The first weeks of Advent are the only time each liturgical year that we focus on the first readings of the day, and the various gospels are complementary to those readings. On December 17th we begin the second part of Advent and refocus on the gospel as it gives us the story of the birth of Jesus.
Isaiah’s readings are always a gift during early Advent. His message to a beleaguered Israel is one of promise of joy to come, both for the people of Israel, and for us. The main message in Isaiah, and all of today’s readings, is that our God, the one who loves us endlessly with a deep and personal love, is here to save us.
Isaiah was speaking to the people of Israel. With war and political intrigue proliferating, he promises what seems highly unlikely: hope and joy in an almost miraculous way. The desert will bloom with abundant flowers; feeble hands will become strong; the lame will walk and the blind, see. Because travel could be so dangerous, Isaiah offers a glimpse of safe road, a highway “called the holy way.” No “fools will go astray on it,” no wild beasts or, presumably, robbers.
Most improbable may be Isaiah’s promise to those of us whose hearts are frightened: “Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you.” It is not just a promise for the future, but for now, today, as we recognize that God is here with us in our own seemingly beleaguered lives.
It is echoed in the psalm refrain from this same passage in Isaiah, proclaiming, “Our God will come to save us!” The Psalm 85 message says clearly that God “proclaims peace to his people.” The message of peace is proclaimed for our own hearts, right now.
Luke’s gospel gives us the story of a healing of a man who was paralyzed. But I often think of it as the story of a man and his friends, and the deep faith they all had in Jesus’ ability to heal. The man was carried on a stretcher to a home where Jesus was teaching. It was filled with “Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem.”
The crowd so filled the house and the outside area that they could not get close to Jesus. With remarkable faith that their friend would be healed, they climbed up onto the roof with the stretcher, pushed aside the roof tiles and lowered the stretcher into the house, right to the floor in front of Jesus.
Jesus, who may have been surprised by the sudden appearance of the man being lowered in front of him, he addressed the friends and man. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “As for you, your sins are forgiven.” The ever-critical religious leaders wondered how Jesus could be bold enough to forgive sins. But Jesus read their thoughts and to show them the “power of the Lord was with him for healing” he told the man to pick up his stretcher and go home.
The last part of the miracle seems to be that not only did the man and his friends glorify God, but “astonishment seized them all” and it appears that even the scribes and Pharisees “glorified God and were struck with awe.”
Today we have the chance to be struck with awe by the God who is at our side and saves us at every moment of the day. Today is a chance to be grateful and glorify God. If we allow ourselves to believe that God is really here with us, for us today, then our hearts will be filled with “joy and gladness.”
Maureen McCann Waldron
The most important part of my life is my family – Jim my husband of 47 years and our two children. Our daughter Katy, a banker here in Omaha, and her husband John, have three wonderful children: Charlotte, Daniel and Elizabeth Grace. Our son Jack and his wife, Ellie, have added to our joy with their sons, Peter and Joseph.
I think family life is an incredible way to find God, even in (or maybe I should say, especially in) the most frustrating or mundane moments.
I am a native of the East Coast after graduating in 1971 from Archbishop John Carroll High School in suburban Philadelphia. I graduated from Creighton University in 1975 with a degree in Journalism and spent most of the next 20 years in corporate public relations in Omaha. I returned to Creighton in the 1990s and completed a master’s degree in Christian Spirituality in 1998.
As our children were growing up, my favorite times were always family dinners at home when the four of us would talk about our days. But now that our kids are gone from home, my husband and I have rediscovered how nice it is to have a quiet dinner together. I also have a special place in my heart for family vacations when the kids were little and four of us were away from home together. It’s a joy to be with my growing family.
Writing a Daily Reflection is always a graced moment, because only with God’s help could I ever write one. I know my own life is hectic, disjointed and imperfect and I know most of us have lives like that. I usually write from that point of view and I always seem to find some sentence, some word in the readings that speaks right to me, in all of my imperfection. I hope that whatever I write is in some way supportive of others.
It’s an incredibly humbling experience to hear from someone who was touched by something I wrote. Whether the note is from someone across campus or across the world, it makes me realize how connected we are all in our longing to grow closer to God.
