Peaceful waiting in Advent Hope

Loaves and Fishes, by Laura James Art

We heard in the Gospel this week of the miracle of the loaves and fishes. The miracle being, the sharing of the food, amongst the many. The many had been waiting with Jesus for three days, thousands of people "the lame the maimed and blind, the mute and many others."[1]

Waiting, waiting with Jesus, sat together, in union and in hunger. The miracle surely is not only in the food multiplying, but in the waiting of thousands of people, waiting for the blind to see, mute to talk, the lame to walk; thousands of people waiting in hope and faith and hunger.

Pope Francis calls us to be aware of the charade of celebrating Christmas this year.  He says that with our world so broken, by climate change, war, poverty and greed, "We should ask for the grace to weep for this world which does not recognize the path to peace… God weeps, Jesus weeps."[2]

A path away from peace is a path to making us all lame, mute, maimed, and blind; such a path is not far from our own feet.

We could despair at the state of the world, at the charade that is looming, but first we have a choice. Just like those waiting with Jesus, hungry and broken, we could chose to stay. We can and must choose the path of peace, hope and love; we can all choose to wait.

I am reminded of the words of Jean Vanier, 

"Each one of us is waiting. Creation is waiting, humanity in its totality is waiting. But sometimes we forget that Jesus is also waiting. Jesus is waiting and sometimes, we may imagine him, in tears, as he weeps over this broken humanity saying 'If you had but known the gift of God. If you had but known the message of peace."[3]

Advent is a time of waiting, a time to celebrate the waiting of an Emmanuel, God with us. As we prepare a path, we are called, more so than ever before, that this path must be one of peace.

We must, moreover we need to be mindful of how we, the broken, forgotten, the unwanted, are invited to wait alongside Jesus to be freed, nourished and welcomed, in love, hope and peace.

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[1] Mt 15:29-37[2] http://time.com/4123703/pope-francis-christmas-charade/[3] Jean Vanier - Images of Love, words of hope pg112-13

Come, Come to The Manger

Children come!

The Shepherds- John August Swanson

The first visitors to Jesus were the shepherds, a group of people who lived on edges of society, a group of people who lived in the wilderness, away from civility, viewed as the other, seen as being incapable and untrustworthy.

There were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock.

An angel of the Lord stood before them, the glory of the Lord shone around them, they were terrified.

But the angel said to them,

“Do not be afraid; I am bringing you good news of great joy for all: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

The shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went quickly and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.

 

Us Shepherds- L'Arche GWDC in Arlington- courtesy of Brian Taylor 

I see a great connection with our life as L’Arche and the shepherds, we aren’t at the front of the line when it comes to government policy, or even at times able to vote. We are looked at as being different, with our own way of communicating, and at times hold different values to those we share our neighborhoods with.

Like the shepherds, in our constancy, commitment and vulnerability, through our ability to say yes: a yes to going for a walk, to leading prayer, to welcoming weakness, to welcoming the messages of strangers; so we, like the first visitors to the Christ, are invited to the manger.  


I would like to share with you this song by Nick Lowe- I was born in Bethlehem http://youtu.be/gwvfwkqagrI


Happy Christmas