| |
 |
|
|
| Third Sunday of Advent, December 16 |
|
Reflection for Third Sunday of Advent |
The following excerpt is from The Advent of the God of Peace: Reflections for Advent 2007, by Fr. John Dear, S.J. It is available from Pax Christi USA in both English and Spanish. This reflection is for the Third Sunday in Advent, December 16, 2007.
Third Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 35:1-6,10
James 5:7-10
Matthew 11:2-11
“‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.’” (Matthew 11:4-5)
John the Baptist, festering in Herod’s prison, facing execution, wrestles with Jesus’ scandalous nonviolence. Jesus fails to measure up to John’s messianic notions of righteous anger, wrath, and revenge. Where’s the lash and fury? When will divine vengeance be let off its leash? Could this gentle Jesus really be the Holy One of God? Does that mean everything we thought about the wrath of God is wrong?
He dispatches a messenger or two to inquire. “Are you the One who is to come or should we look for another?” (Matthew 11:2)
Jesus delivers a reply both humble and revolutionary. God’s reign does not reach down from the heights of power, from the Oval Office or a Pentagon war room. Instead, it breaks through in the concrete acts of compassion, healing, justice, and in the nonviolent liberation of the poor and oppressed.
“The blind now see,” Jesus reports. “The lame walk. Lepers are cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead are raised. The poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” Such acts give birth to the reign of peace, reveal the presence of the God of peace, and point to the junction of divinity and humanity. And blessed is the one who recognizes the God of peace. Tell the Baptist he needs no further evidence than this.
We need no further evidence either. A good question for us: Where do we see such things in our own lives and in the world? How might we join the cause of liberation, healing, and justice or deepen our involvement?
Many avenues lie before us. In Catholic Worker houses, Pax Christi groups, nonviolent civil disobedience witnesses, Plowshares actions, anti-war vigils, efforts to abolish the death penalty, teaching peace and nonviolent conflict resolution. In every act of love and kindness, in every nonviolent campaign for justice and disarmament, there the God of peace is present. There peace on earth emerges like a green shoot from a parched ground. There God’s reign of peace shines. And it is ours to take part in.
This Advent, ask again for the grace to join God’s ongoing work of disarming love. Give God permission to use you. Then, like John, discover the nonviolent Christ in the enemy and the poor, in the nonviolent struggle for justice and liberation. As you do these things, consciously prepare anew for the coming of the God of peace into the world.
Fr. John Dear, S.J. is an internationally known voice for peace and Christian nonviolence. He is a Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace and currently lives and works in New Mexico. His many books include: Transfiguration; The Questions of Jesus; and Living Peace.
back |
|
|
|
|