Tuesday, November 29,
2016
Tuesday of the First Week of Advent
From the prophet Isaiah
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him:
a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a Spirit of counsel and of strength, a
Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear
of the Lord. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide,
but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s
afflicted. (Is 11: 2-3)
I am particularly fond of this passage, which we will hear
proclaimed again this coming Sunday; in fact, I am currently writing a piece of
music for my schola to sing this Sunday, based on the passage I have just
quoted.
How might we contemplate this passage and make some personal
appropriations of what it has to say about our own spiritual evolution,
or salvation? I prefer the word “evolution” because it evokes the notion
of an ongoing process, a sense of becoming what not is yet evident, a sense of
growth and change to something better than what we have in the here and now,
and that is what our salvation is all about. It is not simply a one-time
event that happens to us such as what happens at revival meeting altar-calls or
what fundamentalists refer to as a “born again experience.” Our salvation is
something that needs to be worked out and experienced over the course of time
and on a daily basis. “Work out with anxious concern to achieve your salvation”
(Phil 2:12), and 2Tim 3:15 speaks of “the sacred Scriptures, the source of the
wisdom which through faith in Jesus Christ leads to salvation.” We grow towards
our salvation during a lifetime of study and hearing of the Scriptures.
And so what I am trying to demonstrate here is that we evolve
towards our salvation, drawing on the graces and the helps that God bestows on
us, sometimes even without our consciously asking.
Read the Isaiah passage again in that light. Jesus Christ is
the Spirit, and the gifts of the Spirit which are listed here are the gifts He
has to bestow on us. Which Spirit do you need the most this Advent.
I would also like to point a few very important words from
the passage: not by appearance does he judge, nor by hearsay does he decide.
Can we pray for the graces we need to grow to become a people who lives by
those words? For myself, I continually pray for the grace to see beyond
appearances, and when I catch myself not doing that, I remember what
I am praying for and put a check on the sinful tendency of my mind to judge.
What graces do you want the most in your personal journey this
Advent? Are you willing to cooperate with the graces when and if they are given
to you? If so, you will experience yourself evolving towards the fullness of
holiness that is your ultimate destiny. May God bring about the good He died to
bring to you.
God bless you!
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