I Sunday of Advent – Year B – 2020 The Lord never forgets us; we must remember who we are in His sight Readings: Isaiah 63: 16b-17, 19b; 64: 2-7 / Psalm 80 / I Corinthians 1: 3-9 / Mark 13: 33-37
One uplifting aspect about the holy season of Advent is how most of the Old Testament readings at Mass come from the book of the prophet Isaiah. This great book is a reminder of God’s fidelity to us and how he always has us, his children, in mind.
In today’s first reading, from near the end of Isaiah, we hear the prophet lamenting his sins and those of his people when he says, “Behold, you are angry, and we are sinful; all of us have become like unclean people….” (Isaiah 64: 4b-5a).
However, as he continues, the memory of the goodness of God rings true: “Yet, O Lord, you are our father; we are the clay and you are the potter: we are all the work of your hands” (Isaiah 64: 7). The prophet recalls a relationship and he places his trust in it. He knows God is faithful.
The prophet’s words we hear today are a cry to God based on the recognition of our faults and sinfulness, especially our hard-heartedness. This cry is most authentic when it is the fruit of our repentance and arises from our need for forgiveness. While tinged with sorrow, the message unfolds with a firm expression of hope, the fruit of faith.
All of this unfolds because there is a memory of God’s goodness and mercy. The Lord’s invitation is recalled from the beginning of this prophetic book: “Come now, let us set things right, says the Lord: Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow…” (Isaiah 1: 18).
More than just an invitation, the words make clear that it is God’s initiative and his desire to sustain a relationship; the words make clear that it is constant and so is a firm foundation for our faith.
In his first encyclical, Lumen Fidei, Pope Francis reminds us of how faith is grounded in God’s ancient promises and also leads us towards the future. He refers to this dynamic of faith as the “remembrance of the future - memoria futuri,” the “memory of a promise.”¹
Pope Francis writes, “Yet this remembrance is not fixed on past events but, as the memory of a promise, it becomes capable of opening up the future, shedding light on the path to be taken.”²
Faith exists because of the great and providential deeds of our merciful Father. From our part memory is needed so we remember what God has done for us in Christ, especially in how we have been forgiven. Trust is essential so that we always know to turn to the Lord for mercy and timely help in both the present and the future.
Why should we turn to God? Because of our sinfulness. How can we dare do that? Because God is our father and we are all the work of his hands. How do we know to turn to him? Because we can recall his mercy through the deeds of Christ and so place our trust in him.
The Lord desires that we are always in right relationship with him. His mercy is the means through which it is healed and sustained. This bond is the foundation of the dynamic of repentance, memory and trust in God and how we understand ourselves in relation to him.
In a world such as ours with all its complications, the only way for our lives to make sense is when we exist in relationship with God, when we remember and believe that God in Christ truly loves us and is always willing and able to forgive us; when we know who to turn to and trust that we will never be turned away.
Like the prophet, our cry to the Lord is most authentic when it is the fruit of repentance and the expression of our need of mercy and hope for redemption.
We might experience such cries as arising from our emptiness, but when we direct them to Christ, rest assured we are directing our laments and hopes to him, who is the fullness of love and the outpouring of mercy.