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Status: Flux

Flux

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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Smooth Transition

Magic Kit

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.


We see a tonal shift in Scripture as we move from the last week of the liturgical year, with its cataclysmic images of the end times, into the first week of Advent, representing in a way the utter beginning of salvation history. But it is not a jolting transition. It is a smooth, nuanced shift, with some tonal aspects remaining the same, and others changing.

Today’s readings still have a focus on the end times–very much like the Gospel passages throughout the past week, Jesus admonishes us to be watchful so that the last day of our lives and of history do not catch us by surprise,

The first reading too looks toward those end days, but with a change: It is a prayer for God to hasten them, to show His face. In fact, we could do much worse than to use this particular Scripture passage from Isaiah as an ardent prayer to God for our sinful world, that He will infuse it with His grace, cleanse it, and bring it back to Him, precisely in preparation–however remote or imminent–for His return. It is a beautiful prayer, full of passion and zeal for what is good, and for conversion.

Also, though, the scriptures of this first Sunday of Advent already start to hint at what the world so long ago pined for–the first coming of the Messiah. The first reading in particular provides a beautiful meditation on the world’s deep-seated need for Him to come. And, we can use that meditation as a preparation for Christmas–begging him through that prayer in the first reading to come to us and transform our hearts like never before.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Try praying the first reading as a prayer; try putting your heart into it as you do so. You know your sins, and how sometimes your failures have a way of repeating themselves; beg of Him the grace of true conversion and healing that only He can bring. And, implore Him to visit you and transform you this Christmas like He has never done before.

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