1st Wednesday in Advent

4 December 2019
Is 25:6-10a
Ps 23

We are now in the first week of Advent. The wreathe was blessed on Sunday. In many churches the beginning of Mass was heralded by the ancient chant 

Veni, veni, Emmanuel
captivum solve Israel.

O come, o come Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
began the Mass. 

Advent is not a stand-alone season, anymore than is Christmas (though it is treated as such by many), Easter, or even ordinary time. Advent is the beginning of the Church's liturgical year. We are now on the fourth day of that new year. 

Advent is not meant to be a synonym for frantic shopping. It is a time to prepare oneself for the commemoration of the Nativity of Our Lord. Advent was not created by Martha Stewart as a time to plan menus, run berserk with a glue gun, or ice cookies with uniquely individual messages as place markers. And it is definitely not well-observed by the office "Holiday Party," an event that can be a minefield of risk to one's job, marriage, and sanity. My advice for getting through the office holiday party safely: Don't Drink anything stronger ginger ale, even if the boss insists (I take this new medication . . . . )

Despite secular messages to the contrary, despite a government and many universities that are trying to remove all religious associations from the word Christmas, despite attempts to ban the word itself,
Advent is a penitential season. It is a season of preparation for a holy day. Thus, the priest wears purple vestments and there is no Gloria at Sunday Mass. It is a time for prayer and meditation, a time to contemplate what we will soon celebrate, Jesus ad venire, Jesus coming toward, and into, the world.

We heard in the first reading from Isaiah about an idyllic time that has, at least in part, yet to exist, a time in which hunger, pain, suffering and death will be banished. 

". . . he will destroy death forever
The Lord God will wipe away,
the tears from all faces." 

The promise that 'he will destroy death forever' was fulfilled in Jesus. We are reminded of this in the responsorial psalm, Psalm 23, which is probably the most well-known and frequently recited of the 150 psalms in the psalter. 

"Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come."

This too belongs to the promise fulfilled in Christ. 

As we gaze at the single candle in the Advent wreathe, a wreathe that will be fully lit before we have time to catch our breaths, we are called to sing in gratitude with the psalmist: 

"You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows..”

Veni, veni, Emmanuel
captivum solve Israel.
_____________________________________
The photo is a life-sized sculpture on the grounds of a monastery. The monochrome is perfect for the subject. Tried a black and white conversion but didn't like it. It needs to be this pseudo-sepia. 

Went to Pittsburgh on Sunday to attend a series of work-related meetings on Monday with the plan to return Monday night. All went well until our BC group of five got to the airport. Three were on a 4:10 Delta flight to Boston and two on a 6:01 to Boston. I was on the latter flight. The Delta flight was canceled rather quickly when the extent of the weather in Boston was known. The three were able to transfer to our flight. Which was promptly delayed. We went to TGI Fridays. 

The gate crew was terrific and accommodating. The flight delay was extended about every hour. Long story short, the flight that should have touched down at Logan at 7:25 PM or so took off at 12:45 AM and arrived at 2:45 AM. One of the guys in the group who lived nearby gave me a lift home. As the T closes at midnight until 5 AM this was a deeply appreciated act. Crawled into bed at 4 AM. Phone on airplane silence. Woke at 10:00 AM. Still feel like "the wreck of the Hesperus" to use one of mom's favorite terms.

+Fr. Jack, SJ, MD