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December 2, 2009
Rejoice exceedingly, O daughter Sion….
behold your king will come to you.
Dear Friends,
Amid trial and tribulation Mother Church celebrates the Advent of the Lord who
comes to his own.
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This coming is clearly no ordinary coming, and it is not like any other. The
Lord who comes has already been in our world and he has spoken our language,
endured our trials and bore the vicissitudes that flesh it heir to; and he lived
at a time and in a culture very unlike our own. He left his mark, however, and
having once spoken words of comfort and consolation in person, he is still with
us in Word and Sacrament just as he promised he would be.
And yet, he is also the “Coming One”. He was among us once and wore our vesture,
but he comes in his holy Advent which can only be celebrated properly by those
who are already in him – abide in me as I abide in you, he once said
encouragingly. And so, Christians may rightly say, “Come, Lord Jesus”. He comes,
then, to his beloved bride who is already filled with his Spirit and with a holy
longing.
In a very real sense, only the bride can long for his “Coming” because she is
the Church who is his body on earth. It is fairly clear, therefore, although not
always easy for everyone to see and to understand, and this is especially so in
times of trial and tribulation as we now have them, that only the Church can
properly place before her children a genuine and effective Advent celebration.
She does so in proclaiming the Word and in celebrating the Eucharist. As Francis
said, the Word of the Lord is spirit and life, and Eucharist is his very special
presence among us as well as the earnest, or token, of eternal life. Our culture
will, very naturally, given its stresses, strains and disappointments, find it
very difficult to accept all this.
In ancient times God promised his coming to his people. It says in the Bible,
Jerusalem, right soon shall come your salvations, why consume yourself in grief.
And again, weep not, City of Jerusalem…behold the Lord comes in power and his
arm will have dominion. And so, as you can tell, he has always been coming to
his people..
Moreover, individuals have represented his people and the same individuals have
also represented him. The ancient prophets were examples of this: Abraham,
Moses, and Elijah and the like. This people finds its final representation in
Mary, the Virgin, when God sent his Son born of a woman. She bore the Messiah in
love and pure joy, and in this, she represents the new Israel who hears his Word
and celebrates his presence.
For their sake he comes. He cannot forsake his own. He leads them to glory and
to the fulfillment promised by his first coming at Bethlehem of which the choir
of angels sang: Glory to God in the highest and peace to men of good will. The
saints will rejoice at his final coming. But for those who did not recognize his
first coming at Bethlehem and who did not profess his name before men, his
coming will be a judgement. For the bride, however, glory awaits, for his bride
is prepared to welcome him.
A Blessed Christmas to all!
Father Michael Conaghan, OFM
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