A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 8, n. 1)
1st Sunday in Advent, Year C – November 29, 2009 *
“Advent Expectation: A Torch For Our Faith”
BIBLE READINGS
Jer 33:14-16 // I Thes 3:12-4:2 // Lk 21:25-28, 34-36
(N.B. Series 8 of BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy of Year C from the perspective of the Second Reading. For reflections on the Sunday liturgy of Year C based on the Gospel reading, please scroll up to the “ARCHIVES” above and open Series 2. For reflections based on the Old Testament reading, open Series 5.)
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
With the First Sunday of Advent, we begin a new liturgical year. Today is the Church’s special “New Year’s Day”. We thank the Lord for the gift of the liturgical year – the sacrament of the coming of salvation in time. Through the liturgical year, the Church celebrates the whole panorama of salvation history, from the beginning with its promise of redemption until its final fulfillment at the end time. The call to wakefulness and vigilance permeates the entire liturgical year.
The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 1, remark: “If one wished to characterize the spirituality of the liturgical year, one would have to speak of wakefulness and vigilance. We have been admonished to practice these virtues from the time of the announcement of the first manifestation of the Lord until his anticipated return as King of the universe. The liturgical year calls us insistently to take daily realities seriously, repeatedly reminding us that God is working in this age; these times are the last. The liturgical year develops therefore a spirituality of responsibility, of acting to bring about the reign of God, its peace, justice and joy in a world that is never without meaning, into our own historical time.”
The season of Advent fills us with inner strength at the various moments of the Lord’s coming: in the grace-laden historical past, in the engaging present and in the hope-filled future at the end time. We are the people of Advent expectation – deeply aware that the promised “just shoot” from King David (cf. Jer 33:14-16) was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and great glory. The vision of Christ’s coming as Lord of history and the universe invites us to raise our heads because our redemption is at hand (cf. Lk 21:25-28, 34-36).
The Advent expectation is a torch for our faith. The Jesuit scholar and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin asserts: “From the historical point of view, expectation of the parousia has never ceased to guide the progress of our faith like a torch. The Israelites were constantly on the watch for the Lord’s coming; so too were the first Christians. Christmas, which one might think would have turned our minds toward the past, has actually carried them further forward into the future. For one moment the Messiah appeared in our midst, allowing himself to be seen and touched; then he vanished again, more luminous and mysterious than before, into the impenetrable depths of the future. He has come. Yet now, once again, we must go on expecting him more than ever. This time it is no longer a small chosen group that awaits his coming; it is the whole of humanity. The Lord Jesus will only come soon if we ardently long for him. The breakthrough of the parousia will be the result of a mounting flood of desire … No matter what the price, we must rekindle in ourselves the desire and hope for the great future coming.”
The messianic expectation for the Lord’s coming inflames St. Paul with zeal, urgency and enthusiasm (cf. I Thes 3:12-4:2). He exhorts the Thessalonians “to be blameless in holiness” at the coming of our Lord Jesus with his holy ones – the saints. He invites them to grow in a life pleasing to God and “to do so even more”. In effect, St. Paul is reminding us that we anticipate in our individual lives Christ’s parousia and promote the cosmic transformation to be brought about by his definitive advent at the end time. Each day of our earthly life should be a portal that leads to eternal life.
The advent of Jesus Christ at the hour of our death is an intense personal moment that flows irreversibly to the parousia or end time, when all things would be restored in Christ. The encounter with death calls for vigilance and readiness. Though the specter of death can dishearten, the Christian vision of the “last things” – the ultimate triumph of God’s love, the offer of saving grace, the reality of eternal life, and our participation in Christ’s glory - puts us in proper perspective. This was the experience of Tony Snow, when he was battling colon cancer, to which he eventually succumbed in 2008. The former President Bush’s Press Secretary realized that we could wisely choose how to spend the interval between the “now” and the moment we meet our Creator face-to-face. In the following testimony, the heroic Tony Snow teaches us how to prepare for the decisive “advent” of the Lord in our personal life – for his coming at the hour of our death as our Master and Savior.
Blessings arrive in unexpected packages – in my case cancer. Those of us with potentially fatal diseases – and there are millions in America today – find ourselves in the odd position of coping with our mortality while trying to fathom God’s will. Although it would be the height of presumption to declare with confidence What It All Means, Scripture provides powerful hints and consolations. The first is that we shouldn’t spend too much time trying to answer the “why” questions: Why me? Why must people suffer? Why can’t someone else get sick? We can’t answer such things, and the questions themselves often are designed more to express our anguish than to solicit an answer.
I don’t know why I have cancer, and I don’t much care. It is what it is, a plain and indisputable fact. Yet even while staring into a mirror darkly, great and stunning truths begin to take shape. Our maladies define a central feature of our existence: We are fallen. We are imperfect. Our bodies give out. But despite this – or because of it – God offers the possibility of salvation and grace. We don’t know how the narrative of our lives will end, but we get to choose how to use the interval between now and the moment we meet our Creator face-to-face.
Second, we need to get past the anxiety. The mere thought of dying can send adrenaline flooding through the system. A dizzy, unfocused panic seizes us. Your heart thumps, you head swims. You think of nothingness and swoon. You fear partings; you worry about the impact on family and friends. You fidget and get nowhere. To regain footing, remember that we were born not into death, but into life – and that the journey continues after we have finished our days on this earth. We accept this on faith, but that faith is nourished by a conviction that stirs even within many non-believing hearts – an intuition that the gift of life, once given, cannot be taken away. Those who have been stricken enjoy the special privilege of being able to fight with their might, main, and faith to live fully, richly, exuberantly – no matter how their days may be numbered.
Third, we can open our eyes and hearts. God relishes surprise. We want lives of simple, predictable ease – smooth, even trails as far as the eye can see – but God likes to go off-road. He provokes us with twists and turns. He places us in predicaments that seem to defy our endurance and comprehension – and yet don’t. By his love and grace, we persevere. The challenges that make our hearts leap and stomachs churn invariably strengthen our faith and grant measures of wisdom and joy we would not experience otherwise. (…)
Even though God doesn’t promise us tomorrow, he does promise us eternity – filled with life and love we cannot comprehend – and that one can in the throes of sickness point the rest of us toward timeless truths that will help us weather future storms. Through such trials, God bids us to choose: Do we believe, or do we not? Will we be bold enough to love, daring enough to serve, humble enough to submit, and strong enough to acknowledge our limitations? Can we surrender our concern in things that don’t matter so that we might devote our remaining days to things that do?
When our faith flags, he throws reminders in our way. Think of the prayer warriors in our midst. They change things, and those of us who have been on the receiving end of their petitions and intercessions know it. It is hard to describe, but there are times when suddenly the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and you feel a surge of the Spirit. Somehow you just know: Others have chosen, when talking to the Author of all creation, to lift us up – to speak of us!
This is love of a very special order. But so is the ability to sit back and appreciate the wonder of every created thing. The mere thought of death somehow makes every blessing vivid - every happiness more luminous and intense. We may not know how our contest with sickness will end, but we have felt the ineluctable touch of God. We don’t know much, but we know this: No matter where we are, no matter what we do, no matter how bleak or frightening our prospects, each and every one of us who believe, each and every day, lies in the same safe and impregnable place, in the hollow of God’s hand.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
What was the Advent expectation being kindled by the prophet Jeremiah in the hearts of the Jewish people? How did the promise of the “just shoot” impact God’s chosen people and you personally?
When faced with specters of doom, death and destruction, are you willing to raise your heads and trust in God, believing that redemption is close at hand? Do we truly long for the definitive coming of the Messiah?
In this season of Advent, do we endeavor to be blameless in holiness and live a life pleasing to God? Do we diligently prepare ourselves for the Lord’s coming? Is the Advent expectation a torch for our faith? How do we prepare for the Lord’s coming at the hour of our death?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
we welcome with joy the various comings of Jesus Christ:
at Bethlehem, in the vicissitudes of our daily life
at the hour of our death and his final coming to “christify” all things.
We open our hearts to the saving grace he offers us
with great kindness and love.
May our Advent expectation energize us.
Let it be a torch for our faith.
May our lives be always directed to the end time,
to the perfect fulfillment of your saving plan
to restore all things in your beloved Son.
To him we cry out: “Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!”
As people of Advent expectation, but already redeemed,
we look forward to the coming of your Kingdom:
a kingdom of justice, peace and love.
We love you and praise you
we adore and serve you,
now and forever.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“May the Lord strengthen your hearts … to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Thes 3:12-13)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Delineate a spiritual-apostolic program for the Advent season that will enable you to focus on the last things and treasure the Kingdom value. By your life witnessing and service to the needy, enkindle the messianic Advent expectation among the people that surround you.
ACTION PLAN: That we may truly be people of Advent expectation, make an effort to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration. Visit the PDDM WEB site (www.pddm.us) for the EUCHARISTIC ADORATION THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR: A Weekly Pastoral Tool (Year C, vol. 6, #1).
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US