Psalm 85.1-2, 8-13│Isaiah 40.1-11│2Peter 3.8-15a│Mark 1.1-8
Psaumes 85.1-2, 8-13 | Esaïe 40.1-11| 2 Pierre 3.8-15a | Marc 1.1-8
Tender, compassionate, sympathetic,
tolerant
On my wall hangs this quote by George Washington Carver, the great agricultural scientist and a person of deep faith: “How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.”
This year, the Second Sunday of Advent also corresponds to St Nicholas Day in Belgium. St Nicholas was a fourth-century bishop of Myra in Asia Minor (contemporary Turkey). A variety of elaborate stories, written hundreds of years after his life, leave many questions regarding the real St Nicholas. Though little is known of his historical life, his reputation was one of love and care for children, the hungry, the sick, and the oppressed. His legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the tradition of giving gifts to children on his feast day.
On this Sunday we give thanks for the prophets who foretold the birth of the Messiah. We read in Isaiah the tremendous gospel of good tidings, ‘Here is your God!’ Our God is with us, speaking peace to us, with steadfast love and faithfulness, as the psalmist says. In Isaiah's pastoral scene, God is depicted as a nurturing shepherd, tenderly gathering lambs in his bosom. I cannot help but think of St Nicholas quietly distributing gifts to children, bringing some joy and glad tidings to the least of these. Tenderness, compassion, sympathy, tolerance… these are the transformative qualities of relationship that our God brings by virtue of being with us, for us, in us.
Annie Bolger
'Saint Nicholas', Russian icon from first quarter of 18th cen., Iconostasis of Transfiguration church, Kizhi monastery, Karelia, Russia.
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3236342
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