little did I know that the many wonderful people I would soon meet, both here on campus and across the entire country, over the next few years would lead me to stay and continue to support the mission of this University. My wife is a Creighton graduate and our son, Frank, is a Xavier undergraduate and Creighton law graduate. Our daughter, Paige, has both her undergraduate and master’s degree from Creighton.
I do not participate in social media websites so posting my personal interpretation about what the readings mean to me is a novel experience for me. However, being required to put pen to paper forced me to become more reflective about what God is really trying to say to me and this has helped me in my daily prayer life - to slow down and let the Word of God dwell within me instead of racing through the daily devotions.
