Sunday Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons - 6 December 2020

Second Sunday in Advent

It has only just struck me how impossible it is to make a straight highway in a true desert. Before I get shot down, I know there are such things in place today, but they remain at a high cost of maintenance and can disappear in an instant. The terrain of a true desert is never static, ever shifting, at the mercy of all the elements, particularly the extremes of heat and cold, of sun, rain, ice and snow! As David Attenborough has shown us so well, the creatures that live in such places have to be especially adaptable, for survival is held together by the thinnest of threads.

At one time I was helping out in the Monastery of Christ The Desert, Abiquiu, New Mexico, and experienced at first hand just how utterly quixotic the desert weather could be and what could happen within the space of an hour. I was on a walk down a small valley of scrub, rock and cactus plants, on a sunny but cold February, snow had fallen in the night and it seemed very crisp, when suddenly there was a thunderstorm. The monk with me just said, 'quick climb up away from this valley', I followed him (a younger self, much fitter then!) drenched by the torrential rain. Suddenly we stopped as did the rain, and he put his finger to his lips and said, 'listen!' A rumbling sound in the far distance grew stronger until I saw its source, for below us, the valley was awash with a torrential flash flood of rainwater and debris. After a while it turned into a steady but less destructive stream and I was assured it would be gone by the next day! We were lucky, my companion was well versed in the deserts moods, but as he said, it came at a cost- for he was present on another occasion when a land rover was swept away in such a flood with some loss of life! The message is that 'stay awake', 'be alert', always ready!

So back to my favourite Prophet Isaiah who this Sunday proclaims several things, one of which is a task to do the impossible; change the desert landscape as a straight highway for the coming of the Lord! I like that impossibility, for it also suggests that much like my companion on the walk, if we begin to work out and understand other people and situations, we may find surprising ways of achieving what at first seems overwhelming of knowing how to deal with a situation. Isaiah hints at our need for such deeper reflection, because he does not urge immediate conquest, dominance, aggression as we so often do in our world, but instead, opens his prophecy with cadences of comfort , if we are truly sorry for what we have done wrong, if we open ourselves to the weakness of God, that quality of endless mercy, then and only then will we discover true strength. Say out loud to yourself the fuller passage from our first reading ( IS 40:1-11). Even if we wilt from the problems facing us, if like the grass we simply wither, take heart and have hope because it is then that the Lord appears, remind yourself that after all our effort the following words are what the Lord does:

'Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
leading the ewes with care'.( IS 40:11)

The second Letter of Peter reminds us that hope is a virtue and a necessity for those who love Christ. It links us to the effort we all have to make in life, to prepare our highway, collectively and individually for the Most Holy One. In consolation Isaiah points out that in the end we have a destiny with that shepherd because 'according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth* in which righteousness dwells'( 2 PT 3:13).

Mark's gospel tells us that John the Baptist as herald, has proclaimed the coming of Jesus, that much is true, but the proclamation does not stop, for we in our turn having been baptised by water and the Spirit also become heralds of the Gospel in every age of this world's existence. We have helpers, the many women and men whose example sustains our faith, remind us that as long as somebody, somewhere is doing good, is being truthful, honest, caring, forgiving, then the Spirit is at work m amongst us all and salvation is being offered. Today is also St Nicholas' day, that original Santa Claus, who proclaims in his way, even though we may never know exactly what he did for others, that the deep memory of goodness survives beyond us and abides in the collective memory of the Church as a force to be reckoned with! Holiness is strong stuff!

Nicholas in his own way gives us Isaiah's message in action, for in all he did, the song he sang was this:

'Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated'. (IS 40 :1)

That song is ours too!

Maranatha, come Lord Jesus!

Advent lectio

St Bernard, Homily

The Three Comings of the Lord

We know that there are three comings of the Lord. The third lies between the other two. It is invisible, while the other two are visible. In the first coming he was seen on earth, dwelling among men; he himself testifies that they saw him and hated him. In the final coming all flesh will see the salvation of our God, and they will look on him whom they pierced. The intermediate coming is a hidden one; in it only the elect see the Lord within their own selves, and they are saved. In his first coming our Lord came in our flesh and in our weakness; in this middle coming he comes in spirit and in power; in the final coming he will be seen in glory and majesty.

In case someone should think that what we say about this middle coming is sheer invention, listen to what our Lord himself ways: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him. There is another passage of Scripture which reads: He who fears God will do good, but something further has been said about the one who loves, that is, that he will keep God's word. Where is God's word to be kept? Obviously in the heart, as the prophet says: I have hidden your words in my heart, so that I may not sin against you.

Keep God's word in this way. Let it enter into your very being, let it take possession of your desires and your whole way of life. Feed on goodness, and your soul will delight in its richness. Remember to eat your bread, or your heart will wither away. Fill your soul with richness and strength.

Because this coming lies between the other two, it is like a road on which we travel from the first coming to the last. In the first, Christ was our redemption; in the last, he will appear as our life; in this middle coming, he is our rest and consolation.

Poem for St Nicholas.

Fr Robert Gibbons

Saint Nicholas

270-343 CE

I

Firebrand or firework?

Nicholas, bishop, defender of the faith,
antagonising Arius at Nicaea!

Is this your legacy?
For if it is it's patchy,

Myra's Bishop lists amongst those present,
But, that was a later addition!

Nor is there good record
of your so called assault upon Arius himself.
All good copy, all entertaining,
underlying your fidelity to Christ!

II

But this is not your patrimony,

nor is Father Christmas,
that mess of tales thrown together in fun!
Instead, quietly, patiently, gently,
as you yourself seem to be-
tales of gift giving, rescue of three maidens
-giving them their dowries,
defender of the weak,
rescuer of the innocent,
lover of the poor,
healer of children, calmer of the sea,
many things became your care !

III

All these things, some difficult to date,
others simply hearsay-
nevertheless give us a guide
to living out the Gospel.
For Nicholas is synonymous with love,
generous love done without a trumpet call!
Love that came down in flesh
and dwelt amongst us.
Now we behold his glory and his light
in those 'angels' amongst us
whose message is in giving.

IV

This at Christmas is the endless tale,
to which Nicholas is bound
as a witness of the Good News.
For salvation also comes in little presents
placed in the stockings of the poor!
It comes as gentle light that soothes,
not rockets, nor exploding Catherine wheels,
for your glory is that of the Magi's star!

RPPG 05 12 20.