Be Vigilant: Daily Meditations for Advent (2 page)

Sometimes we get it all wrong.

Perhaps it comes from our childhood and being threatened with retribution from God when our parents realize that they can't see us and be with us all the time, but most of us carry within us an image of God as the supreme being out to get us.

In today's gospel, Jesus tells us otherwise. "It is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost."

Not one. Not you. Not the horrible people you know. Not the better than good people that you know. Not one!

God wants everyone to be saved.

Fostering a longing for the coming of Christ can only happen if we believe that it is for our good.

Fulton Sheen used to portray the image of Satan and Christ speaking to a soul both before the person committed a sin and afterwards. Before,  Sheen said, Christ seemed like the obstacle to the sinner, Satan the friend. "God doesn't want you to enjoy yourself, etc" But after sin the real identity of Satan as the accuser takes shape, "Now you've done it! God could never love you after what you've done! You might as well go on doing it!" But Christ appears as a savior, "Come back, I forgive you!"

Rest, that is what the Lord promises today to those who come to Him. If you work and you find yourself overburdened, come to Him and He will give you rest.

This is kind of the opposite of all the other sayings that we often think of when we think of following Jesus. Most of them emphasize the cross and the difficulty. We think of it as something hard and it would be if it weren't for Jesus.

The focus must always be on Him first. Come to Him and He will give you rest.

I regularly see the difference in my life between the times that I spend quality time in prayer and those times that I do not. Everything seems more burdensome without prayer. Prayer--my time with Christ, puts everything in perspective, and indeed lightens my perceived place in the world.

So today is an invitation, like those "rest area" signs that happen every forty or so miles on an interstate:  if you seek a light "yoke" and an easier "burden" follow the signs and come to the Lord.

When I hear the Gospel reading for today, I'm stopped in my tracks by the phrase "the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence and the violent are taking it by storm" and necessarily I've had to spend some time canvassing the great minds of the church to figure out just exactly what Jesus meant by this.

Well, it turns out that the Greek word that is translated "violence" above is probably best rendered "forceful" but that doesn't change the overall passage that much, yet it does give us some indication of what is meant by violence. The early Fathers of the Church felt that the passage was best understood by thinking about who was entering the kingdom of heaven--sinners, namely people who did not belong there. They were intruders, outsiders who had been let in through the violence of the cross.

Taking this a step further, if our sins are really what nailed Jesus to a cross then we see that the violence we have done to the Son of God in some way has been our ticket to the kingdom of heaven.

It is only those however, who are desperate to enter who get in. One imagines the crowds that surrounded Jesus and John the Baptist (a modern example might be Pope John Paul and the crowds that surround his visits). Only a desperate person would get close enough to touch Our Lord.

So it is today. Are we desperate in our desire to enter the kingdom of heaven or is it somewhere way down the list of things to do today?

The gospel today confronts us with our own response to Jesus' call. The early Church Fathers saw this as an exasperated statement of Our Lord bemoaning the unbelief of the people no matter who the messenger. John the Baptist came leading an ascetical life and the people thought him possessed. Our Lord comes mixing with people, eating and drinking with them and they call him a glutton and drunkard. As one church father puts it, "The whole of this speech is a reproach of unbelief, and arises out of the foregoing complaint; that the stiff-necked people had not learned by two different modes of teaching".

What about us? Are we stiff-necked when it comes to answering His call?  How do we respond to the "pipes" that are played for us...do we dance? How do we respond to the singing of "dirges"...do we mourn?

Or do we sit back in judgment?

The Gospel is not something for us to watch and critique but rather it is a message that should engage us. "If today you hear his voice, harden not your heart."

To this day at the Jewish seder a place is set and an empty seat is reserved for the coming of Elijah. There are a lot of interpretations as to what this "empty seat" means. Some  argue that it really is left for the possibility of an uninvited guest or relative. But the sense of expectation remains.

In our daily lives there is often the unannounced, the unplanned  guest or event.

Our Lord in today's Gospel tells his disciples that Elijah did indeed come again in the person of John the Baptist, but they did not welcome him--they put him to death. He also predicts that this is ultimately how he will be welcomed.

As we prepare for the Lord's coming, not only at Christmas but daily, what kind of reception will we give Him? Will the holidays crowd out any mention of him--will we in a sense put him to death? And what about the unexpected visits today -  how will we welcome them?

The answer is up to us.

"Don't worry, be happy"--was a popular song about 14 years ago. It really was a Christian message. In today's second reading St. Paul tells the Thessalonians "Be happy all the times...because this is what God expects you to do in Christ Jesus."

A fond memory that I have of this time of the year when I was growing up in New Hampshire is that it seemed to be the time of the year that everyone was happy. It is harder to perceive if that still is the case, if people find this time of the year one of cheer and happiness, or just a lot of stress. Perhaps we have trod so far off the path of the true meaning of the season that we've been cut off of from the source of all happiness--Christ.

I left part of Paul's passage out:  his recipe for happiness--"pray constantly; and for all things give thanks to God." This is the secret to happiness, to ultimately see everything as some how tied into God's will.

Try to do this for the next hour. Speak to God about all that troubles you, excites you, worries you. Give thanks for everything. If you are the recipient of slow service, a long line at the store--thank God! See what a difference it makes. "Don't worry, be happy."

In many ways Advent is a season of unanswered questions that we anticipate being answered someday. In today's Gospel reading Jesus is asked by what authority he acts. He asks his questioners a question in turn, one that they can't answer and in the end refuses to answer their question.

It is reminiscent of the God questioning Job.

We all have questions about why evil exist, why God doesn't intervene more and on and on the questions go. What do we do with the unanswered ones?

Our Lord refused to answer those who questioned Him because they were trying to trap Him. Perhaps that is the intent of our questions too?

O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation.

Today we have the tale of two sons. Both are commanded by the Father to go and work in the vineyard. The first says he won't, the other says he will. But guess what, the one who refuses relents and does what the Father asked him to do. Yet the one who originally said he would go, in fact doesn't. Jesus asks the chief priests and the elders of the people to tell him which of the two sons did the will of the Father...of course the answer is the one who vocally refused but relented and did it.

Jesus uses the story to illustrate why harlots and tax collectors who repented at the preaching of John the Baptist are headed to the pearly gates, while the "religious" likely are headed in the other direction.

I don't think it is a matter of us standing back and separating the repentant harlots and the irreligious religious but rather a good moment to hold up the mirror and ask ourselves if we are doing the will of the Father?

When I tell my son (who is all of 20 months old) to do something,  already he rattles off a resounding "no." I'm not even sure if he knows what "no" means but he hears it enough throughout the day as he opens drawers, climbs up bookcases, writes on walls to know that it must be our favorite word. I also think he likes it because it is easy to say. He struggles with "yes" so that if often sounds like "yesh."

When it comes to God sadly most of us are still like a 20 month old. We see God as interfering with our play time. If only we could learn that what God wants for us is what is best for us. Perhaps the harlots, tax collectors know that from their straying better than the religious who only dally in sin.

Whatever the case, ultimately we all must respond to God, our Father not with the "no" that can seem so fashionable at times but with the difficult-to-say "yes."

O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.

"Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame,decided to divorce her quietly." I suspect that most people gloss right over this passage at the beginning of Matthew's Gospel and today's reading. We know that Joseph is not going to divorce Mary, in the same way that we know that Abraham ultimately isn't going to sacrifice Isaac--so we gloss over the fact that Joseph, a righteous man who is unwilling to expose Mary to the possibility of being executed for adultery (since that would be the only plausible explanation for her pregnancy) decides to divorce her.

But of course none of that comes to pass because Joseph is a spiritual man who pays attention to his dreams. And this is another important fact in the Gospel story--Joseph's revelation comes to him in a dream--not a full fledged vision but a dream. A vision of an angel in a dream probably would be quickly dismissed by most of us.

"Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.'"

So we are told that even Joseph had this intention when he had rationally looked at all the evidence, now God enters the picture albeit in a dream and says, "Whoa Joseph! It is through the Holy Spirit."

There are a lot of events in life that are confusing and troubling to good people. If we are truly open to God as St. Joseph was we might discern God's hand in many events that seem at first to speak of God's absence. As we await His coming let us open ourselves to the possibility that He might be in our midst, even at this moment.

O Flower of Jesse's stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.

Both of today's readings have the common theme of being annunciations of the birth of a child. In the first reading the birth of Samson is being announced. In the Gospel it is the birth of John the Baptist that Zechariah receives notice of while he is performing the priestly service in the Temple. Another common theme is that both potential parents are told that the child to be born to them is not to drink alcohol once they are born.

For some reason it is what jumped out at me when I read both this morning. We know that when Jesus compared what people said about him and John that it was Jesus who was labeled the drunkard, so he obviously enjoyed a drink now and then. So why couldn't John or Samson drink? Why did God command this of them from their conception?

There are those who think the prohibition reflects belief that grapes were the "forbidden fruit" that Adam and Eve had been forbidden to eat in the Garden of Eden. The prohibition enjoined on Samson and John from conception are then the same prohibition given by God to Adam and Eve. What is interesting about this is it kind of fits what the serpent says in reference to his take on God's prohibition to Eve when he says," you will become like gods" if you partake of this fruit--people who drink often start thinking highly of themselves.

It is even more interesting when connected with the Eucharist and Jesus taking the fruit of the vine and saying "this is the blood of the new Covenant"...thereby taking what had been the source of rupture with God and turning it into a that which restores humanity to God. One also would be struck by Jesus calling himself the "vine" and his followers branches of the vine.

So we have John in today's Gospel totally dedicated to God awaiting his coming. We also have a hint of what God will do when he comes to us.

O Key of David, O royal Power of Israel controlling at your will the gate of heaven: come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; and lead your captive people into freedom.

"How can this be...?" Mary asks the angel in today's Gospel. In her case it is the conception of a child that she wonders about, but in ours it is the merit of our salvation. "How can this be?" we wonder.

In these last days of Advent it is good to reflect on the great gift that God offers us, the gift of Himself.

It is also good to foster a sense of our unworthiness. I know that this is "out" and people like to think of themselves as deserving of more. But I think the more we marvel at the fact that we are totally undeserving it seems to me that the more God lavishes us with gifts. The person who thinks they deserve more rarely gets anything.

On the other hand we can dwell too much on "how can this be?" and refuse to open ourselves up to God. Listen to the angel. It is all about God.