1st Sunday of Advent

•  During Advent, I will be proposing meditations on the first reading of each Sunday.

•  The Advent first readings are taken from the Old Testament but unlike those of Ordinary Time which are chosen to coincide with the gospel readings they follow their own pattern.

•  They are intended to help us enter into the spirit of the season; we should focus on them therefore, discovering that they are as relevant to us today as when they were first written.

•  Indeed Advent is a good time to re-discover the richness of the Old Testament.

•  In the tradition of our Church, each liturgical season celebrates a stage in the life of Jesus, understood not merely as a past event, but as a way in which he continues to live among us.

•  During Advent we celebrate Jesus in the womb of Mary - the time in the history of our salvation when the Word was made flesh, but was still hidden, a mustard seed that would eventually become a beautiful tree.

•  Recognising God's hidden presence strengthens our hope and helps us to cope with the challenges of life. This is the special grace of Advent.

•  As always, the liturgy communicates this grace, not by abstract teaching, but by inviting us to celebrate people in the Bible who recognised the God's hidden presence.

•  Outstanding among these are the Old Testament prophets which is why the first readings for Advent tell their stories - they are role models of hope.

1st Reading: Isaiah 63:16b-17; 64:1. 3-8

16 You Lord, yourself are our Father, Our redeemer is your ancient name.

17 Why, Lord leave us to stray from your ways and harden our hearts against fearing you?

Return, for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance.

1 Oh, that you would tear the heavens open and come down at your Presence the mountains would melt,

3 No ear has heard, no eye has seen any god but you act like this for those who trust him.

4 You guide those who act with integrity and keep your ways in mind. You were angry when we were sinners; We had long been rebels against you.

5 We were all like men unclean, all that integrity of ours like filthy clothing. We have all withered like leaves and our sins blew us away like the wind.

6 No one invoked your name or roused himself to catch hold of you. For you hid your face from us And gave us up to the power of our sins.

7 And yet, Lord, you are our Father; we the cl;ay, you are the potter, we are all the work of your hand.

Introduction

The first readings for this Year B are from Isaiah, a book which though attributed to one person was in fact the work of several different "holy men", who lived the prophetic vocation at different times.

 Today's passage is from the third section of Isaiah, 56:1-66:24 - called in Greek, "Trito-Isaiah". Written after the Jews had returned from their exile in Babylon , Trito-Isaiah is sombre in mood. The great hopes which the people had built up during their years of exile have not been realised; the people are discouraged as they see their nation in the grip of materialism and selfishness. We can identify with their situation, since we know what it is to feel discouragement at the evil in ourselves and in society.

The passage is a prayer - a teaching on hope though prayer.

Our Catholic tradition has always recognised that prayer is an effective way of learning our faith. A traditional saying in our Church is that, "the law of prayer is the law of faith" - which means that our prayer both reflects our understanding of God and nourishes it.

This explains our ancient Christian practice of praying bible texts, especially the psalms. Doing this ensures that the God we relate with, is the one who revealed himself in the bible - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the one true God, not an idol we have created.

Jesus' entire life was a fulfillment of the Old Testament. When we pray these bible texts then, we also celebrate - and learn from - him. Indeed, all the great people who have touched our lives are "fulfillments" of Jesus, so we celebrate them too, entering into their faith and wisdom.

In fact, we celebrate the goodness of all humanity, past and present; we pray "in the name of every creature under heaven" (preface of 4 th Eucharistic Prayer).

On this Sunday we are invited to enter into Isaiah's prayer therefore, letting it express our truth;

•  we get a feel of the original prayer and

•  we recognise that we too pray like this - ourselves and

those who have touched our lives.

The passage comprises two extracts from a long prayer (Is 63:7-64:12 - I would recommend that you pray it in its entirety, aloud if you are reading it in community). The prayer reflects the sombre mood of Trito-Isaiah but, as I have said above, it is a teaching on hope.

The passage begins and ends by invoking God as "Father" (63,16; 64,8). This reminds us that Jesus was within the tradition of his ancestors when he taught his disciples to use that title. In fact we can interpret today's passage as an expansion of two petitions of the Lord's Prayer, "hallowed be thy name" and "deliver us from evil".

1. The basis of our Christian hope is that God is our Father

but we need to understand this in the biblical sense, indicating activity. In the bible, a "father" is defined by what he does for his children:

•  He protects and rescues them. "Our redeemer is your ancient name" means that this is what he has always been.

•  His people are part of himself, not merely his "servants" but "the tribes of his inheritance".

•  He is their creator, forming them as the potter forms clay; they are "the work of his hands."

The prayer invites us to recognise how very different God's way of being father is from false portrayals of him (we think of the "third servant" in the parable of two Sundays ago). We remember our bad experiences when we pray, "no ear has heard, no eye has seen, any god but you act like this".

The petition "hallowed be thy name", asks that God will reveal the truth of his Fatherhood, and so provide us with a sure foundation for hope.

2 God's "name", the ground of our Christian hope, is to be Lord. He is always in charge, even when we choose to do evil. When we make this choice, it is because God has "left us to stray from his ways", has "hardened our hearts against fearing him", "hides his face from us" and "gives us up to the power of our sins".

We cannot get back on the right track unless we "invoke his name" (say the Lord's Prayer), "rouse ourselves to catch hold of him" so that he will "return" to touch us. God has power even over human evil, and so the experience of evil does not take away our hope.

3. The petition of the Lord's prayer, "deliver us from evil" reminds us that hope does not deny the reality of evil, on the contrary it acknowledges evil honestly and openly. Two images in today's passage bring out how powerful and pervasive evil is, once God "gives us up to the power of our sins".

•  For God's grace "to come down" the heavens must be torn apart"; for him to be "present", the mountains must "melt".

•  Evil makes us "unclean", we no longer "act with integrity" or "keep God's ways in mind", we wear "filthy clothing" and are like "withered leaves" blown away by the wind.

By praying this passage (and the Lord's prayer) we grow in hope.

Prayer 

Lord, we enter this season of hope by remembering the teaching of Jesus and of all our ancestors in the faith, that we can call you our father,

Not a father who neglects his children, but a redeemer,

One who like St. Joseph and all good fathers, is always there to rescue his family when they are in need.

We call you Father, in solidarity with all the needy people of the world, your servants, the various tribes of your inheritance,

•  addicts to drugs, alcohol, lust, the desire to dominate;

•  young people whose hopelessness has made them turn to violence;

•  spouses unable to move forward to mutual forgiveness;

•  church communities torn apart by power-seeking;

•  countries like Palestine , the Basque Country and the Republic of Congo , caught up in an endless cycle of vengeance for past hurts.

You have given us the gift of freedom, but as our Father your power is supreme,

so we can truly say that you have left us to stray from your ways, you have hardened our hearts against fearing you.

Now from the depths of our need, we ask you to return for our sakes.

Our world is dark right now, the sun no longer gives out its light and warmth, you yourself seem distant, your face hidden from us, so we ask you to tear the heavens open and come down.

Insurmountable obstacles block our way forward, but at your presence even the highest mountains will melt like wax before the fire.

Many say we are too far gone, we cannot change, will always be at war with ourselves and with one another;

they have not experienced your grace at work- addicts rehabilitated, young people converted to a purposeful life, families reconciled, peace established between warring nations.

Their ears have not heard, their eyes have not seen any god act like this for those who trust you, guiding those who act with integrity and keep your ways in mind.

We have long been sinners, rebels against you, we have become unclean, the integrity you bestowed on us at creation has become filthy clothing,

•  we were full of life and energy, we have withered like dry leaves,

•  our lives had purpose, our sins have blown us away like the wind,

•  we have stopped invoking your name, no longer rouse ourselves to catch hold of you.

•  You have hidden your face from us, and given us up to the power of our sins.