What Are We Waiting For?

Reflection Isaiah’s striking visions of hope—first delivered to the frightened leaders of Judah eight centuries before Christ’s birth—transcended their original context to shape the early Christian imagination. The writers of the New Testament relied on his oracles to interpret Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection. “What Isaiah saw as God’s will for the future can become a vision that changes things in the present,” Claude Mariottini notes. Thus, Christians return to these visions during Advent to reorient their hearts to the coming of God’s kingdom and renew the contours of their discipleship. Mariottini explains four of Isaiah’s oracles that are used in the Advent liturgy.