Friday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 507

Consider the fig tree and all the other trees.
When their buds burst open,
you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near;
in the same way, when you see these things happening,
know that the Kingdom of God is near.


With two days till Advent, is it too soon to sing, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?" Most of the United States is well south of the snowbelt, so we're already seeing the brown and dull green of the yule season; we'd rather not dream of a white Christmas. A pleasantly warm day when the grandchildren can play outside would do just fine. 
And there are signs that the Kingdom of God is near. I don't refer to any apocalyptic omens in the sky, the usual round of catastrophes in assorted foreign countries, or the general decline of civility among Americans. 
Rather, I see people showing mercy to one another. For every mass shooter there are a thousand men and women who rush in to assist the wounded, comfort the dying, console the grieving, and bury the dead. There names will be inscribed in the Book of the Living when the killers are long forgotten; and their families, too ashamed even to mention their names. 
The Kingdom of God is near in our daily prayers; we act under the impulse of the Holy Spirit. We could not pray otherwise. We especially hear him in the Word of Scripture; and see, touch and feel the Lord in our sacraments and liturgies. 
Many of the Advent scripture readings refer to the natural signs of spring although we're in the depths of winter. We will hear of the seeds that germinate; "buds, burst open;" and crops, ripen as life returns to a dreary world. 
That life appears in us too especially as the familiar, achingly beautiful words of Isaiah and the other prophets invite us to hope again.