December 7, 2009
Monday of the Second Week of Advent
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 dumb will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. Isaiah 35:3-6
And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; they were trying to bring him in and set (him) in his presence. But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus. When he saw their faith, he said, "As for you, your sins are forgiven." Luke 5:18-20
Piety
Near the end of the first year of the term of Barrack Obama, when Tim Kaine was governor of Virginia, and Sharon Bulova was chair of the Fairfax County Commissioners, and her son David served in the General Assembly in Richmond, and Gerald Connolly, Jim Webb and Mark Warner represented the people in the legislature in Washington, during the time that Paul Loverde was bishop of Arlington and James S. Barkett was pastor at St. Mary of Sorrows, when Stefan P. Starzynski was parochial vicar and Cyprien Ephrem Houndje was in residence, the word of God came to us in the suburbs and shopping malls, in our minivans and sport utility vehicles, in our Worship Center and in our parking lot.
Make us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you. Deliver us, Lord, from every temptation and grant us and those we love peace in our day. Keep us free from sin and protect from all anxieties that obstruct us from resting in the house of the Lord all the days of our lives. Amen.
Study
When reading the historical accounts, it is always amazing (a word I am guilty of overusing) to witness the extent to which those who are NOT in the presence of Jesus will go through to be with him and the cavalier attitude taken by those who already are in the presence of Jesus.
From our earliest days in CCD classes, we learned that Advent was a time of waiting. The word itself means “coming” or “arrival.” However, until Jesus arrives, we have to wait for him. Once he was among us, some people went out of their way to be in his presence.
Here is your God. The shepherds could have just remained in the fields watching their sheep, catching a little well-deserved sleep. But no, they ventured into Bethlehem to see the Holy Family at their makeshift campsite.
Here is your God. The Magi could have remained in their Eastern cities. But they mounted camels and traveled over the desert to find this boy-king whose birth announcement was printed in the stars.
Here is your God. Today, we see the extremes to which some friends would go to make sure their handicapped comrade could express his faith at the feet of Jesus. When the house was too crowded, rather than waiting, they climbed to the roof and lowered him into Jesus’ lap through the tiles.
Advent is marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing. For the men in our Gospel, they longed to have their friend cured. For us, there is a yearning for deliverance from the evils of the world just like there was among the Jewish slaves in Egypt as they cried out to be freed from their captivity and the sick, lame and blind whom sought to be cured at the hand of the Lord.
However, we also today witness the contrasting attitude of the Pharisees who sit among Jesus and watch his every move. They are there to remind us what will happen to our Savior, what we have done with Christ and the role our sins of faithlessness have in bringing about the reality of Good Friday. They reflect the opposite of what Isaiah preached. Unfortunately, the utopia that Isaiah promises will not be complete. The prophet says: “No lion will be there, nor beast of prey go up to be met upon it. It is for those with a journey to make, and on it the redeemed will walk.” But the lion is there. These learned men are waiting there like a lion in the tall grasses, waiting to pounce on the flesh and bones and heart of our savior.
Rather than exalting in his presence in the joyous terms we hear from Isaiah, these Pharisees begin to focus on a series of controversies that will lead to the arrest, conviction and execution of Jesus.
Action
We each journey to God separately and as a community. The man who was in the stretcher had his own obstacles to overcome. But, so, too, did those who carried him to the house and those who climbed with him up on the roof.
Also, we each reject God individually and as a group. During Sunday’s Gospel, we heard the names of all the individual Roman and Jewish leaders who played an individual role in rejecting Jesus. Today, we see others acting as part of a group.
Which attitude will be ours? Into which group will we seek entry?
To what lengths will we go to find the presence of God? When it is cold, or rainy or snowy on a Sunday morning, will we just roll over and go back to bed?
When we are on vacation at the beach, will we take an hour to head to church?
Will we enter singing the joyful song of Isaiah or will we let our mourning and skepticism overtake us?
Every time you have to wait this week, think of Advent.
When you are waiting on line for communion.
When you are waiting for the light to turn green.
When you are waiting for the peaceful sleep to come to you at night.
When you are waiting in the express line at Safeway and the person ahead has more than the limit of ten items in his cart.
When you are waiting for the grades on your exams.
When you are waiting for your paycheck or your expense reimbursement.
When you are waiting for the baby to enter the Nativity scene.
When you are waiting, wait with the longing of the people in Galilee. Look for the hole in the roof which will allow you to be in the presence of the Lord. And look around….who will help you get there and lower you through it?
