Word to the Wise
Thursday, December 14, 2023 - 2nd Week of Advent - Thurs
[Isa 41:13-20 and Matt 11:11-15]I am the Lord your God, who grasp your right hand; it is I who say to you, "Fear not, I will help you." Fear not, O worm Jacob, O maggot Israel; I will help you, says the Lord; your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. I will make of you a threshing sledge, sharp, new, and double-edged, to thresh the mountains and crush them, to make the hills like chaff." [Isaiah] "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force. All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come. Whoever has ears ought to hear." [Matthew]
DECEMBER 14 ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS
Religious zeal and enthusiasm can take many forms, even violent forms, as history has shown time and time again. We do not have to look very far into the past. We need only to see examples of it in the present. Faith can become an instrument for political gain and have lethal results for anyone who resists. The line from the Gospel According to Matthew about the Kingdom of heaven being subject to violence and being taken by force can be intimidating. The passage comes from a part of that gospel concerned with the reaction of people to Jesus' and John's preaching. John used apocalyptic imagery which can be vividly violent in some ways. The threshing image in Isaiah's words in the first scripture for today appears in Matthew 3:12 in John's description of the Messiah who would come! However, Jesus did not fit that description!
In the devotional tradition of Advent and Christmas/Epiphany, Jesus is called "the Prince of Peace." In our present time, we are witnessing violence in the wars in Ukraine and Israel/Gaza. Religious motivations have played a role in these! But we can look more locally to any traumatic event or experience of anti-semitism in our own country very recently! Some writers in the current known as "the new atheism" point to violence as one of the reasons for discrediting religious faith.
This can all be overwhelming but in this season of hope, any one of us can bring "peace and good will" which can have a strong impact without being violent. It requires intentional and persistent effort. Can the birth of Jesus Christ this year be the birth of peace in us to share with others? AMEN