Many people today view the world through a dark lens, and paint it with a dark palette: darkness and death are the way they see the world. Isaiah in today’s First Reading brings justice into that metaphor as the light of dawn. Vigils in the darkness can seem the loneliest at times; it seems that instead of being sleep everything is dead, and there’s a nagging fear that the dawn may never return. In a world plagued with evil, injustice, and death it can seem that those trying to do justice are keeping watch for a dawn that some think will never come.
The dawn is that breath of fresh air when justice has accomplished something. A somber palette of shadows, little by little, gives way to a palette of colors as the sun starts to rise, and what seemed dead in the night is seen to be alive in the light of day. In today’s First Reading the Lord promises that setting out on the path of justice will make life easier for everyone. It will bring peace. It will shed light on the circumstances of daily light to improve them for ourselves and for others.
Nevertheless, Our Lord describes following him and seeking this justice as a yoke to bear. It requires our effort. Let’s persevere in hope as we strive to make justice dawn in our lives and in our world.
Readings: Isaiah 26:7–9, 12, 16–19; Psalm 102:13–14b, 15–21; Matthew 11:28–30. See also 2nd Week of Advent, Wednesday and 15th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday.
