True Richness

A Reflection on the First Reading for December 5th, 2021:
​Second Sunday of Advent

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Baruch
5.1-9

Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem,
and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God.
Put on the robe of the righteousness that comes from God;
put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting;
for God will show your splendour everywhere under heaven.
For God will give you evermore the name,
“Righteous Peace, Godly Glory.”

Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height;
look toward the east,
and see your children gathered from west and east
at the word of the Holy One,
rejoicing that God has remembered them.
For they went out from you on foot,
led away by their enemies;
but God will bring them back to you,
carried in glory, as on a royal throne.

For God has ordered that every high mountain
and the everlasting hills be made low
and the valleys filled up, to make level ground,
so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God.
The woods and every fragrant tree
have shaded Israel at God’s command.
For God will lead Israel with joy,
in the light of his glory,
with the mercy and righteousness that come from him.

​This reading is so rich, like the deepest, most vibrant colours of the beauty found in God’s creation. The imagery of crowns and robes, glory and splendour, light and fragrance positively drip with the extravagance of His love and the promises that flow out of it. I love sitting in the tremendous gift that is this picture that has been painted by God through the prophet Baruch.

This beauty draws me in, helping to bring me into the joy and peace that is God; to picture myself clothed in His robes of righteousness with the diadem of His glory on 
my head. A reminder of who I am; to ground me in my identity as His daughter —  so that everything in my life flows from there. 

I have been walking on the spiritual road for long enough to know that God does indeed keep His promises. But despite what I “know”, I can quite easily find myself in a sort of gray area of the day-to-day with God where I don’t see so clearly. I often need to be reassured of my belovedness and I really want to trust the eternal glory of His promises. The part about how I get to the peace of resting in His promises — the so-called nitty-gritty of daily life — can be the more difficult part because it requires the graces of healing, discipline, and a certain fortitude. My participation is required, both in the asking for these graces and in the receiving of them. I also need to always be alert and on the lookout for where to find Him — to find Love — in my days. 

To surrender all to Him and His promises can be so challenging when I find it hard to see God at work in my circumstances. As I reflect on this reading, I’m so grateful for this Advent reminder of the richness of the interior life that is afforded us through His Word, and the importance of steeping myself in these reminders on a daily basis. I cling to the hope that lives in Baruch’s words; the words that I know are God’s for me, and for me alone: but somehow, also, for everyone. 

Thank you, Lord, for Your endless beauty and goodness to us.




Lindsay Elford
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