It is a joy that bursts forth despite the pain expressed by the prophet Isaiah (40:1-11) as he reflects upon how his people have gone astray. But they paid for their crimes. They wandered once again through the desert of despair. Yet now comes their consolation and the messenger stands on the mountain and cries, “Here is your God.” This is what Advent is all about. This a time of repentance and yet we can still shout with joy because our God comes.
In the Gospel reading from Matthew 18:12-14, there is the sense of loss. To lose just one is painful. We’ve probably lost a lot more. But don’t give up. God, who is Mother and Father and Shepherd, doesn’t. The joy of Advent, our joy, the joy of giving hope and meaning to just one who is struggling to find a way through the complexities and messiness of life, is a joy that is shared among all the hosts of heaven. And that is the vision of the Mexican peasant, Juan Diego, when, back in December 1531, he met this young woman who spoke to him in his own native tongue. When he tried to avoid going back to her, as she had asked, because he desperately wanted to attend to his uncle who was sick, she intercepted him on the road and said, “Am I not here, I who am your mother.”
Let us pray to Our Lady (Mother) of Guadalupe that she will intercept us when we feel in danger of losing a loved one and help us to recover that joy which comes to those who live in constant anticipation that our God comes, that our God is indeed always here.