Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11
Luke 1:46-50, 53-54
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
John 1:6-8, 19-28
As most of you likely know, my
previous parish assignment was to the River Road communities of Convent,
Paulina, and Gramercy. One weekend we had a high school retreat with the
students and parents in attendance at Most Sacred Heart in Gramercy and we had decided
to speak about the church architecture and all the stuff one normally finds in
a church as a means to praying. Fr. Vincent and I would go back and forth
noting the things that struck us most about the church and at one point he
asked if anyone had ever noticed the windows. Of course, everyone started
looking from side to side at the large stained glass windows all along the
sides of the church. He point out that the accents in the windows on one side
were all images of wheat and the other side was all images of grapes. He then
began to speak about the Eucharist and the community as the Body of Christ. I
started to feel bad about myself since I had been there for almost two years by
then and hadn’t even noticed the pattern. That was, until after we concluded
and some of the parents came up to me and mentioned that they had been here for
40 or 50 years and had never noticed it either! This story came to mind as I
was sitting by our own stained glass of the Blessed Virgin receiving the Holy
Spirit and noticed for the first time in almost six months that the artist’s
name was etched into the glass at the bottom, right next to where I normally
rest my arm. These stories got me to thinking of how easy it is to miss
something when our eyes aren’t looking for it and I began to wonder how aware I
am of God’s activity in my own life? How many things is God doing – or waiting
to do – but I’m totally oblivious to it?
This is what the season of Advent
continues to draw our attention to: the activity of God in our midst. In the
Gospel we see the priests and leaders of the community going out to find the
Messiah. This was their whole mission, to find the one that was to save the
people of Israel and fulfill all of the ancient prophecies. And so they went to
John the Baptist and start asking questions: Are you the Messiah? Elijah? The
Prophet? Who are you? When John gives his reply, he doesn’t just stop there but
point out that “there is one among you whom you do not recognize.” How
interesting that the leaders come out seeking the Messiah and they are so
focused on John that they’re standing side-by-side with the Lord Himself and
fail to recognize Him!
In this blessed season we hear
and work to put into practice the call of habitual readiness for the Lord’s
coming. That was the obvious tone of the First Sunday’s gospel call to “Be
watchful!” The subsequent weeks help direct us the way of being habitually
ready for the coming of Christ in His glory. Last week we were reminded that
the most important and effective way to prepare for the Lord’s coming is
repentance. John the Baptist’s call to turn from sin, confess one’s faults, and
receive a baptism of repentance invite us to the Sacrament of Reconciliation,
where we do the exact same thing. There we find the means to breaking the
chains of sin and experiencing the freedom to follow the Lord when He comes.
This week, with the freedom from
sin established, the next step to be always ready is found in the passage from
St. Paul and his three other ‘always’ type statements: “Rejoice always. Pray
without ceasing. In all circumstances, give thanks.”
It begins with ‘pray without
ceasing,’ which we know isn’t walking around praying rote prayers all day long.
Prayer is simply a dialogue or relationship with the Lord, so to pray without
ceasing is to go through our day doing our best to keep in mind that God isn’t
just up in Heaven and He isn’t just in the tabernacle at the Church, but that
He is right there with us and is actively involved in our life. Sometimes we
have tangible experiences of His presence and sometimes we can started putting
clues together that our prayers are being answered or that God is leading us in
a certain direction. That is the unceasing prayer that St. Paul invites us to,
because it is then that we see the Lord working, speaking, and moving in,
through, and around us.
As we start to recognize the Lord
among us throughout the day, we will begin to express more deeply our
gratitude. We will give thanks in all circumstances because we will be able to
see the Lord in all circumstances. And as we allow our hearts to give joyful
praise to the Lord the ways that He is working in our lives, we are led to that
third piece of rejoicing always.
Rejoicing isn’t having warm
emotions of happiness, feeling good about things, or the result of positive
events taking place in our life. Rejoicing is the spontaneous reaction of our
heart to the presence of the Lord. Why does Isaiah rejoice in our first
reading? Because God placed on him the robe of salvation and the mantle of
justice; God came to him in his brokenness and he encountered the God of love
and mercy. Why does Mary rejoice in the responsorial? Because the Lord looked
upon the lowliness of His handmaid and done great things for her – because she
had a profound encounter with the Lord and His messenger Gabriel. Why does St.
Paul call us to rejoice always? Because He first was knocked off of his horse
by the Lord and filled with the Light of His Presence. And us? Why should we
rejoice? Because just like Isaiah and Mary and Paul, God has come to us too. He
came 2000 years ago, He comes daily in the Eucharist, and He comes to us in the
course of our daily lives over and over and over again.
So where is God acting in your
life today? Where is the Lord inviting us to find Him today? And are we ready
to experience His presence and be filled with rejoicing?
Come, Lord Jesus.
Come, O Come, Emmanuel.
No comments:
Post a Comment