Advent is all about waiting, as I spoke about last week – waiting for the arrival of Christ. But waiting doesn’t mean anything unless it is finally fulfilled, whether that is the coming of morning after a long night, or the arrival of a long-expected guest. On this Second Sunday of Advent, we continue our preparation by recognizing that our waiting has a purpose – that the Lord is indeed coming. Thus, we must make ready. Advent itself presents us with various figures to imitate as we prepare for the Lord’s arrival. There is Mary, of course, who anticipates her Son’s birth with great joy and with awe at God’s great work. How might you become more aware of the way in which God has been at work in your life, and become more grateful because of it? There is John the Baptist, who as we heard in today’s Gospel announces the coming of Christ by preaching repentance. In what area of your life do you need to “prepare the way of the Lord, and make straight his paths?”
There’s another Advent figure that’s less immediately apparent, but I think just as important as these: St. Paul. This Sunday, just like last week, our second reading came from Paul’s Letter to the Romans, written around the year 58 AD. In today’s reading, Paul tells the Christians in Rome that everything written in Scripture points to the coming of Christ, and so what we read, what we hear has been given to us so that we may persevere in hope as we await that coming. Paul goes on to say that one of the best ways to prepare for the Lord’s coming is to consider how we treat each other. Like most of the early Christian communities, the Christians in Rome were made up of Jewish converts and non-Jewish converts. As a result, there was much that they did not share in common: they had different cultures, traditions, and languages. Yet, they were united by one thing: their faith in Jesus. And that was precisely as Jesus wanted it, Paul says – the Lord came in order to bring together all peoples. Thus, if the Lord has accommodated us, we must accommodate each other. “Welcome one another,” he says, “as Christ welcomed you.”
We have to remember, of course, the history of the man writing those words. This Paul had once been Saul, a zealous Jew, who would certainly have had nothing to do with non-Jews, Gentiles, and who persecuted those Jews whom he believed to not be following the right path. This included Christian believers, as we know; the Book of Acts tells us Saul was present when St. Stephen was martyred. But Saul’s life was radically changed by an encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus. Meeting the Resurrected Jesus, Paul saw everything in a new light, especially himself. He underwent a radical conversion: he became a member of the Christian faith that he had been persecuting, and became the Church’s greatest advocate for its non-Jewish members, the Apostle to the Gentiles. Having been changed himself, St. Paul became a force of change for others: a mentor, a motivator, a spiritual father to Christian communities.
Valentin de Boulogne (attr.), Saint Paul Writing His Epistles (c. 1620)
Remembering Paul’s backstory, we can see that when he encourages the Christians in Rome to be united, to welcome each other in faith, he’s encouraging them to undergo the same transformation that he himself experienced. He surely had to overcome a little fear or prejudice, a little awkwardness if nothing else, in relating to these people that he before had scorned and thrown in jail and even killed. But he did so out of faith, because the unity we have from believing in Christ requires that we be transformed.
It is worthwhile to ask ourselves to whom do we feel an aversion at times, a temptation to not be Christlike? Maybe it is those to whom we do not share much in common: those of a different language or culture, those with vastly different political priorities, even those living in ways that we do not approve of. Advent gives us a chance to consider whether these prejudices are unfair and not worthy of us as those who claim to follow Jesus. And even if they do have some plausible justification, we have to remember that our faith in Christ demands we try if possible to overcome what divides us. Just as Jesus came to unite all peoples, so too those who believe in Jesus must themselves strive for unity, understanding, and reconciliation. This may be with those very different from us, as I said, but it’s also something to be done with those closer and more familiar to us: with those who have hurt us or rejected us; those who tend to annoy us, or with whom we often disagree; those who ask for our forgiveness and we have trouble giving it. A worthy Advent reflection is for each of us to ask, “To whom is the Lord inviting me to open my heart, and how can I welcome them? Could doing so lead me to encounter the Lord in a deeper way? So what’s stopping me?”
Friends, as John the Baptist announces in the Gospel, the Lord is coming, and so we must make straight the paths of our hearts. This means experiencing an interior conversion, as St. Paul did, but it means something more as well – it also means becoming a witness, as he was, of how that conversion can bring change and healing to others. We, too, in our relationships – whether at home, in the workplace, in our parish – can be a witness to others of the unity that comes from faith. In this Eucharist, the sacrament of unity, may the grace of the Lord who welcomes us to receive him open our hearts to welcome others in return.
1 comment:
Everyone has a story, although sometimes they don't know it! So we must be open to the opportunity to tell our story when it is needed. If you listen, you will know when it is your
turn!
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