Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

That we read extensively from Isaiah during Advent is no accident. Isaiah expresses in vivid and moving words the vindication of God’s vision of how things will turn out for the Chosen People. Today, St. Matthew evokes images from Isaiah’s stirring preaching to illustrate a relationship between the vision that Isaiah proclaimed and the reality that Jesus’ incarnation brings about—the advent of the Reign of God in his very being. St. Matthew is pointing out that the Word that Jesus incarnates is the Word preached by Isaiah, God’s Word that will not return to God until that Word is fulfilled. Jesus is that fulfillment, and God’s Reign has already begun in the power of Jesus’ preaching and actions on behalf of God’s people.

Further, Jesus enlists and empowers the disciples to extend this incarnation through their own preaching and compassionate action by sharing the power of the Holy Spirit with them. They become the continuing incarnation of God’s Word of promise to the troubled and abandoned ones for whom both Isaiah and Jesus have such compassion. God will not leave them alone and lost. Advent moves us to that place where we recognize that this power of continuing incarnation, which is the meaning of sharing Christ’s Spirit, is available to all the Baptized. Advent is about recognizing that more than waiting for Christ’s coming, we are becoming Christ’s coming, called to be God’s compassionate response to a troubled and abandoned people. How might this understanding of Advent inform the meaning of our common Advent prayer: Come, Lord Jesus!