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Third Sunday of Advent

December 12, 2004

Reflection prepared by Sister Briana Craddock, OSB

Waiting in Joyful Hope

Reading:

• Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10

The bleak landscape of midwinter seems lifeless. Trees with barren branches scratch and claw at the leaden sky that threatens yet another snowfall. Springtime – trees bursting into bloom, daffodils pushing green heads through thawing soil – seems like a distant dream that fades as morning comes. As we pass through each winter – physically, spiritually, emotionally – we may despair of spring ever coming again. Yet we know that spring will come, that new life will burst forth because it has happened before. We expect that it will come. All we have to do is wait. It will happen.

The images that Isaiah presents in this reading seem, at first glance, to be far from this idea of expectation. The word “desert” conjures up pictures of endless stretches of sand, parched by intense heat, populated by only the hardiest plant and animal species. Likewise, the wilderness is a place of vast unknowing – darkness blanketing paths overgrown with vines and branches, if there are any paths at all. Neither the desert nor the wilderness is a place where survival is easy. One has to work at it. Through Isaiah, however, God promises that the wilderness and the dry land shall be glad. The desert will rejoice and blossom – abundantly. Even the deepest, darkest, driest places will have new life, will experience God’s glory. This is hope. We do not expect this to happen. We can only dare to hope that our deserted, barren and overgrown places will be filled with the wonder of God.

Yet the wonder and glory of God does fill our very being. The life that flows through us opens our blind eyes and unplugs our deaf ears. Our limbs that have grown weary dealing with everyday struggles are strengthened and renewed – all because we know that God is with us and that we belong to God. 

This is our hope – that even in our most desperate times we may know the glory, wonder and power of God. And when we recognize God’s presence, we can follow Jesus’ exhortation “Go and tell…what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have good news brought to them.”

Questions for Reflection:

• What helps you wait patiently for Christ’s coming? What hinders you?

• For what do you most hope this Advent season?

• How can you work to make God’s presence known to those who have lost hope?

Suggested Activities:

• Write a song, poem, or prayer to God about your experience of waiting in joyful hope.

• Draw or paint a picture or mandala expressing the message found in the reading from Isaiah.

Our Father