Thursday, December 5, 2019

Sunday Gospel Reflection, December 8, 2019: Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb...


How do you contribute to the harmony of the kingdom?

  Advent is a time when we are called to rethink our relationship with God, to examine our lives, to take stock of our commitment, our devotion to the Lord, and to focus on producing good fruit, as John the Baptist tells the Pharisees and Sadducees who come to him for baptism in Matthew’s Gospel.  John is preparing Jesus’ ministry by inviting people to repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!  Repentance is meant to be life-changing; it signals a willingness to transform the self, to amend one’s behavior, to listen to God in a posture of obedience.  Baptism will allow those in attendance to demonstrate the seriousness of their intent; John’s preaching will make them aware that they are in for much, much more once Jesus himself arrives on the scene with the Holy Spirit and fire, clearing the way for harmony and peace.

  The Jews of Matthew’s time had long been waiting for God’s kingdom to come, and the Book of the Prophet Isaiah offered them one vision of what that future kingdom might look like.  Isaiah prophesies the rise of a new Davidic king, a king sent by God, blessed by God with a multitude of gifts:  a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, and more! And this king will use his gifts to ensure that justice and faithfulness are the rule of the land, such that the most vulnerable will be cared for, the result being an extraordinary state of peace and harmony in which the wolf shall be the guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid.  Psalm 72 echos the description of this remarkable kingdom:  Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace.  It is a vision that should inspire hope, a desire for its fulfillment.

  The harmony championed by Isaiah is also found in Paul’s Letter to the Romans:  May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another…  Remember that harmony is not one note sung by two people, but two or more notes that resonate with each other.  And so harmony is constitutive of the fullness of the kingdom of heaven, wherein each welcomes the other, embracing them and their ideas, recognizing differences (remember the wolf and the lamb) without letting those differences get in the way of unity.  As Christ welcomes all, we too need to use our gifts, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, to turn to love, to be love for other, to let love inscribe our existence.  We can only do this if we begin with repentance, transforming our very selves, that we might contribute to that harmony that is the kingdom of heaven.

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