"The Light Himself came into the world..." and we must not be afraid!

"To the thirst for meaning and value so characteristic of today's world, to the search for prosperity and peace that marks the lives of all mankind, to the hopes of the poor: Christ - true God and true Man - responds with his Nativity. Neither individuals nor nations should be afraid to recognize and welcome him: with Him 'a shining light' brightens the horizon of humanity; in him 'a holy day' dawns that knows no sunset."

In his 2007 Christmas message, Pope Benedict XVI urged the faithful to look to the Christ child as the Light that chases away the darkness in our lives. As we begin this new year, we would do well to remember, as the Holy Father points out, that Christ's coming is not merely an event in our lives - rather, we have life through Him alone:

"The creative Word of God is Light, the source of life. All things were made through the Logos, not one thing had its being but through him (cf. Jn 1:3). That is why all creatures are fundamentally good and bear within themselves the stamp of God, a spark of his light. Nevertheless, when Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, the Light Himself came into the world: in the words of the Creed, 'God from God, Light from Light.'"

It is difficult sometimes to believe that Christ has truly come for us. The thought of His coming into our hearts as an innocent child can be terrifying. If we invite Him in, we do so knowing that He will see our failings and our attachment to the sin in our lives; but perhaps welcoming Him becomes a bit easier when we remember that we were created in Light, and the divine image that we bear is a "spark" of God's splendor that no sin can erase.

As St. Thomas Aquinas points out in his Compendium of Theology, "the human race had need that God should become man to show forth the dignity of human nature" (230). This is one of the reasons for the Incarnation - God wishes to remind us of our dignity as His creation. St. Thomas continues, "At the same time, by willing to become man, God clearly displayed the immensity of His love for men, so that henceforth men might serve God, no longer out of fear of death... but out of the love of charity" (230). The message of the Incarnation is clear: He has come for us in Love. He has come to dispel fear!

And yet we must be open to receive Him; we must stay awake, look to the horizon and pray so that we will see the Light when He comes. The Holy Father reminded us in his Christmas message, as he does in his encyclical Spe Salvi, that we must not be afraid to watch and wait, for Christ's coming is our "sure hope":

"... Who is ready to open the doors of his heart to the holy child? Men and women of this modern age, Christ comes also to us bringing his light, he comes also to us granting peace! But who is watching, in the night of doubt and uncertainty, with a vigilant, praying heart? Who is waiting for the dawn of the new day, keeping alight the flame of faith? Who has time to listen to his word and to become enfolded and entranced by his love? Yes! His message of peace is for everyone; he comes to offer himself to all people as sure hope for salvation."

As we make our resolutions for this new year, we all ought to ask ourselves how we might better prepare our hearts to be filled with the light of Christ. I plan to do more spiritual reading, but above all, I hope to delve more deeply into the Word of God in Sacred Scripture. As the Pope says, listening to God's Word allows us "to become enfolded and entranced by his love," and if we come to understand more fully God's great love for us, we grow closer to possessing that perfect love which "casts out fear" (1 John 4:18).

Finally, our Holy Father ended his Christmas address with a prayer for us: "This is my earnest wish for you who are listening. A wish that grows into a humble and trustful prayer to the Child Jesus, that his light will dispel all darkness from your lives and fill you with love and peace." Amen! Let us keep the Pope in our prayers this new year as well.

Also, FYI: Spe Salvi is now available on Amazon.com in hardcover and paperback. Happy New Year, everyone!

Prepare the way of the Lord!

John the Baptist is the dominant figure in the middle of Advent, and for good reason. From the Latin word “Adventus” and the Greek word “Parousia,” Advent means “come” or “arrival.” This arrival that we celebrate is the Incarnation. Of course, Parousia has meanings particular to the Incarnation, the Sacraments, and the Second Coming.

There is an intimate connection between awaiting the Incarnation and for Jesus Christ’s return in the Second coming. The nation of Israel and all of fallen humanity await redemption. This salvation narrative culminates in the Incarnation, the moment that transforms the course of history. Already this incarnation prefigures the resurrection from the dead through the exaltation of the flesh. God physically entering the human stage of cosmic history gives us hope in the resurrection at the Second Coming. Advent not only reminds us of the Incarnation but also points us towards the culmination of God’s promise at the end of ages. We are always awaiting the arrival of our Lord.

Advent is about preparing for the coming of our savior. However, in order to prepare the way we must begin by preparing ourselves. It is very significant that John the Baptist shows up in our advent readings because he always directs us how to prepare to receive Christ.

In August, I heard a priest’s homily describe John the Baptist as being too harsh with people by telling them to repent. This priest explained that Jesus calls people to the table just the way they are, where as John the Baptist was telling them they had to change. This priest portrayed John as an unchristian character. The priest was right about one thing: John was calling people to change their ways, but so was Jesus. To receive transforming love and grace is to freely accept it while intentionally turning away from sin. I believe the dichotomy this priest was drawing implied that God does not really want to save us from our sin but from the troubles of the world, as if returning to God and repenting from sin are two very different things. However, the reality is that John the Baptist’s message is indispensable from salvation.

John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:

A voice of one crying out in the desert,
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.

John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:1-12)

In preparation for Christmas, many people sing carols, buy gifts, and perform many other ritual happenings. Christmas is so important we have a whole industry built around it and consumerism reaches year highs. This is truly a feel good season. Yet John the Baptist’s words stand as a piercing sword; he was no modern day consumer and his message was for our good, not for our immediate pleasure. Repentance is the immediate condition to open us to receiving God just as John the Baptist is the precursor prophet readying the way for Christ. Grace follows conversion. There is no contradiction. We must repent and we must do good works as evidence of our repentance. This is the advent challenge and our challenge as long as we await the Parousia.

John the Baptist stands as a sharp contrast to the many things the Christmas season has come to signify. Yet, if this is truly the season of giving we should easily find value in John’s words. The goodness we do should reflect our interior disposition to receive Christ and respond to his grace. We should not avoid enjoying the Christmas season as much as we should heed this warning and attempt to celebrate its true meaning; preparing ourselves to receive Christ and celebrate his birth. Ultimately, this will enhance Christmas as a family occasion and put Christ at its center.

More so than Santa Claus, John the Baptist is the chosen herald to proclaim God’s presence among men. Possibly a good mental exercise would be to compare and contrast these two figures and ask why Santa Claus is given more precedent in our celebration of Christ’s birth. Maybe people could dress up like John the Baptist instead of Santa Claus. We could have Advent carols: You better watch out, you better not cry, better not pout, I’m telling you why, John the Baptist is coming to town!

note: Advent seems to have originally been an ascetical (fasting) season without Liturgical celebration that may have been a six week period that ran up to the Epiphany but later became a liturgical season with no fasting. In Rome it became a season enclosed by four Sundays as a pre-Christmas season. In preparation for Christmas some minor form of fasting may still be appropriate.

Thinking of Christmas, Compline, and a poem by T.S. Eliot

I stumbled across a lovely poem by T.S. Eliot this morning called “A Song for Simeon” that meditates on the Canticle of Simeon found in Luke 2:29-32. This canticle is prayed at Compline (Night Prayer) in the Liturgy of the Hours and is also called “Nunc dimittis” after its opening words in the Latin text. It reads as follows:

Lord, now you let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled. My own eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the sight of every people: a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.

Eliot’s poem expresses Simeon’s desperate hope and longing for salvation so poignantly that, as I read, I wished it were Advent already. Then I was struck with the realization that, as of today, Christmas is exactly two months away! The beautiful cool weather we’ve had lately has many of us looking forward to Christmas with anticipation. Ordinary time grows long, and much of our Easter-season fervor has faded.

As Catholics, we are asked to prepare ourselves to celebrate Christ’s birth with the same reverence, penitence and contemplation we practice during Lent. With great hope, let us look ahead to Advent (which begins on Sunday, December 2) and make Simeon’s prayer our own.

“A Song for Simeon” by T.S. Eliot

Lord, the Roman hyacinths are blooming in bowls and
The winter sun creeps by the snow hills;
The stubborn season has made stand.
My life is light, waiting for the death wind,
Like a feather on the back of my hand.
Dust in sunlight and memory in corners
Wait for the wind that chills towards the dead land.

Grant us thy peace.
I have walked many years in this city,
Kept faith and fast, provided for the poor,
Have taken and given honour and ease.
There went never any rejected from my door.
Who shall remember my house, where shall live my children’s children
When the time of sorrow is come?
They will take to the goat’s path, and the fox’s home,
Fleeing from the foreign faces and the foreign swords.

Before the time of cords and scourges and lamentation
Grant us thy peace.
Before the stations of the mountain of desolation,
Before the certain hour of maternal sorrow,
Now at this birth season of decease,
Let the Infant, the still unspeaking and unspoken Word,
Grant Israel’s consolation
To one who has eighty years and no to-morrow.

According to thy word.
They shall praise Thee and suffer in every generation
With glory and derision,
Light upon light, mounting the saints’ stair.
Not for me the martyrdom, the ecstasy of thought and prayer,
Not for me the ultimate vision.
Grant me thy peace.
(And a sword shall pierce thy heart,
Thine also).
I am tired with my own life and the lives of those after me,
I am dying in my own death and the deaths of those after me.
Let thy servant depart,
Having seen thy salvation.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) was an Anglican poet, playwright, and literary critic. He is most famous for his poems “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock ” and “The Waste Land,” as well as his play Murder in the Cathedral about the death of St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury.