Finding Consolation in Dark Times
And Why Advent is a Good Time to Start a Revolution
A dialogue on the Readings for the Second Sunday of Advent
GIOVANNI: Dear Richard, you have been preaching for longer than I have, and you certainly know there can be different kinds of sermons. Many Christians would say at this point may say that the most common category is that of bad sermons! But, surely, most of us must have heard at least once a sermon that has deeply inspired us, perhaps even leading to engaging choices, or just substantially nourishing us in our faith journey.
One of the most inspiring sermons of all time has certainly been the one spoken by Martin Luther King in 1963. Around 250.000 people in Washington DC were filled with the spiritual energy of King’s charismatic speech. Among the other biblical quotations, he also used today’s First Reading from Isaiah to proclaim the hope of a world where justice and freedom would reign amidst every people, with no distinctions.
This text from Isaiah ‘Console, console my people’ is best suited to strengthen hope in the listeners. When it was first spoken to the Israelites in exile, it arose in them a hope for liberation that some of the people might have lost over the long decades in Babylon. We can imagine their hearts warmed by the consolation carried by these words, and the same must have befallen the thousands of civil rights supporters in Washington DC in 1963.
Those words were only the beginning of the liberation, which still remained to be accomplished; yet the effects of those words were enough to give them courage to the strives of life and encourage them to action. This is also true also for us today: listening to God’s Word is only the beginning. yet, that beginning can already be enough to sustain our journey in this world and give direction to our actions.
I find it beautiful that Mark starts his Gospel in this way: ‘The beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God’. It’s not just an obvious way to state the subject matter of his little book. Indeed, the beginning of a good news is already a good news! Even if it doesn’t solve all our problems at once, it empowers us with the strength to live in the present and the confident hope that all our needs will be fully met in the future by Christ.
Our whole life is steeped in this Advent feeling of waiting for a completion that it’s still to be accomplished. As St Paul says, ‘We are waiting for is what he promised: the new heavens and new earth, the place where righteousness will be at home’ (2 Pt 3, 13 ). However, while we wait for that Day, we can already live the beginning of the Kingdom thanks to the grace of the Holy Spirit, whose first fruits we already possess (cf. Rm 8, 23).
Dear friend, this is the comforting consolation of this Sunday of Advent. As it was true for the prophet in Babylon and Martin Luther King in Washington, preaching God’s Word will always keep its saving power in all ages, even through our limited words.
RICHARD: Dear Giovanni, I appreciate your comforting words on this second Sunday of Advent. Reflecting on the recent elections in the Netherlands, it's evident that many in my country seek solace amidst the profound shock of our political divisions.
I've been scrolling through the news, and diving into comments, and it's been a bit of a letdown. The thing that's been bugging me is how both the politicians and the newspapers all seem to talk from a viewpoint that considers itself the centre of society, for it is the ‘centre’ that defines who is in and out, the centre that defines what belongs to it and who is relegated to its margins.
Furthermore, whoever is in power at the centre of society will always assume that their position is justified and will protect it at all costs, backed up by a cultural narrative that explains why they should be in the centre in the first place. But if that were true, it should also be true for those away from the centre. And what happened in Dutch politics? The margins threw a curveball, saying they're not buying into the idea that the A-listers are the right fit for the centre. The irony? Many of the new picks have been part of the "established centre" for ages.
In these dark times, both literally and liturgically, Christians are looking forward to the coming of the messiah, who will offer us consolation and redemption. Christians do not believe that a strong leader or a charismatic politician will save us from ourselves, but a king who was born in a manger; a boy who lived as a political refugee in Egypt; a prophet who preached peace on the margins of a mighty empire: Jesus of Nazareth.
Calling this man our King and comforter isn't just a spiritual thing. It's a bold political move. But, as Pope Francis puts it, it's a revolution with a twist: a revolution of tenderness:
“Tenderness is not weakness; it is fortitude. It is the path of solidarity, the path of humility. […] the more powerful you are, the more your actions will have an impact on people, the more responsible you are to act humbly. If you don’t, your power will ruin you, and you will ruin the other.” [1]
In the midst of today’s conflicts, near and far, each of us can be a shining light, a reminder that light beats darkness every time. To quote Pope Francis again:
“A single individual is enough for hope to exist, and that individual can be you. And then there will be another ‘you,’ and another ‘you,’ and it turns into an ‘us.’ And so, does hope begin when we have an ‘us’? No. Hope began with one ‘you.’ When there is an ‘us,’ there begins a revolution.”[2]
Our consolation lies in our active hope in God’s providence. We will not be judged by God based on the darkness we live in, but on the hope and tenderness we bring into this darkness.
[1] Pope Francis, Ted-talk 2017
[2] Pope Francis, Ted-talk 2017
Pictures: Western Front of Salisbury Cathedral 2023, © Richard Steenvoorde OP & “I have a dream” image by Adam Clay from Pixabay
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