Third Sunday of Advent: Are We to be the Light?
Call To Action's 2022 Advent Calendar, planned and written by the Indigenous Solidarity Collective, provides 27 days of prayer and study to lead into action and solidarity with Indigenous communities. For each Sunday of Advent, we'll publish a reflection from a CTA member on the day's scripture passages, why we're committed to working toward Indigenous solidarity, and what it means to do this work. Following the reflection, we feature a call to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
Third Sunday of Advent: Dec. 11, 2022
Throughout the Advent readings, Isaiah proclaims the return of the captives and rejoices on being reunited with eretz Israel, the “land of Israel,” their sacred land. He also reassures that the “lame shall walk, the deaf hear….”
These phenomena are miraculous, of course, and we’ve known Jesus Christ to be our sacred and eternal healer in body, mind, and spirit. However, we haven't been left here simply to pray for and extoll the miraculous healings of Lourdes, Fatima, Lock, or wherever they may be proclaimed.
We may be “longing for the light” and waiting for the coming of Christ into our world once again, but we can’t allow ourselves to remain Waiting for Godot. We also have the power and responsibility to bring the promise of health and well-being to every person on the planet.
Our nation currently lacks the will to make vital health care available to all those who still need it so badly. We acknowledge that the forcible removal of Indigenous peoples from the lands of their ancestors, the forced placing of Indigenous children in government and Catholic Church-run boarding schools, and the resulting disruption in community life and traditional healing methods, in addition to other wrongful acts, have resulted in woefully inadequate health care for American Indians and Alaska Native peoples.
As you pray this Advent, take time also to research and learn about the specific healthcare needs of Indigenous people throughout the United States, for whom we are answerable. Any one of us who has ever required and been easily able to obtain a knee replacement should resonate with the call of Isaiah to “strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak” (Is, 35: 3).
If we are to be the light we are longing for, we must ensure that our healthcare policies are adequate and inclusive.
Organizations to Learn More About
Learn more about the National Congress of American Indians and their Tribal Health Care Implementation initiative.
The National Indian Council on Aging provides healthcare services nationally to American Indian and Alaska Native elders.
The watercolor paintings featured on this calendar were created by Duane Yazzie, an artist of Hopi and Navajo ancestry. Yazzie creates artwork that reflects his Indigenous heritage and his childhood spent in the Southwest.
The 2022 Advent Calendar is a project of CTA's Indigenous Solidarity Collective, a working group that addresses the Catholic Church's historical and current role in colonialization. To support more projects from working groups like this one, please consider making a contribution.
