First Sunday of Advent C
December 2, 2012
Reading I: Jeremiah 33:14-16
Reading II: Thessalonians 3:12-4:2
Gospel: Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
In Europe where the original patterns and melodies were laid down, Advent is a shout of hope against the gathering gloom of approaching winter, biting cold, darkness encroaching into the realm of the day. In our south land, the fitting image might be of the marathon runner with faltering steps gasping his way to the finish line: exams are done, springtime gives way to scorching summer, parliament dissolves in shambles, leaders of the institutional church huddle to devise a response to threatening royal scrutiny.
Can a shout of hope be heard in this withering heat?
Anyone who has ears, let them listen. The prophet declares:
I will make a virtuous branch grow
who shall practise honesty and integrity in the land
The challenge to believe this touches the core of the mystery of our very existence. There is direction, there is purpose, there is meaning in it all. Look at the glorious thrust of evolution and marvel at the contradiction: growing complexity evolves beyond the power of its causes. The identical paradox proclaims that goodness grows from corrupting evil.