Thursday of the 3rd week of Advent (Year I)
Isaiah 54:1-10 | Psalm 29(30):2,4-6,11-13 | Luke 7:24-30
for the mountains may depart,
the hills be shaken,
but my love for you will never leave you
and my covenant of peace with you will never be shaken,
says the Lord who takes pity on you. (Isaiah 54:10)
My choir will be helping a couple celebrate their golden anniversary this Saturday, and I had the privilege of meeting the wife last night. What struck me was her matter-of-fact description of her situation: her husband is not Catholic, and it took her 8 months to convince him to celebrate this long-awaited milestone in church. She still holds out hope that he will come to know God in the years left to him, and that one Easter in the near future, we may be privileged to bear witness to his rising to new life.
Contrast that with this matter-of-fact description of my choir’s preparation for Christmas: we’re woefully unprepared, and only a handful of folks have been practising together throughout these past weeks. I was frustrated and in despair…until I remembered that this happens every Christmas, and yet somehow, God has always granted us the grace and the strength to persevere through to the midnight feast itself, gaining enough confidence and momentum as our numbers slowly grow with each practice session, until we are even able to work with the folks who literally show up at the eleventh hour, brimming with enthusiasm but lacking the right notes.
Lord, we await your coming with trepidation, for we are unworthy and largely unprepared. Help us gain the confidence and willingness to set aside all our earthly cares and commitments, and come together to do Your will, not out of human obligation but because we love You, and we believe that:
though the mountains may fall and the hills turn to dust,
though faith may falter and flee at the first sign of hardship,
yet Your love always stands as a spacious tent
to shelter all who call on You
and sing Your praise and glory forever. Amen.