Second Sunday of Advent-Cycle A

My Dear Friends in Christ,

Last weekend, as we began the season of Advent, we saw that in order for us to be truly ready to welcome our Savior, we must prepare ourselves for his coming by living in a manner which disposes us to become his disciples. We do this, as St. Paul reminded us by “putting on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12). These words have a couple of connotations which are especially important for the message we will receive today. First, and most importantly, it recalls the moment of our baptism, when we were claimed for Jesus Christ, and made not just a follower of his, but transformed and renewed in His likeness by being given a share in His life. Accordingly, just as He is the true Light of the World (John 8:12), our baptism irradiates us with His life so that we might be the light of the world for the glory of God the Father (Matthew 5:14-16). Secondly, and consequently, to “put on the armor of light” means nothing else except to “put on Jesus Christ” by allowing Him to live through us as Paul so often calls us to do. What is the “armor of light?” In his letter to the Ephesians Paul describes it as ‘the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, putting the gospel of peace on our feet (so that it may guide our steps), the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit’ (Ephesians 6:10-17). By putting on this armor, we simultaneously imitate the life of the Savior and “arm” ourselves to take part in what we saw C. S. Lewis call the “great campaign of sabotage” (Mere Christianity, 46) of establishing the Kingdom of God here and now in our fallen world, as the prayer that Jesus taught us calls us to do (Matthew 6:10). Continuing with the same theme this weekend, we will see that it is precisely the coming of Jesus Christ that brings us the equipment we need to take part in such an endeavor.

The Gospel for this weekend picks up on what some may see as the dark imagery that we encountered last weekend where Jesus spoke of “the thief in the night” coming when we least expect him (Matt 24:43). Ironically, we saw that this thief is actually Jesus Christ himself, who comes to set humanity free from the grips of sin and death which is the domain (house) of the Devil. This weekend, a similar warning comes from him who prepared the way of the Lord (Matt 3:3), John the Baptist. In today’s gospel we hear the Baptist warn the religious leaders of his day saying: “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” (Matt 3:7). Not exactly what we would think of as Christmas tidings is it? But perhaps it should be. Allow me to explain.

John the Baptist tells the Pharisees and Sadducees that they should quit relying on their earthly status and instead “Produce good fruit as evidence of [their] repentance” (Matt 3:8). The reason why John’s words are so blunt is that he realizes what is about to happen. The Savior that Israel has been waiting for is about to arrive, and if the people don’t seriously change their way of thinking, He will come and go just as Jesus warned us last weekend, as a thief in the night. This change in thinking requires the people to “repent,” to realize that they have gone astray from the way God called them to live, and it is imperative that they do so immediately in order that they may recognize the One who will come after John bringing with Him a radically life-transforming gift, the Holy Spirit (Matt 3:11). John’s message is so forceful and urgent because he knows that to receive this Gift of Life requires that we recognize that we are in need of such transformation. If, on the other hand we think all is as it should be, we won’t be properly disposed to receive the Gift that the Savior comes to bestow upon us. After all, if everything is as it should be, what possible need would there be for someone to save us? Therefore, we should ask ourselves, How do we view the coming of Christ? What do we anticipate will be its effect?

We are easily caught up in the beautiful lights strung on houses, trees, fences, and lampposts. We scramble to buy that last gift, or many of them, to be able to exchange them at family and company get-togethers. All of this is said to be part of the “feel of Christmas,” which of itself sounds like a good thing. But what is this “feeling of Christmas” we describe? What is it that we scramble to make preparation for? If the “feel of Christmas” is simply some warm, fuzzy, and exciting feeling we get when being around family and friends, accompanied by the slight exhilaration of tearing into a beautifully wrapped package, then we can be sure that this Christmas will have absolutely no impact on us. Many of us will look at each other and say, “That went by so fast! Where did the time go?” The time seems to slip by and we are left feeling as though we missed something, that some expectation we were sensing was left unsatisfied. The reason for this, I would submit, is that we have anticipated and planned for the wrong thing. I know, those are not nice words to hear. And perhaps I have caught the “coming wrath bug” of John the Baptist, but hear me out.

Jesus does not want this Christmas, or any day of our lives for that matter, to be just like the rest. God did not become man to drop in and say ‘hi’ to remind us that He is still there caring for us from someplace far away, such that the proper response at Christmas is to politely say ‘hi’ back and go about our merry way as if we were acquaintances walking passed one another on the sidewalk, a forgettable experience that we might tell our wives and kids about in casual conversation “guess who I saw today…” before discussing the really important matters like bills and promotions. No! As all the Church Fathers would say in one form or another, God became man so that man might become God! If you did not read that and double check what was written there is a problem. If those words do not blow your mind and even sound just a bit heretical, then this Christmas will pass by without anything worthwhile happening. Yes, God became man so that man might become God. How does this happen? By sharing in the very Life of God through His Gift of the Holy Spirit.

The reconciliation of the human to the Divine enacted by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the human is the reason for the coming of the Son of God into the world. He took up a human nature so that healing it from the darkness of sin and death, he would re-create it, disposing us once again to be participants in the Divine Life as intended from the beginning (2 Peter 1:3-4). To put a finer theological point on it, by hypostatically assuming human nature, the Son of God makes it possible for all those who partake of human nature to be drawn into the intimacy of the Divine Life. We are incorporated into this life at the Baptism spoken of by John in the gospel for today. Not the baptism of repentance John performed, but a baptism in “the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matt. 3:11). It is the Holy Spirit that allows us to partake of the Life of God through, with, and in the Son. The Holy Spirit is the Gift that Jesus came to bestow upon us.

For this reason, Isaiah’s prophecy for this weekend speaks of what has traditionally come to be known as the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In the Christian life the gifts of the Holy Spirit are closely aligned with the virtues. St. Thomas Aquinas explains that the relationship between the gifts and the virtues is one of cause and effect (Summa Theologica I-II, q. 68.1). We receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and are enabled live a virtuous life as a result. At first glance it may seem as if what Thomas is saying here is that the Holy Spirit simply enables us to live moral lives. This is true, except that for Thomas the moral life is the Christian life, a life lived in unity with Christ. Thomas could not be further away from the religion de jour, which suggests that what God really wants is for us to be nice people. Many theologians are not very far away from this when they overlook the fact that Thomas has a very theologically robust understanding of virtue which draws from Patristic era thinkers. More specifically, Thomas’s understanding of virtue draws from Augustine’s. For his part, Augustine bases his understanding of virtue on 1 Corinthians 1:24. There, in the Latin translation of St. Paul’s letter, St. Augustine read that Christ was the virtue and wisdom of God (see, e.g., The Catholic and Manichaean Ways of Life, 1.13.22). Of course, Thomas sees the same when he looks at the text. Thus, commenting on the same letter of St. Paul, Thomas explains that we experience virtue in our lives when, by participating in the death and resurrection of Christ, we die to our vices and rise to virtue (Commentary on First Corinthians, 1.3.37). Accordingly, Thomas describes the gifts of the Holy Spirit as Divine “instincts,” which compel us interiorly to live a life of virtue, to live the life of Christ (see Summa Theologica I-II q. 68.1).  

The dynamic being described here is parallel to what happens in the life of Mary. When Mary asks the angel Gabriel how she might conceive a son as a virgin, Gabriel replies, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Once Mary utters her consenting Fiat, the infusion of the Holy Spirit within enables her to conceive and gift birth to the Son of God biologically. But, notice what she does next, she goes to her cousin Elizabeth. In this Mary shows us beforehand what the life of Christ will consist of and ultimately culminate in on Calvary. Instinctually moved by the Holy Spirit within, Mary lives out the virtue of solidarity by going to someone in need out of self-sacrificing love. Consequently, Mary not only carries Christ within, she manifests His life without through her self-sacrificing action, a reality so beautifully expressed by the unborn John’s recognition of Christ in Mary’s womb. Similarly, the Holy Spirit implants within us the instincts necessary to live out the life of Christ, which we describe through the language of the virtues: humility, prudence, justice, temperance, fortitude, etc. Each time we live out these virtues we grow bigger with the presence of Christ within, and let others see the life of Christ without, just as Elizabeth saw it within Mary.

My friends, what God has in mind for us this Christmas is a radical transformation. What He wants, in short, is to make us like Himself. And He knows that we cannot do this on our own. He knows that the only way to become like Him is for Him to first become like us. This is the meaning of the Christmas Season, and the Season of Advent is the anticipation of that transformation. Ask yourself, what would happen if this is what I looked forward to this Christmas? It is hard to imagine. To put it simply, if we all allowed ourselves to be transformed by the coming of Christ this Christmas, things would happen that we could never imagine. If we want to begin to imagine what this might look like, we might consider the words of St. Paul today, who exhorts us to “live in harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:5-6). Hard to imagine such harmony in our world today, yet this is precisely what Isaiah portrays in our first reading as well, writing that when He upon whom the Spirit of the Lord rests appears, “Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them…There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea” (Isaiah 11:6 & 9). Such a picture, though unbelievable, is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what the Virtue of God can do within our lives if we let Him. This season, God desires to reveal His glory. The same divine glory seen first in the Only Begotten Son (see Hebrews 1:3) is seen in us each time we live according to His Virtue! “For the glory of God is a living human person; and the life of the human person consists in beholding God” (St. Irenaeus, Against the Heresies, Bk 4.20.7). The Son of God is coming this Christmas, will you behold Him, and accept the gift of His Life, or will you pass him by like an ordinary acquaintance on the sidewalk? Your answer will make all the difference in the world, not only for you, but for everyone you meet!

Your servant in Christ,

Tony