It’s zero degrees here in London as advent begins and we prepare for Christmas.
‘Advent’ comes from latin and means ‘coming’ and we have other words in english coming from the same origins such as ‘adventure’!
And from the point of view of Jesus, that first advent as he was in Mary’s womb and waiting to be born was indeed quite the adventure as indeed would be the entire life of Jesus.
From his beginning to his end and even now in heaven, there is nothing ordinary about Jesus who is God, man and our friend.
Last night we had adoration in our church and once again he spoke to me, this time about advent.
“Jesus
My child,
As this season of advent begins I desire you to reflect on the first advent, just before I was born.
It is beyond your human ability to understand my excitement and passion to enter into your world and to be born so that I could eventually save you all.
My birth was not just my entry into the world but it was also about your entry into the supernatural world because even at my birth in my divinity I was aware of my death which would save you.
As such my birth was a delight because my death and suffering on the cross came from my passionate and divine love to save you.
As my mother held me, she propheticaly held each one of you who one day would be born again through your baptism.
My children, I desire you over this season to reflect on my coming and on the gift of your faith.
I desire to deepen your understanding and to draw you closer to me in your hearts.
As you decorate your churches and homes as you should, remember also to decorate your hearts with love and understanding through prayer.
I desire to pour out onto your hearts so many Graces over this season. All I ask of you is to prepare yourselves in prayer and allow my grace to do its transformational work in your lives.
Come my child, do not be afraid. I am not only your God but your intimate friend.
Draw closer to me each day and I will give you rest.“
Personally I had to read this message a few times because it can be confusing for us when Jesus speaks about his birth and his decision to come into the world because we don’t remember a thing about our births and had absolutely no say in being born or even existing!
At times we must stop trying to figure it out and just accept it because there are some mysteries that go beyond us.
Yet going back to the message, by the second person of the trinity becoming man he was saving us, he was becoming our friend, he was beginning a new religion…..
It’s crazy when you think about it, especially the fact that God knew what he was doing and what would happen over the next 2000 years up to today and beyond!
Before Jesus there was no Christianity, there were no sacraments or rosaries ir eucharistic adoration or catholic churches. All the saints as we know them didn’t even exist…..
And so with this perspective, can we try to imagine just for a second God’s excitement about the birth of Jesus and indeed the birth of the catholic church afterwards…
I don’t know about you but I need a coffee to ponder it and also acknowledge how much we can take all of this for granted now over 2000 years later.
It truly is ‘out of this world’ and is so difficult at times for us to understand how the supernatural can exist with and even in the natural.
Whether it’s Jesus who was born 2000 years ago or Jesus in the host today, we are still in front of God in human form or in a piece of bread!
It’s confusing to say the least to our human minds and indeed so are we confusing to ourselves!
Through our baptism and the sacraments the supernatural lives in and through us too and yet we remain ordinary people who need to eat and sleep!
We tend to separate things and associate the supernatural with miracles and flying around like superman while we associate the natural with being ordinary and powerless and weak.
Yet Jesus blurs the boundaries because he’s both! He has the supernatural qualities of God hidden in the natural qualities of a piece of bread or his body and the melange is mystery to us!
Fortunately we have 2000 years of church teaching and experiences of the saints to help us bridge the gap of understanding at least to some degree but imagine what it may have been like for the first Christians and the Jews of the time.
It’s not surprising when we think of it like this that Jesus was rejected and even crucified and that many saints that followed him were considered to be mad or crazy because as Jesus himself put it, it’s ‘beyond our human understanding”.
And so with this in mind, let’s welcome this season of advent with a sense of adventure as we deepin our love and understanding and let us be patient with those who struggle to believe because when you think about it, it’s an awful lot to take in especially in this secular and rational society!
Happy advent!
Michael
On Eagle's Wings 