Hope. The mission statement of the Diocese of San Bernardino ends with these words: Through the impact of the Gospel we seek to fill lives with hope. The readings of the Second Sunday of Advent (Cycle A) give us reason we must do this. In the Gospel, Jesus is introduced to us as “A voice of one crying out in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord.” These words are a quote from “second” Isaiah — the author of Isaiah chapters 40-55. He offered hope to Jewish exiles living in Babylon. Our Hebrew Scripture reading from “first” Isaiah tells us to be hopeful because God is, in the words of the Negro spiritual, “an on-time God,” always faithful to his covenant with us. And Paul drives home the message by saying that because we have received Christ, our hope, we must welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us. We live in a desert of displaced peoples, anxieties, and violence. Our mission this week and always is to “seek to fill lives with hope.” Ask “Christ, our hope” to help with this!
– Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia