Isaiah is the Church’s favorite Advent prophet. He was insistent, even in the dire circumstances of God’s People during the time in which he wrote, that they must look faithfully to a future full of hope. He promised that “On that day,” God would do a new thing, making all creation secure in knowledge of Him, filling it with his presence and his peace. Isaiah’s poetry is admittedly beautiful and profoundly moving - but is this kind of hope any more than wishful thinking?
Pope Francis acknowledges that real hope – the virtue of Christian hope - is difficult to understand, calling it “the most humble of virtues" which "only the poor can have."[i] This poverty of heart that opens itself to God’s promises and clings to them is more than just wishing it were so. It is the living conviction of those who are seeking to simplify their desires, longing to know God’s presence in their daily lives. In today’s Gospel we discover a wonderful secret: Jesus has the same longing for us. We find him praying to the Father that the simple and childlike might share something of the loving knowledge of the Father that he himself possesses. Jesus’ prayer is more than wishful thinking. He is doing a new thing; He is making it happen.
In the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, the Lord Jesus makes himself accessible to each of us. This Advent, in our prayer before the Blessed Sacrament and our reception of Holy Communion at Mass, we can readily approach him in poverty of heart and come to know his longing for us. This is more than wishful thinking. It is a reality even greater than the one Isaiah hoped for.