Jerusalem. Etching and engraving. British Museum 1841
Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122 Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:36-44
In a taxi from Tel Aviv airport, my brother and I caught our first glimpse of Jerusalem, the city on the hill, in the distance and we recited, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the House of God.’ Now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.”
How we long and wait for peace in Gaza and Israel while children and families starve and die, homes are destroyed, and civilization seems to ignore the cries. Are we asleep? Is the world?
In Matthew’s gospel, we are told to keep awake and watch for the coming of the Lord, for we know not the day or hour, but we are to be ready. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, we hear that we are to put on the armor of light and the Lord Jesus, and this is so that all people may come to live in the city of peace and stand within the gates of Jerusalem. We long for the end to the militarization of the world where people live in fear and want. We long for the peaceful end to all war, that nations will indeed ‘beat their swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.’ This Advent, pray fervently for peace across the world. Lift your eyes to the city of peace that draws our hearts and hands to work for peace, never falling asleep to the world’s need
Sr. Elizabeth Ann Eckert, SSJD Reverend Mother