Thursday of the First Week of Advent (December 7, 2023)
Trust in the LORD forever!
For the LORD is an eternal Rock.
He humbles those in high places,
and the lofty city he brings down;
He tumbles it to the ground,
levels it with the dust.
-Isaiah 26:5
As I mentioned at the beginning of my reflection for Monday of the First Week of Advent, the Readings and prayers assigned for this week invite us to deeper reflection on the significance of this holy season as the liturgy highlights different facets of Christ’s saving work and how the life and mission of Jesus are the fulfillment of the promises God made to our ancestors.
With this in mind, we recall that on Monday we heard how Jesus healed the servant of a Roman centurion, demonstrating how God’s blessings are for all peoples and nations. Tuesday’s Readings expanded this view of unity and peace among peoples to include all of creation, with Christ standing at the center. On Wednesday, we heard the story of Jesus feeding the multitude with only two fish and a few loaves of bread, manifesting the abundance that is promised for all of us in the Reign of God.
From Psalm 118, the Responsorial Psalm for Thursday of the First Week of Advent
The Responsorial Psalm proclaimed on Thursday of the First Week of Advent reminds us that God’s love endures forever. But rather than simply being a nice affirmation of God’s goodness, the liturgy today invites us to consider what the promise of God’s enduring love means for our lives.
As was mentioned above, when we consider the Readings of Advent, we can see God’s promises fulfilled in Jesus. And, if we have truly come to believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises and prophecies made to our ancestors, then we have every reason to trust.
This dynamic is beautifully expressed in the interplay between the First Reading and Gospel.
The Prophet Isaiah praises the Lord as an “eternal rock,” and, in the Gospel, Jesus speaks of the wise person as the one who builds their house upon rock. As we read these beautiful passages together, we discover that, for those who have come to believe and who have placed their trust in—and built their lives upon—this Eternal Rock whose “love endures forever” (cf. Psalm 118), there is no cause for fear or doubt, despite the storms of life. And so, even as we live in this “time between” the comings of Christ, we have every reason to trust.
In the end, this trust and confidence become, for us, a call to action in these days of Advent. Because rather than simply hearing about the mighty deeds of God or committing to memory the words of Scripture, we must allow our lives to be shaped by what we have come to see as true. Reflecting on this, the Syrian writer Philoxenus of Mabbug wrote in the sixth century:
This saying of our master obliges us to be diligent in hearing God’s word, but also in doing it… God’s disciples need to have firmly anchored in their souls the remembrance of their Master, Jesus Christ, and to think of him day and night.
-Quoted in The Fathers on the Sunday Gospels, ed. Stephen Mark Holme
All of this makes Advent a season of action. But this isn’t about simply being busy with all of the pre-Christmas tasks that so often fill these days. Instead, our Advent-work is as simple as it is complex: to watch and wait for the Master’s return and to commit ourselves to building a life on the eternal rock of God’s Word, always seeking—and doing—the will of the Father (cf. Matthew 7:21).
Stir up your power, O Lord,
and come to our help with mighty strength,
that what our sins impede
the grace of your mercy may hasten.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Collect for Thursday of the First Week of Advent
