First Sunday of Advent_B - Rend the Heavens_12/03/23

Image Credit: A Peaceful Christmas from Charlie B, Italia, dec.2006

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Rend the Heavens”

The First Sunday of Advent, Year B

No one likes waiting! We anxiously await hearing from the doctor about the last CAT Scan; waiting for word that we were hired for that new job that will advance our career; waiting to get the acceptance letter from the college we desperately want to attend; waiting for that special “something” that will electrify our lives and elevate our spirts to grasp that happiness for which our hearts long... Yes, we don’t like it... but we wait. This Sunday we begin a New Liturgical Year, one that call us into a period of, guess what? “Waiting”, but a different quality of waiting, a waiting of the soul, an entry into a time of “holy longing” for that event that has been prophesized throughout Holy Scripture, the arrival of the Prince of Peace. We wait in expectant hope for the heavens to open and for the presence of the Lord to fill the earth. Waiting is a sign of our faith, just as it had been for the people of Israel. The waiting, longing, hoping for arrival of the Messiah was an essential mark of their faith also. They awaited the Messiah, a King, a Warrior, a Liberator who would save His people from foreign oppression, who would usher in a Kingdom of Justice, of Mercy, and Peace and restore Israel to its promised glory as the Light to the Nations. Generations lived and died without out this desperate longing being fulfilled in the fullness of time. Yet, generation after generation kept watch. And now, it’s our turn. It is our turn to keep not only the watch but the faith to believe that this ancient promise will be fulfilled… at any moment.

It is for this long-awaited Redeemer and Savior of the world that we Christians keep a vigilant watch that distinguishes these next three weeks as a most special time of the Church year. It is a time when we watch and wait in hopeful anticipation for the heavens to open and the coming of our Lord and Savior; a time of longing for His return as He promised. We wait while we seek God’s peace and consolation to come into our lives because there is so little of it in our world today. We are desperate for God’s peace. We truly hunger for His joy and consolation. There is an emptiness in our lives that cannot be filled by all the creature comforts this world has to offer. And so “we wait”.

Isaiah knew this. He begged God, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down”! And, do you know what? God did just that! He became one of us in every way except sin. Jesus, Son of God, entered into the human drama as a tiny infant born into our world of material poverty, into a world at war, a world of scarcity and want, a world of fear and anxiety. Isn’t this the situation we see in much of the world around us today!

The problems of the world didn’t go away when Christ entered into it. And they still haven’t. No one person has the power to fix what is wrong with the world. The only way to fix the world is to fix ourselves. And Christ showed us how to do that.

When we were baptized, we were called by name and anointed with the Sacred Chrism to share Christ’s work. St. Luke quotes these words from the Prophet Isaiah to describe the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee:

“The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners”.

May this Advent season be one of joyful waiting, waiting for the Spirit of the Lord to fill us with His Presence so we may be the instruments of His peace, the bearers of His glad tidings, the healing balm for those who are brokenhearted and discouraged, and witnesses and agents of hope and encouragement for all who are bound up. And may He who came down from heaven, take away our emptiness and fill us with His Spirit of Peace and Wisdom.

Happy Beginning of Advent!
Deacon Tom  

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com and listen in as the three deacs engage in a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those thinking of coming into or leaving it.

 

OTHER RESOURCE

 

Recommended Reading: A Living Gospel: Reading God's Story in Holy Lives. In his latest work, Robert Ellsberg, the author of many acclaimed works on the saints, looks on the “living gospel” that is written in human lives.

 

Recommended YouTube Video:  A Living Gospel - Reading God's Story in Holy Lives  Produced by the Henri Nouwen Society, this 5-part meditation video series is designed to offer a focused reflection on our spiritual journey. Over five weeks this summer we will release a new video on the Society’s YouTube channel. In each video, Robert Ellsberg, friend and publisher of Henri Nouwen, will share insights and practices to enrich, deepen, and strengthen your spiritual life. Reflecting on the lives of Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, and Henri Nouwen, you will be invited to reflect more deeply on your own journey and vocation.

 

 

Can AnyBody Help?

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Can Anybody Help?”

First Sunday of Advent, Year B

There was a commercial on TV a while age showing a man riding in circles on his new lawn mower while he tells the viewers that in addition to the lawn mower he also just bought a car and a house among other things. Now he is “Up to his eyeballs in debt.” Then he looks at the camera with glazed eyes and asks, “Can anybody help me?” This is a sad but fairly accurate depiction of our human nature at work. It is not unusual that we dig ourselves a deep hole before we recognize the trouble we are in and ask for help.

Our spiritual lives can be very similar. In the reading from Isaiah the Prophet begs the Lord to come once more to the aid of His people whose sinfulness have made their good deeds seem “like polluted rags. The Prophet dares query God, “Why did you let us wander, O Lord, from your ways and harden our hearts so that we fear you not?”

The first step in solving any problem is first to recognize that we have one, like the fellow in the commercial reaching out to “anybody” who might be able to help him with his financial problems. We do well to take this approach with our spiritual shortcomings and reach out to God and ask Him to “rend the heavens and come down”, and come to our rescue, not in a physical sense as in the Nativity, but as He has promised to “be with us always, until the end of the age.” Mt 28:20

The image of God as the potter and we the clay is a powerful one for us to explore this Advent. Just like clay in the hands of an artisan, God shapes and molds our lives…if we let Him. And that’s the key; God does not barge into our lives but rather waits for an invitation.

Let us invite God into our lives in a deeper and more intimate way this Advent Season so that He can mold us and fashion us into whatever beautiful vessel will be most fulfilling for us. On our part, we need to be watchful so that we may recognize how God is always by our side, constantly shaping us through the events, people and the always-changing circumstances of our lives. This Advent lets be on the lookout for the many ways God comes to our rescue.

Happy New (Liturgical) Year!

and,

Enjoy the Day.

Deacon Tom

Can Anybody Help Me?

      Deacon Tom Writes ©

   “Can anybody help me?”

First Sunday of Advent, Year B 

There was a commercial on TV some time ago showing a man riding in circles on his new lawn mower while telling viewers about his financial problems.  It’s not that he was poor, quite the opposite.  He had a lot of money, he just didn’t know how to budget it…  In addition to the new lawn mower he had just purchased, he also complained of having bought a new car that he put in the new house and the list goes on. Now he is “up to his eyeballs in debt”.  As the focus of the camera narrows in on him,  he looks into it with glazy eyes and asks, “Can anybody help me?”  This is a sad but fairly accurate depiction of our human nature at work. We manage to dig quite a deep hole for ourselves before we recognize the trouble we are in and our need to ask for help.

Our spiritual lives can be very similar. In the reading from Isaiah on this First Sunday of Advent, the beginning of our new liturgical year, the prophet begs the Lord to come once more to the aid of His people who now humbly confess their sins… “Why did you let us wander, O Lord, from your ways and harden our hearts so that we fear you not?” the prophet asks.

The first step in solving a problem is to recognize that we have one, like the fellow in the commercial reaching out to “anybody” who might be able to help him with his financial problems. We do well to take this approach with our spiritual shortcomings and reach out to God and ask Him to “rend the heavens and come down” to our rescue.

The image of God as the potter and we the clay is a powerful one for us to explore this Advent. Just like clay in the hands of an artisan, God shapes and molds our lives…if we let Him. And that’s the key; God does not barge into our lives but rather waits for an invitation.  Advent is a time for us to realize that we need to invite Emmanuel into our lives and renew us from the inside out.

Let us invite God into our lives in a deeper and more intimate way this Advent Season so that He can mold us and fashion us into whatever beautiful vessel will be most fulfilling for us to accomplish His will, the plan He has in store for us. On our part, we need to be watchful so that we may recognize how God is constantly shaping us through the events, people and the always-changing circumstances of our lives.  This Advent let us be watchful for the many ways God comes to our rescue…

Enjoy the day and Happy New Year too!

Deacon Tom