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December 3, 2021Advent is pre-eminently the liturgical season of promise and fulfillment. The first scripture for daily Eucharist usually presents the promise and the gospel scripture presents the fulfillment. The promise is often presented in the scriptures taken from the prophecies of Isaiah. The excerpt quoted above from today's first scripture is an example of the promise that in the "day of the Lord" "out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see..." and the gospel scripture features the fulfillment in the restoration of sight to two blind men in the Gospel According to Matthew, a gospel that consistently presents Jesus as the fulfillment of all the prophecies of the Messiah.
The importance of "promise/fulfillment" lies in the nature of HOPE. The reasons for hope in the time of Jesus were not the same as those of our own time. We are, in this country, not under occupation by a foreign pagan power. We have our own preoccupations which our secular "holiday culture" urges on us. It is a culture of buy and give without reference to the birth of Christ. The secular season ends almost abruptly with decorations taken down and trees by the curb and unsuitable gifts returned for something else. The season of hope continues the story of promise/fulfillment on into Lent/Easter/Pentecost. The gift received in this season is the one promised centuries ago, made flesh in Mary in Nazareth in real time, and continued in the Body of Christ in our time and into the future. We celebrate this wonderful gift of the Savior in his birth, "the wonder of the Incarnation" as Advent/Christmas/Epiphany. He is our "hope of Glory" [Col. 1:27]. This gift of hope does not need to be returned for something else and requires no batteries to run. Advent is the "once upon a time" that begins the story's promise. AMEN
