Advent II: Prepare

Advent — Living between the “Now” and the “Not Yet.”

It was a somewhat traumatic milestone in my life when I came to the realization that even contacts weren’t going to provide the correction I needed in order to see both near and far. The prescription could correct for the one (distance vision, or lack thereof), but then I would need something for the “near” … the the quintessential sign that you are officially “over the hill”… those focal accessories known as “readers.” Often these lens are set within larger, plain, (or “distance prescription”), lenses and then refered to as “bi-focals.” Which brings me to Advent.

The readings which we encounter during these early days of Advent often have two distinct points of focus*, a “near” and a “far”, or — for us — a past and a future. We hear, simultaneously, prophecies having to do with the Messiah’s SECOND coming, (or “advent”), and almost in the same breath, proclamations of His FIRST coming. This need to see both the “near” and the “far”at the same time requires us to use a “bi-focal” interpretative lens in order to read and hear, to bring into focus and comprehend, both the proclamation of the past, and the prophecy of the future — the two “advents” of which we are reminded. And they both urge us to the same action.

In the Gospel lesson for this Sunday, we hear again the cry of the Baptist: “Prepare the way of the LORD, make straight His paths.” Whether we are hearing the proclamation of His first coming, or the prophecies of His second coming, the command to prepare ourselves to rightly receive Him is not to be ignored. As the people of God, as those sealed with the Cross and called to serve the King, we must understand that the most necessary preparation which needs to take place during these days is NOT decorating the house for Christmas, or buying gifts to put under the tree. The most crucial preparation which needs to take place is the cleansing of our heart and mind, the preparation of soul, the straightening of the paths of our lives, in order that we might rightly receive Him. It is a time for sober reflection, for examination of conscience, for a putting-away of all those things which keep us from being shaped into the image of Christ. This is how we are called to live as the people of God, this is how we are called to live in between the “now” and the “not yet.”

As we sing in the words of the Advent hymn:

Straight shall be what long was crooked, and the rougher places plain

Let your hearts be true and humble, as befits His holy reign,

For the glory of the LORD, now on earth is shed abroad,

and all flesh shall see the token, that God’s word is never broken.

Advent 1: Watch

“Oh that you would rend the heavens, and come down.” Isaiah 64:1

    The Catholic Church, (and following it, the Lutheran and Anglican communities), marks time in a way different from the world around it. Our calendar is a “liturgical” one, and our “New Year’s Day” does not occur on January 1st. Rather, our new year begins on the 1st Sunday of the liturgical season of Advent, which we observed this past Sunday. So, “Happy New Year” to all of my brothers and sisters in Christ, especially those who observe the season of Advent.

Advent, (from the Latin, “to come”), is a season of preparation and anticipation, a time of longing for, and waiting and watching for, the long-promised Messiah who is to come. Thus we sing, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel…”, a hymn whose every phrase echos a deep longing of the heart.

Our hearts are filled with infinite longings — not just “wants” or even “needs”, at least not in the material sense. The deepest longings of our hearts are spiritual and emotional. We are weary of the pain and suffering of Earth, weary of the “wars and rumors of wars,” weary of seeing, again and again, the rich and powerful consuming the poor and powerless. We long for peace — true peace, peace in our hearts and peace in our world. We long for a new kingdom, a kingdom of justice and righteousness; we long, in fact, for a new heaven, and a new earth. And so we cry out, as does Isaiah, “Why do you let us wander, O Lord, from your ways, and harden our hearts so that we fear you not? … Oh, that You would rend the heavens, and come down.”

And in the midst of our pain and suffering, our waiting and watching, our deep and prayerful longing, He comes. Daily. On altars all around the world, as He — through the hands of His priests — deigns to take on sacramental “flesh and blood”, to feed His flock, to strengthen His people, to heal the lame of spirit and sick of soul.

And so we live, day by day, in the hope of His promise, and longing for the day when our faith shall be sight.

“Straight shall be what long was crooked, and the rougher places plain; Let your hearts be true and humble, as befits His holy reign. For the glory of the Lord, now on Earth is shed abroad; and all flesh shall see the token, that God’s Word IS NEVER BROKEN!”