MARYTON CARMEL LIVERPOOL
Blog Post
First Sunday of Advent
Maryton Carmel • December 1, 2019
Come, Lord Jesus
Advent of course means ‘coming’; and some of the saints, especially St Bernard of Clairvaux, spoke of a threefold coming of Christ. Firstly in His Incarnation, when the divine Son of God took on Himself our human nature, becoming a little baby who would be the Saviour of the world. We hear too of His coming in glory at the end of time, to judge the world and its inhabitants – what we usually refer to as his second coming. But St Bernard (and others) reminds us of that secret personal coming of Christ into the lives and hearts of those who open the door to him. ‘Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in….’
During the first two weeks of Advent we hear a good bit about the end of time and of Christ coming as judge, in all His glory. But even in the first week, the Divine Office lets us hear the prophet Isaiah speaking of the ox knowing its owner and the ass its master’s crib - words whose significance Isaiah could never have anticipated! And on the second Sunday we hear of a righteous judge who will spring from the stock of David; and also of St John the Baptist calling us to ‘Prepare the way of the Lord’. All this gives us a glimpse of God’s eternity, He for Whom a thousand years are as one day and Who can encompass the whole human journey in one glance. By week three we are definitely called to rejoice, for the One who is to come will heal the sick, cure the blind and the lame, even raise the dead to life; and will preach the Good News to the poor. Eventually, in week four, we contemplate Mary whose faith and loving co-operation was the means for the second Person of the Blessed Trinity to become one of our human race.
So as we sing and pray: 'Come Lord Jesus', we are echoing the final words of the New Testament: Come Lord Jesus'; words which resonate with every stage of our human journey. We celebrate the Incarnation, the 'News of great joy' as the Christmas angels sang; we look forward to the final and full coming of God's Kingdom at the end of time; and we open our own hearts to receive our Divine Guest - our Divine FRIEND - more fully, more deeply and more closely.
St. Teresa, for all that she often calls God ‘His Majesty’, spoke of our Lord as a ‘true friend’, and of the spiritual journey as one of friendship with Christ. May Advent be a special time for this friendship to deepen and grow, so that His Holy Spirit can make us more closely what He longs for us to be - close friends who will help to build up his Kingdom.