The Messiah
The presence and love of God in the world.
Advent 1A Isaiah 2:1-5, Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 24:36-44
Isaiah had a vision — call it an expectation — of what God’s help was going to look like. God would settle disputes between the nations. There would be no more need for war, and people from all over the world would come to a Holy City which welcomed everyone.
The people of Jesus’ day also had expectations of what God’s help — the messiah1 — would look like. There was not one agreed-upon expectation. What would it look like when someone had been anointed by God? What would such a messiah say or do? Jesus met some people’s expectations, but not others’.
Maybe “the messiah” is a work in progress. In the second reading, Paul says, “Put on Christ.”2 It is an invitation to “be in our own unique way what Christ was . . . the presence and love of God in the world.”3 Putting on Christ doesn’t mean being Jesus. It means being the presence and love of God in our lives, as who we are. In that way we contribute to the fullness of the Messiah – God’s help – in our world and time.
The Incarnation began in Jesus, but it did not end in him. It continues in us, in others and in others we do not expect. Neighbors and strangers. Christians and not. People from other nations who will, one day, with us, stream towards a Holy City in which all will be welcome.
I am told that the Sanskrit word, Namaste means “I bow to you.” A longer version is this: “I honor the light, love, truth, beauty and peace within you because it is also within me. In sharing these things we are united, we are the same, we are one.”
In Advent, may we find ourselves moved to offer someone such a greeting.
Peace.
“Messiah” comes from the Hebrew word for “anointed.” In the Hebrew Bible, people anointed other people and things: kings, high priests, altars. In the gospels we read that people might anoint an honored guest (Lk.7:44-46), a person in need of healing (Mk. 6:13, Lk. 10:34) or a body being prepared for burial (Jn.12:7, Mk. 16:1.)
“Christ” comes from the Greek word for “anointed.”
Vincent Pizzuto, Contemplating Christ: The Gospels and the Interior Life. (Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 2018) kindle edition at 33.
I’ve always thought that there have been Jesus like people throughout the ages…. Gandhi, MLK, Mother Theresa, etc…. But find it so interesting that you say that a bit of that light can be in me too, and I can connect with others in that way. Another way to think about how we are called, and how important it is to be light, kind, open, caring, maybe woke 🤣. Namaste Lily.
Namaste, Lily. Thank you!