wanting

Isaiah 25:6-10; Ps 23 I shall live in the  house of the Lord all my days; Mt 15:29-37

A bit of review form yesterday,  The advent readings are always so delicious.  Each year the church invites us to open the trunk of memories and experience again the voice of the prophet Isaiah.

I invite you to read the passage of ISaiah and just let it sink in:  On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feats of rich food and pure, choice wines...


there is always beautifully rich imagery that can not only captivate the imagination but also redeem it as we pray.

Secondly, Look to the psalm, a personal favorite of man, 23, The Lord is my shepherd.
This was the first scripture passage i put to memory when in 7th grade.  Our CCD teacher asked us to memorize a passage.  I was an overachiever as a kid, always wanting to do better, do more, leave an impression.

So I put the memory the entire psalm and recited for the class. I was definitely the teachers pet.

The psalm has stuck with me all of my life.

As I read it, specially the older I get I am struck by the first lines of the psalm, in particular the second part of the first line, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."

I realize i can pray those words but I am far from that reality.  The lord is my shepherd, but I do want many things.

I want a lot of things through out the day.  We make list of things we want.  We want and want and want.  SOmetimes, we are overwhelmed by the wants in our life.

And Just as we want and have that hunger for many realities it is good, especially in the season of Advent, to remember that Advent is not just about us wanting or longing for God and anticipating his arrival; rather it is just as much abut God wanting and longing for us.

God wants us; he longs for us; he goes out of his way to let his want of us to satisfy our want of so much.

Is this not the sentiment of reality we encounter in the gospel.  Jesus is surrounded by a crowd of all kinds: lame, deformed, blind, cripples. mute and many others.

All of them are wanting something.

Yet, when the evening draws close it is JEsus' response that is so telling, "I do not want to send them away hungry, for fear they may collapse on the way."

There it is, the heart and soul of Advent.  Christ hungers to satisfy our hunger.  He is worried for us; he is concerned for us; he anticipates our hearts and our sorrows and our needs.

He wants to provide for us.

How often have we in our life or seen others in theirs take their hunger and desires and allow it to lead them down paths of self destruction.  This is exactly what JEsus doesn't want, "for fear they may collapse on the way."

JEsus is concerned. Advent is about letting our wants and desires to be purified by his want of us.

Yet, It isn't jesus by himself that comes to satisfy; Jesus doesn't fly solo.
He gives to the disciples and they give to those around them.  Jesus involves the disciples in the process, just as he wants to involve us in the process as well.

Not only are we deepening our awareness of God's presence in our life this Advent, we are also bringing that presence with us to those around us.

This is what makes advent truly special and deeply transformative.