The first Sunday of Advent begins the new year for the church. With that as a starting point, I think the choice of the reading from Isaiah is especially appropriate, since Advent is about looking forward to the final coming of Christ.
What do we need to do to be ready for the return of Jesus? Well, the reading from Isaiah gives us the information, though it may not seem all that clear. I want to pull apart the reading to help see what Isaiah saw and, I believe, what the Church sees.
I am going to begin at the top of the second column of the reading in the missalette.
“No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen, any God but you doing such deeds for those who wait for him.” St. Paul expands on this verse in his first letter to the Corinthians: “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him…” What Paul and Isaiah are both saying is that we can hardly begin to understand or believe the marvels that God has planned for us, what he desires to …read more
Source:: Fr. Frank Jindra’s Homily Podcasts