Bringing Hope

 “’Original sin attempts to abolish fatherhood,…placing in doubt the truth about God who is Love and leaving man only with a sense of the master-slave relationship’ (Blessed John Paul II). John the Baptist, the new Elijah, removed our doubt and began to restore all things by turning our hearts back to the Father.”

~ Magnificat

We read in today’s first reading about Elijah. How he was destined “to put an end to wrath before the day of the LORD, to turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons, and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.” (Sirach 48:10)

God’s desire is for us to be in communion with him once again, to restore things to the way they were when he created man. Adam and Eve were in perfect communion with God until they chose to sin. They were deceived into believing that God was holding out on them, that they could actually be equal or maybe greater than God himself. The serpent was able to make them doubt God’s perfect love. Since that time God has been trying to restore that perfect relationship with man. In scripture we see over and over how God made a covenant with man and we, in our sinfulness, break the covenant. God’s entire relationship with mankind has been a series of covenants throughout the Old Testament and fulfilled by the New Covenant that is Jesus Christ. Each covenant expands on the previous one because mankind has broken his part of the promise. God always remains faithful, but we do not. And then God makes the ultimate sacrifice, he sends his only begotten Son to save us. During this Advent season we are called to meditate on the Incarnation of God himself. And each day we are called to make room for him in our hearts.

We have been hearing a lot about John the Baptist during the daily readings. He is the new Elijah and was placed on this earth to prepare the way for Jesus Christ. And now it is our turn. We are called to prepare the way for the second coming of our Lord. We are also called to go into our homes, schools, work place and communities and help the world understand that our Lord is coming to “judge the living and the dead.” But we aren’t called to stand on a street corner telling others to repent. We are called to help others understand the truth about the Lord’s coming through our actions. With the love of Christ, we are called to remove the mountains, clear away the stumbling blocks that prevent others from experiencing the love of Christ. We are called to be in the midst of the pain and suffering in our world just as Christ was. We are to unite ourselves with the humanity of Christ who humbly entered into the misery of life and sin out of love for each of us. When others are able to experience Christ here and now they will also begin to anticipate the coming of our Lord with hope.