Advent Meditations
Advent 2007 Meditations
Dec 4, 2007

 The seasons of the liturgical year begin with Advent, a time of preparation for the Christmas season. The Christmas season celebrates the birth of Jesus (on December 25) and continues until the Baptism of Our Lord.

The First Sunday in Advent 2007

"Let us not resist the first advent, and the second will not terrify us " 

Then all the trees of the forest will exult before the face of the Lord, for he has come, he has come to judge the earth. He has come the first time, and he will come again. At his first coming, his own voice declared in the gospel: Hereafter you shall see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds. What does he mean by hereafter? Does he not mean that the Lord will come at a future time when all the nations of the earth will be striking their breasts in grief? Previously he came through his preachers, and he filled the whole world. Let us not resist his first coming, so that we may not dread the second.

What then should the Christian do? He ought to use the world, not become its slave. And what does this mean? It means having, as though not having. So says the Apostle: My brethren, the appointed time is short: from now on let those who have wives live as though they had none; and those who mourn as though they were not mourning; and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing; and those who buy as though they had no goods; and those who deal with this world as though they had no dealings with it. For the form of this world is passing away. But I wish you to be without anxiety. He who is without anxiety waits without fear until his Lord comes. For what sort of love of Christ is it to fear his coming? Brothers, do we not have to blush for shame? We love him, yet we fear his coming. Are we really certain that we love him? Or do we love our sins more? Therefore let us hate our sins and love him who will exact punishment for them. He will come whether we wish it or not. Do not think that because he is not coming just now, he will not come at all. He will come, you know not when; and provided he finds you prepared, your ignorance of the time of his coming will not be held against you.

All the trees of the forest will exult. He has come the first time, and he will come again to judge the earth; he will find those rejoicing who believed in his first coming, for he has come.

He will judge the world with equity and the peoples in his truth. What are equity and truth? He will gather together with him for the judgement his chosen ones, but the others he will set apart; for he will place some on his right, others on his left. What is more equitable, what more true than that they should not themselves expect mercy from the judge, who themselves were unwilling to show mercy before the judge's coming. Those, however, who were willing to show mercy will be judged with mercy. For it will be said to those placed on his right: Come, blessed of my Father, take possession of the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world. And he reckons to their account their works of mercy: For I was hungry and you gave me food to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me drink.

What is imputed to those placed on his left side? That they refused to show mercy. And where will they go? Depart into the everlasting fire. The hearing of this condemnation will cause much wailing. But what has another psalm said? The just man will be held in everlasting remembrance; he will not fear the evil report. What is the evil report? Depart into the everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels. Whoever rejoices to hear the good report will not fear the bad. This is equity, this is truth.

Or do you, because you are unjust, expect the judge not to be just? Or because you are a liar, will the truthful one not be true? Rather, if you wish to receive mercy, be merciful before he comes; forgive whatever has been done against you; give of your abundance. Of whose possessions do you give, if not from his? If you were to give of your own, it would be largess; but since you give of his, it is restitution. For what do you have, that you have not received? These are the sacrifices most pleasing to God: mercy, humility, praise, peace, charity. Such as these, then, let us bring and, free from fear, we shall await the coming of the judge who will judge the world in equity and the peoples in his truth.

from a sermon by Augustine, bishop, 4th century

The First Monday in Advent 2007

Awaiting the Messiah - Pt 1
by Jeanne Kun

For most of us December is chaotic and filled with busy preparations for Christmas. We run breathlessly through crowded shopping malls trying to find the perfect present to please every member of the family. We bake dozens of Christmas cookies and goodies. We dust off the boxes of decorations stored away in the attic or basement and festively deck the house and string the lights on the tree. We struggle to write last- minute cards and holiday greetings to cherished friends. Each year it only seems to get worse.

As the shopping days decrease and our frantic pace increases, it is all too easy to lose sight of what these special preparations are meant for and to forget who it is we are getting ready to greet. Excitement fills the air and brightens our spirits as we hum snatches of Christmas carols, but our worries and the still-lengthy "To Do" list weigh heavily on us as Christmas approaches.

During these hectic days the church offers us the season of Advent as a reminder of whose coming it is that we are preparing for. Advent is designed to give us a spiritual orientation to the coming celebration and a time for reflection and interior preparation for it. Advent is a sort of spiritual "waiting room". The word "advent" comes from the Latin "adventus," which means "coming" or "arrival". Throughout the Advent season we anticipate the coming or the arrival of Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, our savior. Our daily Scripture readings and meditations this month will focus on God's promise of salvation and the fulfillment of this promise in Jesus Christ. In them we will see a summary of salvation history.

Both the Advent season and the selection of Scripture readings are characterized by an attentive attitude, a posture of waiting. But a time of waiting is not just a period of mounting expectation, to be impatiently endured until the long-for person or event arrives. It is an opportunity to set our sights on the promise, to hold fast to it, to consider its significance, to explore and fathom who and what it is that we are waiting for. The centuries that God's people spent watching and waiting in the Old Testament, longing and hoping for the day of redemption, are mirrored and even relived in our own interior waiting in the season of Advent. This waiting is not a passive whiling away of the days and hours, but a time when our appetites are whet, when our eagerness is honed to fine-edged anticipation, when we stand on tiptoe to catch the first glimpse of his coming.

John Henry Newman marvelously and vividly expressed the spirit of this waiting in one of his sermons: "We are not simply to believe, but to watch; not simply to love, but to watch; not simply to obey, but to watch; to watch for what? For the great event, Christ's coming...

"I conceive it may be explained as follows - Do you know the feeling, in matters of this life, of expecting a friend, expecting him to come, and he delays?... Do you know what it is to be in anxiety lest something should happen which may happen or may not, or to be in suspense about some important event, which makes your heart beat when you are reminded of it, and of which you think the first thing in the morning. Do you know what it is to have a friend in a distant country, to expect news of him, and to wonder from day to day what he is now doing, and whether he is well? Do you know what it is so to live upon a person who is present to you, that your eyes follow his, that you read his soul, that you see all its changes in his countenance, that you anticipate his wishes, that you smile in his smile, and are sad in his sadness, and are downcast when he is vexed, and rejoice in his successes? To watch for Christ is a feeling such as all these; as far as feelings of this world are fit to shadow out those of another".

The First Tuesday in Advent 2007

Awaiting the Messiah - Pt 2
by Jeanne Kun

Yes, Advent is the season when we stand like sentries at the post, watching for the coming dawn. Our readings are peopled by the prophets who foretold the coming of Christ, and by the men and women of Israel who looked generation after generation for his appearance. The patriarchs, Ruth, David, Isaiah, Malachi, Simeon, and Anna bring us to the gates of Bethlehem and to the threshold of the new covenant in Jesus Christ. Our watching and waiting is not in vain, for we know Christ has come, and will come again.

But besides the ever present danger of being overwhelmed with merry-making and rolls of gift wrap, we can also be in danger of allowing a spiritual sentimentality to color our thoughts about the coming of Christ. We have become accustomed to imagining scenes of a snowy, starry night with a rustic stable holding an innocently smiling child on sweet-smelling hay.

Christmas is, indeed, a celebration of a birth, but one that is startling, amazing, and almost incomprehensible in its reality! As Bernard of Clairvaux wrote, "God's majesty inclined to humility" in the incarnation. God's promise to send a savior for the redemption of fallen humankind is fulfilled in the Word made flesh, in the divine nature of God taking on the human nature of his creatures in the incarnate person of the Son. This is what we celebrate at Christmas, as Bernard explained: "Once a year the universal Church makes a solemn commemoration of the advent of such majesty, of such condescension, of such charity, yes, of such a glorification of the human race".

Scripture and the Advent liturgy also direct our thoughts and attention to two other comings of Christ. The emphasis on waiting during this season is intentional, because we are still expecting Christ in his second and final coming - the "parousia", as the Church terms it from the Greek. Interestingly, in Greek culture this word was used to describe the visitation of a God, or the coming or arrival of a king as he traveled about his realm and was greeted in town after town by his subjects. The parousia of a ruler was often an occasion when petitions were presented, favors were granted, and wrongs were righted. As the Scottish Scripture scholar William Barclay explains, "The word describes a healing and correcting visitation".

We are still awaiting this final coming of our judge and savior Jesus Christ, and Advent is a yearly reminder and opportunity to do spiritual "housecleaning". It is an invitation to take stock of our relationships with the Lord and with one another, to confess our sins, to reform our lives, and to prepare ourselves for Christ's coming, which might break in on us at any moment. Thus, one of the dominant voices we hear in the Advent readings is John the Baptist's as he cries his message of repentance: "Reform your lives! The Reign of God is at hand... 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his path'" (Matt. 3:2-3). Many of our daily texts and meditations are oriented to help us to respond to this call. Another article of this month's issue reflects on John and his role as the forerunner of the Messiah.

St Bernard often highlighted these dual aspects of the Advent season, and even wrote of what he described as the "three advents" of Christ. He named as first that advent which has already happened in historical time and space and which we now commemorate each Christmas, the one in which Christ entered the world through the womb of Mary to "seek and to save that which was lost". The third is the parousia, the advent in which Christ will come to judge the living and the dead, and to take us to himself. Then Bernard explained the second, or middle, advent as the "time of visitation" by which Christ is now present and active in each of our lives. Daily he is at work in us through grace to transform us into his image and likeness and to bring us salvation and healing from the sin, difficulties, sicknesses, and human frailties of our everyday lives.

As we progress through this season, let us invite the Holy Spirit to deepen our appreciation and understanding of all these multiple dimensions of Advent and to stir in us an eager longing and desire to wholeheartedly greet our savior in all of his comings to us. May we be found living "lives of holiness and Godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God" (2 Peter 3:11-12)

This article originally appeared in God's Word Today, Volume (13), Number (12), December 1991, published by The University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN.

The First Wednesday in Advent 2007

The voice is John, the word is Christ
from a sermon by Augustine, bishop, 4th century

John is the voice, but the Lord is the Word who was in the beginning. John is the voice that lasts for a time; from the beginning Christ is the Word who lives for ever. Take away the word, the meaning, and what is the voice? Where there is no understanding, there is only a meaningless sound. The voice without the word strikes the ear but does not build up the heart.

However, let us observe what happens when we first seek to build up our hearts. When I think about what I am going to say, the word or message is already in my heart. When I want to speak to you, I look for a way to share with your heart what is already in mine.

In my search for a way to let this message reach you, so that the word already in my heart may find place also in yours, I use my voice to speak to you. The sound of my voice brings the meaning of the word to you and then passes away. The word which the sound has brought to you is now in your heart, and yet it is still also in mine.

When the word has been conveyed to you, does not the sound seem to say: The word ought to grow, and I should diminish? The sound of the voice has made itself heard in the service of the word, and has gone away, as though it were saying: My joy is complete. Let us hold on to the word; we must not lose the word conceived inwardly in our hearts.

Do you need proof that the voice passes away but the divine Word remains? Where is John’s baptism today? It served its purpose, and it went away. Now it is Christ’s baptism that we celebrate. It is in Christ that we all believe; we hope for salvation in him. This is the message the voice cried out.

Because it is hard to distinguish word from voice, even John himself was thought to be the Christ. The voice was thought to be the word. But the voice acknowledged what it was, anxious not to give offense to the word. I am not the Christ, he said, nor Elijah, nor the prophet. And the question came: Who are you, then? He replied: I am the voice of one crying in the
wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord..

The voice of one crying in the wilderness is the voice of one breaking the silence. Prepare the way for the Lord, he says, as though he were saying: “I speak out in order to lead him into your hearts, but he does not choose to come where I lead him unless you prepare the way for him”.

To prepare the way means to pray well; it means thinking humbly of oneself. We should take our lesson from John the Baptist. He is thought to be the Christ; he declares he is not what they think. He does not take advantage of their mistake to further his own glory.

If he had said, “I am the Christ”, you can imagine how readily he would have been believed, since they believed he was the Christ even before he spoke. But he did not say it; he acknowledged what the was. He pointed out clearly who he was; he humbled himself. He saw where his salvation lay. He understood that he was a lamp, and his fear was that it might be blown out by the wind of pride. 

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