Reflection for the second Sunday of Advent

Tis the season full of expectation. In the Scripture readings, Malachi is telling us a messenger is coming; and in the Gospel, we see John the Baptist telling us the reign of God is near. Tomorrow Isiah is telling us that “the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb…the calf and the young lion shall browse together with a little child to guide them.” All sorts of good news.

Malachi’s messenger, John the Baptist, and Isaiah proclaim hope in God’s coming reign. And now we are the messengers/prophets God has/is choosing. We, too, are to bring the good news of God’s kingdom. How do we do this?

First, we do it by really living the life we have chosen. Our witness is a countercultural lifestyle of simplicity, celibacy and obedience that hopefully radiates hope and peace to all we meet. In the midst of today’s turmoil (and has there ever been a time without turmoil?) we stand to say there is still hope and peace.

We do this with God’s grace—“making straight the way of the Lord”. We know that Christ has been born in each of us and continues to live in the humble dwelling of our personalities, our selves. Christmas is always with us as we find Christ in ourselves and in one another. That beautiful poem of Hopkins tells us:

the just man
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is—
Christ—for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.”
(As Kingfishers Catch Fire)

And here in this chapel, we witness Christ in each and all of us, “Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his.” That does not mean we are all the same Christ clone.  Our personalities are ours, and Christ shines through them, does not overlook them or blot them out, For example, my Janelleness is stable within me. However, hopefully some good shines forth that tells you that Christ is in the midst of Janelle with all her faults and eccentricities. Sometimes we may not recognize Christ in someone. That could be the transformation is not yet complete in someone or that too much of them (such as too much Janelle) is showing. As John said, “I must decrease so He can increase.” That is so true.

So, as we look over the chapel, there’s Christ ‘beside us, before us, above us, within us, in quiet, in danger, in hearts of all that love us, in mouth of friend or stranger. With that, is it possible for us to not be prophets of hope?

So how does Christ become enfleshed in our hearts? Benedict tells us how to do this in the chapters of good works (4) and the one on good zeal (72). When we recognize Christ in all—the refugee, the poor, the transsexual, one another, we are carrying out the good news. We are not Christ, Elijah, or some exciting newsworthy person. We are just us! We are the “voice of one crying in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord.” Let Christ be born in you and you will know peace, hope, and joy.

So, I experience Christ’s coming every day as I pray, work, play with any of you.

Christ is here by me with Susan and Elizabeth, with Irene, Keisy, Elaine, and all of you I meet throughout the day. I can say with Hopkins:

I am all at once what Christ is, since he was what I am, and 
This Jack, joke, poor potsherd, patch, matchwork, immortal diamond is  
Immortal diamond.

This is the good news we proclaim with our lives even though we scarcely believe in our worth. 

We are prophets of hope, immortal diamonds.