December 5/Second Monday of Advent
Make strong the weak hands, and the stumbling knees make firm.
Say to the anxious of heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.” ~ Isa 35.3-4
There are plenty of reasons to feel anxious, these days. COVID continues to hang around like an unwanted guest. Inflation bedevils the economy. In our country, political theatrics substitute for real leadership, and in other countries, corrupt dictators take their nations down the path to ruin. Everywhere we turn, we are given the message that we are hopelessly divided, and the path back to a world that operates with civility, honesty, and rational discourse looks to be rough and rocky. Who among us in such times would not admit to the occasional weak hands and feeble knees? Who among us has not experienced, if only intermittently, an anxious heart (which in the Hebrew literally reads “a hurried heart,” signifying the rapid palpitations of anxiety)? As we waver and wobble and weaken, Isaiah comes to us today with a message of hope, a message that we need to hear. Speaking to the deported Jews who certainly experienced their share of feeble knees and hurried hearts, he joyfully proclaims a vision of restoration and wholeness, and reminds the despairing exiles that they can find strength and courage in their God. Hinneh, he declares emphatically – “Here!” – using the Hebrew word that we often translate “Behold.” As my Hebrew professor in grad school characterized it, Hinneh is a cinematic command, like a sudden change in camera angle, a word that is intended to refocus our attention abruptly, as when someone cries, “Look there!” While we trudge wearily, anxiously, through these challenging days, let us accept Isaiah’s invitation to retrain our sights on God, who is now, as ever, our strength, our refuge, and our Lord.
Lord of life and death, Strengthen me and give me stamina for the journey ahead, whatever it may bring. Amen.
To hear members of the St. Peter the Apostle University And Community Parish Choir (New Brunswick, NJ) sing “When the King Shall Come Again,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YO0bCK_y_E
(To follow along with the lyrics, click here: https://hymnary.org/text/when_the_king_shall_come_again)
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120522.cfm
