Fourth Sunday in Advent

Pope Francis, in Fratelli Tutti, speaks of the need for an open heart. He writes, ‘the guarantee of an authentic openness to God….is a way of practicing the faith that helps open our hearts to our brothers and sisters.’ It the key for building peace in our world. Francis has tried to address breakdowns in human relationships which lead to violence and a culture of indifference by calling for a culture of encounter. It is a call to develop a culture of kindness especially in the face of divisions made evidenced by hateful language, mean-spiritedness, prejudice, and neglect.

Isaiah and St Paul tell their communities to hold on and wait in joyful hope for the coming of Jesus despite their circumstances. Yet, many people are trying to find reasons to rejoice in what seems a crazy and ever-changing world. Our reality is distorted by a constant inundation of bad news. It seems that where we look it seems that the bad guys are winning – something that John would also have felt before his death. No doubt many of us feel the same way. Jesus’ followers were drowning in bad news as we are today and some were reviled, ridiculed, persecuted and sidelined. There seems little reason to rejoice in the face of human suffering. 

We are invited to proclaim a hope to our world by addressing issues of justice, peace, and genuine human development for all God's people despite war and terrorism, an ongoing pandemic, poverty and injustice, dishonesty and manipulation of the truth and propaganda, political expediency, and the harsh effects of climate change. The stories of Advent are meant to shape how we are called to be as followers of Christ as the truth teller, the God-bearer the forbearing elder, the righteous ‘mensch’ and the faithful questioner. In playing these roles, we must also look to the other players around us in a community of supporting roles to one another.

First Sunday of Advent

In the reading from Isaiah and response to the Psalm there is communal lament -a prayer of people amid suffering. In the reading from Isaiah they lamented their deep suffering as a people—they are overburdened and oppressed, feeling abandoned by their ancestors and by their God. They even blamed God for their situation. But their prayer shifted from lamentation to belief in God at work in their lives based on the hope that the God who was present in their past would manifest a renewed goodness and mercy in their present suffering.

Solemnity of Christ, Heart of the Universe

This feast is not about dogma but about history. Situating this feast in its historical context provides a lens to situate ourselves as we come to the end of this year and begin another. This solemnity, like the Feast of the Sacred Heart, is a call to be humanised by feeling the pain and grief of people, known and unknown - particularly those who suffer from oppression, cruelty and exploitation. It is a reminder of our profound interconnection that is intended to bond us to one another. Our failure to grieve miseries, hunger and abuse is a warning signal – we can be betraying our own humanity.