Today, we mark the beginning of the liturgical year once again. Once again, we enter into the mystery of God's coming into our world. Advent is a season of expectant waiting, a season of longing. In the first reading from Jeremiah, we are reminded that God's coming is near. This is not a cause for fear but a source of comfort and security. Even as we wait, we are filled with confidence because the one who is to come is "The Lord, our righteousness." Paul's exhortation to us is clear: we are to pray for a super-abundance of love. This is not a passive request but a call to action. Let us be inspired and motivated to love abundantly, just as God loves us.
If we are striving to live the Christian life, we have no reason to fear and no need to change our behavior because we are, in fact, doing what we should be. Through the grace of God, our faith will be active, our hope steady, and our love manifested to others. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus so that we will welcome him at any time and in any place.
Although the understanding from Jeremiah is that there is no reason to fear, the reading from the Gospel of Luke may, at first glance, make us quiver. After all, we heard that the cosmos will be thrown into turbulence, and people will faint from fear and foreboding. As Christians, we need to remember that the One who is to come is none other than Jesus, the Son of Man. Faithful disciples stand erect with heads held high, coming to meet the gracious and faithful judge, Jesus, the Son of Man. Luke urges us to take care of ourselves to be ready to meet God. We are not to become weighed down with frivolous living.
How we concretely live the challenges put before us by today's readings is not clear. After all, we have been in this time of expectant waiting before; why do we need to return and remain in it? Part of living with mystery is deepening our belief and understanding. Hence, we are not simply repeating what we did last year. Hopefully, we will come to an appreciation of the mystery at a deeper level and with more clarity. Unfortunately, love may be overshadowed by injustice. Our capacity to discern the coming of God is bound up with our weakness and incompleteness. Because of this, we need to continually live in expectant waiting because the cosmos can, at any one time, hold only so much of Infinite Love.
This calendar year began with great division in our world, our nation, and our Church. When we consider the world's situation, our nation, and our Church, it would be difficult to deduce that people live safely and that God is blessing them. The question arises, how do we live in an attitude of expectant waiting when our world is in turmoil? What are we waiting for from God? From the Church? Do we dare to hope for God's coming, or do we find ourselves echoing the words of the biblical scholar, Walter Brueggemann, when he writes: "In our secret yearnings we wait for your coming and in our grinding despair we doubt that you will?”
The question arises: Where in our day do we see people fainting with fear and foreboding? What do we have to say to them? One of the times when we are faint with fear and foreboding is when we insist on seeing others as the enemy. Only when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, risking letting the so-called enemy into our lives, are we instruments of freedom. In making Godself vulnerable through the incarnation, God transformed all of creation.
The truth be told, for the Christian to be acting in faith truly, there are no enemies because no matter how much we find ourselves in conflict with others, we all share in one humanity in Christ. We all live together in this cosmos with the same sun, moon, and earth. We are part of one another. When we allow ourselves to be taken in by words like enemy, we have put aside the vision of faith and taken on a vision of competition, which leads to the reality of winners and losers. We all lose when we enter into destructive actions. Such is our understanding through faith. But we need to be reminded of that over and over again, which is why we pray with the psalmist, "Make me to know your ways, 0 Lord, teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation." (Psalm 25)
As Christians, we must affirm and nurture life wherever we find it. This is to be done at all times and in all ways. The psalm for today tells us that God instructs sinners in the way of goodness. Are we willing to learn? Are we willing to walk the way of the humble and be receptive to truth however it comes to us? Because if we are willing to do these things, then we will find ourselves walking the path of steadfast love and faithfulness. We will be at peace.
– Sister Margaret Glynn, OP
A resident of Dominican Convent, Sister Margaret (AKA Mary Laurentine) serves as the Sacristan of Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel.