Additional Advent Meditations

[benedictgal]

Here is something else that I wrote on my blog:

It seems that about every seven years, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe falls on a Sunday. This year, December 12th falls on Gaudete Sunday. “Gaudete” is the Latin word for “rejoicing”. The introit speaks of rejoicing. The Savior of the world is near. Our redemption is at hand!

The rose carries special significance for both Gaudete Sunday and Guadalupe. The color for the vestments on Gaudete Sunday is rose (not pink). The tangible manifestation of Our Lady of Guadalupe is accompanied by roses that bloom out of season on a very cold day in December. Even the readings for Gaudete Sunday manage to compliment the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. While the Gospel speaks of St. John the Baptist, who was the Messiah’s herald, one can apply the same concept to Our Lady of Guadalupe. In the case of Guadalupe, Mary comes to Juan Diego, an Aztec convert, as a pregnant royal maiden, as evident by the black sash about her waist. Like St. John the Baptist, she is proclaiming the coming of her Son to the peoples. She urges prayer and preparation in order for the Aztecs to fully receive Jesus. She is the forerunner of the Lord, so to speak. Her maternal love appeals to the Aztecs and plants the seeds of conversion in their hearts. She appears as one of them in order that what they see and love in her, they will see and love in her Son. Our Lady of Guadalupe, then, is the compass that orients the Aztecs and their descendants to Christ.

In the United States, because December 12th falls on a Sunday, the Church gives us the option of celebrating Our Lady of Guadalupe’s feast day on either December 11th or December 13th. This is not to say that the feast is ignored; rather, the Sundays of Advent take precedence over every other feast. In fact, when December 8th falls on a Sunday, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (the patronal feast of the United States) is translated (transferred) to Monday, December 9th. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops states that processions and special celebrations may take place on December 12th; however, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass must be for the Third Sunday of Advent.

This helps us to put Our Lady in the proper perspective. Theologians and spiritual writers refer to Mary as the moon. The prophets referred to the Messiah as the Sun of Justice. Just as the moon receives its light from the sun, so, too, does Mary receive her light from Jesus. We do not honor nor venerate Mary any less simply because her feast is transferred to another day. In fact, we honor and venerate her more when we worship her Son on the day reserved for Him.

It is no coincidence that both St. John the Baptist and the Blessed Virgin Mary play key roles in this holy season of Advent. Both of them, in their distinct vocations and missions, lead us to the Messiah. St. John the Baptist vehemently encourages us to repent; Mary teaches us to believe and be open to the will of God. In particular, in her apparitions as Guadalupe, Mary encourages us to rejoice and have hope!

Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

Blessed Advent!

 

[benedictgal]

Here is another meditation, also from my blog:

During midday Mass today, the celebrant offered us interesting food for thought during the homily. He presented to us the account from Genesis about the temptation of Eve (and, subsequently Adam) by the serpent. Our celebrant used the example from one of the National Geographic specials to drive home his point. When a lizard preys upon a beast larger than itself, he bites the animal’s lower limbs. While the bite does not cause instant death, the poison emitting from the lizard’s teeth makes it’s way into the prey’s blood stream and infects it. Death is sure to follow.

Our celebrant applied this example to what happened to Adam and Eve. While the serpent did not sink his fangs into Eve, he managed to bite into her soul, and Adam’s too, inflicting it with the poisonous venom of sin. This sin, which ultimately leads to death, is passed on like some sort of spiritual gene to our souls. It is this sin that does not allow us to fully see God and to fully experience what it means to live. Sin causes us to only look at ourselves and not at others, including and especially God. It was sin that skewed the pereceptions of the folks in today’s Gospel account who found reasons to dismiss both Jesus and St. John the Baptist. Sin clouded their judgment, much as it clouds ours today. It’s the result of the poisonous venom that the serpent, in this case, Satan, injected into the soul.

But, unlike the wilderbeast that succumbs to the lizard’s poison, God presents us with an antidote to sin’s venom, first through the Sacrament of Baptism and then, as often as we are able to receive it, the Sacrament of Penance. St. John the Baptist already gives us this framework. In last week’s readings, John preached repentence and baptized those who came forward for the forgiveness of their sins. This was a foreshadowing of these two sacraments to be instituted by the True Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

Even though, it is appointed that all of us must die because of the effects of original sin, these sacraments, along with reception of the Holy Eucharist, give life to the soul. The sacraments also help fortify our souls to be able to at least make a valid attempt at resisting temptation, and, even when we do fall, these same sacraments give us that joyful hope that we are not altogether lost.

Perhaps this is Advent’s true message. Just as St. John the Baptist encouraged Ancient Israel to repent and seek reconciliation for God in preparation for the Messiah’s arrival, so does the Baptist reach across time and space to our generation (and every generation) calling us to that same repentence and reconciliation as we prepare for the Messiah’s ultimate and final arrival.

I hope this helps give a different perspective on this holy season.