The box-office success of the film version of J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings introduced thousands of moviegoers to the fantasy world of “Middle Earth.” The characters who inhabit this world move between despair and hope. Their hope comes in part because of prophecies in the story that promise the triumph of good over evil.

Our world seems often to be at the mercy of the forces of evil. We’ve learned to fear the sudden, unexpected violence that can strike close to home. Where do we find hope?

As Christians, our answer comes in the Scriptures we read during the Advent season. In the first reading today, Isaiah utters a hope-filled prayer, imploring God to intervene in our world. “Watchful waiting” is the command of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel today, and we might ask ourselves: “Why wait and watch, unless we also have some hope that God will indeed intervene in our world?”

But isn’t that the way Christians are to be? We’re a people who lives in the world, and yet awaits God’s revelation of a new and glorious world to come. To live that way means transforming our relationships with one another and with the world around us. It means making choices that reflect the life that Christ has given each of us. Such a life is better than any fantasy story might promise.

I’m Father Greg Friedman, with the "Sunday Soundbite" for St. Anthony Messenger Press, on the Web at FranciscanRadio.org.

Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M., is creative director for American Catholic Radio and is on the production team for video and audio projects for Franciscan Communications, a ministry of St. Anthony Messenger Press. He is a member of the development team for AmericanCatholic.org, OnceCatholic.org and FranciscanRadio.org. He assists each weekend at a parish that ministers to college students and serves as a member of the leadership team of the Cincinnati-based Franciscan Friars.