Emmanuel; God-is-with-us – that’s what we celebrate through Christmas and that’s what we’ve been preparing for during Advent. We celebrate God-with-us in a particular time and place through our celebration of the birth of Jesus. But we remember it every year because we also use the Christmas celebration to remind ourselves that God continues to be with us. That is what is so remarkable about the Christmas season: that God-is-with-us now, not just in a stable in Palestine so many years ago, but now! Advent is the time to remind ourselves of this incredible truth and prepare ourselves to acknowledge it once again.
Half way through Advent we pause for a moment to celebrate Gaudete Sunday, a Sunday for rejoicing. Isaiah paints a picture of regeneration. The desert that once seemed to be dead is now bursting with life; eyes that lacked sight, ears incapable of capturing and holding sound, limbs without strength, and tongues devoid of speech are all given new life. There will be no death in that age of fulfilment, no limitations, no mourning. As we move deeper and deeper into the reality of God’s presence in our midst, we will discover the meaning of true fulfilment. Advent invites us to be more perceptive, and to take time out to see the presence of God with us. Like the people mentioned in the gospel, we may need to step aside, to ‘go out into the wilderness’ in order to see these signs. Look within your own life, your family, your workplace, your neighbourhood and recognise the sure signs of God’s presence in our midst.
Today’s readings sketch profiles of individuals after whom we can model our lives as we embark on our pilgrimage to messianic fulfilment. Isaiah depicts the righteous messianic king; Paul provides us with a glimpse of Jesus, the one who ministers to all; and Matthew describes John the Baptist, the prophet who prepared for the Advent of Christ. The gifts Isaiah attributes to the messianic king are the same gifts that we receive with the anointing of the Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. The image of the messianic king may have been fulfilled in Jesus, but it is also offered to us as a model after which we can pattern our lives. John the Baptist lived a life of radical self-denial, but he did not require this of others. He preached repentance or change of heart, not a rejection of the circumstances of life. He called for a return to righteousness, to relationships rooted in honesty and respect. He condemned presumption and arrogant reliance on one’s religious origin, complacency and the shirking of responsibility, disinterest in the welfare of others
The readings of the First Sunday of Advent set the stage for our reflections on the entire season. They contain a number of promises, all pointing to peace and fulfilment. The promises reveal a loving and provident, a merciful and forgiving God. These are promises full of hope. The coming of the Lord is clearly a time of expectation, not of fear and trembling. Although the earlier tradition about the Day of the Lord included punishment of the wicked, the focus here is on redemption. The time of expectation may be preceded by apocalyptic signs in the heavens and dismay on earth, but this cosmic shift will bring fulfilment, not destruction. The love and providence, the mercy and forgiveness of God will be made manifest. An Advent way of life exhorts us to ‘wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ’. This way of life is both simple and profound. It does not necessarily require unusual behaviour on our part, but it calls us to live the usual unusually well. It affects the everyday events of life; it directs the way we interact with people; it informs the attitudes that colour our judgments and motivations. It is as ordinary as the birth of a child; it is as extraordinary as the revelation of God.
Luke’s Gospel has been loaded with surprises: the poor are rich, sinners find salvation, the Kingdom of God is found in our midst. Here we see the greatest surprise of all. We are confronted with the crucified Jesus, whom faith tells us is King and Saviour of all. The irony is that the inscription placed on the cross, perhaps in mockery, contains the profoundest of truth. As the leaders jeer, the thief crucified by his side recognizes Jesus as Messiah and King, and finds salvation. Jesus is King, but not the kind of king we might have imagined or expected. His kingship was hidden from many of his contemporaries, but those who had the eyes of faith were able to see. As modern disciples of Jesus, we, too, struggle at times to recognize Jesus as King. Today’s Gospel invites us to make our own judgment. With eyes of faith, we, too, recognize that Jesus, the crucified One, is indeed King and Saviour of all.
Although the narrative readings for today concentrate on the disruptions that will accompany the coming of God, they also contain hints of the salvation that will finally arrive. Malachi speaks of the sun of justice that comes with healing rays; Luke promises that the faithful disciples will escape without a hair of their heads being destroyed. Just as the descriptions of the upheavals should not be understood literally, neither should these descriptions. It may be that the faithful followers of Jesus will suffer terrible agonies. The point here is that even in the midst of their pain, they will be protected. The healing rays of justice and the rescue of the lives of the upright are references to salvation. God does not come at the end to condemn, but to save. Furthermore, the suffering that precedes the end is intended for purification and refinement, not punishment. Christians are exhorted to live in this end time with patient endurance of difficulties.
The Basilica of John Lateran in Rome, is not just any building, it is the first official ‘home’ for the Church in Rome. It is considered to be the ‘mother church’ of Rome and is dedicated to John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. The readings today keep our focus on the fact that the church is not only a building but a gathering (in Greek, ekklesia) of believers. John’s Gospel transforms the understanding of where we find God, not in sacred buildings but firstly in the person of Jesus. The Christian community later understood that even though Jesus was no longer physically present, God was still dwelling with them, in the community, so Paul spoke of the people as a Temple – a dwelling place of God. So really, today we are not celebrating bricks and mortar, but the flesh and blood people down through the centuries, including you and me, who are God’s dwelling place in the world, God’s Temple.
In God there is mercy in abundance. Jesus is not willing to lose anyone. Therefore, the power of Jesus and the strength of his promises give us hope that even after death there is the possibility of purification and pardon. We have no idea of when this might happen or how it will happen. All we know is that the loving kindness of God far surpasses any infidelity of which we might be guilty. The feast of All Souls is not a feast of sadness, but one of great hope and confidence. It invites us to entrust our dead to God, because we know that they are really God’s dead. We know that if we have loved them, God has loved them more. They are in God’s care, and like a good shepherd God will lead them to peace.
Jesus extols the humility of the one who admits being a sinner, and can accept the implications of that admission. This is the kind of prayer that is described in the reading from Sirach and the Psalm response. It is those who can admit that they are needy who turn to God in that need. It is those who trust that God will be their strength in the face of their weaknesses who are strengthened. Paul’s own prayer demonstrates the attitudes that should be ours as we pray. Like the Pharisee, he acknowledges his success. He has competed well; he has finished the course; he has kept the faith. However, unlike the Pharisee, he acknowledges that God is the source of any good he has been able to accomplish. The Lord stood by him and gave him strength. If there is any glory, it belongs to God. Paul’s confident prayer springs from a humble heart.