Every so often someone in this pandemic period talks about "hope". That's what we all want, that's what we are all looking for. The virtue of hope is far deeper than wishful thinking - "I hope I pass my exams despite not working" - or just wanting - "I hope I get what I want for Christmas". Hope is what enables us to move into the future. It reminds us that we are going somewhere, that we are not on that endless treadmill. To be hope-less is crushing, because we then cannot see a way out, we cannot see a future.
The 7 and 8 year olds yesterday making their First Reconciliation were in hope that their sins would be forgiven, even if their understanding of that would not be the same as an adult's. Christian hope is rooted in Jesus, who shows us that God came among us to save us, suffered, died and rose again, and now lives in glory.
So this season of Advent may righfully be called the season of hope. On this first Sunday the Church reminds us of our journey to Christmas, that Jesus has indeed come. It reminds us that we journey towards the Second Coming, that we are headed somewhere. And meanwhile the first reading in Mass today reminds us that we are just the clay and God is the potter. We are not in charge of everything - a tiny virus can knock us right off our superior perch, make us fly off the potter's wheel. We need the potter to pick us up in his strong and caring hands and put us back on the wheel. Then he can continue to mould us into... only he knows what.
Why? Because he is our Father, he is the potter, we are the clay. Have a good Advent!
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