Second Sunday of Advent 2016

An ancient Chinese proverb advises,’ it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness’!

Each of us, I am sure, have known moments that attest to this proverb’s compelling common sense. We owe a lot, don’t we, to fellow human beings who in deep and dark moments have lighted up the future with a hope that not only guides but sustains a people through thick and thin.

Such are the readings of today’s Second Sunday of Advent! We cannot live without hope,
In a very dark moment in the history of Israel, the prophet Isaiah lightens up the future for his people with his vision of sheer grace for all of creation sharing in the giftedness of a future Promised One:
The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. He shall judge the poor with justice. There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain.

In the second reading, Paul reminds his Christians in Rome of the hope contained in Holy Scripture, as though they are in the words of the psalmist, ‘A lamp to my feet and a light on my way!’ (Ps. 119:105).

There is so much in our world today that needs the ensuring, calming, enlightening, correcting and sustaining vision of people of prophetic hope, like the prophets of old, like Paul of Tarsus, and our four evangelists.

What a feast of such wisdom and insight awaits us in the sacred readings of our Advent liturgy. We need this time of reassurance that is offered us here as we prepare for Christmas.

The Word of God has sustained people with a bright hope through centuries. It can do the same for us today!