Run and not Grow Weary

Homily for Wednesday of the Second Week in Advent

We live in a society that expects each of us to shoulder certain expectations that are simply part of our culture. We tend to hold up for emulation people who are confident, strong, and up to the task that lies ahead. However, because we are human we know times of weariness, heaviness, and lack of energy. Sometimes this is due to physical illness, such as anemia or the flu, and sometimes it simply comes from being overworked. Natural vigor and energy are not at all to be despised, but even the most buoyant and bubbly among us may feel the blahs sometime, a certain listlessness, indifference, or ennui. Both the reading from the Prophet Isaiah and from the Gospel of St. Matthew speak to these times of weakness.

Isaiah reminds us that God never grows weary or faint. Indeed, God is ready to lift up the fainthearted and to renew those who are in need of strength. Those who place their hope in the Lord will run and not grow weary, will walk and not grow faint. This particular passage was used in a movie entitled Chariots of Fire that portrayed members of the 1924 Olympic team of the United Kingdom. It has also been used as the inspiration for a popular hymn, “On Eagle’s Wings” by Michael Joncas.

The Gospel verses from St. Matthew are from