Last weekend, while filling in at a local parish, I noticed something very striking. My hometown has become significantly more multi-cultural. Increasingly, it has become the place of many people from other countries and continents. The same picture has emerged in other parishes around the city. We are much richer and full of life because of this. It is one of the blessings of our country. And this has long been the story of our country.
Most of us are the descendants of peoples that migrated here in t he last 2-3 hundred years. We continue to struggle with our treatment of the indigenous peoples who already were here. We often struggle as well with new immigrants who are currently arriving. It seems that we struggle with change and with creating new and open relationships with others who challenge our long-held customs and practices. Yet to be complete we need others and differences in our lives
Almost 500 years ago, an English poet, John Donne wrote a poem that began with these words:
No [person] is an island, entire to [themselves],
Every [person] is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
Donne’s words are a reminder that we rely on one another, that we are not alone in this world and our lives and well-being depend on the efforts and help of others. Significantly, who we are is the result of many who in love and care have made us who we are today. No one gets through life alone.
The Advent-Christmas season draws us into reflection on who we are and how we have become. In our Scriptures we discover the great love that God has for all creation, all humanity. We also encounter the challenge of what we are called to be as God’s presence comes to be seen in our midst.
John the Baptist as well as the prophet Baruch are figures of the Advent season. Their cry dominates the story of what we are becoming in and for our world. John’s call is clear as Luke presents it: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight…. and all flesh shall see the salvation of God (Luke 3:4-6).
Both the prophet Baruch (5:1-9) and John the Baptist, issue a clarion call for the coming of a new world that expresses the peace, justice, freedom and harmony of God’s reign among us. What was proclaimed by each of these prophetic voices, was expressed in the message and mission of Jesus. It has been passed on to us as a mission for the whole world, for all humanity. The Spirit of Jesus draws all humanity to God’s dream of openness, justice and peace, freedom and harmony. We are to live as the prophetic voices of God’s dream in our own age - open to all peoples, nations and cultures. Our message is one of hope and joy,… for all.
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