This December, a series of daily Advent, devotional postings is running from December 1st to December 25th. Journey beside Mary, the Mother of God, as she waits for the birth of Jesus.
STRENGTH
Scripture: “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:5).
Quote of the Day: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” [St. John the Baptist (John 1:29)]
Song Suggestions:
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” by Pentatonix
“Everything,” By Lifehouse
Questions: How do I relate to God? As Father, Friend, or Brother? As Master? Can I relate to God in several ways?
MIND
Today, we are traveling to A.D. 30. We are going to continue to look at John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus, but he is going to be all grown up. As foretold, John is preaching in the desert, preparing the way for Jesus. He has gained many followers. Let’s imagine a conversation that John the Baptist is having with one of his disciples, Andrew (the brother of Simon Peter—a future disciple of Jesus).
“Why are you here, Andrew?” The Baptist rustles his sand filled hair as he looks at Andrew.
“You speak loudly.” Andrew shrugs not looking John in the eye.
“Ha!” John exclaims. “Is that it?”
“I do not simply mean your voice. It is your words and the meaning behind them.”
“Ah, the fisherman is wiser than most Pharisees. You see those Pharisees, eh?” John puts a sweaty hand on Andrew’s shoulder and roughly pushes him forward. They look out at the people gathered at the bottom of the hill, waiting to hear the Baptist preach. The Pharisees have elaborate long garments and striking blue tassels.
“They do not know why they are here,” John continues. “They think they know.” John pokes the side of his head. “But they do not know.”
“What do they think they know?” Andrew asks, staring at the Pharisees.
“They think there is something to hear in my voice. But really it is my words. They are hungry for the Word. And you know what the Word is, do you not, Andrew?”
“From God.”
John makes a sour face. “Yes,” he relents, “but the Word is not only from God. It is God!”
“The word is sacred. It is our light and guide.”
“The Word is sacredness itself!”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Eh…Andrew! Make straight the way of the Lord! That is what the Word says. If the Lord is coming and the Lord is the Word, then the Word is coming!”
Andrew’s nose wrinkles as he tries to comprehend John’s strange riddles.
“This is exceptional, eh?” the Baptist throws his hands in the air, smiling like a child.
“I thought we were preparing the way for the Lamb of God.” Andrew scratches his shoulder.
“We are.”
“You just said we are preparing the way for…for the Word!”
“We are.”
“Yet, I also hear you say that we are preparing the way for the Bridegroom.”
“We are,” the Baptist says simply. “We are the groomsmen.”
“This…Word…or Lamb…or whatever you call it…” Andrew muses.
“Him. It is a ‘Him!’” the Baptist exclaims.
“The Lamb is a ‘him?’” Andrew’s face contorts.
“A bridegroom must be a ‘him,’ eh?”
“Yes, but a bridegroom cannot also be a lamb!”
“Andrew, Andrew. Can God not be both the Creator of fire and bushes, but also come to Moses as the burning bush?”
“Yes…” Andrew answers slowly.
“And can God, who righteously strikes the city of Sodom and Gomorrah also be the same God who mercifully saves the repentant city of Nineveh?”
“Yes,” Andrew answers with a sigh. These things are too great for me!
(Scriptural Reference and Inspiration: Genesis 19; Exodus 3:2-3; John 1:1-40; John 3:29)
HEART
As we wait and search for the Lord in our lives, let us remember Who God is. Meditate on His attributes. Think of the different ways He comes to us. God is not two dimensional and does not have one side. He is round as the world He created is round. He has an infinite number of angles and edges.
The most concrete example is the Holy Trinity. We have three Persons but one God. Father, Son, and Spirit.
Think of all of the titles for God. Think of all of the names for God. When we wait for the Lord, set aside a one-sided expectation. We must be alert, ready, and aware that Jesus may come to us as a little child. We must be ready to receive the true presence of Jesus, the Eucharist. We must be ready to recognize the movement of the Holy Spirit in the fruits and gifts that the Spirit produces.
SOUL
O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.” (December 18th Vespers Antiphon)
“Advent Litany”
Father, Son, and Spirit, come.
Child Jesus, living in Mary, come.
My crucified Lord, come.
My risen Jesus, come.
Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, come.
Omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, eternal God, come.
Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world, come.
Maker, Creator, Yahweh, I AM, come.
Word made flesh, come.
God of mercy and God of justice, come.
Holy Spirit living in Mary, come.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, come.
Heavenly Bridegroom, come.
Knowledge, wisdom, piety, awe, understanding, counsel, fortitude, come.
Peace, joy, patience, kindness, generosity, self-control, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, love, come.
Faith, hope, love, come.
Alpha and Omega, come.
Good Shepherd and Light of the World, come.
Resurrection and the Life, come.
The Way, Truth, and Life, come.
The Gate and the Vine, come.
The Bread of Life, come.
Lord of hosts, come.
Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace, come.
O Wisdom, O Lord, O Flower of Jesse, come.
O Key of David, O Radiant Dawn, come.
O King of the Nations, O Emmanuel, come.
Mary, teach me how to wait.
10 thoughts on “The Word, the Lamb, or the Bridegroom?”
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To Jacqueline:
2 Timothy 3:1-4:5
New American Standard Bible 1995
“Difficult Times Will Come”
3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. 6 For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. 9 But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also.
10 Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, 11 persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! 12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
“Preach the Word”
4 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Peter:
Thanks for sharing.
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Peter:
What exactly does the Catholic Church teach about the return of Christ? I find that homilies are very vague about this issue.
In Catholic school, many years ago, we were taught that the end of the world and the last judgment were the only end-time events that were going to happen. Everything revolved around this. There was nothing taught about any direct rule of God and Christ on this earth prior to these events. Most Catholics did not question this.
I don’t believe that there has been much interest in the Church about eschatology for a long time. Bible studies are a more recent phenomenon in the Church; and because of this, interest may grow. Evangelicals have been more attentive to this than Catholics with their beliefs in the rapture and the place of Israel in Bible prophecy.
I see a lot of end-time prophecy in Scripture that is worth discussing.
I’m a student of eschatology and find the Book of Revelation to be a source of important information for us. As we approach the annual celebration of Christmas, I think of what Jesus told his closest followers at the Last Supper. Did He say remember my birth? He celebrated the Passover Seder with his disciples and instructed them “to do this as a remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19).
Jesus is now seated at the right-hand of God, but He will return as a warrior with his saints at the Battle of Armageddon (Revelation 19). Satan will be chained and thrown into the abyss, while the antichrist and the false prophet “were hurled down alive into the fiery pool of burning sulphur”. He will bring peace to the world and establish God’s kingdom on earth for a 1,000 years.
Yet, we continue to celebrate Advent and Christmas with Jesus as a helpless babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger.
Just wondering why?
I have often wondered why Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year and associated with Christmas. Advent speaks of the last parts of human history.
The birth of Christ speaks of the beginnings of human redemption over 2000 years ago.
While we pray for teaching on how to wait on God, Scripture is always available to teach us how to do it. Teaching on how to connect with the Biblical God is found in the Bible.
Ultimately, we have the responsibility to go from prayer to action; otherwise, we will keep postponing the waiting.