I am passing along a beautiful blog post from my friend Fr. Tom Zielinski from the St. Anthony Spirituality Center in Marathon, Wisconsin. As we are in the home stretch of the Advent season, let his words fill you with joy and anticipation for the Lord’s coming…
“Acceptance” is a word that is becoming more important for me during Advent. We have the usual words of waiting, longing, desiring, expecting, which are all very appropriate for this season. But with the Second Sunday of Advent, the word and idea of acceptance stood out for me in the Sunday readings. The word itself was not there, but the idea was.
Advent is about themes bigger and wider than “preparing for the birth of Christ.” On the first Sunday we hear about the coming of the Son of Man, that Day of Judgment for which we know neither the day nor the hour. On the Second Sunday we have that image of the sort of wild man, John the Baptist, coming out of the desert, announcing a challenge of repentance. Hardly a peaceful and poetic “waiting for Baby Jesus.”
And in all that I see a theme of acceptance, the acceptance of people and things that we might not initially want to accept. God is challenging us to be open and to allow ourselves to be stretched. The people were challenged to accept John the Baptist and his message. Some might have been afraid of him or thought him quite strange. But if they were sincere and accepted him and his message, they could be led to a deeper relationship with God.
The Scribes and Pharisees were challenged to accept John’s message. He called them a “brood of vipers.” That must have got their attention. Could they hear and accept what he was trying to tell them about their own willingness to change their lives? How do we hear that challenge in this season, in its spirit of watching and waiting for a deeper experience of the presence of God? Can we accept the challenge again to change something?
In the first reading from Isaiah, we have the rather strange images of acceptance symbolized by various animals. Isaiah is saying that when people really accept the Reign of God, our whole world will be affected. The wolf will be the guest of the lamb. Various others will be together in peace: leopard and kid; calf and young lion; cow and bear. The lion will eat hay and not eat other animals. And a little child will lead the whole menagerie. All sorts of creatures will be accepting of each other in most unexpected ways.
As with all the Scriptures, we are invited to apply these images to ourselves and our relationships. We are to be accepting of people and experiences which we might ordinarily resist. There is always the challenge to look deeper into the events of our lives and to see a blessing when at first that might seem strange or foolish.
We are above all to look within ourselves and accept what we see there, even if we find things in ourselves that we do not like: to accept, to love, to appreciate what we see in ourselves. And if there is something that needs change and conversion, then to take it confidently to God for healing and reconciliation. Advent can be a journey of acceptance. We might surprise ourselves with new experiences of appreciation and discovery.
