Advent & Christmastide – Page 6

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Finally we arrive at the Fourth Sunday of Advent. The final Sunday is dedicated to the Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin. The opening prayer at Mass is the prayer used for Angelus. The Church, pointing to Mary points to the Savior.

St. Peter Chrysologus has something to say:

“’Who was born from the Holy Spirit.’ Precisely thus is Christ born for you, in such a way that he may change your own manner of birth… Formerly, death awaited you as the setting sun of your life; he wants you to have a new birth of life. ‘Who was born from the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary.’ With the Spirit begetting, and a virgin giving birth, everything carried on is divine; nothing of it is merely human.”

Indeed, nothing is merely human…

Advent is penitential

For most of the time since Vatican II liturgists have spent a lot of energy trying to promote the idea that Advent is not a penitential liturgical season. A recent heated inter-change with an aging religious sister who was formed in the sacred Liturgy in the 1980s demonstrated to me that the obvious was missing from “Sister’s” understanding of the nature of Liturgy and her seasons. The downplay of the penitential character of Advent is, in fact, not merely misleading as I would say rather wrong especially if you look at the totality of the liturgical season. Of course, the nature of penitence during Advent is different from Lent; and no one of right mind would claim that Advent and Lent have the same degree of penitence. The Scriptures and prayers chosen for Advent’s Masses and the Divine Office all point to the removal of sin and repentance and conversion; plus, the choice of saints honored in Advent also point in the direction of Advent’s penitential character.

The source of the wrong thinking is likely the fact that some professional Catholics who had a hand in framing a “new” liturgical sensibility in the Catholic Church –as if we really needed a new view– really didn’t like the notion/reality of sin, penance, repentance, etc. The fear-based aspect of religion prevalent in former years was likely disproportionate to a human and religious reality (think of the Irish emphasis on sin); no doubt you can’t dismiss the fact that sin breaks a relationship with God and if not taken care of with the sacrament, it leads to a radical separation that could prevent one from entering into beatitude.

A mature Catholic spiritual life has the emphasis on being healthy, reasonable, human and merciful. A mature spirituality is one that takes responsibility and realizes that humility goes a long way to wholeness and holiness. Pope Francis emphasizes this fact. The capacity to admit we are wrong, that we are imperfect, that we truly desire holiness is the point of true penitence. A Christian life is only possible with a purity of heart. The right-ordered penitential life is only accomplished in conversation with a prudent spiritual director so that one is able to strive for greater coherence and integrity, purity of heart, and single-mindedness.

The Advent hymn “People Look East”has real currency here: “Make your house fair as you are able, / trim the hearth and set the table. / People look East and sing today: / Love the Guest is on the Way.” Indeed, let’s get ready to receive the Divine Guest. Have we made way for the newborn Prince of Peace? How crowded are our hearts and minds for Jesus?

I tried to receive the sacrament of reconciliation today while I was NYC today with a friend. But I was frustrated because the priest left the confessional early. I was little annoyed –well, it was more than a “little annoyed”– because I blurted out: “I guess Father is unaccustomed to working that he couldn’t wait to the end of the scheduled time.” Advent is a great time for priests to spend more time, not less, in the confessional. Being set free from sin to worthily receive the Eucharistic Lord at Christmas is beautiful and necessary thing.

What does preparing the way of the Lord mean?

Gaudete Sunday’s Office of Readings from a sermon of St. Augustine:

“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 he 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.

Gaudete Sunday: Rejoice!

The Church celebrates the third Sunday of Advent today. It is known as Gaudete Sunday because the opening words of the Mass coming from Scripture, “Rejoice”, coming from the Latin Gaudete –rejoice — is the entrance antiphon for today and the controlling idea of the second reading from Philippians in Year C of the lectionary cycle (“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, Rejoice! The Lord is near!).

On Gaudete Sunday the priest may wear either violet or rose vestments and we light the rose candle on the wreath. This custom of rose vestments is a 10th century practice (one that we observe on the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday). In the season of Advent, the color rose is a sign of anticipatory Christmas joy as it also marks the midpoint of Advent.

Up to December 16 the Liturgy focuses our attention and preparation on Lord’s coming at the end of time; then as time nears the Nativity (December 17-24) we begin to prepare for the celebration of Jesus’ Nativity on the feast of Christmas.

Joy is the basic Christian attitude; no joy, no true and authentic Christian discipleship. Mary, the Mother of God is also the first disciple of joy! Even she is clad in rose!!!!

Seeking the “one who is greater”

Today, we locate ourselves in the second week of Advent. (I hope I am more centered this week than I was last.) The Church hears from the Lord’s cousin, the Forerunner and Prophet John the Baptist in the gospel reading. Saint John is rather mysterious and yet he’s an attractive figure who has the unique work of pointing us to the Kingdom of God unfolding in front of us; he also points out the Messiah. That’s exactly what we attempt to do within the various communities to which we belong: family, parish, religious, work, and social.

The mature Christian (or the one who takes his or her spiritual life we seriousness) takes up the Baptist’s work of doing what he did: bring others to the Lord. Each with his own work. The outward role in salvation history of Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna are very different, as is with John the Baptist, but also with each one of us sharing the Good News.

We seek and serve and love “one who is greater than us.”

First Sunday of Advent

Saint Aelred of Rievaulx writes,

“Advent calls to mind the two comings of our Lord: the first coming of the ‘fairest of the sons of men’ and ‘the desire of all nations’, so long awaited and so fervently prayed for by all when the Son of God graciously revealed to the world his visible presence in the flesh, that is, when he came into the world to save sinners; the other that second coming to which we look forward no less than did the people of old. While we await his return our hope is sure and firm, yet we also frequently remind ourselves of the day when he who first came to us concealed in our flesh will come again revealed in the glory which belongs to him as Lord…How beautifully then at this season the Church provides that we should recite the words and recall the longing of those who lived before our Lord’s first advent!”

First Sunday of Advent 2014

The meaning of Advent has to reorient our perspective, our longing,our hope in the Messiah. We come to this point in the liturgical year, the first day in fact, of the new year, hoping for renewal and the reverberation of the heart meeting Christ. St. Augustine offers us a way of understanding the place of the Messiah in our life.

“The first coming of Christ the Lord, God’s son and our God,was in obscurity. The second will be in sight of the whole world. When he came in obscurity, no one recognized him but his own servants. When he comes openly, he will be known by both the good and the bad. When he came in obscurity, it was to be judged. When he comes openly, it will be to judge. He was silent at his trial, as the prophet foretold…Silent when accused, he will not be silent as judge. Even now he does not keep silent, if there is anyone to listen. But it says he will not keep silent then, because his voice will be acknowledged even by those who despise it.” (Sermons 18.1-2)

Baptism of the Lord: splendor shining forth

Saint Ephrem the Syrian (deacon and Doctor of the Church) teaches:

“Today the Source of all the graces of baptism comes himself to be baptized in the river Jordan, there to make himself known to the world. Seeing him approach, John stretches out his hand to hold him back, protesting: ‘Lord, by your own baptism you sanctify all others; yours is the true baptism, the source of perfect holiness. How can you wish to submit to mine?’ But the Lord replies,’ I wish it to be so. Come and baptize me; do as I wish, for surely you cannot refuse me. Why do you hesitate, why are you so afraid? Do you not realize that the baptism I ask for is mine by every right? By my baptism the waters will be sanctified, receiving from me fire and the Holy Spirit. Unless I am immersed in them they will never be empowered to bring forth children to eternal life. There is every reason for you to let me have my way and do what I am asking you to do. Did I not baptize you when you were in your mother’s womb? Now it is your turn to baptize me in the Jordan. So come, then, carry out your appointed task’…. See the hosts of heaven hushed and still, as the all-holy Bridegroom goes down into the Jordan. No sooner is he baptized then he comes up from the waters, his splendor shining forth over the earth. The gates of heaven are opened, and the Father’s voice is heard: ‘This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased’. All who are present stand in awe as they watch the Spirit descend to bear witness to him. O, come all you peoples, worship him! Praise to you, Lord, for your glorious epiphany which brings joy to us all! The whole world has become radiant with the light of your manifestation.”

Scripture reveals to us that we are intimately connected with the person –not the idea– of Jesus Christ. How does this happen? By grace; by the singular grace of the sacrament of Baptism. The door opened for us in the sacrament of Baptism is the fullness of communio with God, resurrection of the body (eternal life); gives us the promise of our own bodies to be glorified like the Lord’s, Baptism illumines our every step, our every fiber of our being, and by Baptism we are inserted into the Paschal Mystery of the Lord (His life, death, resurrection and Ascension), and it makes us adopted children of God. Thus, we become members of Christ’s sacrament, the Church.

Baptism of the Lord

Today, the Church celebrating the Mass according to the Missal of Paul VI observes the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. In the Extraordinary Form of the Mass (Missal of Blessed John XXIII) this feast is celebrated on January 13, 2014. Also, in the Ordinary Form, the Christmas season comes to an end today (in the EF of the Liturgy Christmastide continues until the Presentation of the Lord –Candlemas).

The Introit antiphon for this Sunday reads, Behold the Lord the Ruler is come: and the Kingdom is in His Hand, and power, and dominion. — (Ps. 71. 2) Give to the king Thy judgment, O God: and to the king’s Son Thy justice.

****Scott Hahn has a teaching here; be sure to listen to Scott’s presentation (it’s only 3 min.).

In 2000, Pope John Paul had this to say about what we celebrate in the Liturgy today:

On the holy night in Bethlehem, Jesus was born among us in the poverty of a stable; on the day of Epiphany, the Magi acknowledged him as the long-awaited Messiah of the nations; today, all our attention is focused on his person and mission. The Father speaks to him directly: “You are my beloved Son,” as the heavens are opened and the Spirit descends on him in the form of a dove (cf. Mk 1: 10-10). The scene on the banks of the Jordan thus presents the solemn proclamation of Jesus as the Son of God. And so his saving mission begins publicly.

The Baptism that the Lord receives takes place in the context of John the Baptist’s penitential preaching. The ritual act of being immersed in water, offered by the Precursor, was an outward sign of repentance for sins committed and of the desire for spiritual renewal.

All this refers to the Christian sacrament of Baptism, which I will shortly have the joy of administering to these children and which we received a long time ago. Baptism inserted us into God’s own life, making us his adopted children in his only-begotten “beloved Son.”

Epiphany: A recognition

The 12th Day of Christmas is upon us with the Solemnity of the Epiphany. The Magi, the Star, the three gifts, the angels, the shepherds and the animals all coalesce to manifest in-breaking of God in human history. All recognized and read the signs. Two different church fathers give perspective on the meaning of the Epiphany as the great manifestation of the Divine.

Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the Epiphany in this way:

“The wise men from the East lead the way…They were, as we might say, men of science, but not simply in the sense that they were searching for a wide range of knowledge: they wanted something more. They wanted to understand what being human is all about. They had doubtless heard of the prophecy of the Gentile prophet Balaam: “A star shall come forth out of Jacob and a scepter shall rise out of Israel” (Num 24:17) (January 6, 2012).

Saint Basil the Great spoke of the Epiphany in this way: “The star came to rest above the place where the child was. At the sight of it the wise men were filled with great joy and that great joy should fill our hearts as well. It is the same as the joy the shepherds received from the glad tidings brought by the angels. Let us join the wise men in worship and the shepherds in giving glory to God. Let us dance with the angels and sing: ‘To us is born this day a savior who is Christ the Lord. The Lord is God and he has appeared to us’, not as God which would have terrified us in our weakness, but as a slave in order to free those living in slavery. Could anyone be so lacking in sensibility and so ungrateful as not to join us all in our gladness, exultation, and radiant joy? This feast belongs to the whole universe… Stars across the sky, wise men journey from pagan lands, earth receives it savior in a cave. Let there be no one without a gift to offer, no one without gratitude as we celebrate the salvation of the world, the birthday of the human race. Now it is no longer, ‘Dust you are and to dust you shall return’, but ‘You are joined to heaven and into heaven you shall be taken up.’”