OPEN OUR EYES AND FREE US
If we really do
believe that God dwells in us and is working through us, then everything
changes.
We have just
completed one of the most challenging periods of the Church year. The season of
Advent, the feast of Christmas, and the feast of the Epiphany invite us to
reflect on the meaning of "God with us." What does it mean that God
has come to dwell with us? It says a great deal about God and about us and our
world. The first thing it tells us about God is that He desires to be
intimately engaged in our lives. He simply does not want to be the God Who
creates us and sends us on our way. He doesn't want to be a God Who delivers
messages now and then, telling us what to do and then evaluating our
performance, deciding whether to reward or punish us. No, this is a God Who
says, "I want to come and dwell with you. I want to be with you." God
calls us into this mysterious, intimate relationship. No one could have
imagined that this is what God would have in mind. It wasn't until His Son, His
very Presence, came into the world that we began to understand. What we sense
in the Person of Jesus is the best clue of who we are and Who God is.
What is so exciting
about this season and the hope that it gives us every year, is that not only is
this union with Christ possible, but it is truly happening in us. If we really
believe that we are not dealing with our own responsibilities or our lives with
just our own abilities; if we really do believe that God dwells in us and is
working through us, then everything changes. At times, a kind of darkness or
depression can come over us when we think about life being nothing more than a
million challenges we have to conquer. Our Christian faith is not about
fulfilling all the needs that are around us. It's not about tasks, nor is it
about getting things done or fixing things. Fundamentally, the feast of the
Incarnation reminds us that what we are asked to do is to participate in a
great mystery. That is the heart of Christianity. The mystery is to trust and
to believe that God is truly in you and me. God's task is to be the Source of
energy, life, and grace. He is to be the Source that gets the work done!
In today's
readings, it's clear that the work is twofold: we are to help people to see and
to help people to be free. From the very beginning, human beings were conscious
of the fact that they were unable to see all that they needed to see. They knew
they couldn't be free of all of the burdens that are part of life. And so, they
longed for someone, something to come along and to help them. That's what the
longing for the Messiah is all about. For centuries, people talked about it and
prophesied about it. Isaiah was one of the clearest voices telling us that
there would be someone coming to fulfill our needs. This Teacher will not shout
or scream because He will speak the truth.
Isaiah proclaimed,
"The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all people shall see it"
(Is 40:5). "'Comfort, give comfort to My people,' says our God. 'Speak
tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her guilt is expiated'" (Is
40:1 - 2). This is the God Who has grasped their hand. God forms and sets
within this person the work. The work, again, is given to all peoples, to all
the nations. It's not limited to any one particular group. Isaiah says this is
the work of "opening people's eyes, of freeing them from that which
burdens them" (Cf Is 42:7).
We are like Christ,
that comes from our baptism.. We are the ones who have been called by name,
grasped by the hand, led to a place where, if we trust, something marvelous
will happen to us. The Power of God can open our eyes and free us from the things
that bind us.
Trusting and
believing that we have a role as significant as Christ's is quite a challenge.
Jesus began in Nazareth, simply being God's Instrument of light, grace, and
peace.
He has opened the
eyes of each one of us!