This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
It feels like we live in a time characterized by cycles and repeats: One of periodic conflicts and catastrophes, interspersed with beautiful life experiences. An ebb and flow that goes on through the ages.
In reality, we live right in the heart of a time of radical transition and transformation, depicted by today’s first reading.
That which is described in the first reading has already started, and is not yet complete. The great Messiah has come, but the wolf is not yet the guest of the lamb. Jesus came to our world, justice was the band around His waist, and He won the definitive transformation of the universe where all returns to harmony–but we are in the interim period, when the weeds and wheat must “grow together until harvest” (cf. Mt. 13:30). It feels long to us. It does not, to God.
As today’s gospel tells us, blessed were the apostles to see what they saw…and blessed are we to have access to one hundred percent of the benefits won by Jesus through His suffering, death, and Resurrection–right at our fingertips.
Although the calf does not yet browse with the young lion, we can enjoy the first fruits of this transformation Christ brings within ourselves. The more time we spend with Him in prayer and in regular reception of the sacraments, the more He aligns all our faculties (will, intellect, emotions, etc.) to the fullness of the glorious transformation He has won for us through His redemptive act, and which finds its definitive fulfillment in Heaven.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: In this Advent time, imagine yourself at the time of the prophets awaiting the Messiah, in a dark, broken world that knows little specific about how God will come to save. Imagine being transported from there to our present time, with the grace of Christ available not only to the original chosen people, but to the gentiles as well, in overwhelming abundance. Speak with Jesus about how He wants you to take advantage of the means at your disposal, and ask Him to help you not to be distracted by the noise of a world that wants to pull you away from those means.
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