restoration - 1st week Advent Tuesday

Today in the third day of advent we read from the book of the prophet Isaiah.  We will hear a lot from the prophet Isaiah in this season of advent because of his oracles on the coming messiah.  But it might be good to start our reflection by knowing the context of these oracles so that we can have a better appreciation of what Isaiah is talking about. 

Isaiah is a prophet of hope because he speaks of the coming salvation.  But hope cannot be hope without a context of despair or misery or at the very least hopelessness, and salvation cannot be salvation without that context from which one is being saved from.  Diri kita pirme nagakadula.  This is a season of hope – hope from what, hope for what?  This is a season of joy, joy because of what?  Kon madula ka gani sa context ti lain man ang imo paghangop sang hope kag lain man ang ginahalinan sang imo joy sa sining krismas.

So ano ang context ni Isaiah?

Judah whose capital is Jerusalem was about to be punished with an invasion of the most powerful nation on earth at that time – Assyria.  Judah was compared to a lofty tree – standing tall, arrogant, high-minded and proud.  But this will be humbled.  Assyria is compared to an axe and before it the lofty trees shall fall. Judah has been brought low and the once proud tree is nothing now but a stump – inutdan gamay lang gid ang labaw sa duta.

It is from this context that our reading today comes from.  A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.  Then Isaiah narrates the harmony that would follow because of the Messiah.  There will be no more violence, even the wild beasts which are known to be violent are no longer violent.  Remember in the book of Genesis – the first effect of sin was violence – Cain killing his brother Abel and later Lamech would even boast - I have slain a man for wounding me, and a young man for bruising me: If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.  So no more violence, no more killings, no more maiming, and bullying, and people taking advantage of other people.  Even in the animal world there will be no more violence.

So what is this hope all about, what is this joy of salvation?  It leads to one thing - restoration and God is the restorer.

To speak of restoration means to speak of the good that was originally there.  Each of us is originally good.  Each of us.  Not just me, not just the person next to me, not just the person who goes to mass in Sto. Nino almost everyday, no not just … but each person in this world is originally good.  Do you believe this?  It is important because this is the hope that Isaiah or God is instilling in us through Isaiah.  To be violent means to annihilate the person who did wrong.  To be violent means to do away , to banish, to kick out, to fire, to leave and runaway from.  But to restore means to discover the original goodness and to let it through.

Isa sa mga kalipay ko as a gardener amo nga ang laya nga tanom iahtag sa akon and I would nourished it back to health because of care, because of concern, because of attention.  Nalipay gid ako kon makita ko ina.  Amo ini pirme ang masumalang ko sa seminaryo. What with children who were not given enough attention and care by some parents  But after a while, after all the attention and acceptance that you show, palapitan ka, der bukas na ang krispy kreme.  Ti ano.  Top 8 ako.  Pati ka na 15 man lang sila.  Probably that is the feeling that advent and Christmas is instilling in us.  To restore the original good.  It is there in all of us galing natabunan lang sang mga sampaw sampaw nga malain nga mga experyensya kag mga trauma.  This is an important way of looking at things otherwise you will not understand the visit of Pope Francis – mercy and compassion, and it is difficult to understand Christmas without this way of looking at things, events and people.