“It will happen in the final days that the mountain of Yahweh’s house will rise higher than the mountains and tower above the heights. Then all the nations will stream to it, many peoples will come to it and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh to the house of the God of Jacob that he may teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths” (Isaiah 2:2-3, New Jerusalem Bible).
Sabbath
Begin with entering into a posture of Sabbath. Shabbat can be translated “to cease” or simply “to stop.”
Take a moment to let the noise of your mind settle. Invite the Holy Spirit to give you eyes to see; behold His coming.
Read
As you read, notice what stands out to you in the passage and share it with God; consider writing it down. Read closely two or three times. Where is God present in the text? What is He doing?
Turn your thoughts upon hope: God’s offer of hope to us, not our configurations of preparation, readiness, or ability to anticipate the future and act accordingly. Contemplate hope given to us by God in His Son, in the soon arrival of the Christ Child.
Behold
Take what you see in this passage and move slowly from pondering to beholding. Take and see. Behold the hope of God in our Lord Jesus.
Behold the passage eucharistically. Where is God using ordinary things to teach you about hope?
- What might be some avenues by which you are encountering the hope of God?
- Where is Christ truly present in this passage?
Renewal
Our formation into Christlikeness begins with the renewal of our minds. Invite God to show you where (in your mind/thoughts, heart, body, etc.) you need to be reformed by the truth in this passage.
Our being proceeds doing. It is His work in us.
- Consider how this passage might renew your thoughts.
- Which wells are you trying to draw hope from?
As Christ gives himself to us in the Eucharist, he also gives us his hope in the sacred meal.
Ask Christ for the eyes to see and the ears to hear his hope in the Eucharist. The Father gives the Son as a gift to the world in the Incarnation and so also the Son gives us His presence in the bread and wine.
A Collect (Prayer) For The First Sunday of Advent
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (taken from the Book of Common Prayer, 2019).
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