When God Will Be All in All

To celebrate the beginning of Advent, our Level III (4th-6th grade) children studied the Prophecy of the Shoot of Jesse and the Peaceable Kingdom last week. You would be amazed at the quality of theologians we have in this parish.

This was the passage we focused on:

"The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 

The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. 

They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 

In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; him shall the nations seek, and his dwellings shall be glorious." Isaiah 11:6-10 RSV

They knew that Isaiah was speaking to the people of Israel in a time of darkness. Their "glory days" seemed to be in the past (the Kingdom of Israel was split into North and South). The immediate future wasn't looking so great for them either (Babylonian exile). But here in Isaiah it seems that the prophet is trying to teach the people to listen to God and to wait in HOPE for something.

"It sounds like the the time when God will be all in all," one of the 4th grade girls offered. "Of course, Isaiah is talking about when the Messiah comes, but he's really talking about the Parousia," submitted a 6th grader in a different session.

Spending time in the atrium with the children of our parish, I am growing in my faith and perspective each year. Advent is a time of year when we listen to the prophets who prepare us for "a great light" and "a child [who] will be born to us," but as I listen carefully with these children, I can't help but realize that Advent is not primarily a celebration of Jesus' birthday. For us, it is a reminder of the hope which His Birth gives for the Parousia. (We say it Pair-uh-SEE-uh).

The time is coming when there will be no more war, no more hunger, no more wailing or pain, no more tears, and no more death. Parousia: when God will be all in all and His Kingdom will have no end.

"So," I asked the children at the end of one atrium session's reflection, "as we spend time in Advent preparing, what should we be preparing for?"

"Parousia," a child responded, as they all nodded their heads.

"And how do we do that?" I wondered.

"Well," (and I am not kidding you, a child actually said this), "we do what we can to make the world like Isaiah said: we feed the hungry, we make ourselves more like God wants us to be, so we're ready."

Let us follow the shining example of these wise children and do the same. One day, God WILL be All in All. Let us make Him so in our hearts today!