Advent Reflections 2022

Week 2, Monday December 5

Matthew 22:23-33
 
Vs 31-32
And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

At the foot of the burning bush God spoke to Moses:

I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Exodus 3:6. It was here that God revealed himself to Moses. Jesus is reminding us of this very revelation! Who the Lord is! The nature of the Lord is directly linked to resurrection and the promise of restoration for his creation. Resurrection is the divine act in which humanity will be able to achieve the fullness of life intended in creation that had been lost through sin and death.

Who God is, is forever. This divinity is greater than any threat of death we could imagine.

He is the God of the living, not of the dead.

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are of the living just as you and I are. Each was chosen by God and invited into a covenant of promise with him.

Jesus Christ has extended us this very invitation of promise, the promise of the resurrection.

This Advent, place that invitation in your heart as you would a Christmas Card on the shelf, and look at it with joy and wonder.

Week 2, Tuesday December 6

Matthew 23:34-46
 
Vs 37-40
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”

Jesus had been asked a legal question, not an emotional question. The Pharisees are wanting a legalistic transaction to explain faith. Many of us have met a person like this (or have been like this ourselves at times). This cerebral treatment of the Lord may help to understand boundaries within our faith, but it does not fully encompass the divine intention of Jesus. To Love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind is both the fulfillment of a command of fidelity, but also the greatest fulfillment of humanity. In fact, the entirety of the law and prophets depend upon the two greatest commands to Love God and others.

Love is always leaving oneself and going towards another. When our focus is on the appropriate target, we have the benefit of being like a horse with blinders. If we are truly trying to love the Lord above all else, the ability to love his creation is part of the package. The love of God and the love of others cannot be separated anymore than God and his creation can be separated. And doing one more than the other in no way absolves or excuses us from the other. Dorothy Day once said, “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least”.

The Lord will always come first, because he is the reason why we have life, breath in our lungs and why these very words even exist. May we grow in our love of God and our understanding of his love this advent.