Monday of the Second Week of Advent (December 11, 2023)
They will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
Strengthen the hands that are feeble,
make firm the knees that are weak,
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
With divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
Then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.
-Isaiah 35:2c-6a
When I was a child, I was always confused by the Readings proclaimed during the first weeks of Advent. After all, if we are preparing for Christmas, why aren’t we hearing about those events that led up to the birth of Jesus? Why are we hearing the same kinds of stories about Jesus teaching and healing that we hear most of the rest of the year?
Now, as an adult (better educated and hopefully a little wiser!), I know that we do hear those pre-Nativity stories in the privileged days of the “O” Antiphons (December 17-23). But there is something more going on for us in these early Advent days. In fact, the Readings that we heard during the First Week of Advent—as well as those proclaimed in the first days of the Second Week of Advent—aren’t concerned with the coming celebration of the Nativity at all. Instead, these Readings have been specifically selected to help us come to faith.
This is part of what Saint Bernard of Clairvaux called the “sacrament” of Advent. Reflecting on Bernard’s spirituality of Advent, the Trappist writer Thomas Merton wrote:
The sacramentum which St. Bernard finds in Advent is the sacramentum, the mysterium of which Saint Paul writes to the Ephesians. It is the “sacrament” (or “mystery”) of the divine will, according to the design which it pleased Him to form in Christ, to be realized in the fulness of time, to unite all things in Christ [see Ephesians 1:9-10]. This mystery is the revelation of God Himself in His Incarnate Son. But it is not merely a manifestation of the Divine Perfections, it is the concrete plan of God for [our salvation] and the restoration of the whole world in Christ.
- from “The Sacrament of Advent in the Spirituality of St. Bernard” in Seasons of Celebration
“Le paralytique descendu du toit” by James Tissot (1886-1894)
These early days of Advent present for us what we might call God’s dream for creation. To say it another way, if we want to know what the Reign of God looks like—the establishment of that Kingdom that was the focus of Jesus’ life and mission—then we need look no further than the Readings proclaimed in these days. During the First Week of Advent we heard about God’s dream of the unity of all peoples and nations, of harmony and concord within creation itself, of the abundance of the Lord’s table (where are all invited to feast), the assurance that the One in whom we place our trust is a rock, and the truth that the Reign of God is transcends any human power or endeavor. So that our faith might be complete, the Church then shares with us stories of how, in Jesus, God’s dream was made real.
We continue this dialogue of promise and fulfillment on this Monday of the Second Week of Advent as we hear Isaiah prophesy that, even as the desert wastes become fertile and full of flowers, those suffering from illness and physical limitations will receive healing and wholeness. In the Gospel proclaimed today, Jesus heals a paralyzed man, inspiring even his critics to recognize divine power at work in him. Where there seemed to be only limitations and exclusion, through Jesus, there is full freedom and inclusion.
In this Second Week of Advent, even as we are already immersed in broader culture’s Christmas reverie, continue to set aside time to reflect on how God is revealed in the Incarnate Son and, as you consider, the world around you, ask for the grace to recognize how you can—in your own way—share in helping make God’s dream—the Reign of God—real today.
May our prayer of petition
rise before you, we pray, O Lord,
that, with purity unblemished,
we, your servants, may come, as we desire,
to celebrate the great mystery
of the Incarnation of your Only Begotten Son.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Collect for Monday of the Second Week of Advent
