Fr. Gerard Kelly
During this season of Advent we don’t
just think about the birth of Jesus at Christmas, but we spend a lot of time
listening to the Old Testament prophets, especially the prophet Isaiah. His was a voice that called out to the
people, sometimes challenging them, sometimes consoling them, but always urging
them to think about the future. We’re
probably not as unfamiliar with this as we might think. Prophets would urge the people to hold out until
there was a new king or a new leader, or to wait until a drought ended and
rains came, or just to wait until it was summer and the flowers would bloom. Often the future they were speaking about was
very close. Our world also thinks in
these terms, whether it be waiting for the dollar to fall or the draught to end
or a government to change.
But the prophets were also capable of
speaking of a bigger vision. When Isaiah
spoke of the wilderness and the dry lands exulting he was thinking of more than
just the breaking of a drought. Here was
a vision of a new earth, marked by the abundance of water, and teaming with
life. It was as if God would re-fashion
the earth and make it anew. This new
creation would also extend to human beings.
The blind would see, the deaf hear, and the voiceless would get a
voice. This was a vision that would not
just encourage the people, but also strengthen their trust in God. It was a vision that looked beyond a new
leader or a new season. It was a vision
that looked to God ruling the earth in justice.
This did not mean, however, that the leaders were not important. Isaiah was expecting the leaders to model
their lives on God and to rule as God would rule, thus helping to usher in this
new world.
Now Isaiah spoke nearly three thousand
years ago. Does he have anything to say
to us? I think our age has a fundamental
problem with this type of prophecy. We
want something that seems to be better grounded in the present. People who dream of a new world where the
blind see, or where there is no more war, are often accused of having their
head in the clouds. I think Isaiah would
respond to this by saying that unless there is a vision for the future we are
doomed to a life of mediocrity or even misery.
Advent is a time to allow ourselves to
listen to the voice of the prophet. As
soon as we do this we will find ourselves asking questions – questions like:
when will this happen? How long must we
wait? How do we get ready? What are we to do in the present time?
I think these are the sorts of questions
that John the Baptist faced as he sat in his prison cell. He wanted to know who Jesus was – not just if
he was new political leader, but if he was God’s anointed one, the
Messiah. In his state of imprisonment he
probably wanted to know what his future might hold. Perhaps he wanted to know if Jesus might be
able to get him released. Jesus sends
back a message – it almost seemed to be in code. He simply tells the messengers that the blind
see again, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed. This was a message that probably put John’s
imprisonment in some sort of perspective for him. God’s reign was breaking in to the world, the
new creation was groaning as it came to birth.
I guess that as John heard these words his own fate took on a particular
meaning as he sat in his prison cell.
We have to face our own questions for
our own time. Perhaps the first question
is, “which voices do we listen to?”
There are voices calling out to us from everywhere. Advertisers promise us health and beauty and
prosperity and happiness – if only we buy their products. These voices promise us immediate
gratification or even instant success.
They fit well in an age when we want things right now. Ours is not an age that displays a lot of
patience. We are probably becoming less
and less able to formulate a long term vision for ourselves or for our
society. Jesus puts the question: what
did you go out into the wilderness to see?
This is a question also for us: what do you want to hear when you listen
to the prophets of today?
The words of St James can challenge us
to think about this. He urged people to
be patient, and to wait for the long term.
He used the analogy of a farmer who waits for the rains to come and for
the crop to grow. For us city-dwellers
who are probably more used to the speed of email and are frustrated if it takes
any longer than a couple of seconds, to speak of waiting for something seems to
be more and more irrelevant. Yet, the
message of St James is important. This
season of Advent gives us a lesson in patience, teaching us how to wait, and
how to keep our focus on the great vision of a new creation. It teaches us to think beyond the next few
weeks or even the next few years. It
reminds us that if we allow the vision of the prophets to shape our lives then
we will truly be participants in the coming to birth of the new creation and
the new humanity that John the Baptist saw, symbolised in the blind seeing, the
deaf hearing, the lepers being cleansed and the poor having the good news
preached to them.
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