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Ready or Not... Advent 2020... Whose Kingdom Come?
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READY OR NOT . . .
ADVENT 2020 . . .
WHOSE KINGDOM COME?
In the midst of a raging biological menace, roiling social turmoil and turbulence, economic trauma and insecurity, a new season breaks in upon us affording us time to pause, to ponder, to prepare – whether we are ready or not.
Advent
The season of Advent opens for us yet another new liturgical year. An opportunity to join the community of believers gathered to search the scripturesand recline at table with the One whose light no darkness can overpower.
This Advent, our Sunday assemblies welcome the towering figure of Isaiah of
Jerusalem, visionary and prophet. He bears a word of hope and transformation
for a people profoundly preoccupied in a tense time crowded with competing
kingdoms.Among the preoccupations and anxieties of Isaiah’s day one may cite the
kingdom of Israel having been carried into captivity (722 B.C.), while the kingdom
of Judah suffered doubt and ambivalence, mistaking relative goods for absolute
values, falling prey to idolatry. The kingdom of Assyria dominated the Fertile
Crescent and posed a major threat to both kingdoms. Additionally, the kingdom
of Babylon was gaining power and would soon replace Assyria as the dominant
threat.
Amid these pressures, various makeshift alliances among competing kingdoms,
arranged in a last gasp effort to outmaneuver these threats, failed spectacularly –
Leaving a people groaning in exile and exhaustion.
Whose kingdom come? Enter the prophet Isaiah of Jerusalem.
To this people crowded on every side, Isaiah proclaimed a vision as ambitious as
it was improbable – the Day of the Lord:- Amid deadly warfare: a vision of swords and spears transformed into pruning hooks & ploughshares for the feeding of the hungry.
- Amid limited resources: a vision of a desert bursting forth with vegetation and beauty for the sustenance of all.
- Amid assumptions of bloody rivalry: a vision of lions and kids, wolves and lambs lying down in harmony
- Amid those scarred and maimed by the rivalries of the day: sight for the blind, opened ears for the deaf, restored limbs for the lame.
Such was the message of Isaiah for his people – whether they were ready or not
to hear it.
Surely, this daunting promise stretched the limits of belief in Isaiah’s day. So,
does it continue to test the limits of belief in our own day. We are far removed
from the kingdoms of Assyria and Babylon, yet we are no strangers to warring
kingdoms, aggressive rivalries, and bloody conflicts as well as the deaf, blind and
maimed left in their wake.
In 2020, the words of the prophet Isaiah continue to ring out the unique cadence
of biblical prophecy. This provocative mix of poetry, politics and preaching is sure
to unsettle anyone who bothers to listen – whether ready or not.
For us as Capuchin Franciscan friars steeped in the heritage of Francis of Assisi,
the vision of Isaiah bears deep resonance. In a time of constant warfare, Francis
and his brothers and sisters became a people of peace. In a time of self-
aggrandizement, a people of humility. In a time of greedy acquisition, a people of
simplicity.
Such was their witness to hope at the turn of the 13 th century.
Such is our witness to hope today in the year 2020.
Serving as the pastoral staff here in our Parish of Holy Cross—St. John the
Baptist, we aspire to allow this Franciscan spirit to suffuse the entirety of parish
life – our worship of the G-D revealed in Jesus, our witness to the gospel of
Jesus as source of our hope and deliverance, our welcome to those most at risk,
most overlooked.
Whose kingdom come?
A Light no darkness can overpower.
Ready or not.
Advent.Come Lord Jesus. Come.
