In the first reading this Sunday, Isaiah (11:1–10) speaks of God seeing beyond labels and our calling to do the same: “Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide.”
Fast forward to 2025. How many examples of hearsay do we see swirling around us every day—online, in conversations, in headlines, and even within our communities? How often do we allow unverified posts, whispers, assumptions, or quick judgments to shape our attitudes toward others?
Hearsay is information received from others that one cannot adequately substantiate; a rumor. Instead of seeing with the eyes of Christ, we sometimes let the noise of rumor create dissonance in our relationships, families, and parish lives. Hearsay pulls us apart; it breeds suspicion, fuels division, and disrupts the harmony that God desires for His people.
Isaiah also presents a radical vision of the wolf lying down with the lamb. What enables the two to lie down together is respect for the gift of life that God has given. In 2025, could the Left be lying down with the Right? Current conflicts, dissonance, and divisive behaviors drown in the sea of news and social media soup, stealing our focus from one another and making issues greater than living, breathing beings created by God. Christ calls us to honor other life forms with a level of respect that is far greater than any of our differences.
In Romans (15:4–9), Paul says, “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another.” Harmony is the combination of different musical notes that produce a sonorous or pleasing effect together. Dissonance, the opposite, occurs when simultaneous notes produce a sound reflecting tension and instability, indicating a need for resolution.
While dissonance feels unsettling, foreboding, and even frightening, harmony feels comfortable, welcoming, and pleasant. Creating harmony is an active pursuit, whether in musical compositions, concert performances, or relationships. It takes more work than singing in unison (total melodic unity) and much more work than not singing at all or remaining silently passive. The many different voices in a choir (or instruments in an orchestra) have to work together and dedicate themselves to practicing not only their parts but also the agreement of performing together, amid the myriad considerations of rhythm, tempo, volume, dynamics, and pitch.
A major factor in creating beautiful harmony is listening to one another very carefully. Are we more attuned to listening and finding ways to be in harmony, or do we tend to react with the dissonance of anger or fear, raising our voices to be heard? The devil is hard at work in our dissonant behaviors.
In the Gospel today (Matthew 3:1–12), Isaiah says of John the Baptist, “A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, Make straight his paths.” As we are challenged to “prepare the way of the Lord,” we are also invited to make space for peace to open up and prepare a place for Christ. According to Matthew (12:25), “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and no town or house divided against itself will stand.”
Peace begins with each one of us. Love, respect, relationships, and honor should not be diminished by differences or conflicts. We need to respond according to God’s will in all cases, like how Erika Kirk forgave her husband’s murderer after the tragic assassination. We are called to live in the Gospel, not driven by our own reactions, anger, hurt, or disappointment—all valid emotions, but nothing that should outweigh the sanctity of life from God, our Creator.
Isaiah’s vision of the Messiah is one of restored harmony: a world where justice is rooted in truth, discernment, and compassion—not in gossip or appearances. Advent invites us to tune our hearts like an orchestra before a concert, aligning ourselves to God’s pitch of wisdom, peace, and understanding. Only when we reject the clashing of dissonance and embrace the consonance of truth and charity can we help build the peaceful kingdom where all creation dwells in unity under the reign of the Prince of Peace.
