Saturday, December 9, 2017

Reflection for Saturday, December 9, 2017

Saturday of the First Week of Advent
IS 30:19-21, 23-26
PS 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
MT 9:35-10:1, 5A 6-8

The words in today’s first reading, from the Book of Isaiah, restores faith in the reader that God will bring redemption in the face of the suffering that life in this imperfect world inevitably brings.  Isaiah says,

“Thus says the Lord GOD,
the Holy One of Israel:
O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem,
no more will you weep;
He will be gracious to you when you cry out,
as soon as he hears he will answer you.”


This is an incredibly hopeful and comforting passage, especially for those who have suffered intense pain, whether from loneliness, heartbreak, systematic oppression including racism, homophobia, sexism, and xenophobia, grief from loss, illness, or any other struggle.  In the midst of this suffering, it can seem as if God has abandoned us.  However, if we look at God’s love through a lens of liberation, we can see that although we suffer now, in this life, we will find redemption later on, when the Lord comes, and He “will give you the bread you need and the water for which you thirst.  This is especially relevant in this beautiful season of Advent, in which we as Christians exist in a constant state of waiting for the coming of Christ.  We pray and we struggle for justice as our way of waiting for Jesus, who hears our cries, to come and redeem those who suffer.

Julia Murphy is a junior English major.

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