Wednesday of the 2nd Week in Advent
Isaiah 40:25-31; Matthew 11:28-30
Every year, as November approaches, I look forward to Advent. I picture a peaceful time, a focus on prayer, and that wonderful, growing anticipation of the joy of Christmas. Then Advent comes, and the days start to fill with things that threaten to ruin my plans: illnesses, emergencies, the unpredictable demands of daily life. Most days, before I know it, it’s evening; I’m too tired to even try, and then I feel worse because all I really did was let another day go by. Suddenly, it’s mid-December; what I pictured as a peaceful, wonderful time has been anything but, and I’m starting to fear that Advent will end in disillusionment instead of joy.
We can see the effect of that kind of angst in today’s readings. First, there are the Jews of the Babylonian exile. They’ve lost their homes, the Temple lies in ruins, and although they pray for deliverance, fear is deafening them to God’s answer; many have begun to worship the gods of Babylon, who they think are stronger, since God “lost” to them. In the gospel, the Jews of our Lord’s time are not so different. Conquered, occupied, and praying for deliverance, they are so used to the sound of their own fear and insecurity that they can’t hear the voice of God even when he’s standing there speaking to them.
What is he speaking? Words of consolation. First, God reminds the Jews that the gods of Babylon are nothing. Only He is the Creator; only He keeps all things in existence. Yes, the Jews are in exile; yes, the Temple is gone. But that doesn’t mean there is no plan; rather, it means that God has the plan, and their suffering, though painful, is part of it. They wouldn’t understand that, and they would fear, but they didn’t need to. What they needed was trust. That’s why, earlier, God said to Isaiah: Say to the fearful of heart: Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God, he comes with vindication… he comes to save you (Isaiah 35:4). Jesus is that Savior, that vindication, that Temple not made by human hands, the one in whom people of every age and nation, however weary, burdened, or afraid, can find true rest. It’s no surprise that he, like his Father, says, fear is useless; what is needed is faith (Mark 5:36).
When in the first reading, I heard God ask, Do you not know? Have you not heard (Isaiah 40:28), I’m tempted to say, “No, I haven’t,” but maybe that’s because, like ancient people, I’ve been listening more to the sound of my own expectations than to the voice of God. The theologian Fr. Thomas Keating once said: “God’s first language is silence; all else is a translation.”1 During Advent, I’ve listened for His voice in music, in vocal prayer, and in conversations; while He is certainly speaking to me through those, He is speaking even more clearly in silence.
I might make the excuse that I have little room in my noisy life for silence, but that’s untrue in at least two ways. First, I haven’t tried; second, no one said I have to start with large blocks of time. If I start small, there are plenty of opportunities: I can afford a few minutes early in the morning, just after I wake up, or late at night, just before sleep. When driving, I can turn off the music; I can leave for Mass five minutes earlier and spend that time in silence in the Chapel; for that matter, I could visit Christ in silent Adoration more often. These are just to name a few. If I tried, I can find more.
With this in mind, there’s every reason to keep looking forward to Advent. All I have to do is remember that, while God is found in the sights and sounds of every time and season, He is best heard in His first language: Silence. Start listening.
1Keating, Fr. Thomas. Invitation to Love: The Way of Christian Contemplation.
Mark 10:45 
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