Second Sunday in Advent: Answering the Call

Answering the Call

All three readings for the Second Sunday in Advent have a common theme of being called. Each of them expresses a definite call and an invitation to change. Baruch’s call, in chapter 5 of the Old Testament is to put on a new garment, “a robe of righteousness and a crown of eternal glory”. There is also a call to come together in unity. His recognition of the power of God to assist in the change is shown as God brings his people from bondage to level ground to a place fragrant with the scent of cedars.

In the second reading, in Philippians 1:3-11, the call is a need to grow in prayer. There also is an acknowledgment of the good already accomplished. However, there is a further call in the form of a challenge to continue in love as overflowing, a deepening in knowledge and insight.

The call in St. Luke’s Gospel is a familiar one as heard every year during Advent. It is the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight his paths.”  Without doubt, this calls for work to be done which may begin in the deepest recesses in the self or it might be a place of darkness or light. Blame cannot be placed on what we have inherited or from where we have come. The work is there for us to do. We may need to seek help. Nothing says that we must work alone. God gives the challenge and is present if called upon.

John the Baptist issues the final urgent call when he insists, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise.”  This is the call to LOVE.

As we allow the self to be touched, encouragement is at hand. The Advent Gospel proclaims:

Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low

and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough ways made smooth

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

By Sister Caroline Bering, csj

Photo credit: ignation .ca

What's Strong With You?

Recently, a recurring line from a TV commercial caught my attention. Repeatedly, we are asked, “What’s strong with you?” Not wanting any viewer to miss the query, the line is printed several times across the screen.

Upon reflection, I decided to adopt this line as my entry point for Advent 2021. What insights might I gain if I sat with the question,

“What’s strong with me?”

How might my experience of Advent change if I withdrew my attention from self-reflection on the question, “What’s wrong with me?” Could I better put the focus on my inner strength and the graces given me by the Sacred Strength Giver? How might this shift in perspective open my heart to new graces? What might I discover about what buoys up my spirit? What messengers of new strength might I identify as the ones who bring tidings of good news and encouragement into my daily life? Who in my circle of interactions might I find an opportunity to thank for their recurring strength?

As Advent begins, I challenge you to join me in reflecting upon your own life.

What’s strong with you?

Sister Nancy Wales, csj

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Header image: Unsplash/Waldemar Brandt

A Reflection for the First Sunday of Advent

This Sunday, November 28th marks the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the Church’s new liturgical year. It is likely that we will hear again the beautiful strains of the Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”. In its words we hear, in our hearts, a yearning and a personal call for Christ to meet us on the journey of our lives anew. Christ is always present in all things and in every moment and event and yet in Advent we ask for a new beginning, a fresh encounter with Christ as the time invites us to wait in patient hope to celebrate the birth of Jesus again; the incarnate Word en-fleshed  in the world.

The world in which we find ourselves, however, may seem less than hopeful at present. We continue to experience the devastation of the Covid pandemic, increasing news of global and local violence, the effects of ecological destruction accompanied by immeasurable human pain, poverty and displacement and the deep suffering endured by indigenous individuals and communities in light of the further revelations of the harm and cultural destruction wrought by the residential schools. Many will also be profoundly discouraged and saddened by examples of corruption and polarization in the Church, where the Good News of the Gospel seems to have been forgotten or abandoned and in the collapse of other institutions that formerly we may have trusted. 

Hope may seem far off and yet if we truly call on “Christ, Emmanuel, God-with-us, to come we are already” expressing hope even in the darkness. In the Advent season we are reminded to encounter Christ again and any encounter with Christ calls each of us to BE hope in the world.

Advent invites us to prepare for the celebration of Christ’s coming by reflecting on our lives. The season presents an opportunity to gift us some time for quietness and inner reflection as we wait in hope. Am I able to enter into Advent in this way before getting caught up in the “razzmatazz” of contemporary celebrations of Christmas?  In the second reading in the Lectionary for the first Sunday of Advent, St. Paul, in his Letter to the Thessalonians says, “May God make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all.” As I call out for Christ to come again and as I encounter Him on the journey of Advent will I increase and abound in love for all? – the very reason for Christmas. What will that love look like? How wide and inclusive will it be?  Perhaps each day of the season as I greet the morning I might ask, not “what will I do today but rather, how will I love today? May our love continue to grow as we once again approach the  celebration of the birth of Christ in the world, the world of our times. And as we love so will we be and become like Christ, hope for a new day, the joy of Christmas!

-Sister Mary Rowell, csj

Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 20, 2020: O Key of David

On the fourth Sunday of Advent King David comes into special focus.  The first reading is just one of the prophecies where God promises David that the Messiah will be his heir, as in this excerpt,

And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors,
I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins,
and I will make his kingdom firm.
I will be a father to him,
and he shall be a son to me.
Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me;
your throne shall stand firm forever.'” (2Sam 7:12-14)

In the gospel, God is shown to fulfill this promise, after one thousand years, as the angel Gabriel announces God's request to Mary to be the Mother of the Messiah,

"Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Lk 1:31-33)

Moreover today, December 20th, in the O Antiphons, Jesus is hailed as Key of David. What is it about David that was so important then?

We could say that of all the Jewish kings, it was David who is featured in a heart to heart relationship with God. Throughout his life, he is shown to reverence God in a personally intimate communication with God and God with him, through the prophets.  David’s reign is held up as an ideal, one of faithfulness to the Lord, protection of all the people, extending justice and mercy. Despite all his flaws and his sins, David’s immediate recognition of them and his sincere repentance from the heart, are all part of his sincere love for God.

These prophecies of a Son of David, to sit on his throne, seemed so difficult to maintain in the peoples' oppression, and poverty and yet they remained a sacred hope. Now, after a thousand years, Jesus the Messiah was to enter our world and take the throne of David his father.  The joy of Christmas is on our doorstep!

As the Key of David, Jesus opens up our full inheritance as God's children to join him in bringing about the Kingdom of God that is peace, love, care for all, forgiveness, and new life, far surpassing what could have been imagined by his devout ancestor King. Come, Lord Jesus!

-Sister Wendy Cotter, csj

Third Sunday of Advent

“The spirit of God is upon me… and has sent me to bring good news…”

How our world longs for Good News: refreshment in the midst of COVID-19 and ease from the burden of worry and loneliness. News of a vaccine is pending and we have our arms ready. But our world also longs for relief from financial constraints and from the negativity of politicians and media. Our world longs for unity, for the peace of compassionate understanding, for hope amidst unjust criticism and oppressive structures. Front-line workers need relief and support against the anti-vaxxers, the conspiracy theorists, and merchants who fail to protect against price gouging and lapsed safety protocols. Into this world, the Saviour is coming. Who will bring the message of healing, forgiveness and hope? Who will stand in solidarity with those tired of waiting; with those drowning in COVID- fatigue? Who will call the people to patience and compassion?

We wait in hope; we live in the in-between time of no vaccine, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. We just don’t know how long the tunnel is, and it is dark! Who will wait with patience and compassion and hope? Our charism of reconciling love calls us to wait, and to stir the embers of hope in those suffering from fatigue, loneliness and isolation. Our prayer today is for a restoration of hope, and our action today may be the renewing smile and the gesture of solidarity as simple as touching an elbow. We wait in hope, in patience and in stillness. We wait … knowing our God waits with us, walks alongside us into the wilderness and beyond. “Rejoice… pray… give thanks… hold fast… the One who calls is faithful… and will do this.”

-Sister Helen Russell, csj