Tuesday, First Week of Advent: Prophets and Kings

Reflection: Once again on this third day of the advent season we are presented with an Old Testament prophecy in the first reading, and Jesus' fulfillment of that prophecy in the New Testament. Once again in the first reading we are presented with the image of the prince of peace, but this time with an emphasis on his justice leading to that peace. Especially for the persecuted Israelites in the Old Testament, a just God coming to right their ills is their hope. They are so persecuted they long and hope for the coming of their savior.  In the Gospel, Jesus confirms to his disciples that he is the one for whom the people have longed for. "For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it." The first coming of Jesus was to the Old Testament Israelites, what the second is to us now. An event promised to us by God, that we're really not sure how it will fit into time and history. We must remember that the incarnation was not just an event in history, but as Hans Urs von Balthasar, puts it "the invasion of time by eternity." Let us invite this eternal love of God, his coming into our humanity, the greatest gift we have ever and will have ever received, and let it transform our lives into testaments of his presence, and beacons of meaning and hope.