The Fulfillment of God’s Dream
We shall try to pick up the relevance of the message given us for this 2nd Sunday of Advent. In poetic form, the reading from Isaiah (11:1-10) describes for us God’s dream about creating a new world free of devastation, grief, divisions, strife, tears and death. This dream is about a world better than the original one which he had created at the beginning of time, with the Garden of Eden in it, before sin ruined everything. It is a picture practically flaunted before our eyes as “a divine dare.” God is saying something like this:
Whether you like it or not; whether I can count on your cooperation or not, I, your God, have decided to create a new world in which all nations and all peoples will be gathered to form my universal and global family. I, your God, have made up my mind about easing all your pain, dressing every one of your wounds and drying, one by one, the tears in your eyes. I, your God, will not stop until all nations will be firmly in my embrace of infinite love. And, to assure you that I am quite determined to go through with all this, don’t forget that I prepared a body just like yours for my Son, who came among you on that first Christmas. Finally, let me give you the ultimate, the most definitive evidence one can possibly ask for, to prove that I will go all the way: I let my Son shed all his blood on the cross. That action reveals my totality, finality, decisiveness, i.e., the irrevocability of my love for you and the whole world. And don’t forget that the resurrection of my Son from death proves that I will succeed fully. Nothing and no one can thwart my plan, my dream for unity, cooperation, fellowship, solidarity, justice and peace.
This is ultimately God’s plan; and, today, he elaborates about it through his spokespersons Paul and John the Baptist.
Through St. Paul (Romans 15:4-9), God stresses the crucial difference between what he alone can offer vis-à-vis what the world offers especially around Christmas time. The world offers fleeting moments of joy, mostly for those who can afford them. But our God alone can fill us with unshakeable hope by endurance and by the encouragement of the Scriptures. (Romans 15:4)
Some of the opening prayers during the season of Advent point out the same crucial difference: the world offers passing things; our God alone enkindles in us hope bordering on certainty in things that last into eternity. And, through the flesh of his only Son, our God wants his nearly incredible plan to fill with hope not only the people of Israel but all Gentiles, all mankind as well.
Then, in our Gospel passage (Matthew 3:1-12), through John the Baptist, the Lord informs us that we must consider ourselves active participants of the plan. John is an intense, zeal-consumed man, ready for any sacrifice so that God’s plan of universal salvation may triumph. Such a heroic disposition draws people to look for him in the harshness of the desert. So, it is in a “desert” of sort, away from distractions and the lures of the world, that we, along with many others, in these days before Christmas, reflect on God’s message, and accept both his “dare” and his invitation to work with him.
God is essentially asking three things of us.
1) To avoid being presumptuous. We should not presume that, since we are practicing Catholics, and we do not commit serious sins, everything is fine and in order; and that God must be pleased with us. Given the enormous size of his plan, the Lord is expecting much more. He expects a hope-filled, hope-driven life, totally dedicated to genuine love and generous service of our neighbor.
2) Noticing our lukewarmness, the Lord urges us to return to him and rekindle our love. The day we stop grieving over our minor sins and flaws, must sadden us deeply realizing how we have failed in loving him.
3) Lastly, the Lord wants us to bear good fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity and fidelity. Thus, as we can plainly see, what we are asked to do before Christmas is exactly the opposite of what the world out there suggests.
Today, God’s Word calls us to devote all our energies and goodwill, according to our station in life, to the fulfillment of God’s dream. On the day of his coming in glory, on the day in which the Lord Jesus will have achieved the fullness of glory also in his Body (all of us), everyone will know the extent of our contribution to God’s dream and, consequently, the quality of our preparation.
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This essay was originally published at Catholic Journal.
