As we prepare for His birth, we can make Jesus the unifying principle of our daily lives
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
The readings this week are filled with prophecy and patterns, as though everything were straining toward the Messiah’s birth in history. The Church’s liturgies are meant to help us taste that straining and ask: How might we prepare for the coming of Christ in our lives? Let me say a few words about prophecy and patterns before turning to the question of preparation.
In terms of prophecy, we hear Balaam’s prophecy from the Book of Numbers: “A star will advance from Judah, and a staff shall rise from Israel.” We hear Jacob’s prophetic blessing of Judah in the Book of Genesis: “The scepter shall never depart from Judah.” We hear Psalm 72’s prophetic description of the ideal king: “Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever.” We hear Jeremiah’s prophecy in the midst of crisis: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I shall raise up a righteous shoot to David.” It all culminates with the prophecy of Isaiah: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and hear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.” The prophets pointed to the coming of a messiah-king.
In terms of patterns, first we hear the genealogy of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew. It seems tedious to many but it’s full of lessons, and Matthew tells us the main one: There are three sets of 14 generations from Abraham to Jesus. So what? Fourteen was the number corresponding to the name of King David in the Jewish alphanumeric code, where each letter of the alphabet corresponds to a number. Matthew is telling us that the time has come for the highest of high kings, the “most Davidic” of the heirs to the throne of David.
Next, we hear the pairing of the conception of Samson from the Book of Judges and the conception of John the Baptism from the Gospel of Luke. So what? In both cases, an angel appears to announce the birth to a barren couple. In both cases, the child is to be consecrated to God from the womb. In both cases, something will begin: Samson will begin the liberation of Israel from its enemies, while John will prepare a people for the Lord.
Finally, we hear the refrain of Psalm 24: “Let the Lord enter, He is the king of glory.” So what? This was a cry to Israel to open their minds to the Lord, a cry to the temple to open its gates to the Lord, and a cry to Mary to open her womb to the Lord. In turn, it’s a cry to each of us to open our hearts to the Lord!
There’s a longing in the human heart for God to come and be with us. There were prophetic promises that God would do exactly that. And the very fabric of ancient Israel’s history pointed toward it. How might we prepare to receive the fulfillment of all of that in our daily lives?
The words of St. Bernard, speaking of the Virgin Mary, can guide us well: “Arise, hasten, open. Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving.” That would make a good daily checklist for Advent. How might I take two minutes to grow in faith? How might I hasten to find five minutes to sit with the Lord? How might I pause in the midst of a busy day to open to the Lord’s guidance?
In his encyclical on the Sacred Heart, Pope Francis says that Jesus Christ is the unifying principle of all reality. In these late days of Advent, Christmas is certainly the unifying principle of most people’s schedules! May Jesus Christ become the unifying principle of our daily lives.
