Every day during Advent, students, faculty, and staff from across the SLU community will share reflections on the intersection of the Scriptures of the day, the liturgical season of Advent, and their own lives.
and their words to the ends of the world.” -Romans 10:18
As I read the scripture
passages for today, I could not help but think of the popular Advent song,Mary, did you know?, which every year sparks
discussion and anger on my social media pages (Spoiler: I’m a theology nerd,
and so are my friends). We are only 4 days in and already people are sharing
posts and pictures for the dislike of this song and the theological
implications for the question it poses.
In
the first reading, Paul writes to the Romans concerning the passing on of faith
through oral tradition and a personal claim of that same faith by those who
proclaim that Jesus is the Christ. Often when talking about this reading,
people choose to focus on faith as a gift (for without the Church and her
members how would one know about Jesus Christ) or they focus on faith in terms
of belief as a means of justification.
While these may be
important discussions, my identities as a woman and a mother move me to instead
focus on the moment of hearing in regards to Christian discipleship. During
Advent, the most significant point of hearing takes place during the
Annunciation, the moment that Mary heard from the Angel Gabriel that she
was to bear a Son who would be the Savior of the world. What follows from Mary
is her canticle (i.e.the Magnificat) to God in praise and thanksgiving.
Like Paul and many of the critics above, I am certain that Mary heard and
believed that what the Angel Gabriel had said for her canticle has gone forth
to all the earth and her words to the end of the world. Nevertheless, this does
not mean that we cannot imagine the moment that she first heard the Gabriel’s
words calling her favored and loved by God and pondered what sort of greeting
this might be (cf. Luke 1:28-29).Sung as a prayer, the song Mary,
did you know provides us a contemporary imaginative contemplation in the
experience of Mary as she grasps with the fullness of what this great news will
mean for her, her family, her people, and the world.
I have had the blessing of
being pregnant twice during Advent and experiencing solidarity with Mary as she
discovers the gift within her, her fears and anxieties about bringing this gift
to term, and the pain and suffering of birthing this gift who will bring light
and life to the world. Even those who have not, cannot, or chose not to have
children can still imagine themselves in a similar situation as Mary during
this holiday season -fears and anxiety,
joy and light in the darkness, abundant life after pain and suffering. My
prayer is that through the inspiration of the Spirit we can all use our
prayerful imaginations to enter more deeply into the Advent season and the
struggles of others so that words of faith, hope, joy, and love can echo to the
ends of the world. Erin Schmidt is the Campus Ministry Liturgy Coordinator.
“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch
from his shoots shall bear fruit.” –Isaiah 11:1
There
was a tree stump in the neighborhood where I grew up. Every day I’d ride past it
on my bicycle when I was out playing with friends. Based on the stump’s size, I’d
say it once was a towering oak tree that lived for many decades, providing
shade beneath it as well as loads of acorns for hungry squirrels.
I
knew none of that as a kid, of course. For me, the stump was a landmark that
I’d ride past.
I
don’t know if it’s there still, but it reminds me that life is always replete
with past remnants – ‘stumps’, if you will. The markers are everywhere. Our
bedroom dressers are markers from my deceased grandmother, who acquired them in
the 1940’s. Many of our Christmas decorations are hand-me-downs from past
relatives. Even our body features can remind others of relatives who came
before us. My posture and hairline is a sort of “stump-marker” that reminds my
grandmother of her long-dead father, who was born in 1901. The reminders/stumps
signify what isn’t there anymore, but also that there’s a particular history …
a lineage. Something continues onward. The connection remains.
This
passage in Isaiah is commonly known among Old Testament scholars as a prophetic
allusion to the Messiah to come, an event the Old Testament points toward.
Jesus, the shoot that bears fruit, will descend from the stump of Jesse, King
David’s father. It’s a lineage. This
is good news! The Messiah is coming! But … the people that Isaiah is
prophesying to don’t know Jesse; he’s long dead. And they themselves will be
long-dead when Christ arrives. So why is Isaiah sharing this to the immediate
audience?
Perhaps
it’s this: this prophecy insists to its immediate audience they are part of a
story that’s going somewhere. The Israelites are in exile in Babylon during
Isaiah’s time; his words remind them that the exile is not the end of the
story. It also confronts them with hopes and challenges. How to live in the
meantime? How to live with a hope that the fulfillment of which will surely
outlive them, but someday not their descendants?
I
suppose it’s a similar sort of hope my grandmother had when she gave us the
bedroom dressers near the end of her life. She knew what it meant for her to
pass those on to us – she knew she would soon have no need of them. It’s what
my mother hoped for when she diligently worked to raise me up in the Christian
faith – that fruit would be born that would outlive us both. It’s what I hope
for with my future descendants, that some of what I am and have will cooperate
with God’s plans for them, and that what I have to give toward that will
outlive me. I find hope in that reality, and challenge in the here and now. I
am a tree that will someday be a stump, but from that stump a shoot will bear
fruit sometime later. So it was with Christ, from the stump of Jesse.
Jim Roach is the Campus Minister for Reinert Hall.
Preparing
our minds and our hearts – that is what Advent is all about.Preparing to purify ourselves for the most
awesome moment that is the birth of Jesus.Today’s readings capture that hope for the moment.In Isaiah, we hear about how the Branch of
the Lord will be glorified.And how
there will be a purification – a purging and washing away of all the bad and
the filth.We also hear about how in
this moment, there will be new creation and we will be sheltered and protected.
The
centurion in Matthew also wanted to provide shelter and protect.He called upon Jesus to help cure his
servant.And he too had hope.Jesus was pretty much astonished by the
centurion.In a sense, the centurion had
also purified himself – purged himself of the fear of talking to someone like
Jesus.And perhaps he felt sheltered and
protected by Jesus in this request.
This
first Monday of Advent moves us along on that road to hope – the hope of the
birth of Jesus.But for the next several
weeks – and even beyond that – how can we also purify ourselves and be a hope
to others?St. Ignatius calls us to ask
ourselves:What have I done for
Christ?What am I doing for Christ?What ought I to do for Christ?
Picture
Christ as that that person you may meet on the way to class; as the person in
line at the check-out counter at the store; a friend who asks you to lend an
ear in a moment of despair; someone sitting alone for a meal; a person who you
know has been ridiculed by others.Are
you, like the centurion, fearful?Can
you overcome your fear because someone else needs you?How can you help someone to feel sheltered
and protected?
In
recent weeks, we have heard a lot about the fear of those who our country sees
as “different”– different in faith, race, origin, gender, ability and in a host
of other ways. In this Gospel passage Jesus is called to help someone by one
who is different than he is.I can’t
help but think, how I am called to help someone struggling at this time?It is a cry that many will utter aloud this
Advent: “Come and save us, let your
faith shine upon us”. We cannot ignore
that cry or that call, just as Jesus did not. By our faith we are called to help.Advent
– preparing our minds and hearts.Having
hope.Can you provide hope to someone
this week?This Advent?This year?
