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Year C: Second Sunday of Advent First Reading: Baruch 5: 1-9
The book, Baruch, was written at the time of the Exile and in today’s First Reading, the writer is offering words of hope and promise to an oppressed people.
For him, as for the people being scattered, the image of Jerusalem in mourning for the children who have been taken from her would have spoken deeply of the loss of homeland.
However, in the midst of the mourning, the prophet is able to say to the grieving city of God that God has not abandoned her or her children. Jerusalem is not to be cast down in mourning but to witness to the power and radiance of God. She is to clothe herself in the glory of God and proclaim that God is with her for ever. Her children may be marched away from her by their enemies - but God will bring them back: the same enemies who forced the route-march will now carry her children home.
These are not trite words, offering comfort but lacking real substance. These are words of power and speak as much to our day as to the people in exile in Babylon.
The idea of a radiant, heavenly Jerusalem was picked up in the Book of Revelation and is used as an image of our final destination. In some senses, we are in exile on earth - our final home is heaven. Advent is a time to set our sights on the day when the Lord comes to take us to the eternal city - our eternal destiny.
Life on the modern earth has its own hardships which compare with those of the Diaspora (the scattered Jews). We need to hear words of vision and prophecy as much as they did - to see beyond our current difficulties to a time when our “mourning gowns” are removed and our tears are wiped away. We need to be reminded of the glory that awaits us when God fulfils his promise and brings us to the place he has prepared for us.
Text © 2006 Wellspring | Gospel | First Reading | Second Reading | [ Weekly Wellsprings ] |
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